How to save a document as a web page in one file

Use Export as HTML in Write by Zaweba. It turns the document into a single self-contained HTML file that opens in any web browser, with no folder of loose pictures to keep track of. You can then email it, put it on a website or keep it as a copy anyone can read.

Why a web page instead of a document

A .docx file needs a word processor. A PDF needs a PDF reader and keeps a fixed page size, which is awkward on a phone. An HTML file opens in the browser that every computer, tablet and phone already has, and the text flows to fit the screen.

That makes a web page a good choice for a newsletter that people will read on their phones, a set of instructions you want to share in a club group, or a document you want to place on a simple website. It is also handy as an archive copy that will still open in many years.

Exporting the page step by step

Finish the document in Write first. Use proper heading styles for section titles rather than just making text bigger and bold, because headings carry their meaning into the web page and make it easier to read and to search. Add alternative text to pictures, too, since that is what a screen reader announces on the web.

Then choose Export as HTML and pick where to save the file. Write makes one HTML file that holds everything the page needs. Open it in your browser to check it, scroll through on a narrow window to see how it reads on a phone, and you are done.

What carries across and what doesn't

A web page is not a printed page, so some things belong only to print. Page size, margins and the exact place where one page ends and the next begins have no meaning in a browser, which simply scrolls. Headers, footers and page numbers are print ideas for the same reason, so don't rely on them in the web version. Write keeps your real document as it was, so they are still there when you print or export a PDF.

Text, headings, emphasis, lists, tables and pictures are the parts that matter on a web page, and those are the parts to check after export. If something looks off, it usually helps to tidy the document's structure in Write and export again rather than editing the HTML by hand.

Choosing between HTML and PDF

Both exports come from the same document, so you do not have to pick just one. Export as PDF in Write uses the same layout as the screen, with fonts embedded as subsets and real selectable text, so it is right for anything that will be printed, signed or must look exactly the same everywhere. HTML is right for reading on screens of any size. A club secretary might send the HTML version round for people to read on their phones and keep the PDF for the noticeboard.

Write also has Open in PDF by Zaweba, which hands the document to that app if you need to do more with the PDF afterwards.

Keeping the source

The HTML file is an export, not the place to keep working. Save the document itself as .zawr or .docx and treat the web page as something you produce from it. When the content changes, edit the document and export a fresh page. Because Write by Zaweba runs entirely on your own PC, the export happens in a moment and nothing is uploaded anywhere along the way.