Of course! Do you need to learn HTML? That's up to you.

You don't need to know music theory to write a song, you don't need to know how a car mechanically works to drive, and you don't need to know HTML to build a web site. That being said, I'll definitely share my personal bias by stating that you tremendously limit yourself and rely on others in all of the examples above by not knowing as much as the other person that is a composer, mechanic, or HTML guru.

To quote Lynda Weinman, author of Designing Web Graphics: "The advantage to knowing and understanding HTML is that you will be in better control of knowing what is possible and what is not. You will not have to hear "No" from someone else who might not care about your design as much as you do. You will know how to bid jobs more easily and how to guide clients through jobs more easily... The truth is, if there were a magic HTML pill, you would gladly take it. Everyone prefers to be in the know if the price isn't too high."

More from Lynda Weinman, "The problem is that HTML tags change all the time. New file formats, plug-ins and browser features make this a changing landscape unparalleled by typical word processing or PostScript software. Web design and development is an emerging medium, and we're all eager guinea pigs to propel it further!" ...

"The only way WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors could truly keep pace would be if they changed on a weekly basis... The problem is that once you've gotten the web design bug, you'll want to try new things that the WYSIWYG editor wont support. And, if you've relied exclusively on the editor to compose pages, you will not have gotten any of the necessary skills to understand how to extend its capabilities."

I agree with everything Lynda Weinman has to say on this subject, particularly the last line above. Until HTML stagnates and new tag evolution slows down, editors will never be able to keep up. Even Microsoft and Netscape's own editors are way behind on the development cycle.

In closing, I challenge you to find one page on Microsoft's site that was composed using Front Page, or Adobe's site using Page Mill, or even Netscape's site using Netscape Gold or Composer. The truth of the matter is that those sites need to be on the cutting edge and to keep up with that pace, their designers and coders are doing things the old fashioned way, coding HTML by hand.

Again it's your choice, I apologize for my obvious bias. My recommendations would be to learn HTML and then use an editor like BBEdit (Mac), World Wide Web Weaver (Mac), Home Site (PC), or Hot Dog (PC) to assist in rapidly coding pages. Avoid WYSIWYG editors like Page Mill (Mac) or Front Page (PC), if you're goal is to design without limitations.