integrating generated with existing HTML a.k.a. glomming

I copy the html from the 'show source' screen into a new HTML file in the Netbeans editor, so I can match up the span and /span and other tags. I like the way netbeans highlights matching tags in yellow.

I try various ways of dropping the generated HTML into the existing file. Widgets end up on top of each other. I fiddle with the pixel numbers a bit. Finally decide to give up on the span style absolute positioning, and just put everything in a table. I start to sketch out what goes where in my notebook, then realize it's easier to do that visually back in the Visual Editor. I add the buttons that were missing from the original prototype, get everything where it should go, then drag a table below it all onto the grid, hoping to set rows, columns, and drag everything into it.

The Visual Editor's Table Layout is kind of odd. I don't see an easy way to input number of rows, number of columns.

I look through the menus and finally see a Table Column widget next to the Table widget. By dragging the column widget into the table, I give it more columns. But it's hard to see how to make them all the same width, now that I've scrunched some over to make room for more.
And when I try to drag buttons into cells, they don't snap in. They just sit on top.

I go back to my text HTML file. One can drag stuff from the palette into the text, too. Here, dragging in a table works in a more convenient way. I drag it in, and immediately get a window asking me how many rows and columns & other stuff. Good.