easy web design - Industry Trend or Event

Home Office Computing, April, 2001 by Carol S. Holzberg

Database and chart wizards simplify construction of database- and chart-filled Web pages. You can create six kinds of database-enabled documents, and it's easy to import Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and convert them into standard HTML tables.

Once design is complete, the product's robust Site Manager enables you to rearrange the way the site is structured, create or delete new pages, and upload files to a Web server via FTP. You can transfer specific files or entire folders by highlighting them and clicking Publish.

WebEditor 4.0 bills itself as a solution for novices and experts, and it certainly lives up to its promise. The package would have earned a 9 if only it had the exceptional Microsoft Office integration of its competitor.

A Easy navigation helped us stay organized

B Colorful interface could be more intuitive

WebSite Creation Professional Edition

WebSite Creation Professional ($50; NTM Internet Software, 310-33g-9273, www.ntmusa.com) is a no-frills Web design package that helps you to create and publish simple Web pages.

This package is remarkably customizable: It includes support for images and sounds; plus bullets, frames, pop-up tooltips, hypertext links, and text marquees. We were able to add metatags for search engines, configure active page objects, and determine the sequence in which objects are loaded with ease. Objects can also be set to display with one of 12 special effects, and there's even a Form menu allowing you to use a number of already-written scripts that kick into play as viewers fill in the special forms that you create.

WebSite Creation is a simple application, but we were basically on our own. We didn't find any templates, clip art galleries, or other page starters to get us going. The package's only tutorial provides instructions for working with frames, and there are a few prewritten scripts for adding e-mail links and hit counters. It doesn't offer live database support, and though you can insert bullets, images, links, and text into your Web site, you can't place movies, Flash files, or Java applets.

Like other visual Web page designers, WebSite Creation automatically generates HTML code. However, this program doesn't want you to modify the source code it generates, nor does it allow you to modify pages you create with another editor. A built-in FTP program gives users control over uploading files or creating directories.

WebSite Creation is designed to work with Internet Explorer for previews. It lacks a Print function, although a page can easily be printed using IE's Print command. Even though the package lacks many of the helpful tools of its competitors, it is easy to learn, inexpensive, and produces fine results.

A Simple and surprisingly customizable

B No frills and little help

THIS MONTH

Microsoft Frontpage 10 Rating: 9

Namo WebEditor 4.0 Rating: 8

Website Creation Professional Edition Rating: 7

RATINGS

HOME OFFICE COMPUTING rates products on a scale of 1 to 10--with few 9's or 10's--based on value, performance, innovation (medals go to rare standouts in these areas), ease of use, and suitability for home offices. The A and B symbols indicate pros and cons.