NetObjects Fusion 8 lets you build decent Web sites in minutes. Probably the most powerful and easy-to-use WYSIWYG Web design software, NetObjects Fusion 8 builds on its predecessor by adding built-in image manipulation, e-commerce facilities, options to create pop-up windows, as well as database and e-commerce integration for more sophisticated Web design. It's still not in the same league as Macromedia's Dreamweaver, but on the other hand its learning curve is nowhere near as steep - you can create whole Web sites DTP-like without touching any code. Hardened coders will find its drag-and-drop approach and menu system a little stifling, but Web newbies will not find a more complete package.

Pros: Database, e-commerce and site visitor tools; wizard driven
Cons: Limited CSS features; tad confusing at times; basic templates


NetObjects Fusion 8 provides an extremely quick and easy way to create Web pages using either a 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) interface, or by hand-coding pages. The main benefit of a WYSIWYG interface is that inexperienced users can create Web page using a familiar Windows-like interface and DTP-like approach without knowing any HTML code. The easy-to-use design environment and visual page layout editor further allows you to experiment with enhanced creativity by offering a relatively varied range of design tools.

Based on a 'whole site' visual design environment and drag-and-drop simplicity, NetObjects Fusion 8 now features a site wizard for creating sites quickly, more window options for adding pop-ups to your site without HTML coding or JavaScript editing, as well as integrated e-commerce tools (support for multiple e-commerce store engines). The software can now be used to capture information about site visitors, add database-driven content, and edit images without leaving the program. There's also more than 150 new site styles - most of which are uninspiring - which expand the program's navigation features (now expands several layers), and let you publish entire sites, sections, changes or specific assets via FTP, SFTP or WebDAV.

One of the main reasons why NetObjects Fusion 8 is so approachable is that it allows you to map out your site structure by dragging and dropping page icons. The software then automatically creates and updates navigation and links without you having to worry about the complexities of HTML. You can also lay out your pages relatively quickly by dragging text, graphics and multimedia into place, or by selecting from a rather boring range of SiteStyles. Most users will likely start off with a pre-designed template, which they'll then customise before creating their own which can be applied throughout the site.

Another feature we liked was the built-in image editing tools. Although basic compared to a dedicated image-editing application, such as Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop, NetObjects Fusion includes most of the basic editing tools you need to add simple graphics to your sites, such as the ability to alter brightness, contrast and hue levels, crop images, set borders, adjust size and orientation, reduce red-eye, and add text. You can also apply custom optimisation settings to pictures and auto-generated images that control format and download times.

NetObjects Fusion provides views that correspond to the tasks you complete when you design and build a site. Changes you make in one view are reflected in the others. You can go to any view at any time by clicking a button on the control bar at the top of the NetObjects Fusion window. For instance, the Site view is used to create the hierarchical structure of a site or to import an existing site. You can see a structural map of the site, which is a graphic view that shows how the pages relate to each other, or an outline view similar to Windows Explorer. You can rearrange your site by dragging and dropping pages and sections.

The Page view is used to design pages and add content. From here you can view your site's layout area and MasterBorder of each page. The Layout area displays objects that are unique to that page. The MasterBorder contains objects that repeat on a set of pages, much as headers and footers appear in a word processing document. You can also preview the page as it will appear in a browser and view and edit the HTML source.

The SiteStyle consists of a variety of elements, including navigation buttons, banners, lines, and text. In Style view you can create your own SiteStyle, or choose from pre-built SiteStyles to give your entire site a consistent look and feel. Assets include the files, links, data objects, and variables that you reference in your site. Assets view gives you centralised control over all these referenced items. When you change an asset, NetObjects Fusion updates every reference to that asset throughout the site. When you are ready to publish the completed site, Publish view lets you setup your publish profiles and publish your site.

Website Pros is claiming the software's table features are powerful, when in fact they're rather middling. Having said that, there is a table tool to sort data, add and adjust rows and columns, display headers, and select table styles that can be used across the whole site. You can also work with text (TXT), comma-separated value (CSV), XML and Excel (XLS) files to save time by importing and exporting tabular data.

Once your online presence grows, you may want to integrate a database. Now while you shouldn't expect anything too powerful, the software's database component does make it relatively easy to create a dynamic site using PHP, ASP and ColdFusion languages. By incorporating common database elements in objects such as forms, lists, and tables, you can build pages to display data directly from the Page view by dragging and dropping elements on to the page, setting values in the properties palette, and using wizards to add tables and queries. An integrated tag library lets you integrate ColdFusion, JSP and Struts-based Web applications. Live databases can be modified online using Microsofts Access, MySQL, or other ADODB or ODBC-compliant database.

You can even create an e-commerce catalogue, should you want to start selling items online. The process of creating a catalogue and then adding products and images is also relatively easy, and there are even tools to integrate credit card processing options. The software's free and easy-to-use ShopPro engine lets you take control over your shopping cart design, offers unlimited product capacity for your catalogue, and supports a range of hosting platforms. The ShopPro engine has no monthly fees, and is compatible with all of the Website Pros' hosting packages or any hosting platform that supports Perl/CGI or PHP. In addition to the ShopPro e-commerce solution, NetObjects Fusion 8 supports QuickCommerce, PayPal, Kurant StoreSense, 1&1 eShops, FirstGate click & buy and Mal's E-Commerce.

Finally, new users will really appreciate the direct link within the software to an online Help section. The online resources offer information and guidance for creating a site, as well as information on hosting and promoting your site, setting up an online store, tracking site visitors, and building better relationships with your customers. While most of this knowledge should be obvious with experienced Web developers, site managers or marketeers, the hand-holding information should be very welcome for small businesses taking their first steps online.

BIOS, Nov 25, 04 | Print | Send | Comments (0) | Posted In Internet