Jewish World Review Nov. 12, 2004 / 28 Mar-Cheshvan 5765


NetObjects Fusion A Useful Web Site Builder

By Mark Kellner

http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | There's the old saw about how you can tell a shoemaker's children: they're the ones whose footwear is falling apart. The same, I guess, can be said for some Web sites: the owners are too busy doing things to keep the site up-to-date.


For those people, and, frankly, for this reviewer, that excuse is a little less valid. NetObjects Fusion, released a few months back in version 8, is a $199.95 virtually all-in-one way to create and maintain a Web site. Running on Microsoft Windows, the program offers most of the tools you might need to handle the tasks of setting up a site, and keeping it updated.

Donate to JWR


Thanks to its various templates and editing tools, NetObjects Fusion Version 8.0 allows users to produce sophisticated, full-featured sites without a need to master Hyper-Text Markup Language, or HTML, programming. A visual page layout editor, where "what-you-see-is-what-you-get," or WYSIWIG, offers what the publishers call "enhanced creativity and design freedom."


For me, that translates to not having to worry about a host of elements. Do I need a template for my entire site? It's there, and there are plenty to choose from. (If I don't like any in the collection, others are available from Website Pros, which publishes the software, as well as online sellers such as www.fusionmagic.com.) Would I prefer to create my own layout? The tools are there, and they are easier to use than some I've seen.


If time is a concern, you might be happy working with one of the supplied templates. They're distinctive enough to make your site stand out, and that's the basic goal for many of us: We're not out to win awards, just have a presence online.


The program also offers ways to set up "pop up" windows such as a photo gallery, without having to know specific HTML coding techniques. The publishers say the program supports several e-commerce "store engies" such as PayPal, Beanstream, ShopPro, QuickCommerce and Kurant StoreSense, and lets users switch from one t another easily. Apparently, it's thought that a small business might start with PayPal and work their way up - or at least have that option.


NetObjects Fusion 8 also has better integration with databases such as Microsoft Access, as well as better navigation tools, enabling more "layers" in a Web site's organization. Some users like to have such an option; others need it to organize large Web sites.


Perhaps the greatest enhancement of the new product is a built-in photo editing tool that can resize photos, remove red eye, crop and manipulate images, as well as save them in various formats including GIF, JPG and PNG, all of which are favored in Web design.


Did I mention that all this is less than $200? That's important, because it's clear that NetObjects Fusion 8 is aimed at small to medium sized businesses, as well as the millions of us who are entrepreneurial in one fashion or another. Larger companies and organizations will often contract out such work or have a Webmaster on staff. Such firms are also more likely to have staffers who know (and use) Macromedia's Dreamweaver MX 2004 - which is twice the price.


Installation and setup for Fusion 8 is rather easy; on a reasonably well-equipped Windows computer, the program moves quickly and well. The WYSIWIG look of the program is far less intimidating, I would imagine, to those whose main business is, well, their business and not Web design. Results can be previewed in Internet Explorer 6 or other Web browsers; changing such defaults is easy.


With practice, I would probably become a master of this program, and that may yet happen. For now, I'm glad to have a quick-and-not-at-all-dirty tool in my arsenal that can let me craft and publish a Web site in a couple of hours, as opposed to a couple of weeks. You might like it, too: details are online at www.netobjects.com.

Find this column useful? Why not sign-up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.

eMachines Model Offers Performance
Second thoughts
Adobe updates its easy photo fix
Recording radio
Myths die hard, even for ‘insiders’

Apple's iMac, better still

Free software worth something
A TV Board For Your PC
Raising the 'dead' and the dusty
Promise of VoIP not yet total
When ideas and policy collide at work
Why not take the easy way out?
One to buy, one to skip
In Israel, high tech goes on the road
Right out of the box, little Sony camera impresses
Useful little things
Epson printer does far more than just print
Does Gmail hit the spot?
Independence Day Thoughts on computing
Still more about online e-mail
Your vacation e-mail options
Mr. Reagan's Computing Legacy
Following your heart
Power Mac G5: A powerful tool
Opera: This browser sings
Motion's new tablet a step up
Fuji's S20PRO is for you — maybe
Last week's small revolution
More small wonders bring delight, challenge
Livin' large, livin' cordless
Small wonders: Gadgets good and bad
The right tool for the right job
Office 2004 for Mac is coming
Good Computer Info? It's In Print
'Office' suite good for price
The Delightful Deja Vu of the iPod Mini
Another check creation option
Blocking pop-up ads
Apple's super-cool iBOOK G4
MSN, the AOL alternative?
It's Konfabu-lous (and other Mac joys)
The world on my wrist, courtesy MSN
Treo 600 is great business tool
How to make good computer choices this year
The year behind, the one ahead
Last minute gifts, and other thoughts
Something special in the air, again
Veterans Admin plans computer revolution
More holiday gifts
Holiday Shopping Ideas (One of a Series)
Now, Mr. Gates Joins War on Spam
Stopping "Phishers" From Scamming You
Staying safe online
Franklin Covey Brings Order to Outlook
Upgrades: Should you do it?
Time to dump Ma Bell?
Palm T3 widens users' options
Electronic reading
Lessons from a hurricane
Can the PC and phone really merge?
The case of the curious keyboard
The season ahead
New keyboard adds flair to motion tablet
Upgrade path smoothes a bit
Dreamweaver, make me a web
Experiments in upgrading
A tale of two headsets
A declaration of Mac-dependence
Fuji's Fine FinePix S602Zoom
In search of good Mac apps
Little gadgets make computing easier
Adobe Acrobat 6.0 scores
Toshiba's Twisting Tablet PC
HP printer a steady worker
iTunes store, Mailblocks are cool online services
Palm's objects of D-Zire
Gateway's Tablet a winner
Outlook 2003 beta: A promising program
Tungsten's handy "Dubya"
Lexmark's winning all-in-one
Wireless ways
Long distance tech support does trick
Tablet Planner software a hit
Up and down the road with Joyride
Clarion's "AutoPC" is no "Joyride"
Apple's Keynote is PowerPoint for less
Moving adventures
Traveling companions
HP's Compaq Tablet PC a winner
The war on spam continues
Browser for Mac users has good start
New Adobe software organizes photos
Techno-war
The year the PC grew up
PC meets philately: one hit, one miss
Digital Nikon camera a winner, at a price
Honey, they shrunk the COMDEX
Last-minute ideas
Microsoft's Tablet PC has promise, problems
Upgrade with a plan
Palm's New Tungsten PDA Shows Its Mettle
Nobody asked me, but ...
Love, in Quicktime
T-Mobile's sidekick a good partner
Put on a (happy, unwrinkled, tanned, whatever) face
Apple software upgrade very useful
I came, I saw, iPod
How's that? A tech critic reflects, briefly
Satellite radio gets favorable reception
HP's desktop printing marve
Mac satisfaction --- and some really good software
Off to college ... with eMachines
Have PC, must travel
After Shot manages your digital camera images
X200: Mobile worker's fantasy
Beware: Consumers face a fee for printing own checks

© 2004 News World Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of The Washington Times. Visit the paper at http://www.washingtontimes.com