|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Web Design SoftwareYou are here: Software >> Web Design SoftwareUpdated August 2006The exclusion of the discontinued Microsoft FrontPage, the as-yet-to-be-finalized Microsoft Expression Web Designer and the future-uncertain Adobe GoLive CS2 from consideration leaves Adobe Dreamweaver 8 the class leader by default among professional software for high-end users. The only competition might come from NetObjects Fusion 9.0 (*est. $190) , running a distant, lower-priced second. Smart Computing's Jeff Dodd likes NetObjects Fusion 9 enough to name it their August 2006 "Smart Choice" software, calling it "the perfect web editor for the smarter-than-average home or small office PC user." Effortless installation, a straightforward interface, a clever step-by-step Site Wizard with editable templates, easy code and page previews, and top-notch site management features grace Fusion 9's plus column. In the minus column is a complete absence of phone-based support for the product. Though there are detailed help files available online, lackluster support is a flaw that takes this software out of consideration for most web design pros. Types of website softwareIt seems that everyone from professionals, brides-to-be, grandparents and new business owners is interested in creating a website with web design software. Similarly, weblog sites -- called blogs for short -- have grown rapidly in popularity with blog-hosting giant MySpace.com touting over 80 million members. Traditional websites usually offer more in-depth, formal content with longer shelf life, and they are used primarily for "one-way" communication with viewers. By contrast, blogs are the new "social web," with fast-paced interactive text and photo blogging features that make even the most frequently changed websites look like they're standing still. Updated frequently or even daily by their authors, blogs appear more like running, informal personal diaries or scrapbooks that are open to the public, offering text and pictures to which others can respond and offer their observations in a dynamic, two-way forum. If speedy, informal interaction with others is what you want, a blog may be a better choice for you than a traditional website. Consider also that annual purchase of a unique URL domain name is required to post a website, but blog hosting services usually give you a unique "sub-domain name" that can be used on their service at no cost. On the other hand, if the content of your site will not change very often, or if it lends itself better to organization via numerous web pages rather than a running log, a traditional website is the way to go. Websites and blogs are expressions of personal and business identity. Building a unique and attractive site that is easy to navigate and stands out from the crowd is personally satisfying and can translate to big profits in the world of web commerce. Fortunately, there is an increasingly wide variety of options available to help novices and pros design a customized website or blog, providing tools to match most needs, budgets and skill levels. There are basically two kinds of web design software tools: WYSIWYG and HTML editing. WYSIWYG is an acronym for "What You See Is What You Get" and denotes software that lets you view your layout on the screen as you work, looking pretty much the way it will display on a web browser. Often this includes the ability to drag and drop layout elements into position. Because it is simple and visual, WYSIWYG is popular with designers, especially novices. But being able to view the layout "somewhat exactly" isn't good enough for many websites with advanced features. That's when web authors need software that lets them look at the page of HTML code behind the design and hand edit it to achieve perfect results. This requires far more experience and understanding of web work and is the mark of a master web designer. High end software combines WYSIWYG with HTML editing so you can do both simultaneously. The best mid-range titles let you switch back and forth between them to view results. But most often, lower priced software has extremely limited HTML editing capability or none at all. Website authoring is actually a two-fold process. First, you design the site using software like those featured in this report. Second, the site must be "published" to a server, also known as a web host. Though some tech-minded individuals own server hardware, most people find it far easier to use a web hosting service, which maintains your website on its servers. You can subscribe to a hosting service for a small monthly fee. If you just want to create a simple personal site, you may find that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) gives you some free space on its servers to publish your personal web page. When a user types your site's web address into a browser, the user accesses your website from the ISP's or hosting service's server . If you just want to create a simple personal web page, you may have some tools already available to you at no additional cost. Most ISPs such as Verizon, Quest and Earthlink offer subscribers free tools and server space for personal websites. Earthlink provides up to 10MB of web space for each account holder. Included is a simple website tool, Trellix Site Builder, which includes 175 different templates and features such as free blogging. Verizon Online also gives customers 10MB of server space and tools for site-building similar to Earthlink. Qwest.net offers more space than others, with 25MB of web storage and some basic business templates for its subscribers. These services probably won't suit you if you want something more complex, such as e-commerce and multimedia features -- or your own simple and distinctive URL domain name. But they are worth investigating if you mainly want a simple personal site. Website authoring tools fall into four major categories. The top tier is for professional designers that need database connectivity and e-commerce functionality, including a virtual storefront. Typically, software in this category includes both a high price and a steep learning curve. Adobe Dreamweaver 8 and NetObjects Fusion 9.0 are currently the main contenders for professionals. These software packages do not include hosting services or advertising, and you will need to acquire your own URL domain name as well (example: http://www.consumersearch.com - "consumersearch.com" is the domain name) via a domain registration site like Register.com. The second tier of software is more for casual enthusiasts, non-profits like churches or schools, or small-business site designers. Software packages in this category create solid sites that do not require extensive interactive features like storefronts. This software is typically less expensive and user-friendlier; prices typically range from $30 to $75. This type of software is usually available for a free trial download from websites such as Download.com and Softpedia.com, but requires a purchase for a permanent license. Again, this type of software will require obtaining a web host or buying server hardware, as well as acquiring your own URL domain name. There is a third level of online site-builders that allow you to build and publish a website or a blog on the Internet using simple software. Most, but not all, charge a small set-up fee and monthly fees thereafter. Software in this category includes site-builder tools available on Homestead; iPowerNet, iPage, Bravenet, Bubbler, Moonfruit, AtomicShops and others -- as well as tools available for building a blog on MySpace.com, Blogger.com, Xanga.com and LiveJournal.com. These services host your website or blog on their server for a monthly fee, in addition to helping you build the website or blog with their software. Finally, there is a fourth level of web design programs that are "open source" or 100% freeware for public download, requiring no purchase at all. Though you might assume you'll get exactly what you pay for, there are a couple gems in this category that reviewers found interesting enough to mention. They are Nvu 1.0 for website design and WordPress 2.0 for blogs. Professional web design softwareThe powerhouses of web design software are extremely complex beasts and are most typically used by professional site designers. They offer database-driven sites (the ability to read or update information in a database from your website), storefronts with shopping carts and server scripting (code that servers use to create specialized web pages). Reviewers are unanimous in warning that these packages are not for the novice user and require a steep learning curve. Entire books have been written explaining how to use Dreamweaver, Front Page and others. Adobe (formerly Macromedia) Dreamweaver products have long been the top choice for professional designers because of their impressive features and power. Dreamweaver 8 (*est. $400) is expensive, but it does offer many features missing in low- to mid-priced web design software. For instance, it blends seamlessly with its popular siblings, Fireworks, Freehand and Flash. All four products can be bought for a discount as a suite. Reviewers say Dreamweaver 8's most impressive addition is the strong support it now offers for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), including a CSS Code Validator to ensure that your CSS is web-ready. Dreamweaver 8 also offers a tag inspector, Section 508 validator (to ensure that sites are friendly to the disabled), extensive on-screen help, hot buttons for forms and frames and dynamic HTML (Web pages that the server creates on the fly -- also known as DHTML), as well as both database archival and retrieval. CNet.com's Elsa Wenzel calls Dreamweaver 8 "the plum pick if you integrate plenty of multimedia content, such as Flash animation and Fireworks rollovers, into your webpages. Support for databases involving PHP and ColdFusion is arguably better." And Macworld's David Sawyer McFarland declares Dreamweaver 8 simply "the best version to date, providing a streamlined workflow, new tools, more stability, and faster performance." This same feature-laden package is also available for Macintosh users. With its former competition FrontPage 2003 and GoLive CS2 on the sidelines, both reportedly awaiting phase-out, Dreamweaver 8 emerges as the sole viable entry in the expensive, high-end professional software category and champion by default ... at least temporarily. This may change soon and dramatically when Microsoft releases its Expression Web Designer, positioned with a matching $400 estimated retail price tag and comparable features to go head to head with Dreamweaver 8 for the title. We will update our report when Expression Web Designer hits the market and receives critical comparative reviews. Microsoft has yet to set a formal release date for Expression, though it is currently in testing phases. Mid-range web design softwareSecond-tier web design software, which is aimed at home and small business users, doesn't need high-level features. Second-tier software is capable of building slick, graphically complex sites, but cannot offer database connectivity or other sophisticated features offered by Dreamweaver 8 or Fusion 9.0. The leaders among mid-range titles are CoffeeCup HTML Editor 2006 for Windows (*est. $50) , Web Easy Professional 6.0 (*est. $60), Easy Web Editor 2006 (*est. $70), Web Plus 9.0 (*est. $80), Web Studio 4.0 (*est. $100), and WYSIWYG Web Builder 3.4 (*est. $30).. Free trial downloads are available for each of these from Internet sites such as CNet's Download.com and Softpedia.com. Experts say CoffeeCup offers a fantastic tutorial for beginners, as well as a good variety of templates to help you get started. Editors at CNet.com give it a perfect score and find CoffeeCup "suitable for both web design newbies and HTML hotshots,” adding that “CoffeeCup offers powerful functionality and a straightforward and compact interface." CoffeeCup offers a combination of HTML code editing and drag & drop WYSIWYG visual editing, with split-screen browser preview. Although not available to Mac users, it is compatible with all versions of Windows and offers a wide variety of features including DHTML scripting (for dropdown menus), live chat, a flash wizard, blogging and thousands of web graphics. CoffeeCup's HTML code cleaner is a professional caliber feature not found in other software in this price range. Web Studio 4.0 (*est. $100) is the priciest of the mid-range software covered in reviews. It touts excellent online support, plus available add-ons like a library of templates and photos. Its features include WYSIWYG design with drag-and-drop, FTP uploading and a built-in graphics generating tool. Though well reviewed in this category, it lacks HTML code view, costs twice as much as CoffeeCup and lacks CoffeeCup's 10-year track record with over 17-million total users. Web Studio requires Microsoft Windows, with limited Mac compatibility (check manufacturer’s site for specifics before purchase). Somewhat less pricey is Windows-compatible WebPlus 9.0 (*est. $80), with features comparable to those of Web Studio 4.0, though it does include a larger library of templates and better graphics tools. It also lacks HTML editing capability. Easy Web Editor 2006 (*est. $70) offers WYSIWYG with drag-and-drop, an FTP uploading (for publishing updates to your site) and limited capability to insert HTML. It does not have the broad selection of templates and images offered by other software in this price range. Easy Web Editor 2006 is not Mac compatible. Closest to CoffeeCup in cost and also compatible only with Windows, Web Easy Professional 6.0 (*est. $60) features WYSIWYG with drag-and-drop, FTP uploading, CSS support, RSS feed support and multimedia support including Flash animation and scripting. There is a library of templates and thousands of clip-art images, as well as a built-in graphics generating tool. However, it lacks a spell checker and has no HTML editing capability -- Web Easy Professional is strictly WYSIWYG. At the low end of the price range, Windows-compatible WYSIWYG Web Builder 3.4 (*est. $30) is less expensive than CoffeeCup. For a low-budget alternative, it offers a considerable number of features, including drag-and-drop editing, FTP uploading, multimedia support, scripts, CSS support, a photo gallery and more than 100 templates. Of over 8,900 total Softpedia.com dowload users (as of July 2006), 75 users rate this program and give it an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars. Of over 16,000 total CNet download users as of July 2006, 18 users rate it and give it an average of 3.5 out of 5 stars. They note that the program is simple but powerful, though the user interface could be improved. For Mac users who don't want to pay $400 for Dreamweaver, there aren't as many options, but Freeway Pro (*est. $250) and Freeway Express (*est. $90) are two Mac-compatible alternatives. Both offer a 30-day free trial. We did not find professional reviews from these, but user comments are available at sites like Amazon.com. The Express version is the "lite" version, and while we found comments that it's easy enough to use, we also read complaints that there's a fairly steep learning curve and a frustrating manual. Hosting service site-building tools for websites and blogsFor those who want to try designing a website or a blog for comparatively little or even no money at all, many website and blog hosting services offer easy-to-use site-building tools and monthly hosting services bundled together. These forums can't compete with tier-one heavy-hitters like Dreamweaver 8, but they might be just the ticket for personal sites or basic informational websites or blogs that don't need interactive features or heavy multimedia. You won't get e-commerce features, storefronts and database connectivity, but you can produce a colorful, simple website or blog without many bells and whistles. In most cases, an initial set-up fee is required when you subscribe to a website hosting service, along with a small monthly charge, usually starting around $10 for a basic package. If you don't mind rotating advertising banners on your site, many will even host your site at no cost. Most blog hosting sites charge no set-up fee and will host your blog for free, but there will be advertising on these sites. For websites, reviews say the leader in this category is Homestead with its QuickSite site-building tool. For individual users and small businesses, Homestead offers a Silver and a Gold package. The Silver version (*est. $10 per month) includes 25MB of server space and 5GB of bandwidth usage per month. The Gold version (*est. $20 per month) includes 100MB of server space and 15GB of bandwidth usage per month. There is a $20 setup fee for both versions. Both include QuickSite design gallery and site-builder tools and site-use statistic reports. The Gold version includes matching e-mail accounts and supports PayPal so you can offer easy online payments for your small business site. PC Magazine named Homestead their "Editors' Choice" for website hosting services and site-builder tools. Build-a-Web-Site.com also lists Homestead QuickSite first in their round-up of ten top site-builder tools. Homestead SiteBuilder does not currently support the Macintosh platform. SiteBuilder Lite, an online editing tool, is available to Mac users running OSX and Firefox. For blogs, MySpace.com (free) leads the pack of blog hosters with more than 80-million bloggers registered. Not far behind are others like Google's Blogger.com (also free) and LiveJournal.com (free). Blogs are generally hosted for free, are comparatively easy to set up and come with template tools for layouts that can range from trite to terrific. The host you choose for your blog may depend on your age and world view. Some are mainstream while others are way out on the fringe. Blogger.com caters to an older crowd, while MySpace.com is targeted to teens and 20-somethings. It's not the largest or most popular blog host, but WordPress.org (free, http://www.WordPress.org) offers an interesting perk in the form of their WordPress 2.0 blog design software. Unlike others, it can be downloaded, customized and used to build blogs you put up on blog host servers other than WordPress.org. Reviewers say this blogware has an attractive and well thought out user interface with all buttons clearly labeled, allowing fast page loading and handling. WordPress 2.0 also has advanced features like comments, trackback, calendar, search function and support for multiple blog authors. The user forum is reputed to be top notch, with informed responses for advanced questions. Best of all, WordPress 2.0 is totally free. Free softwareTwo entries in the "open source" or 100% freeware category are worth attention, according to reviews, including Nvu 1.0 for website design and WordPress 2.0 for blogs. Blog design software differs from other web design software in that its features are geared specifically to the fast-paced, two-way texting and photo-blogging of weblogs. If you're thinking of downloading WordPress 2.0 and using it to design blogs to put up on blog hosting services other than WordPress.org, we strongly recommend you read Sheila Ann Manuel Coggins' "How To Set Up a Blog Using WordPress" (http://weblogs.about.com/cs/tutorials/ht/wordpress.htm). Coggins walks you through it step by step and takes the mystery out of what is admittedly a focus-intensive process. Nvu 1.0 (http://www.nvu.com) touts itself as "a complete Web Authoring System for Linux . . . Microsoft Windows and Macintosh users to rival programs like FrontPage and Dreamweaver." TechSoup's Frith Gowan advises, "Users who like to work directly with code may find this program frustrating, while less confident users may find the lack of depth comforting." This basic WYSIWYG design tool may not impress the pros, but it could be just the ticket for less demanding designers. And since it's free, you can experiment with it as long as you like without spending a penny. Important Features: Web design softwareExperts say you should consider the following issues and features when shopping for Web design software.
There is speculation among industry pundits that, bundled with its Creative Suite CS3 in early 2007, Adobe will likely release a version of Dreamweaver 8 with a more Adobe-looking interface and better integration with other Adobe graphics software. The initial buzz on Microsoft's Expression Web Designer, still in beta test as of this writing, is very good. Read more about this emerging web design product at the following sites: http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125703,00.asp http://www.thinkvitamin.com/reviews/dev/microsoft-expression-web-designer/ http://news.com.com/2110-1007_3-6071841.html http://www.softpedia.com/reviews/windows/Microsoft-Expression-Web-Designer-Review-28177.shtml http://www.publish.com/article2/0,1759,1962048,00.asp?kc=PBRSS05039TX1K0000788 http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1962332,00.asp http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/web_designer/default.mspx
Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
* Also see our Comparison Chart.
Dreamweaver is the easy winner among experts as the best full-featured web authoring software. However, Dreamweaver is overkill for novices or those who may simply want a nice-looking personal website. In that case, CoffeeCup is a more appropriate choice. If you want to combine a website hosting service with site-building tools, Homestead QuickSite is a good choice. For design software that is 100% open source freeware, try Nvu 1.0 for web design and WordPress 2.0 for blog design. Nvu is compatible with both Windows and Mac systems.
Sponsored links
The reviews highlighted in our All Reviews Chart are the best places to search for information on web-authoring software, especially Smart Computing, CNet.com, About.com and Macworld. We found additional helpful information at both PC Magazine and CreativePro.com. Manufacturer websites are good sources for detailed feature and system requirement information: Adobe Dreamweaver 8: http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/ CoffeeCup HTML Editor 2006 for Windows: http://www.coffeecup.com/html-editor/ Homestead SiteBuilder: http://www.homestead.com Nvu 1.0: http://www.nvu.com/index.php WordPress 2.0: http://wordpress.org Advertisement
>> Do you know of a review that we've missed? Click here.
>>  Email
>> 
Yahoo!
Digg
Google
Reddit
del.icio.us
(What's this?)
Web Design Software Reviews |
|
||||||||||||||||||
© 2008 ConsumerSearch, Inc. A service from 
, a part of The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.
ConsumerSearch and ConsumerSearch.com are registered trademarks of ConsumerSearch, Inc. Other trademarks or service marks on this site are the property of their respective owners. ConsumerSearch is not sponsored by any source reviewed, and we accept no consideration or payment for including, excluding, or ranking any reviews, products or services in our reports.
* Pricing information is approximate as of the time this report was written and is based on observed market selling prices and/or list prices. Actual selling prices may differ.
