NetObjects - Building a better web site
Written: Nov 27 '00 (Updated Dec 19 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Easily build professional-looking web sites
Cons: Learning curve
|
|
|
| hherbzilla's Full Review: Website Pros Fusion 4.0 Full Version Academic Lice... |
Summary: NetObjects provides an easy way to build professional-looking web sites!
I'm not a professional web site developer, but I love the Internet. A few years back, I started reverse-engineering web sites to teach myself HTML. I also played around with programs such as HotDog and FrontPage (and probably one or two others). Then I came upon NetObjects (I guess it was v3.0 at that time) and haven't looked back. I'm currently using v5.0 -- but frankly don't see much of a difference between it and v4.0.
NetObjects builds great looking sites through a WYSIWYG interface. You are given multiple ways to view and work on the site. You can start a new site with an essentially blank page or using one of the templates. The templates are a nice way to get creative ideas about laying out your pages, using menus, etc.
One of the most powerful features of NetObjects is Styles. The application ships with a large set of Styles you can choose from to give your site a different look and feel. If you decide you don't like a particular style after you've started (or you get bored easily, like me) it is easy to switch to another one. Like magic, your entire site looks different: new buttons, banners, backgrounds, colors, etc. You can even edit the provided styles or create your own. You'll also find a lot of styles created by third parties that can downloaded for free or fee. Many of these are found on the NetObjects site.
The "Site" view gives you a hierarchical layout of the pages. This is a simple way to see a "map" of your site, to add new pages (or delete existing ones), and to edit the banner and page titles.
The "Page" view is where you'll do most of your work. Just click on the relevant icon to add text, a graphic, a table, and even rich media content. You can turn a grid on that lets you easily line up objects. Another feature that I love is the automated menus. When you add a new page, NetObjects automatically adds a menu button to the rest of the site. You have a lot of control over the menus, and can show content on the level you're on (parent) or the level below (child).
The "Assets" view shows a listing of all the assets on your site: images, URLs, etc. Honestly, I never use this feature.
Lastly is the "Publish" view, which lets you easily publish the entire site, only the changed assets, or just a particular page. Once you enter in the server/FTP info, you just need to click a few buttons to publish. You can also publish locally to view your work before posting it for the rest of the world to see.
With just a little time learning the basics, you can have very professional looking results. Spend some more time, and you can do all sorts of fancy stuff, like having text move across the screen when a page loads, having images change upon mouseover, having music play, and so on. There are also a bunch of free and fee components that enhance and add to the components that ship with NetObjects. The NetObjects site has an ever-improving "workbench" that teaches you cool tips and tricks.
My friends who program HTML for a living do NOT like the code that NetObjects creates. If you're a purist, then you probably don't want a WYSIWYG program anyway. However, it is hard to argue with the results. The pages look great. With a little practice, you'll have a kick-butt site and be the envy of your friends.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
hherbzilla
|
|
Location: Raleigh, NC
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.