WebPlus X2 Website Maker (PC) - Software and Utilities (Serif)

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Customer Reviews of WebPlus X2 Website Maker (PC)

Brian Frost

4th October 2008

Great web design software
I've wanted to get my business online for a long time, but never got round to it. I'd never heard of Serif before, but a friend of mine started raving about their software when he got some of their products 6 months ago, so I bought WebPlus. I have to say this product is amazing!
To use it is a bit like using Word. You just move your graphics and text around the page as you want them appear online, and WebPlus does all the code for you. Things like drop down nav bars, forums, blogs, buy now links, etc. can just be dragged on. There are loads of templates to choose from if you want although I couldn't find one which was suitable for me, so I started from scratch.

I'm no computer genius - if someone like me can create a really polished, professional site, with a members area, customer forum and shopping...anyone can.

BIGTED
London
20th August 2008

Very disappointed after hearing good things about WebPlus 10

Very simply, purchased this on the back of some excellent reviews here and elsewhere, and while i agree you might be able to create a new site very quickly it is not very straightforward if you already have websites (different one too that need to be managed separately) and wish to use this to edit / maintain them.

I am back to square one now as I need to have something in place to keep on top of my needs and those of the people who I support.

Might just be better off back with Frontpage.

Mr. R. D. Blackman
Cornwall
10th August 2008

Websites untangled - great software for non HTML experts
This software is just I what I was looking for. I've been struggling with html and css for months. Positioning elements properly took ages to work out but when I looked in another browser my carefully worked out design was all jumbled up. I never got the results I wanted.

Serif WebPlus X2 is very simple to use. You can use the templates to create a professional looking site in a few hours and if you have some experience of html then you can insert specific instructions into your pages very easily. What I like most about WebPlus X2 is that it's wysiwyg. Previously, I'd take an educated guess at what mark up I'd need for a given result and then have to view it in another programme. Anally retentive programmers probably learn reams of code off by heart to circumvent this but, me, I've got better things to do. With WebPlus X2 you can see what you're doing while you're doing it. You can also view your work in different browsers if you really want to check.

WebPlus X2 seems to be designed with people like me in mind. We know what we want to achieve but don't have the budget to employ an html/css coder or the time to bring our expertise up to their level. In addition to vastly reducing the time and expense that it would take to accomplish the same result by any other means, WebPlus X2 gives you the benefit of many presentational tricks that would take years of programming experience to achieve. My re-vamped site has already drawn favourable comments about its better navigation, layout and graphical design, all achieved in a fraction of the time thanks to WebPlus X2.

Coastin Bear
Cambridgeshire
4th August 2008

Fine if you don't need to look under the surface
This product produces very flashy (no pun intended) Websites very easily - you can look like a pro in next to no time. The problem is the way that the software actually puts the pages together. In order to cope with the range of browsers, screen resolutions and other issues affecting Web design, this software creates incredibly complex html behind the scenes - far more complex than it needs to be for the actual pages that you create. This makes maintenance of the Website next to impossible unless you are using the same software all the time.

This is great software if you are creating a Website for fun, but if you are looking at creating an online business or more long-term online project, I'd recommend learning how to do it yourself.

jay
London
4th August 2008

Not much better than the previous version
I love Serif software and usually never have a bad word to say about it, but I don't think this version of Webplus is that much better than the previous one to make it worth upgrading to if you have that already. It is certainly as good in the site building area and the templates available are excellent, but I didn't find the new feature - being able to import your site back in so it doesn't need to be completely rebuilt if you have no back up - worked very well.
The other problem I found was in backing up the site to an external hard drive to save loss of work in the event of a system failure. I did copy and paste on the saved file as is usual, but found I could lose the site properties when I pressed paste. That could be a Windows problem though as Webplus X2 wasn't even open. I just got round it by pressing save as from in the program twice, once on to my hard drive and once on to the external hard drive. That worked fine.
All in all I am not disappointed. I was able to build my site and upload it easily and that's all I wanted to be able to do. All programs have little hiccups.