NetObjects Fusion 11

Despite the popularity of blogs and the like, websites remain the most sophisticated way of maintaining a web presence. NetObjects has a 12-year history of helping both novices and experienced users design and create websites. So what’s new in the latest version and how easy is it to build your own website with it?

Features:
The core feature of Fusion 11 hasn’t changed – it’s an all-in-one tool to help you build, publish and manage a website. You can buy ancillary services, such as domain-name hosting ($8.95 – about £5) and extra website templates (from $36.95 – about £20). Among the new features is an improved picture editor for manipulating images as you go; a previewing function that lets you see how your pages will look in browsers other than Internet Explorer; and a new Timeline editor, so more experienced users can create Flash-based animation.

Unfortunately, the included templates haven’t been updated and we thought they were starting to look a bit old in the last version. Under the hood, Fusion fully supports semantic HTML, making your site more friendly to search engines.

Performance:
Once you’ve installed the program you can start site building. The interface isn’t as clean as we would like it to be, and novices might struggle. The Site view – the hub of the software – is organised like a family tree and you can build pages by simply dragging and dropping text and images where you want, previewing your changes as you go. Fusion takes care of creating the HTML, so you don’t have to worry about coding.

Ease of use:
Building websites can be a complex task, but Fusion makes it a simple process for beginners, particularly as there’s no need to learn HTML. The Office-style interface should be familiar to most users but it can feel a bit clunky. It’s clear that Fusion is aimed at non-technical users, because the templates are incredibly easy to use and designed to deliver professional-looking websites without any fuss. For more accomplished users, the Multi-Layout Region tool allows dynamic additions such as tabbed panels and toggle panes that will give your site a more interactive and up-to-date look.

Value for money:
The major drawback of Fusion is its price. At just under £155, it’s considerably more expensive than its competitors. It is likely that novices will be put off splashing out this amount for software they might not feel confident about. However, the good news for existing customers is that you can upgrade for just under £87.