Customer Reviews

NetObjects Fusion MX

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is the closest thing to magic that you'll find. Wave a mouse - there's a web site structure. Wave it again, there's a page. The manual says it will take 10 minutes to set up a site. I have managed it in three. The product is so good that I have been with it for three versions, and buy it for all my clients.

Fusion's great strength lies in two main areas - firstly the construction of the site is as simple as ABC. Pages can be copied or moved around at will, and structures altered, and the program recreates all the links and navigation bars on the fly. You don't ever have to worry that stuff will be out of date. Secondly, and very importantly for designers, you can make just a few simple buttons, and the program will *automatically* create unlimited rollover buttons for you. No fuss. No coding. Change your mind about the labels as many times as you want - it all updates instantly and without your having to worry. If all this wasn't enough, NetObjects Fusion supports database connectivity, all the latest e technologies, and writes some of the smallest, cleanest and most cross-browser compatible code in the business.

Don't be fooled by the price - this product gives Dreamweaver a run for its money. All included is a great set of support newsgroups, an online Knowledgebase, and the capability to extend the functionality in a kazillion ways, using third party components (yes! like Dreamweaver extensions do!) It's worth many times the price on the box. If you are a small or medium sized business, or a professional designer, you need this product. It makes web design totally pleasurable.

I have been using this product for 3 years now and I think that it is the best on the market still (I have tried most of them). In fact, I thought that it was worth it's price back when I paid $299.00 for version 3! I can't believe that the price is now so low when it is such a great, professional product. You can make a very professional looking website in no time at all and it can be as advanced or as simple as you want it to be. From a web site wizard for beginners to editing your own html for the more advanced. Drag and drop your images where you want them, email forms, random images... You will not regret the investment if you are serious about being a web designer or just wanting your only web site to be taken more seriously.

After playing around with Microsoft's Front Page and looking at many other options, I tried NetObjects Fusion MX and have been blown away by how easy it was to create a professional, highly functional Web site without having HTML knowledge/experience nor being a programmer nor a Web designer.

When I bought this program a month ago, I'd not had any HTML training or experience. I'm not a designer or graphic artist. And I'm not a programmer/techie. I'm a former corporate exec who recently started my own business and am working with a limited budget for the first time, so I decided to pull together my company's initial Web site on my own.

In just a couple of days of working with NetObjects Fusion, I produced what could be arguably called a decent Web site, with virtually no problems or challenges. It really was as easy as the promotional literature claims.

I used one of the styles that comes packaged with the software, inserted text, pictures and pages with simple dragging and dropping and ended up with a great site. I could customize the look/feel extensively using commands similar to Microsoft Word, not having to insert HTML tags. I even doubted that it would be easy to actually get the stuff I created "pushed" to the Web, but was pleasantly surprised when it worked beautifully on my first try, in only a minute and with only two clicks of the mouse.

One of the coolest features is the tightly integrated "components" available from third-party vendors. I've now used several of them to add a response form that sends an immediate response back to the submitter, a customer registration form that not only sends a response but also stores the data in an Excel file for me to download and import into my customer database, a form that enables a user to browse their computer and choose a file to send to me, pop-up windows, a scrolling window within the page for a user agreement and more.

As I've played around and bought an HTML reference book, I also found it easy to add more tricky things like HTML code inserted in my page for a newsletter sign up form and a "refer a friend" feature. A buddy who is a hard-core programmer tells me that the code generated by the program adds stuff that isn't necessary, but for me that hasn't caused any challenges or problems since I'm not a programmer and the resulting site is great. I haven't found anything not to like about this package and have been amazingly productive with it.

Because I had the benefit of playing with Front Page first, I can honestly say that if you're like me--a non-programmer, non-designer needing to build a professional, highly functional Web site quickly--THIS is the much better choice of program. And I have a powerful site, with real customers visiting and interacting everyday...

After working with several other tools... I became frustrated with how long it took to get a web site put together, and how hard it was to maintain the site when changes were needed. That's when I tried NetObjects Fusion version 3, and I have kept with the current version ever since.

I am not aware of another tool that uses database technology to manage and then assemble the elements of a site like Fusion does. Features like site styles, page master borders, automatic site navigation, and external link management make this a truly time-saving tool. Changing the entire look and feel of a site is a matter of a few mouse clicks. Rearranging pages in the site structure is drag and drop. If another web site you link to changes addresses, you only update that address in one place (Asset view) no matter how many pages in the site use that link.

This is not to say there are no problems with NetObjects Fusion: but it's not hard to work around most of them. The product is just as easy to use as it claims to be -- as long as you read the fine manual <smile>.

You really don't have to know any HTML to use Fusion. But sooner or later you will encounter a problem that will be most easily solved if can learn enough HTML to troubleshoot the code that NetObjects Fusion creates.

For the price of this product, you get power that products priced at double, triple or more don't give you....

NetObjects Fusion MX is a big improvement on the previous version 5. Although it may not add too many features, it has fixed a lot of the bugs that existed in version 5.

Fusion MX is the kind of tool that a beginner could use, and build pages almost instantly. With drag and drop ease, and the ability to position objects on the page quite accurately. Although this does have drawbacks. The most major of which is large HTML files. Other problems with Fusion include some incompatibility with Netscape 4, and some minor problems with Netscape 6.

Fusion also gives users the ability to create pages that fit to the browser width. This is achieved by using a text box set to fill the entire page. Sadly, this also has it's limitations. For example, if you want to make a page using this method that looks like Amazon's, you would place a table on the left, centre and right. However, this is sadly impossible in Fusion MX (A similar problem existed in version 5). The only way that would really be possible is by creating one big table, and putting all that stuff into it. That would keep the content together. But even that solutions create new problems.
Professional web designers may feel frustrated by the inability to directly access and edit the HTML source.

Fusion's strength lies in it's ability to create professional looking web pages, in minimal time. Beginners do not need to code any HTML, or do anything apart from design and maintain the page. Although it does take some time to learn all the tricks that can be used with Fusion, once you do, it should become a little easier to improve compatibility.

Basically, don't get Fusion expecting to create websites like Amazon or C|Net. You can make one that looks a little like those websites, but you will inevitably run into limitations that will stop you. Websites like those are probably only achievable through Dreamweaver, which is what you should be looking at if you want total control over the HTML source and other technical aspects of the site. But if all you want is to create a small business website, personal website, or other type of small websites quickly and with minimum fuss, NetObjects Fusion MX wins. If you want to create a website that has maximum compatibility with different browsers, lean HTML code and complex content with maximum control over most technical aspects of the website, go for Dreamweaver.

I have been using Net Objects Fusion, first the 5.0 and now MX to make websits for the last year. I don't find the pages slow to load at all. I made 11 websites that are all up for the Philippine Web Awards this 2001.

It's easy and fun to use and I cannot say enough about this product. I have tried Dreamwever, FrontPage among many other software packages to develop websites, and for someone who doesn't want to bother learning HTML, this is great!

Diana Pollard ...

If you're looking for a program that focuses upon the small business/professional/non-profit user who is not a programmer, but wants to build sophisticated sites, then this program is for you. I can assure you that you will find that you can build a complex site about four times faster than Dreamweaver 4. I recommend it to everyone!

I start to learn HTML since HTML 2.0, and it makes me to be very familiar with HTML coding. Till now, I've experienced many tools including Notepad, Vi (Unix's editor, like window's Notepad), CMed, HotDog, Homesite, Netscape's composer, Frontpage, Dream weaver.
My first experience with NetObject starting from NetObject 4.0, then, I was impressive how productivity it is, although it's still not perfect at that time. I feel satisfied & comfortable with this kind of WYSIWYG tools since the NetObjects MX was born.
For NetObjects MX, I would like to share my opinions here,

1. NetObjects MX is not only the best tool for beginners, also inlcuding sophisticated guys. If you assume it is designed for beginners only, you are wrong.

NetObjects MX provide many flexible ways to access your HTML coding. If you do know what is HTML, and you are willing to spend time to learn NetObjects MX, you'll find there is no "limitation".

2. Yes, NetObjects produces large HTML files, however it won't sacrifice website download speed too much. The real problem to slow down your website download speed mostly come from the large graphics & multimedia files.

3. Compared with Frontpage & Dreamweaver, NetObjects provides a effective way to increase your productivity with much lower cost.

So, I have to say "thank you" to NetObjects, which is a ideal tool. and it's so happy to hear NetObjects Phoenix is coming soon.

NetObject Fusion (NOF) is a hugely productive tool in my arsenal. While the focus of a review might be all the great features in the software--and there are so many, I would focus on what it has done for me.

I've used NOF since version 3.0 after trying everything else out there, including DreamWeaver. NOF was simply the tool I needed to get the job done fast and make it look great. In fact, you can buy the program, and have a professional site in only minutes--if you type fast--using their templates.

As I've progressed through my career, I've relied on tools to give my work a really professional touch: NetObjects, PhotoShop, Quark XPress, and a few really good font and graphics packages. People are stunned at both my creativity and productivity. I wish it was all my doing, but in fact, it is the productivity and control these tools give me.

One of the questions I'm often asked by newer staffers is how to progress their career. One of the things I always mention is to buy the tools you need to make YOU look good. This goes for employees as well as consultants and small business folks.

I've designed dozens of websites with NOF, including LeadEater.com, MikeGrigsby.com, LindaChandler.com, SeminarLove.com, HeavenlySounds.com, just to name a few. Along the way I've converted a lot of people to NOF and the business owners have often bought the program so they can maintain the site for themselves. I don't mind because I enjoy the creative aspect that the program gives me, and I don't enjoy the maintenance as much. This is a must-have tool in your professional arsenal!

I've been using NetObjects 5.0 for the past year, and wanted to purchase a web authoring program for home use. When NetObjects MX came, I was initially disappointed. All of the wonderful styles were missing that I'd been using with 5.0. Well, some were there, but not all. As soon as I figured out that the 5.0 styles (and more new ones) could be downloaded from the company's site, I was content.

This program is easy to use, and is compatible with all browsers (unlike Netscape Composer which might be free, but has bug problems for those who use MS Explorer as a browser. The Help section of the program, along with online advisors makes this a great program for beginner and professional alike.