WYSIWYG Web Builder 2.6.2 Review

excellent
key review info
application features
  • No HTML knowlegde needed!
  • (9 more, see all...)

Taking a look at Pablo Software Solutions' WYSIWYG Web Builder 2.6.2

From a person who has never used a WYSIWYS (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) web site builder or has had much time to work with HTML, XML or XHTML, I feel as though I can give an honest review of what it's really like to work with a program designed for a beginner. WYSIWYG means that the finished page will display exactly the way it was designed on the specific program. Essentially creating a website from scratch, Web Builder 2.6.2 generates HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) tags while you point and click without having ever learned HTML.

Setup/Install

The WYSIWYG Web Builder 2.6.2 is a product created by Pablo Software Solutions where their main focus had one thing in mind: user-friendliness where everything is easy enough to download and install. Only using up 1.01 MB, this powerful program has pity on your machine when it comes to the amount of space being used. The program itself gets interesting once opened and examined.

More than a mere WYSIWYG

When I tested the Web Builder 2.6.2, I seriously expected to get confused, annoyed and mostly bored with a program that claimed to build HTML sites in one go, but I have to say that Web Builder 2.6.2 has exceeded the demands that even they set for themselves.

They created a product that is meant for the average PC user who doesn't have the know-how to fully immerse himself in the intricacies of HTML code. They made is possible for anyone to make an accessible, professional and aesthetic site that anyone can visit.

Web Builder 2.6.2 manages to make it effortless and manageable to any of its new and experienced users. Starting with the Page Properties tab, one can specify things like page title, background image/color, text colors and the page dimensions.

Aside from these, one is able to add text, images and real time movie files to the attributed spaces. One can add hyperlinks to any of the following URLs, personal files, email addresses or even a link to a new window. Everything is possible without ever knowing one line of HTML code.

The use of drag and drop of the HTML objects like text, lines, images, scripts (editable directly within the program), marquees and tables make it possible to create nearly everything that's on a coded site.

Updates/Features

Overall, the Web Builder is pretty much like its predecessor with both minor and major tweaks. The biggest and most useful of all these changes would have to be the new ability to import an existing homepage and edit it. Since Web Builder is specifically designed as an HTML generator, programs like these don't usually offer the ability to edit other HTML pages*. A few other advantages came with the updated and improved HTML code generation for several objects which allow better imports as well as other 'border,' 'style' and 'layer menu' options which are just a few of the many improvements.

*Important notes about importing HTML:

- Web Builder imports the HTML by rendering the contents of an existing page and then attempts to convert the layout to Web Builder's internal object format. - The import feature currently only imports text, images, form elements and body attributes (link colors, background images, meta tags). Tables, scripts, stylesheets and multimedia components are not imported. But in most cases this is good enough to get you started.

- Web Builder does not parse style sheets, so is some cases the text may look different than the original page. - Web Builder currently doesn't support framesets. If you want to import a web page that's using frames you'll have to import all individual pages separately. - It is very difficult to support all different types of HTML. Even the popular browsers will interpret HTML differently, so don't expect miracles. If a page fails to be imported it probably contains code that Web Builder doesn't understand and you still have to start from scratch.

The ability to edit homepages gives Web Builder 2.6.2 an added advantage not offered with most programs of this sort.

Recap

Aside from the ease of usability, the online support page offers a public forum where similar problems have been encountered by others. There is no current 1-800 number to call, but most users should find solutions on the net.

This program is mostly reliable when building websites from scratch, but needs to improve its abilities on importing some websites from the net (but it does warn users that Web Builder is not an HTML editor, but an HTML generator).

Overall, this program is handy to any user who does not know HTML, but wants to share his or her vision with millions surfing the net. Web Builder 2.6.2 makes it possible for anyone who uses it to express him/herself in their own personal way without knowing much about coding. For the full version which is only $14.95, you can get the same great quality with a commercially license, no nags screens, no 'Build with' logo, extra navigationbar buttons, setup program and free upgrades to future versions.

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user interface 5
features 5
ease of use 4
pricing / value 4


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
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