WebSite X5 Evolution Review – Interactive Website Builder for Beginners

Creating and designing websites is not an easy task. This usually requires a lot of time learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C#, Ruby or other programming and scripting languages, and years of experience are needed to deliver exquisite results in this regard.

WebSite X5 Evolution is a software application that proposes a more user-friendly approach to website building. It integrates an interactive and neatly organized interface that's also fun to work with, along with templates and advanced functions. The main objective of this program is to prove to less experienced users that even they can make their own website in just a few steps.

Demo limitations and license type

The demo edition does not have an expiration date but it comes with some limitations. Up to 10 pages or levels can be created in websites, and the project cannot be uploaded via the Internet once the projects are finalized. In order to lift these restrictions, users may purchase a license for Website X5 Evolution for $73.71 / €58.82 (excluding VAT, can be installed on 2 PCs).

Quick setup and interactive interface

The installation operation is pretty fast and extremely simple to configure. WebSite X5 Evolution takes a while to load its environment at startup, sporting a large window that shows tutorial videos and invites users to start on a project by following simple wizard steps.

After specifying a project name, it is possible to edit general properties about the website title, author, URL, description, content language and icon, as well as to choose a default or custom-made template, or create a new one from scratch.

A rich library with templates

The software program has a lot of templates in its built-in library, which depict web portals, sports, shops, services, school and education, religion, real estate, travel and tourism, photography, nature, music and dance, motors, mobile, literature and poetry, interior design, hobbies, health, food and catering, flowers and gardens, fashion, entertainment, design, computer and software, cinema and theatre, business, building, beauty, astronomy and aviation, associations, artistic, architecture, and animals. Each one of these templates contains a vertical or horizontal menu, depending on the user's preferences.

Customize the template structure and text style

This is the part where users can personalize the way they want their new website to look, starting with the template structure, namely menu type (e.g. horizontal with the menu above the header) along with the graphic and content properties for each page section: page or header background, header, menu, page contents, footer, and footer background. These properties concern the color, image file, repeat mode, alignment, size and margins.

As for the text style, it is possible to edit the background and text color, font type, alignment, border color and horizontal margin of the page title, path and text, active, mouse-over and visited link, field, button, and footer menu. Plus, the page title, path and text together with the footer menu can be hidden from the page.

Customize the main menu and drop-down menu

The appearance of the main menu is also prone to configuration, as users may choose width, margin, distance between buttons, auto-scrolling mode, font type, alignment and display when it comes to the style, in addition to the background, text and border color, background image and font style for the menu item, item on mouse-over and item for the current page.

What's more, the main menu can be enhanced by applying a 3D effect to the buttons' shape (e.g. rounded rectangle, gem, circle, trapezoid), corner radius, merging, 3D format (graphic, light direction, gradient factor, image opacity) and 3D border (border style, outer and inner width). Similar adjustments can be made to the drop-down menu too.

Customize the page menu and tooltip styles

The page menu is optional, so it can be excluded from the website. Otherwise, users can pick the menu position, width, margin and distance between the page menu buttons, set the font type and alignment of the text, as well as decide on the thickness, rounded corners, border color and drop shadow. The background and text color, along with the bullet icon and font style can be chosen for the menu item, item on mouse-over, separator and separator line.

Another adjustable part of the website is represented by the tooltip. It is possible to select its position to the mouse cursor, effect when triggering it, tail (with or without), text color, font type and alignment, along with the border thickness, rounded corners mode, color and drop shadow.

Customize the showbox and email styles

When it comes to the showbox, WebSite X5 Evolution lets users change the effect, outer and inner color and opacity, text color, font type and alignment, along with the border thickness, rounded corners mode, color and drop shadow.

Last but not least, it is possible to personalize the graphics of the emails sent from the new websites by picking the item and configuring settings: email layout (background and border color, thickness), image or company logo (image file, alignment, position, width), message content (background and text color, font type) and footer note (text, background and text color, font type, alignment, position).

Customize the template's header and footer

By resorting to commands displayed in a toolbar, users can further enhance their website by tinkering with the header and footer settings. For instance, they can insert text and change the font type, color and background color, enable drop shadow, as well as apply effects such as mirror, colored border, outer glow, bevel rotation, opacity, blur, wave, perspective and skew.

Aside from text, it is possible to embed images and slideshows taken from the local hard drive or online library, local Flash animations, HTML code, search fields, as well as links to a file or URL, showbox gallery, email address, Internet call, sound, printer, message box, RSS feed, blog, sitemap, shopping cart view, or adding to cart.

Create a site map and pages

A sitemap organizes the menu levels and sub-levels, along with web pages. Users can rename or remove pages, arrange them in any order on the list, as well as add new pages and levels together with separators. Page properties may be edited in terms of extended page title, description, website keywords, background color or image, icons, as well as custom code (for expert users).

The contents of the pages can be defined before finalizing the project. Therefore, users can add text, image, table, gallery, audio and video, email form, social media, guestbook, map, Flash animation, product catalog contents and HTML code. Numerous settings may be adjusted for each object, such as the social media button type (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus), profile URL, language, color, border color and size.

Advanced settings and website export

WebSite X5 Evolution provides experienced users with additional tools that they may find practical. These concern statistics, SEO and code, a welcome page, advertising message, blog post, RSS feed, data and access management, along with shopping cart details.

Once all modifications are made, users can preview the final project, create a backup copy, export it to the local disk, upload it to the web (via FTP, SFTP, FTPS over implicit or explicit TLS/SSL), or save it to a folder to resume it at a later time.

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