WebPlus X2 Website Maker

I am working towards my certification as a web technician. My current course, Internet Publishing, uses WebPlus X2 Website Maker as the model for publishing software. It is very easy to use, especially after you read and follow the tutorials included. I feel like a real professional when I see the product of my efforts on the web!

After reviewing many products to produce a website for our very large photo club (over 500 members), my husband found the WebPlus X2 Website Maker. I have been using it now for over a year and am still raving about it. It is easy to set up initially. There are many templates from which to choose and then modify to suit individual needs. I'm not super techie so I appreciate how incredibly intuitive and user-friendly it is. I get many favorable comments on the site with many folks asking about it for use in their clubs. Should anyone wish to see the photo site, go to [...]. I can add photos, more pages, text, links, etc., very quickly. I can also track how many visits there are to the site and to which pages using the Smart tools. The reference book that is provided with the software is very useful and easy to follow. For all of these reasons and many more, I highly recommend this product.

I've read some negative reviews on this and it could be that I'm not savvy enough about website design yet to be aware of the flows referenced. One person wrote that their tech savvy friend told him that the site he created wouldn't be picked up by search engines because it contained scripts that the spiders would like. Well, I don't know anything about that. What I do know is that this software far exceeded my expectations both in the tools it provides and the ease with which it is to learn these tools. The book it comes with is straight forward and simple. Admittedly there was a few places where I made mistakes and had to carefully re-read the instructions to get it right but many of the features in this can be learned in just a couple of minutes. Well worth the money I spent.

This is my first Serif product. I am a teacher and have little experience with web design at all. I was using a trial version of dreamweaver and created a pretty basic site using the same colors I am using with X2. However, X2 was WAAAAAAY easier to use with about 4-5 hours total of messing around with it I was able to create a pretty good website. If you want to see it is not finished but it is "[...]" at least to see what the basic stuff can be done. I need to remind all of you that I am no expert here and am self taught since Tuesday!

What I like about WebPlus X2
1) It is a lot easier to use than Dreamweaver
2) the FTP upload makes getting the site on there really simple! I was using filezilla, but realized that X2 uploads everything the way it should be.
3) There is a lot of freedom to create your site without tables, which I liked
4) Cloning pages or creating new ones based on a previous format was nice! I didn't see that in Dreamweaver, but I didn't need to look for it in X2 either!
5) Premade buttons, forms, etc...
6) No HTML needed, but it there if you choose to add it

What I don't like
1) It can be a bit bland at times, and tedious
2) The linking process was easier in Dreamweaver in my opinion
3) There are A LOT more files that are needed to be uploaded relative to dreamweaver
4) I didn't like their templates (even though there are a ton)


I know it is like comparing apples to oranges between X2 and Dreamweaver, but it seems that Dreamweaver is just too complicated for a basic user. X2 does a great job developing the learning curve quickly to get at least a basic site online.

Great product; however like everything else, you have to get used to the layout of the software and spend some time reading the instruction manual. Otherwise, the application is great.