NetObjects Fusion MX review

Already these online services include hit counters, statistics and traffic monitoring, search-engine submissions and even e-commerce solutions - there's also a variety of hosting options for your site too. An Auto-update function also keeps your software updated with the latest enhancements online.

Fusion is designed primarily to enable the speedy development of business sites without coding and in a wysiwyg drag-and-drop style, which it manages admirably. The development environment makes time-consuming chores such as layout and design as easy as any desktop publishing application. You get pretty much pixel-perfect control over object placement, and the end result can be tailored to Netscape or Internet Explorer browsers.

Once the finished Web site is ready to go, you can either publish onto the local hard disk or transfer the lot to a Web server of your choice. Publish View allows the developer to specify an exact folder structure that will be transferred to the Web server if required, and specific HTML output can be tailored for the browser version you require. Fusion is also clever enough to create alternative pages for older browsers, so if your visitor's browser doesn't support DHTML, for example, then the software will generate HTML code, displaying the dynamic content in its final form.

Aimed at the first-time user or small business that doesn't necessarily have the skills needed for a bit of HTML hand coding, Fusion MX is now a real contender and at a very good price.

Author: Tim Woodward