NetObjects Fusion MX

NetObjects may go to some lengths to sideline comparisons with Microsoft's FrontPage (version 2002 reviewed opposite), but now that Fusion MX has arrived much improved and at a reduced price, those who were considering the Microsoft route might want to think again.

NetObjects Fusion MX is a Web site builder not unlike its Microsoft cousin. You don't get code bashing to the extreme as found in Web developer products like Macromedia's Dreamweaver (version 4 reviewed issue 76, p173), but you do get an ease-of-use factor that even beats FrontPage to the finishing line. Aimed mostly at the small business or home professional user (where Web programming isn't a professional vocation of theirs), Fusion combines a desktop-based Web site development environment with added services available online - hence the MX, a pointer to the future NetObjects Matrix range of ASP-type applications.

The idea is to make Web site building and publishing available to the novice and occasional Web coder, while not missing out on the functionality possible with modern browser technology. So, although you get an easy-to-use, Wizard-based, drag-and-drop visual layout, you can also add custom tags and scripts using the internal HTML editor. Developers can import externally developed HTML code, and you have the support for both CSS and DHTML for version 4.x browsers.

In this version the new Site Wizard means first-time users can create Web sites simply by selecting a layout, then a style, and populating the pages with some content - one click will publish the result to the Web. You can choose a layout based on business type such as products, services, organisation or general, and then edit the sections of the pre-formatted pages that result.

The Style Viewer offers a selection of 50 or so layout and design choices for the overall look of the site, and more than 200 styles are available free online. Each style can be customised, allowing you to change many attributes such as the overall colour scheme, font and font size. Like FrontPage, you also get master borders that repeat anything placed across the entire site or a section of the site automatically, which makes creating navigation bars and banners a breeze.

If you want to add more pages and design your site on the fly, then Fusion also includes the Site Structure Editor. This allows you to drag and drop pages and create new ones in a tree-like display, the software updating navigation links automatically as you go.

If your Web sites have a tendency to grow, then Fusion's Asset Manager will help centrally manage all the various resources such as graphic files, links and data objects. If you change the name of a file or modify a link from here, the software again automatically updates all references throughout the entire site, which is no mean feat.

In effect, Fusion MX is even more wysiwyg than FrontPage, but like FrontPage the downside is the code produced can be complex and proprietary in some cases. You shouldn't mess with this, but you do get a wonderful HTML Source View, where developers can add custom HTML code and tags of their own. Just make sure you leave the software-generated grey areas alone and stick to the white spaces offered for amendment.

Fusion is the first MX-enabled product from NetObjects to include access from within the application to a range of online integrated services. Through the new Services Tool in the Page view, you can drag and drop third-party components directly onto the Web page, although you'll have to sign up for some of these subscription-based services separately.