Magix Xtreme Web Designer 6 (PC)

I've now given 3 stars, rather than the original 2. The initial review is below, in inverted commas. Below that is an update, which explains why the extra star, and makes a couple of observations that may be helpful to people who are thinking of buying. Here's the first review:

"It looked like the best way to make a new site - build from scratch, or customise a template in a user-friendly way. I'd been working with Website X5 Evolution. It was easy to use, but had layout limitations. Web Designer 6 promised so much more flexibility - the ability to move any object around a page, to make the text flow round images.

Getting stuck in, the biggest problem was finding the information to do that simple thing - build a clean, uncomplicated, customised site without having to scroll through reams of instructions. The videos give only basic information, the booklet that comes with the package has nothing to say, the online help document is vast - without being illuminating - and the PDF that comes with the disc is 370 pages long. I've scrolled through it three or four times, reading what seems to be relevant, but the experience is overwhelming. Exploring YouTube videos takes you into esoteric realms of the progamme's capabilities - it's plainly able to do so much - but I just couldn't find straightforward instructions that would help me do what I needed to do.

Which is why I've only given two stars to the product. I would like to have given more, and maybe will in the future, if I can get to grips with this monster. But right now I have to say "proceed with caution". And it's back to X5 Evolution to get that site on line."

In the end I persevered with Web Designer 6 and got a site up which does the job nicely. Had I simply wanted to modify a template, rather than build a site from scratch, the task would have been much easier, but building from scratch was quite a sweat. In fairness this would probably apply to any comparable wysiwyg programme. But, as the first review said, the online manual is huge. In retrospect I should have printed it out - all 370 pages! - as this would have made referring to specific sections much easier. I would certainly have been prepared to buy a printed version.

Web Designer 6 can do an awful lot, and produce a good looking site, once you've got to grips with it; and the free web space is a nice bonus. For anyone embarking on this path, a cautionary note. Do test your new site in as many browsers as possible. Mine was fine in Firefox and Chrome, for example, but strange things started to happen when I moved on to Opera and Safari (and with the latter there were differences in results depending on whether the Windows or Mac versions were being used, not to mention how up to date versions were). The most common problem was at the end of paragraphs, where spacing became cramped and words out of alignment. The cure seemed to be to go back to the original text and abbreviate it. No idea why this worked, but it did the trick.

Hope this is useful to anyone thinking of buying.

My ISP decided to stop supporting Front Page 2000, so I purchased this software package.
What a great piece of software,not like Front Page but so much more easy to use.
Everything is drag and drop,with easy to use instructions. Ok the digital manual is pretty big, but its all there with no complicated dialog. The manufacturers say its a program that works on the fact that you dont need to know whats under the hood to creat a website, and they are right, you dont need to know html or tables, you just put the graphics or text where you want on the page and the program does the rest.
Lots of templates that are totaly editable, and so many easy ways to create pop ups etc.. I have found this to be an oustanding value for money piece of software.

This MAGIX software release is a well kept secret in designer circles - competing against the vast Adobe juggernaut at a fraction of the price.

The software focuses on the generation of static web pages/sites by the use of a WYSIWYG design interface allowing the user to concentrate on design, without the need to know very much (nothing really) about HTML.

The software is far easier to use than HTML-based editors and when the design is complete, the software generates the html for the web pages/site and can transfer the whole site to your web host.

The software currently includes a free hosting offer from Magix.

Primarily designed for the consumer/small business market, many professional designers that use far more expensive software also use Xara software for rapid prototyping and/or small web projects, so it has a wide appeal.

The software generates HTML rather than edits it, so it's not the software of choice for a HTML coder (there is limited scope for editing the generated HTML or controlling appearance with CSS), but even for HTML coders, it is one of the fastest prototyping/mockup tools around and better still you can post those prototypes directly to the web.

This edition of the software is designed to be a low cost entry-level solution to those who don't wish to purchase the "bigger brother" to this software - Xara Photo and Graphic Designer 6 which has more design capabilities and is also highly recommended.

The manufacturer has an extensive website to demonstrate the capabilities of the software and a vibrant user community at talkgraphics.com EXCELLENT VALUE!