3 Comments for SiteSpinner Pro Reveal 23 Old CommentsHide Old Comments

• Jan 11 2009 6:27am
  adrian williams (Visitor)
  I have downloaded this try out - I'm developing a website and have already done most of it in my other web design software to see how it compares.
  
  I like the amount of control over various elements (as can be seen in the screenshots). However, some limitations appear as you get further into its use. Hyperlink background colours are limited. I can't find a way to change the background colour on a hyperlink without having to use the button approach.
  Menus are 'built' rather than being an option. See the tutorial on how to create drop-down menus for example, you'll see what i mean.
  There are two wysiwyg web building packages I use, both at a similar cost to the discounted one from Virtual Mechanics. To compare features and ease-of-use i would recommend you download the trial wysiwygwebbuilder software from pablo software as a benchmark. A great alternative is antenna from stormdance (a new version due out in Feb09).
  
  I've spent about 7-8 hours using sitespinner pro and I can see the potential, but in the learning curve phase I've had to refer to the tutorial and forum (both of which are very good) rather than use intuition. A serious flaw (in my opinion) is the poor support for master page. The ability to copy a page and indeed move elements around on all copied pages are covered but where it falls down is when you need to add an extra element to the master page. This isn't translated onto all the other pages. This isn't a concern when developing 2-3 page websites but on larger ones it's not acceptable.
  
  All in all, its a powerful piece of software. At its retail price there are alternatives that offer more features for less money. I strongly recommend trying the software for yourself to see how comfortable it feels. I felt that every new element I wanted became a learning exercise rather than clicking on an option. I'd not even got onto layers, rollovers and IFrames.
  
  One final observation - a VM forum announcement on 9th January states that Sitespinner pro is still in beta form. Could VM clarify this ?
• Jan 11 2009 1:13pm
  Peter White (Visitor)
  Hello Adrian,
  
  First off, thank you for your comments. I'd just like to address a few items you raised. First off, with respect to the Master Page, this function was added to enable the user to create a page that could be used as a template for all new pages you add to your site. For example, if you lay out a Master Page with a header, navigation area, etc. any subsequent pages you add to your site will include all the same objects, in the same positions. If your goal is to include objects on all, or some pages, and then have those objects updated, there is a much more powerful, and easy-to-use function available with the 'Include' option - right-click any object, and you can choose to Include it on as many pages as you wish. What is more, if you change any of the properties of that object on one page, it will be updated on all the pages you have Included it on.
  
  With respect to Menus, you can create very sophisticated interactive, drop-down menus with the product. However, the software was not developed as a menu-maker product. You may find that tools specifically designed for this task are easier to use, and offer more 'template' menu options.
  
  The other web building tools you mention are good products. However, what SiteSpinner Pro offers that no other website development tool does is the ability to create sophisticated Interactive Animation, and develop sites for the desktop and for mobile devices. More and more people are accessing the web from their mobile devices. Virtual Mechanics partnered with Opera software to develop a tool that can be used to create content for any device, including desktop computers, iPhones, Blacberrys, etc. The result of our collaboration is SiteSpinner Pro.
  
  The final release of SiteSpinner Pro was posted in October of 2008. The product is not in beta. We are continually updating the software, and all V2 updates are free to registered users. The January 9th date would have been the latest update.
• Jan 11 2009 2:18pm
  adrian williams (Visitor)
  Thanks Peter for your response. You're perfectly correct when you outline the power of the software, especially when highlighting the ability to cater for pocket devices. Thanks for clarifying the situation regarding the beta confusion. I'll continue to work with the software until the offer date (crikey, it's tomorrow!). I'll hopefully manage to get to grips with some more of the powerful features.
  I did use the 'include' option but wasn't aware of the right-click 'include' option. I've just tried it and the object does move on all pages. Nice one !
  I didn't mention the zoom facility. It's ideal when fine-tuning positioning plus the instant preview of the website on a tab. There are definitely some good features that other lack.
  At the offer price it is good value and I'll probably buy it as it has good a good forum base and the support looks good too.
• Jul 2 2009 12:34am
  fran harter (Visitor)
  Hi,
  
  How does this compare to the commercial products like :
  -dreamerweaver
  -front page
  
  "Niche" market (for affiliate marketers) HTML creators like:
  Xsitepro
  
  Under $100 products like:
  - WEB EASY by Avanquest
  -NetObjects Fusion
  
  
  Or the freeware products like:
  -NVU
  - Bluefish
  -Kompozer
  -seamonkey
• Jul 2 2009 1:24am
  Michael Mortimer (Visitor)
  Hi Peter:
  
  I sent you an e-mail via your site requesting an upgrade price to go from standard, which I bought from you in 2007.
  
  What would be that price inasmuch as Pro on BITS is $40?
  
  I am doing a review of website and web page programs for a magazine I write for (100,000 readers) but the profession I write for are boneheads when it comes to computers and websites, so I need to look at your programs and others in terms of simplicity.
  
  However, I am a tightwad when it comes to forking out $ for the programs I review, so the lesser the price the better. If you can let me know what the upgrade cost is before this bits expires, that would be appreciated.
  
  Thanks.
  
  Oh, Adrian... thanks for posting the detailed review (back in January). It's very good. Albeit above my readers heads your comments were very helpful for me.
  
  And Fran, your better bet would be to check a site like C-Net to compare programs. All the programs have there pluses and minuses compared to each other.
  
  If you are a newbie I would focus your search on ease of use. Some programs are feature rich but it takes months to learn how to use the programs. It's kind of like MS Word. While the dominant word processing program most people don't know how to use 95% of what that program can do.
  
  You also have to determine what you want the program to do, such as CSS, flash, java, frames, and other technologies.
  
  And like they say in here, the new concern is the ability to create web pages that look good on any platform or browser, especially mobile devices. With displays now being larger, such as on the iPhone, G1 Google phone and others, and people having access to DSL speeds (3G, for example) more and more people are looking at web pages on their smartphone.
  
  So 2009 web creation software needs the ability to create pages that will display well on mobile devices. IMHO.
  
  OK, I'm done being mouthy.
• Jul 2 2009 4:34am
  Dennis P (Visitor)
  Does this come with any CSS (or other) site templates? I'm looking to easily build a computer consulting web site with say 5 or 6 sections with a total of about 10-15 pages. Thanks.
• Jul 2 2009 8:53am
  M Wirsam (Visitor)
  Trying to buy Site Spinner pro, great piece of software I have used all my 14 days of evaluation. However after I complete my information and click proceed the payment page does not appear.
• Jul 2 2009 11:48am
  Nico Westerdale (Bits du Jour Admin)
  M Wirsam,
  
  Can you try restarting your web browser, or switching to another web browser?
• Jul 2 2009 4:26pm
  Peter White (Virtual Mechanics Inc. Vendor)
  Hi Fran,
  
  That is a large number of products to compare to! In any event, SiteSpinner Pro is an advanced website design tool. It was created with the goal of making laying out a website as easy as possible. SiteSpinner Pro also has the ability to create Interactive Animation, and produces sites for Mobile Devices.
  
  
  Hi Michael,
  
  Registered users of SiteSpinner can upgrade to SiteSpinner Pro at 50% off the regular price. The discount price offered here is a one-day sale, whereas there is no planed end to the upgrade price offer.
  
  Hi Dennis,
  
  SiteSpinner Pro comes with a number of ready to use templates. However, the software was not designed to be a cookie-cuter, template solution, but rather a tool for creating unique designs. You can use the supplied templates, and build as many unique sites as you wish.
• Jan 4 2010 1:41pm
  Luis Ang (Visitor)
  By the way, is there any charge incur when there is a new version upgrade... Thanks. A great software.
• Jan 4 2010 1:51pm
  VM Derry (Virtual Mechanics Inc. Vendor)
  We charge for new releases, but we do not charge for updates. New release upgrade costs are generally 50% off the regular price. Having said that, we have released dozens of updates over the last few years free of charge.
• Jan 4 2010 6:04pm
  Frank Kasper (Visitor)
  Hi,
  
  I bought the standard edition last year.
  Is there any special UPGRADE pricing during this sale, for someone who owns the standard version; and would like to upgrade to the PRO version?
  
  thanks in advance
• Jan 4 2010 10:28pm
  VM Derry (Virtual Mechanics Inc. Vendor)
  Hi Frank,
  
  We offer registered SiteSpinner customers the opportunity to upgrade to SiteSpinner Pro at 50% off the regular price. As Bits is offering SiteSpinner Pro at 60% off, you might want to take advantage of this offer.
• Jan 8 2010 9:57pm
  fran harter (Visitor)
  My previous questions, from 2009 was never answered, regarding this program.
  
  Regarding how this compares feature wise with other products.
  
  Has this program ever appeared anywhere in a
  Features comparison test?
  Being reviewed and compared to other webpage builder products?
  
  My previous post last year was basically:
  "How does this compare to the commercial products like :
  -dreamerweaver
  -front page
  
  "Niche" market (for affiliate marketers) HTML creators like:
  Xsitepro
  
  Under $100 products like:
  - WEB EASY by Avanquest
  -NetObjects Fusion "
• Jan 10 2010 3:45pm
  VM Derry (Virtual Mechanics Inc. Vendor)
  Hello Fran,
  
  We have not done a side-by-side comparison with the specific products you mentioned. I would not want to comment on other products abilities and disabilities here as I would undubitably miss something. What I would say if you are doing a comparison is to look at the SiteSpinner Pro price-point, look at the ease of use, and look at the quality of the HTML code that SiteSpinner Pro produces. I think those would be good places to compare SiteSpinner Pro, and areas we believe compare very well.
• Jan 11 2010 1:11am
  Stefan Hauber (Visitor)
  Version 2.91 sounds like near to version 3... Is there a free upgrade to 3.x or something like a e.g. a one-year free-upgrade protection?
• Jan 11 2010 11:58am
  VM Derry (Virtual Mechanics Inc. Vendor)
  Hello Stefan,
  
  The full release version at the current time is V2.91h. There are still many letters and digits available before a V3 release may be posted :)
  
  We are continually updating the software. Our policy is to charge 50% off the regular price for a new version release (V2, V3, V4, etc.). However, as mentioned above, we have not changed the version number in many years, while still updating the software.
  
  I can't tell you exactly when the next version will be posted. However, I suspect that there will be more free updates posted before that time.
• Jan 11 2010 11:37pm
  fran harter (Visitor)
  Hi,
  
  What sort of search function is available within a website built by Sitespinner?
• Jan 12 2010 12:00am
  Nico Westerdale (Bits du Jour Admin)
  Due to the overwhelming response Virtual Mechanics Inc. has agreed to extend this deal for another day - Enjoy!
• Jan 12 2010 6:53pm
  Mitch K (Visitor)
  I already own SiteSpinner and want to also purchase SiteSpinner Pro. Can I have both versions installed on the same computer, and use each version without conflict (obviously not at the same time)?
  
  I am currently working on a web project with SiteSpinner and don't want to have to configure SiteSpinner Pro in the middle of this project.. I also want to start a new project using SiteSpinner Pro and was concerned about conflicts.
• Jan 12 2010 7:23pm
  VM Derry (Virtual Mechanics Inc. Vendor)
  Hi Fran,
  
  SiteSpinner does not have a built-in search function. However, the sites that SiteSpinner creates are fully searchable. You can certainly incorporate Google Search into your site using the SiteSpinner Code Editor
• Jan 12 2010 8:00pm
  VM Derry (Virtual Mechanics Inc. Vendor)
  Hi Mitch,
  
  Yes, you can have both SiteSpinner and SiteSpinner Pro on the same machine. Be sure you have the latest release of each.
• Jan 12 2010 8:06pm
  Mitch K (Visitor)
  Thanks Derry for the info. I hope that you are selling millions of dollars worth of SiteSpinner Pro! Certainly a great product and a great deal on price.

• Jul 8 2010 7:00am
  Sandur Test (Visitor)
  Hi,
  
  Does the software support HTML5? And are they any volume discounts available?
  
  //Sandur
• Jul 8 2010 12:27pm
  Roger Thomasson (Bits du Jour Admin)
  @ Sandur

  
  

  If there are no volume discounts listed after clicking the "Buy Now" button above, then there are no volume discounts available.

  
  

  I'll check into the HTML5 question.

  
  

  -r
• Jul 8 2010 3:22pm
  Mark Hill (Visitor)
  The following link gives a good tutorial on using HTML5 video with SiteSpinner Pro http://sitespinner.lowtechgeezer.com/using-html5-video.php

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