Intellimon XSitePro 2 review

These days it seems everyone and his cat is releasing software for building websites.

They're usually template-driven affairs with a basic content management system bolted on. XSitePro 2, a major upgrade to the product first released in 2004, wants a slice of the pie, and its marketing suggest it aims to offer an alternative to serious web design packages like Adobe Dreamweaver and Microsoft Expression Web.

Our first impressions of XSitePro weren't great. In fact, the install process was so irksome - one restart each for the initial install and a new downloadable patch, and then the application still didn't work - that we actually had to go for a little walk to calm down. A quick trip to XSitePro's forums revealed that the application relies on Microsoft's .NET 2.0 or 3.0. Another download and install, and we were finally ready to rock.

Intellimon makes quite a big deal about XSitePro's templates, taking great pains to point out that they're not just the usual junk with a random selection of images shoehorned into a masthead. To a great extent, we agree. Most of the designs offered with comparable products look like templates designed for a template application, but dozens of those here are actually rather nice.

Have it your way

What really sets XSitePro apart, though, is the level of customisation it offers. It keeps content and design separate, meaning templates can be successfully switched in seconds - exactly how a modern web creation system should work. And each component within the template can be edited, from colours and font styles to the background images. In-page content can also be restyled using a template (in-page templates are referred to as Quick Pages), making it a cinch to set up styles for things like press releases, 'about' pages, and more.

There's a slew of other features for budding designers, most of which can be set up with a few clicks. RSS syndication, advertising, search boxes, photo galleries, FAQ builders and email address protection all add to the package, saving you time and avoiding having to find scripts elsewhere. There's also a handy scheduling function, enabling you to automate when pages appear on your sites.

At a certain point in our testing, however, things started to unravel. Although the interface is generally clean and simple, trying to edit the templates is likely to baffle newcomers. Although tutorials and manuals are included, you can't expect to be up and running with the Best Site Ever in a few hours, because you'll need that long just to get to grips with XSitePro's basics.

Under the carpet

More problematic is what lies beneath the resulting sites. View Source revealed that the code of XSite's web pages is, to be blunt, dreadful. Some might argue that this is irrelevant if the site works OK, but in our tests layouts tended to have obvious glitches in all browsers other than Internet Explorer - which, according to current statistics, equates to a quarter of your potential audience.

The code issue makes something of a mockery of the page analysis and accessibility metrics tools, since accessibility (the ability of a diverse range of users, including those with disabilities, to use your website) is compromised by shoddy code. And while XSitePro 2 is superior to most of its rivals, don't think for a second that it can enable anyone to create a site equivalent to something crafted by a professional web designer, because it can't.

Still, if you think of it as a not too expensive tool for making a basic business site, and you're prepared to put in some time, you may be satisfied.