NetObjects Fusion 8 review

There was a time when making even the simplest Web page involved learning HTML code, and only major corporations could afford to run a Web site.

These days you can get your own Web address for under a tenner, and there are dozens of programs that make creating your own Web site as easy as using a word processor. Why, then, would you want to spend over £120 on NetObjects Fusion 8?

Fusion 8 is unique. Most Web design programs fall into one of two categories: software that makes it easy to create a personal Web site, and complicated professional software for building business sites. Fusion 8 has been designed for making business Web sites, but it's as easy to use as a personal Web design program. With Fusion, you can make a slick, businesslike Web site with an online shop without ever having to worry about getting to grips with the complicated code beneath.

Creating a Web site with Fusion is a simple four-step process. First you choose a design template. Several styles are included, but if you can't find one to suit, you can buy a CD with over 250 more from the program's maker. Your chosen design is applied to every page in your site. This helps you avoid one of the pitfalls amateur Web designers fall into most often: making every page in their site unique, causing it to look jumbled and haphazard as a whole.

Next, you choose which pages you want in your site - for instance, you might want a home page, some information on your company history, a page on your services, an online catalogue and a page of legal information. For each page you can select a simple layout - perhaps some text above with a picture below, or two columns of text.

When you're ready, Fusion generates all the pages for your new Web site. By selecting the program's site view, you can see a diagram showing how all your pages are linked together, with the home page at the top. The final step is to customise each page until you're completely happy with it. To edit an individual page, simply double-click its icon in the site view and it'll appear on the screen. You can then add images that are relevant to your company or products and replace Fusion's standard text with your own information. Most importantly, you can easily add an online shop to one of your pages.

To add a shop, just click the E-Commerce button and drag the E-Commerce tab to the part of the page where you want your list of products to appear. Fusion asks you to choose a store engine. If you want to pay for a store service from a firm such as www.1and1.co.uk, you can select that option from the list and enter your account details. However, the simplest way to create a store is to use the online secure money transaction service PayPal. If you have a PayPal account, Fusion can use it to create a catalogue with a shopping cart and checkout, enabling your customers to buy products and pay you online. Fusion's E-Commerce box then lets you edit your products, prices, sales tax and other options. When your site is complete, Fusion's publish feature lets you put it on the Internet for all to see.

Fusion has its downside, though. If you want to design your own unique-looking Web site, or produce something very complicated, you'll need a program that gives you complete control over the code that makes it work. Fusion doesn't do this. But if you simply want to make a smart-looking Web site for a company or club with the minimum of fuss, Fusion 8 is as good as it gets.