Serif Web Plus X6 Makes Web Site Design Easy

Three years ago I did a review of Serif WebPlus X2 and I found it to be a pretty good tool for creating Web sites. The folks at Serif asked if I could take a look at the newly released Serif WebPlus X6 and share my thoughts with you. They provided me with both the download version as well as shipping me the boxed version. The software itself is the same in both versions, but the box contained a 250 page printed manual and a DVD with the software and templates.

Before I give you my thoughts on Serif WebPlus X6, you may want to read my thoughts on Corel Website Creator. Those of you who have purchased CorelDRAW X6 can certainly get it for free, but I feel it is a horrible choice for most users regardless of the cost. The inability to open existing Web pages and the absolutely awful code it creates make is such a horrible choice. At the very least Serif WebPlus X6 allows you to import existing sites and you are given options for what elements of those pages are imported. Even though you don't have to work with the code in the software, it outputs relatively clean HTML code styled with CSS. Those two features alone make this a far superior choice to Corel's offering.

Obviously the market for this type of product is the person with very little knowledge of how to build a Web site who simply wants to create a functional, good looking site in the shortest amount of time possible. Supplied with WebPlus X6 are ready-made templates in a number of styles. The templates come in flavors for regular sites and sites for mobile devices. Should you want to change the color scheme of the template, it is fairly easy to do.

Along the left side of the design window is a large panel with a variety of things to assist you in designing a site. I found the Quick Build tab the most interesting as it contained many types of things you might want on a Web page. For example, there are social media tools that allow you to easily add Facebook, Twitter and other widgets quite easily. There are also tools for Navigation, Interactive Objects, External Content, Media, Forms and E-Commerce. All of these tools simplify add those elements to a site.

Users with more advanced Web skills might enjoy WebPlus X6 for adding a thing or two to a page, but this product is truly geared at those with limited Web skills. For that market, it does a fantastic job of balancing ease-of-use with excellent output.