If a website is being created for a photographer, this feature will make life much easier for the designer. Clicking on the Photo Gallery tool in the Advanced toolbar begins the process. Just name the page, select the photos, add titles and captions, and it's done! Thumbnails are created from the pictures, the pictures are positioned on the page, and all the links and navigation are set up automatically.
The pictures can even be displayed in a pop-up window without doing any special coding. Templates are included to display the pictures. Don't like the layout? Right-click over the photos and change any of the display options. The download time of each photo is also given.
Images can be manipulated right within the program. There is no need for other graphic software. Features include red eye removal, resizing, cropping, and adding borders, shading, and titles. The files can also be optimized and saved in .JPG, .GIF, and .PNG formats.
Publishing the Site
Of course, the whole purpose of going through the design and creation process is to get the website up on the World Wide web. NetObjects Fusion can help with that too. Clicking on the Publish Site icon on the Standard Menu brings up the dialog box to begin the publishing sequence. The site can either be published locally (on the hard drive) or to any FTP, SFTP, or WebDAV server. Just fill in the information (server type, address, directory, user name, and password), click, and presto ... it's on the web! There are a few other steps, but you get the picture.
Conclusions
At $195.95 ($104.95 for upgrading from a previous release), NetObjects Fusion 8 is a very comprehensive, well integrated, sophisticated yet simple website design package. From the individual wanting to post photos for other family members to view to the small business wanting a bold presence on the web, NetObjects Fusion version 8 offers a complete solution to the design and creation process.
Without much experience, it's possible to design a website and have it up and running quickly. This latest version of NetObjects Fusion should provide the necessary tools needed by designers and developers for some time to come.
