Cotton

Has anyone used this software to create a website? Would you recommend it?

DNChamp

I love it....if you want static looking sites its great...you can build complete websites with all the widgets and such its just the templates are so so....otherwise a great package!

coco28

I've used it, its good if you don't know how to create a website and want to get one up quickly. It's also good if you want to create a static site as opposed to a wordpress site. Definitlely worth the money in my opinion.

Andy

Cotton,

XSitePro is an excellent program but there is a learning curve. Also, while I've seen some pretty amazing sites built using it, I still manage to come up with crappy ones.

To get an idea of what I mean - search on XSitePro Templates. You'll see one or two developers who offer some outstanding work.

One more thing, the customer service is outstanding. If you have a problem they go out of their way to help. I've actually insisted they pass on my compliments to Paul Smithson on a couple of occasions and then checked to make sure they did.

God bless,

Andy

Crew Chief

XSitePro is a premier website builder that will allow you to come out of the gate building sites as if you are a seasoned web designer.

The XSitePro system is all encompassing; meaning:

• It's got FTP built in
• You can preview a site and each page prior to publishing
• Automatically creates RSS Feeds few clicks of your mouse
• Automatically creates mobile site few clicks of your mouse
• Goes through On Page SEO check
• Instantly monetize site with a few clicks of your mouse
• You can do virtually everything without ever getting into coding
• Adding pics, scripts and links are a walk in the park
• Tons of other options and features

Overall, if you want an intuitive website building system, XSitePro is IT!

Giles, the Crew Chief

InternetMarketingIQ

Take the time to learn WordPress you'll be glad you did.

XsitePro relies on Micrsoft.NET... ick! You crash/lock your system and try to use the System Restore and all your XsitePro files get jacked up. SAD.

XsitePro is also not very good with large sites as it takes forever constantly recompiling. They claim this is better with the new version.

So it's an Okay program that makes sites look pretty much the same. The Template available are not that great. I no longer use the program.

Having said that I still promote it because it is useful for small mininets you want to create very quickly, simple squeeze pages, and does help you make better SEO Decisions if you will let it.

But if you really want to make nice sites that are simple to maintain... WordPress Baby!

sanhal

I've only ever used XSite Pro so I can't compare it with anything else.
One thing I can say for it is that it was easy enough for me to create a website and I am not technically minded.

I have had a few problems with it from time to time and one of my sites takes a long time to load. Support told me it was because the sales page had a lot of tables in it.

The thing that I don't like about it is that once you created a site all the pages will look the same.

I have a sales page and squeeze page on the same domain and want a header graphic on the sales page but not on the squeeze page but it can't be done.

I have asked on the forum but I hope that someone here might tell me there is a way.

Sandy

PatriciaJ

XsitePro 2 is fine with large sites and it has more design flexibility than the old version had. Saying that I can put a wordpress blog up very quickly so nowadays I tend to be lazy and use Wordpress as first choice.

Crew Chief

You might want to take a look at your system(s) because I've been using XSitePro on a PC and laptop since 2006 and have never had either of my systems lock due to XSitePro.

Moreover, everyone that I communicate with in the IM business have had nothing but success with this amazing system. We even exchange templates with each other and again, no issues.

Again, this may be a system issue; it's defintely not a XSitePro issue. I've got authority sites, (well over 300 pages, not including about, contact, legal, etc.) and they are all built with XSitePro and maintained with XSitePro.

Honestly, I've never used any of the templates because it's easier to start from scratch, order a header and/or footer and make each site look the way you want it to look.

In addition, there are plenty of designers who can make a template for you that is easily imported into XSitePro.

I've already addressed the issue about the size of the sites built with XSitePro and there are a lot of XSitePro users who will confirm that you can build authority sites with XSitePro with ease.

As a matter of fact, that is what XSitePro is designed for and it works as promised!

They will also confirm, that they've never had any type of issues that InternetMarketingIQ stated.

Overall, XSitePro is a winner!

Giles, the Crew Chief

Andy

Hi Sandy,

Sure you can do this. On any page you want you can go to the Info tab and click "ignore page layout settings" so the page is stripped of any layout. If you want to get rid of JUST the header, copy and paste the source code from a page WITH layout settings intact and paste them into the page you want to delete the header from. Then delete the header.

If you want something totally different like a pre-made squeeze page, just paste the code from your squeeze page into the source code.

BTW - I also use wordpress and I use Trellian web page depending on what I want to do. Trellian and wp are both free and easy ways to learn to get stuff up. And in the end it's the content that will make most of the difference. You can buy "pretty" at bargain prices if that is what you need.

God bless,

Andy

WBiz

Has anyone tried using Site Profit Bot software for automated site creation as an alternative to the XSitePro?

Thanks.

Mike Grant

I'd recommend just using wordpress and using backups to duplicate the process over and over.

Scrambler

I have used Xsite since its version I days, after leaving SBI, and can say its easy to use and worth the money. I cant say I experienced any problems some of the other posters here had.

If you want to learn some good website design skills WP is free and does a nice job. You can always do some WP sites, make some money then put your money into Xsite. However if you want to make you job go easier and a lot quicker drop the money on Xsite.

Alton Hargrave

I have used it for 2 or 3 years. Personally, I think it is great. Especially the latest version. It is suitable for newbies and experienced folks. But, there is some time needed at the beginning to learn how to use it. Nothing to be afraid of.
Alton

Kevin_Hutto

Xsitepro is great and wordpress is great... Either one is probably a good choice and both have learning curves...

The best thing to me about xsitepro is that its very good at managing sites and keeping them organized... The only downsides I have found - first is that it doesnt run on a MAC and I dont like running Parallels so I have to have a PC laptop... The second downside is that you cant just import a site into it... If the site wasnt created with Xsitepro then you have to rebuild the site in xsitepro to have it...

Other good things... You can crank out pages and sites FAST... So it is easy to build very big sites. Another good thing is that it is really set up for sales letters and squeeze pages... So if thats what you do, then it will be perfect.

katied772

Are the sites in your signature done with Xsite Pro. If so, did you do the templates or start with one of the ready-made ones. Would love to do a shopping style site similar to your Jerseys one. Thanks, Kate

bluesnake132

I recommend use wordpress. That's easy to create a website friendly with google.

Doug Nicholson

I have built a number of sites with version 1 of the software and a couple of sites with version 2. Version 2 has a lot of feature but I have found it has some bugs though. A big one is it seems to have a problem saving pages sometimes that you are working on. And yes I contacted support and did everything they suggested but it still can be a big pain at times.

Its awesome for site building as others have said but as long as this version has been on the market it seems they should have gotten the bugs out of it by now.

Doug

adell50

wordpress is taking over! while i am still learning how to move things around, i use 99designs to help with the design and im off to the races....the support community is awesome too!

Ive never tried xsite

luvtrees

I think XSP is showing it's age nowadays. Wordpress, and Joomla, to a lesser extent, is the present and future.

Ray Erdmann

I've built sites w/both versions and really like v2 better...which is a no brainer if you ask me.

As for the debate about XSP vs WP, they both have a learning curve in order to use each system to its fullest.

When talking about Wordpress, it's just not install and off to the races, as most would make you think. You still have to go out and install all the necessary 'plugins' to really get the major benefits wordpress has to offer in regards to SEO.

Now, while XSP gives you a complete SEO overview of your site once its been compiled, it doesn't offer all the "bells/whistles" when it comes to plugs...at least those regarding SEO. However, the 'design wizards' are pretty slick and w/a little 'out of the box thinking', could do wonders for your site.

Also, I think depending on which one you use will also depend on what you do for a business. If you're into offline consulting and part of that is web site creation, I'd go w/XSP. On the other hand, if you're into "Internet Marketing" and you're focusing on "reviews" and 'squeeze pages', I'd say go w/Wordpress.

As stated, if you get a good header/footer created, then using XSP can be as good, if not on par, with WP.

creativentrepreneur

I agree with your points above as I use both XsitePro and WordPress extensively. I prefer to use XSP for corporate and static sites and combine them with WP for the blog engine.

Couple of custom XSP sites I created:

www.ciaracorp.com (2nd place winner in the XSitePro Design Competition)
www.cavalierfreight.com

The main downside of WP is the continuous requirements for version as well as plugin upgrades ...

I also like the XCommentPro product which adds the commenting script to XSP which takes your site closer to that of a WP site.

Hope this helps.

Andy

misty2000

XsitePro version 2 is a breeze to use. I actually prefer this program to Wordpress.

The best part I like about the program is the ability to make your web pages SEO friendly easily. Adding content or other pages can be done quickly and efficiently.

Crew Chief

Andy, your sites are bangin!!!

Giles the Crew Chief

F1SEO

I bought Xsite Pro and didn't take to it. It takes quite a lot of time to work things out and to learn how to use it. Not dissing it but saying that you need to comit some time and experimentation to make it work.

I prefer Wordpress. For me I can just find all the themes, plugins I want, make some graphic adjustments and we're away .. plus WP is better for SEO .. it will get content on to Google much faster than a static website.

I can see how XSP would be great for quickly creating small websites though.

Pluton

I agree with Kevin especially his last paragraph. Once you have a little experience with XSP and a few templates stored you can, using Kevins word, crank out sites so fast, it's unbelievable.

Following on from Andy's comment, I also use XSP with a WP blog attached and find that it works very well.

Bruce NewMedia

WP may get sites indexed a bit faster than a static site builder like XSitepro, but I have found it easier to keep sites ranked if they are static sites. (whether Xsitepro or Dreamweaver built or whatever. WP sites seem to take considerably more effort to remain ranked and I hate the constant updating WP requires to avoid hacking etc.
_____
Bruce

jayman

I have similar finding with bruce, wp sites rank faster but xsitepro sites are easier to maintain their ranking in big G and don't need constant updating

Christophe Young

How would you attach a WP blog to a site built with XSP?

I'm trying to build a website with WP and it's frustrating as it's only a simple site with static pages. But, I want one blog page so I'm thinking XSP would be better for this purpose.

Lance K

Just go into your cpanel and install WP. If you build a site at www[dot]yoursite[dot]com, you could create a directory and install the blog wherever you want. For example, you could use www[dot]yoursite[dot]com/blog or www[dot]yoursite[dot]com/news, or whatever you want.

XSP would still be used to build any pages of your site which aren't in the directory where WP is installed.

Joseph Then

I've built 2 mammoth sites with over 250+ pages just by using XSitePro. Updating ALL the sites are just clicks away.

Crew Chief

What Lance said...

What Lance said +

You want to ADD the Blog to XSitePro as an "External Page" plus add the blog to your XSitePro Sitemap

Next, you want to go to your blog and place a link in the footer that points to your XSitePro home page via your primary anchored Keyword phrase.

One other thing that I do is lightly pepper a few inner pages with anchored text links from the Blog to the XSitePro side and vice-a-versa.

Now the two sites are joined at the hip.

Duly note: I always set this up so that a surfer goes from the blog to the XSitePro side or vice-a-versa in the same window. AND, I use the same header, and footer on both sites.

Giles, the Crew Chief

Christophe Young

Thanks Lance,

So, I'm thinking all the Wordpress files would go in a folder called Blog that I created as a directory in my cpanel.

All my regular website files would go in the main Public_HTML folder.

I'm still trying to create this site with Wordpress but it's frustrating. I created a theme with Artisteer and I'm having issues with certain things and I don't understand PHP at all.

I'll keep trying to get it right, but if I can't, I might just give up and go with XSP and start over.

RoyChan

it's easy to get XSP and WP to work together. there is a site which teaches just that - google xsp to wordpress there is an ebook which teaches you just that.

it takes about 15 minutes to walk you through step by step. worth a go.

Crew Chief

I wouldn't touch that xsp to wordpress ebook with a 50 foot pole!

I bought it when it first came out and that exercise they put you through with the coding and all, is not worth the time of the effort - when you can connect the sites together through inner page linking and the sitemaps.

You get the same effect as if you bought the ebook, followed the instructions and got their rather complicated system to work.

Giles, the Crew Chief

Joseph Johnson

Any tips on learning to create sites like that?

niles

I liked Xsite pro, but I was unable to transfer my websites when I bought a new computer.

I tried to upload the xsite pro backups, but it did not work.

teleam

I assume you're talking about the book that sells for $49.00? Are their directions for using what you use? (inner page linking and sitemaps)

Tom

Marty S

There was a webinar for v2.5 the other day that I missed and I was interested to see what is new. I can't find it online, but if any of you recorded it I would be interested in seeing the video.

Thanks.

powyoung

The software is good and if you have some design experience not hard to use at all.

What I don't like is that it crashes a lot. Although I only have 512 mB of ram. If you run it have at least 1 MB.

Other than that it's much better than dreamweaver or Front Page and is designed for IMers.

It's great for making squeeze pages, but some people say WP ranks better for Niche sites.

Crew Chief

Actually Tom, they have you going into the backend [coding] on both platforms, XSitePro and WordPress.

I struggled with following their instructions before turning over the project to one of my engineers, who is a Level 3 engineer, mind you... after he examined the instructions, he blasted me for wasting $49.00 on a bunch of worthless instructions.

As I stated previously, you can accomplish the same objective by inner linking ans using the same header and graphical layout.

Almost all of the sites I launch with XSitePro are inner connected to WordPress blogs and all most all of them share the same PR and Alexa rankings. [Not that Alexa rankings mean anything].

Giles, the Crew Chief

arttse

Can you link pages to folders using Xsite pro?

eg. mysite.com/folder/article.html

instead of:

mysite.com/article.html

drnet

I attended teh webinar and it got me xsited about working with xsite pro again. Unfortunately I did not record it and they did not send out the recording either.

The new upgrades are very cool as you can not integrate facebook I llike button and twitter into every post. There are also many new upgraded and decent templates available.

There are lots of other upgrades that are coming with it as well.

I started building out an xsite pro site with 2.5 template and so far it is coming good..lots to do yet on this site, but you can see what I was easily able to do.

- Home

I have noticed too that wordpress sites, although they rank fast, do not see to hold their rankings and I am moving in the direction of static sites with xsite pro with wordpress integrated for an extra boost.

DR NET

Crew Chief

You lost me on that one...

Giles, the Crew Chief

teleam

Thank you Giles. I am going to save this thread and use the posts you made earlier regarding inner linking and sitemap.

Tom

Xmas

I use XsitePro 2.

I like it for the most part. But as I have advanced it has not kept up.

Like when I want to put a video on a page but not have the control buttons active. XsitePro2 can not do that.

I had to build a static page (I use Trellian, a free WYSIWYG editor) to build the page then spent half a day learning how to add a player and the code to remove the controls.

Also, if you want to line up a video with an email capture box next to it, XsitePro2 has a tough time with it. I had to build that page outside of XsitePro2 also.

Also, one of the servers I use - has FTPS instead of FTP. I could not get XsitePro2 to connect and upload my site. I had to publish it locally and then upload through my FTP client.

It is not perfect, but when you are just starting out, it is good. I found gobs of templates and I found using Gimp (a free graphic editor program) I can modify the graphics in the templates to my liking.

As I have grown as a marketer it appears XsitePro2 is not keeping up with me.

katied772

Wow! I love your site. What template did you use?

Bobru

I use XSP and WordPress. I like them both. There is supposed to be an update coming out, with more features. I got an email about it awhile ago; but they didn't say when it was coming out. A couple of sites I built (one still in development) are:
AnimalHavenRescue
Chooch's North Brookfield MA - Home

jacksonlin

XSP is awesome if you are a noob and want to make a site real quick!

I use both XSP and Wordpress, but I prefer XSP because it's easier to use.

Pete Lauder

XsitePro is fantastic for quick sites, and very easy to use for first timers, and newbies.

One of the greatest challenges for newbies is editing, as you edit your previously published XSitePro site, you get to see the results instantly, in true WYSIWYG style.

When you add, or delete pages, all the navigation automatically updates.

Just click publish, and everything updates.

Wordpress is a great platform, but is much trickier to use, especially for newbies.

The 2 both have SEO advantages, and it all depends on your skill level, and what your site will be used for.

The beta testing of version 2.5 is underway, as mentioned previously, and I like it, sticking with the ease of use policy, Intellimon have brought in some nice new features, presently on beta K, the release should not be far away now.