XSitePro 2 vs. WebPlus X2

by kowulz
13 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
  • |
Has anyone out here tried both XSitePro 2 and WebPlus X2?

I have designed websites since 1984. I primarily use FrontPage with several other softwares and both of these seem to integrate alot of the other software, making better use of my time. It looks like WebPusX2 (which is about an hundred dollars less than XSitePro 2), has more built-in eCommerce features.

I do have DreamWeaver, but have never taken the time to learn it, as I currently have dozens of clients.

Can anyone please give me an honest comparison of the two without an upsell?

Thanks
#web design #webplus #webplus x2 #xsitepro #xsitepro 2
  • Profile picture of the author salesmanger
    umm i cant really vote im still learning but i have xsitepro 2 and it looks awesome and doesnt seem that complicated im still trying to learn some stuff but from what i understand its not as hard as some html editors
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    • Profile picture of the author kowulz
      Thanks SM,

      XSitePro does look great. For some reason, a lot of the reviews say it is great for novices, but not professionals. I don't know why YET!
      Signature

      Rock Cowles

      www.Kowulz.com
      "Argue your limitations and they are yours!" - Anthony Robbins
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      • Profile picture of the author RichardHK
        Originally Posted by kowulz View Post

        Thanks SM,
        XSitePro does look great. For some reason, a lot of the reviews say it is great for novices, but not professionals. I don't know why YET!
        Kowulz,

        I am a long time Dreamweaver user and been thinking about XsitePro to speed up my work, as well as make use of all those WordPress-like plugins and automation that XsitePro has. However, like you I am still wondering about making the move due to the non-professional aspects of XsitePro I have noticed.

        Now, I am no superduper expert, but codewise, the XsitePro sites I have looked at are a mass of horrible scripts with css written all over the place. Very messy indeed which turns me off. Also, running the W3C validators on XsitePro sites (even their own site) turns up lots of errors. Now this may be acceptable to quickbuilders but not me.

        And the XsitePro sites seem to use so many tables for formatting which is something I have moved away from (using tables as such is very much outdated). Tables are for data, and format tables are baggage, like the messy css and scripts, so these sites are not going to run fast. And did I say the code looks horrible.

        Just my 2 cents as they say. Like you I would like to hear from a pro website builder who can confirm or correct what I have said above. I was going to ask XsitePro themselves the same questions as my XCommentPro add-in works great except for the W3C validation errors!

        Edit: Just back from a quick look at the Webplus X4 product and WOW, does it look good. Assuming they built their own site with same, there are no tables, tidy css, and well, a very promising start. I will spend more time with Webplus X4 tomorrow, but I can already see the advantages it has. And it can import html files, and more... Again, look forward to some more comments here from experienced coders who flipped to the other side (automation).
        Signature

        Richard, Hong Kong
        Business Consulting

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        • Profile picture of the author JKing
          I agree with Richard,

          XSite Pro really does have some antiquainted code usage. Tables everywhere! I believe they just got lazy and used the IDE options that Visual Studio provides, along with the .Net frame work.

          WebPlus 4, on the other hand, looks REALLY nice.

          I remember their first package: WebPlus

          It had the same drag and drop approach, but the software created one long, huge webpage that was divided up whenever you clicked on the different links. I believe they made heavy use of achor links back then.

          But if it's not like the above mentioned, past experience, from first glance at WebPlus4, I would say they are years ahead of ANY of the competition.

          I wonder if you can import your own templates?

          John
          Signature
          Turbo Flex Pro Theme Master - Turn Single Templates and Webpages Into Complete WordPress Blogs!
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  • Profile picture of the author vebxperts
    Only one opinion yet! Can anyone else take part and share there experience about the best builder please?
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  • Profile picture of the author RichardHK
    An update on my research and choice. Not going with XSitePro due to tables legacy overhead as mentioned earlier, and also not going with WebPlus X4 due to restrictions as noted by drunkenmonkey above. NOt going with any builder option at all.

    As I want to move with the times, yet make good productive use of my Dreamweaver xhtml/cc skills, I have chosen to work with the relatively new MODx Revolution CMS/CMF. With its power, easily accessible by long-time coders like me (and I guess OP kowultz too), it makes the choice obvious. I nearly went with Joomla or Drupal but MODx gives me 100% control over SEO and all other necessary website aspects. The only downside is lack of complex plugins at this stage, but everything you need for most sites is ready.
    Signature

    Richard, Hong Kong
    Business Consulting

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    • Profile picture of the author Brett2000
      Hi All,

      Ok, here's a Professional Opinion for you... I've been coding websites since 1995! I used to hand code using HomeSite, and had moved everything over to XML standards a few years back.

      The last 2 years I've been deep into XSitePro, and WordPress sites (as has everyone else). XSitePro is legacy code, but sometimes it's actually easier to work with then dumping 2 hours into getting a div float to work right (been there, done that too).... Big deal on the Tables, as Google still admires my XSitePro websites, and a few of my XSitePro sites are ranked higher then the WP sites I tried creating. Bottom line on XSitePro, it's legacy code, so what, it still works, and the support forums for it are great.

      Last week I made the jump and bought WebPlus X4 - I can't say I have experience with it yet, but from what I see so far, it's amazing. I banged out a test site, added a Membership payment (PayPal, so no huge deal) and dropped in some images, frames and then previewed the site in Firefox. The code I saw was mind-numbingly 'NICE': short, sweet all nicely styled divs, and well done... however, it's still not XML standards on the DOCTYPE - which is what is driving me nuts with XSitePro too - I want to run XML required code (such as popups, etc) so, we'll have to see if I can edit the DOCTYPE in WebPlus.

      Overall - Wow - so my quick 'Professional Review'
      **** (4/5) XSitePro - legacy, but it does what it needs to, and fast, worth the price.
      ****.5 (4.5/5) WebPlus X4 - Great CSS code, but the support is a little shakey, and not as professional.
      *** (3/5) WordPress - Does everything I want, and need, but takes forever to setup/maintain, and have to constantly check in to update things, not pretty.

      I hope that helps...
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanhall789
    XsitePro 2 is much more convenient to use rather than wasting time DIV tags and other software. This is my personal experience with Xsitepro 2.
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  • Profile picture of the author kowulz
    Thanks for the feedback. I have been using XSitePro for over a year and it is competent, easy to use software. I don't think it has the full range of capabilities that FrontPage has, but it does the job for simple sites. I set up www.bentnuts.com recently using it in a few hours. Much more time was involved in researching the content than anything else.

    Its definitely worth the money for someone starting off or just wanting web sites for themselves. I will continue investigating others.

    I don't find WordPress to be nearly as simple or very user friendly myself.
    Signature

    Rock Cowles

    www.Kowulz.com
    "Argue your limitations and they are yours!" - Anthony Robbins
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    • Profile picture of the author Seany D
      WebPlus X4 is truly amazing. The code is clean, you have complete control over your sites content (XsitePro has some limitations) and I can build amazing looking sites with WebPlus X4.

      I made the switch from Xsite to Webplus X4 two years ago and have never looked back since, and I consider myself to be a pro with WebPlus X4.

      If you want to see some of my work using WebPlus, just PM me and I'll send you a link. *They are adult sites, so I don't want to post the links here.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Melvin
    From my experience I much prefer XSitePro. It is really simple to use and anyone can make a nice looking website with it. I used to use Wordpress but this is just a lot more simple to use!
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    • Profile picture of the author Seany D
      edit: wrong thread
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