SiteSpinner Question....

spinner

spinner

...I am about to purchase SiteSpinner, a website creation program for people who don't know anything about creating websites. It looks pretty good, but I wondered if anyone else had used this program.

...I tend to try to get as much information as I can when I make a purchase concerning this film stuff so if anyone has an opinion about this program, could you give your take?

I would like to have a background that (maybe?) dissolves to about 4 different background pictures and I was wondering if this program would allow me to do that. Does anybody know :huh:

...thanks in advance for the help!

--spinner :cool:
 
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Never heard of it, but seems to be popular with newbies. Have you looked at Dreamweaver? I have not used either.
 
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Site Spinner

I've bought it and you can actually create very professional sites with it... Here's the way I see it...

If you're more in tune with paste up art i.e., pasting everything up by hand, Site Spinner might be the way to go...

If you would rather work from templates and simply enter information, you might be better off with something like Dreamweaver or Front Page... I actually use all three.

I've only built one site with Site Spinner just to test it out:

http://www.philipsciortino.com --A sculptor friend of mine... I literally built that site from scratch in 2 hours and that's why I like Site Spinner... One thing... If you want your pages to look consistent, you pretty much want to create your own template anyway. You also need a sense of SPACE i.e., measuring things by eye more than relying on the software. That's the real beauty of the software... Being able to position ANYTHING wherever you want it on the page and lock it in place.

If you're still not sure, download a free copy of Web Dwarf V2 and use it on a few web pages... It's a fully functional program but has less features than Site Spinner. However, if you decide to upgrade, the learning curve is really easy...

But definitely try Web Dwarf first to see if the program will be instinctive/intuitive for you... Web Dwarf is exactly like Site Spinner with less features.

Hope that helps...

filmy
 
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...the reason I am looking at SiteSpinner is because I couldn't create a website to save my life, and it seems as if my contacts in the website creator area have dried up, so I will have to learn how to do this myself. Also, the program is only about $50 bucks or so, I can scrape that together even at Christmas time....

...what kind of look do I want....
I would love as professional a look as I can possibly get considering I have to do it myself. I would like to have the picture on the background change, I would like to have my logo on the site, I would like to be able to eventually add audio/video to the site, preferably something that cannot be taken off and put on the internet (I think that means to stream???) It doesn't have to be too involved, but I would like it to look a little polished....

...I have not tried Dreamweaver or Frontpage be cause I was of the understanding that they were kind of complicated programs that you needed to have some background making websites with. Since I don't have any knowledge of html or java (outside it being coffee :D ) or any of that, I was looking for something simple to create...it seems that a drop down menu may be out of my league right now...

Filmy...

I seem to be able to make good collages, I think I am pretty good at spacing things, I have to use photoshop at work, but even though there are people who know the system better than I do, I think I do pretty good with the things I create...

...I think I will at least take a look at web dwarf and the other programs. Once I get it made I will need to be able to connect it with the site of my address, my host is yahoo and I have the site for about 2 years. I would like to have this site up at the latest by next monday....

--spinner :cool:

ps, Filmy, just looked at Mr. Sciortino's site, I think its nice. If I can get my background to change pictures like the slide show with a dissolve instead of a take, I think I could be happy. I will need alot of scrolls, though, like on the bio page, I have alot of stuff to put on here...:cool:
 
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Aren't there other people here that do a bit of web design.. I mean, other than me.. ;)

spinner, I'm sure you could still have contacts, if you wanted....

All the little javascript and dhtml (Dynamic HTML) nuggets you need and/or what can be found freely too. Give google a whirl. Here's a dropdown menu I just spotted, looks pretty slick.
 
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Site Spinner

spinner said:
...the reason I am looking at SiteSpinner is because I couldn't create a website to save my life, and it seems as if my contacts in the website creator area have dried up, so I will have to learn how to do this myself. Also, the program is only about $50 bucks or so, I can scrape that together even at Christmas time....

...what kind of look do I want....
I would love as professional a look as I can possibly get considering I have to do it myself. I would like to have the picture on the background change, I would like to have my logo on the site, I would like to be able to eventually add audio/video to the site, preferably something that cannot be taken off and put on the internet (I think that means to stream???) It doesn't have to be too involved, but I would like it to look a little polished....

...I have not tried Dreamweaver or Frontpage be cause I was of the understanding that they were kind of complicated programs that you needed to have some background making websites with. Since I don't have any knowledge of html or java (outside it being coffee :D ) or any of that, I was looking for something simple to create...it seems that a drop down menu may be out of my league right now...

Filmy...

I seem to be able to make good collages, I think I am pretty good at spacing things, I have to use photoshop at work, but even though there are people who know the system better than I do, I think I do pretty good with the things I create...

...I think I will at least take a look at web dwarf and the other programs. Once I get it made I will need to be able to connect it with the site of my address, my host is yahoo and I have the site for about 2 years. I would like to have this site up at the latest by next monday....

--spinner :cool:

ps, Filmy, just looked at Mr. Sciortino's site, I think its nice. If I can get my background to change pictures like the slide show with a dissolve instead of a take, I think I could be happy. I will need alot of scrolls, though, like on the bio page, I have alot of stuff to put on here...:cool:
Click to expand...
I just built the site because he needed it up and running quickly because of some clients wanting to look at all his work...

I decided a very simple clean look would be best to accomplish what he wanted... I had just purchased Site Spinner after having used Web Dwarf a few times to make basic web pages... Site Spinner is exactly like Web Dwarf with just some extra features added on... Give it a try... You might find that Web Dwarf is all you need...

filmy
 
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...Will, I gotta tell you, all that code stuff makes my eyes glaze over :eek: I was going to work with someone from the boards, but I can't seem to contact 'em. So, I guess I'm on my own 'cuz I can't pay anyone for this service. But that's okay. I'll just have to figure out the short cuts and then try to figure out the rest as I go...

...Dreamweaver is $399 and Front Page is $199. SiteSpinner is $49 and I can put it up in possibly an afternoon and right now time is something I don't really have anymore... I can always have the site re-done if I need to...

...thanks for trying to help, though... :) I appreciate the advice...as I always do...

Filmy, if you made that with Web Dwarf, maybe that is all I need right now, however, can you give me an idea of what the differences are between the two? Sometimes I will get the 'extended' versions of things for the 'potential' of doing something more involved. I am asking alot of questions right now because as it turns out I have a three day weekend (I get the 26th off, yay!) so if I could get going on this, it would make me happy...

basically, I need to touch base with some of the subjects of the project I am working on, and I would really like to do that in a timely fashion. I already feel too much time has passed, its been a few weeks and I would like to maintain my credibility....

--spinner :cool:
 
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Web Dwarf vs. SiteSpinner

spinner said:
...Will, I gotta tell you, all that code stuff makes my eyes glaze over :eek: I was going to work with someone from the boards, but I can't seem to contact 'em. So, I guess I'm on my own 'cuz I can't pay anyone for this service. But that's okay. I'll just have to figure out the short cuts and then try to figure out the rest as I go...

...Dreamweaver is $399 and Front Page is $199. SiteSpinner is $49 and I can put it up in possibly an afternoon and right now time is something I don't really have anymore... I can always have the site re-done if I need to...

...thanks for trying to help, though... :) I appreciate the advice...as I always do...

Filmy, if you made that with Web Dwarf, maybe that is all I need right now, however, can you give me an idea of what the differences are between the two? Sometimes I will get the 'extended' versions of things for the 'potential' of doing something more involved. I am asking alot of questions right now because as it turns out I have a three day weekend (I get the 26th off, yay!) so if I could get going on this, it would make me happy...

basically, I need to touch base with some of the subjects of the project I am working on, and I would really like to do that in a timely fashion. I already feel too much time has passed, its been a few weeks and I would like to maintain my credibility....

--spinner :cool:
Click to expand...
You know... Off the top of my head, I can't remember the differences but I know they are minimal... Hence the reason I say to go ahead and download Web Dwarf to see if you even like it... SiteSpinner's extra features are features you may not even need...

All I know is that I used Web Dwarf off and on for a couple of years and finally decided to upgrade to SiteSpinner and after doing so, I realized that I could have kept Web Dwarf and done just about all the same things...

filmy
 
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spinner,

Forgot to mention that there is another program that is similar to Web Dwarf and SiteSpinner called:

WYSIWYG Web Builder which might work for you also... Very similar to Site Spinner and is only $20. They have a freeware version that I have tried before and works pretty well... You might want to give it a try first and see if you like it better than Web Dwarf... If so, you can always upgrade to the paid version to get rid of the nag screen...

filmy

EDIT: Lots of free templates are available with it too...
 
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...you have given me alot to look over in the next few days. I will make sure I let you know what I decided upon once I choose one and let you know where to look for the site as well...

...btw, you friend does nice work....

....still keeping a good thought for your 'cool little horror film' and thanks for the help...

--spinner :cool:
 
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spinner said:
...you have given me alot to look over in the next few days. I will make sure I let you know what I decided upon once I choose one and let you know where to look for the site as well...

...btw, you friend does nice work....

....still keeping a good thought for your 'cool little horror film' and thanks for the help...

--spinner :cool:
Click to expand...
No problem... Hope you find one that fits the bill...

filmy

EDIT: I forgot about this other free web page editor: Nvu --Another nice free html WYSIWYG editor...
 
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...oh, I agree that to learn some of the codes would be cool, unfortunately I have almost no free time, which even cuts into how often I can work on my project. Right now, I am worried about my website and I think I need to get that online post haste.

...If things go well, maybe I will actually have some free time, still preparing grants to go out you know, then not only can I do the codes stuff, but take on a few other things that might be useful.

...as of now, however, everything feels like it is in limbo until I get that site up...I kinda have tunnel vision about this...

--spinner :cool:
 
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...hi, guys! hope everyone is having a nice holiday :)

I decided to purchase the Site Spinner program and I have downloaded it onto my pc. What I am doing now is going through the tutorials.

the problem I am finding is that: I am being sent to 'buttons' that don't seem to be there; I am being directed to dialog boxes that are not there; I am being asked to click on 'buttons' in the toolbar that I can't seem to find.

...has anyone else had this problem? Maybe I got a corrupted download or something, but when I am following along the tutorial text and it tells me to look in the quick editor for a 'create a new shading definition' , I have yet to find this prompt.

...if I go to the 'object' menu there is a 'quick properties editor' but I still have not seen the 'create a new shading definition' prompt. Is this editor the same as the 'quick editor'? I would assume it would not be...

...I am sure this is operator error, but I am following along as closely as possible. I am pretty sure that I am making this harder than it has to be, but if I don't see it, I don't see it...

any suggestions?

--spinner :cool:

EDIT: ...hmm, maybe I am being to 'literal'.......

EDIT 2: ...actually, maybe I'm not, can't make it rotate, but I am doing exactly as the tutorial says....
 
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...okay, this is what I am finding about this program....

...the tutorial is kind of shot through with typos and a few inconsistancies. I am finding that if something doesn't coincide with the tutorial and my 'exercises', then what I have to do is try to go forward with the exercise and figure out some of the buttons. For example:

there is a place where the tutorial says there should be a prompt that says: 'create new shading definition?' Okay, there is no 'prompt' first of all. secondly, once I figured out what it needed me to do, it said: 'create new shading attributes?' Now that may not seem like much to you, but if you don't know anything about creating a website, I don't know about anyone else, but I look for the same wording or else I think I am in the wrong window.

...it also said: if you do not get a 'shading definition' prompt, click the 'new' button. There is no 'new' button per se. There is a button that will 'create new shading attribute'. That's what I needed all along, but I was looking for other things and that was what was slowing me down.

...there are many places where this has happened and I assume that the problem is more along the lines of: whoever put together the tutorial fell into the trap of knowing so much that some things that they
need to tell us, doesn't always match.

...oh, well. Semantics and all that. The program seems to be pretty straight forward and I think I am getting the hang of it, but to put a site together in a matter of hours? No way. I have to go through the tutorial (I am halfway through) then see where I am. I have yet to figure out how to add a place for my entries and updates, but I figure I haven't gotten to that yet. I'll keep you guys posted on my progress....

...once more into the breach.....

--spinner :cool:
 
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Hi, guys!

I haven't been around for a while, I have been trying to work on my project which is still going slowly. But I do have some information online that I intend to connect to the website I am working on. Pretty much, I've been putting info online without the official website prepared. This is the first weekend I have had to even attempt to create 'pages' for the site.

I was wondering, especially to those who have used SiteSpinner like Filmy, should I just go with some of the default settings? One of the defaults is with images and is defaulting to PNG. Does it matter if I change it to JPEG? I was thinking that JPEG was more widely used, or GIF for the pictures.

also, if anyone has any quick tips they can spare, I would appreciate it. I am trying to layout my background, which I made in Photoshop and could use any advice you could give.

...thanks alot and I will try to be around more....I miss you guys!


-- spinner :cool:
 
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spinner said:
Hi, guys!

I haven't been around for a while, I have been trying to work on my project which is still going slowly. But I do have some information online that I intend to connect to the website I am working on. Pretty much, I've been putting info online without the official website prepared. This is the first weekend I have had to even attempt to create 'pages' for the site.

I was wondering, especially to those who have used SiteSpinner like Filmy, should I just go with some of the default settings? One of the defaults is with images and is defaulting to PNG. Does it matter if I change it to JPEG? I was thinking that JPEG was more widely used, or GIF for the pictures.

also, if anyone has any quick tips they can spare, I would appreciate it. I am trying to layout my background, which I made in Photoshop and could use any advice you could give.

...thanks alot and I will try to be around more....I miss you guys!


-- spinner :cool:
Click to expand...
I haven't used SiteSpinner for a while but if memory serves... I think that mine did in fact default to .jpg but only at 75% resolution...

.png files are much higher res and should be viewable in everyone's browser but they do take a little longer for the browser to download...

So...

If you go with using .jpg files, increase the quality to 100% and if you use .png... No problem. They should be okay. You might want to check browser download time with a couple of sample pages... Broadband users will totally be okay... It's the dialup users that are going to have to wait a little longer.

filmy
 
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