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XsitePro2 or Dreamweaver - Should I change?

by TelegramSam
16 replies
Hello everyone,

We can build sites using dreamweaver with no real problems. We have used it for years and know html and css well.

However, I read good things about xsitepro2 and wondered if we should start using it.

I may be wrong, but it seems that many of the people who use xsitepro have no or little knowledge of html and can't use dreamweaver.

What advantages and disadvantages does xsitepro2 have compared to dreamweaver.

We have a heavy work load coming up and need to get built approximately 160 websites in the next 6 months with content ranging from just 10 pages up to about 100 pages per site.

I also want to know if we are able to incorporate our shopping carts using xsitepro, which consist of simple static pages and forms.

So should we invest in xsitepro or not?

Money is not really the issue as its only $197. It more wasted time learning and using something that would give us no improvements over dreamweaver.

So let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Sam
#change #dreamweaver #xsitepro2
  • Profile picture of the author Intrepreneur
    XSitePro is great, for fast website building, very customizable and all round good.

    If I knew how to use dreamweaver, I'm sure that I would only ever use it for minisites.
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    SEO, copywriting and backlinks service UK
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    • Profile picture of the author SMS
      XsitePro is the bees knees. Buying XSP2 is (pound4pound) one of the best investments I've made.
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  • Profile picture of the author footpod
    Hi Sam, I use both

    Here are the advantages of Xsite pro

    Quick to churn out seo friendly sites.
    Large user community interested in marketing not arguing about css etc so you are probably right in your assumption
    Plenty of templates around
    can use php and html extensions for dynamic pages

    Disadvantages

    Some templates look like... templates
    Not immediately obvious where to add adjustments and code
    *maybe* doesn't produce valid code but I haven't confirmed this

    hth
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  • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
    Sam,

    I have similar experience to you. I know XHTML, CSS and Coldfusion. I've been using Dreamweaver since it was UltraDev. Here's my advice, stick with Dreamweaver. XSitePro2 was created for real, real newbies. You are going to be uber-frustrated because you're probably aware of Dreamweaver's power and flexibility already. XsitePro simply doesn't have the same flexibility imho.

    Now, if you're planning to outsource to newbs....XSitePro may be a possibility.


    Originally Posted by TelegramSam View Post

    Hello everyone,

    We can build sites using dreamweaver with no real problems. We have used it for years and know html and css well.

    However, I read good things about xsitepro2 and wondered if we should start using it.

    I may be wrong, but it seems that many of the people who use xsitepro have no or little knowledge of html and can't use dreamweaver.

    What advantages and disadvantages does xsitepro2 have compared to dreamweaver.

    We have a heavy work load coming up and need to get built approximately 160 websites in the next 6 months with content ranging from just 10 pages up to about 100 pages per site.

    I also want to know if we are able to incorporate our shopping carts using xsitepro, which consist of simple static pages and forms.

    So should we invest in xsitepro or not?

    Money is not really the issue as its only $197. It more wasted time learning and using something that would give us no improvements over dreamweaver.

    So let me know what you think.

    Cheers,
    Sam
    Signature

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    • Profile picture of the author Marty S
      Originally Posted by BlueSquares View Post

      Sam,

      I have similar experience to you. I know XHTML, CSS and Coldfusion. I've been using Dreamweaver since it was UltraDev. Here's my advice, stick with Dreamweaver. XSitePro2 was created for real, real newbies. You are going to be uber-frustrated because you're probably aware of Dreamweaver's power and flexibility already. XsitePro simply doesn't have the same flexibility imho.

      Now, if you're planning to outsource to newbs....XSitePro may be a possibility.
      I agree on this as I have used both as well. You will find XSitePro quite limiting and possibly even frustrating. If you are experienced with DW, you will be able to pop out sites just as fast with much more flexibility.

      Also that is some production schedule you have. Have you considered Joomla? My bigger sites got changed over to Joomla! last year (from DW) and it was one of my best moves. There are also a lot of elance bidders familir with Joomla! who can help you get these sites up and running.

      Just a suggestion but GL either way.
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    • Profile picture of the author debra
      Originally Posted by BlueSquares View Post

      Sam,

      I have similar experience to you. I know XHTML, CSS and Coldfusion. I've been using Dreamweaver since it was UltraDev. Here's my advice, stick with Dreamweaver. XSitePro2 was created for real, real newbies. You are going to be uber-frustrated because you're probably aware of Dreamweaver's power and flexibility already. XsitePro simply doesn't have the same flexibility imho.

      Now, if you're planning to outsource to newbs....XSitePro may be a possibility.

      I agree to. I've used Dreamweaver back when it was called HomeSite. I used XSitePro just to see what it could do.

      It will leave you with "Where's My Beef?" and you won't be able to find it in XSitePro. Very Frustrating.

      You just can't beat Dreamweaver and Photoshop in combination.
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      • Profile picture of the author TelegramSam
        Thanks everyone for your opinions.

        It seems that if you have had training in dreamweaver then dreamweaver seems the logical choice.

        Basically, I am looking at a big production demand on site building over the coming months and I always look to see if there are solutions to help speed things up.

        XsitePro does seem to have a few quick plug ins which might save time.

        One of my biggest "back-offs" from xsitepro though, is the fact that the html code it produces seems a bit hard to fine tune. I'm not use to creating sites that have a lot of "code bloat" and I don't know if I would like xsitepro from that perspective.

        I'm still wondering though if xsitepro might be good for churning out the mini sites (10 pages each or so), and use dreamweaver, drupal or joomla for our more complex larger sites.

        Any further thoughts from the guys that have used both software?

        Thanks,
        Sam
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        • Profile picture of the author debra
          Originally Posted by TelegramSam View Post

          Thanks everyone for your opinions.

          It seems that if you have had training in dreamweaver then dreamweaver seems the logical choice.

          Basically, I am looking at a big production demand on site building over the coming months and I always look to see if there are solutions to help speed things up.

          XsitePro does seem to have a few quick plug ins which might save time.

          One of my biggest "back-offs" from xsitepro though, is the fact that the html code it produces seems a bit hard to fine tune. I'm not use to creating sites that have a lot of "code bloat" and I don't know if I would like xsitepro from that perspective.

          I'm still wondering though if xsitepro might be good for churning out the mini sites (10 pages each or so), and use dreamweaver, drupal or joomla for our more complex larger sites.

          Any further thoughts from the guys that have used both software?

          Thanks,
          Sam
          Nope...because you have already tasted dreamweaver.

          This is what I sometimes do when I am in a backlog:

          I create my template in photoshop.

          I take that template and outsource the slicing and html coding to someone.

          I give them my keywords that I want the images named.

          And...I have them make my content areas to auto collapse and expand to the content that I copy and paste in.

          Then I have them deliver me the image file and the keyword.html file. I like to keep a base template on the server for throwing up those quickies.

          It takes me about 30 minutes to 1 hour to show a new person how to do it.

          note: It shouldn't cost you more than 10 bucks a template for someone that knows what their doing.

          I upload into dreamweaver and away I go.
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  • Profile picture of the author Roger Mayne
    Hi Sam

    I'm no expert in HTML, but understand and can work with it. I also use Dreamweaver for "design led" sites, where the look and feel are the most important aspect.

    I use XSitePro to build content driven sites, where I can build and publish a 10 page article site in about an hour (excluding making graphics / headers etc.).

    I agree with BlueSquares in that if you are going to outsource, you could get them to use XSitePro, but also remember that you need to have a licence per computer for it.
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    "If you don't quit, you can't fail"
    Success will follow.

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    • Profile picture of the author SMS
      If you are design-focused then I agree that you should stick with DreamWeaver, as long as you make the effort to make sure your site is SEO friendly, because I'm not sure that DreamWeaver does that for you.

      For everfink else, I think XSP2 trumps DreamWeaver. Also don't forget that as an Internet Marketer should be concerned less with design and more with traffic & conversion.

      IMHO, with all things being equal, you will have more success with an XSP site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Roca
    I agree with the other posters. I use Xsitepro2 for my affiliate promotion sites, and use DW for bigger, more "permanent" sites where the brand is going to be around for much longer than an affiliate promotion will stay lucrative.
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  • Profile picture of the author coco28
    If you are proficient at making websites in Dreamweaver then I think you will find XSitePro a bit restrictive. XSitePro is probably best described as a marketers web development tool. It makes it very easy to knock up template based sites and stuff like affiliate link cloaking and global scripts are easy to integrate. I do like XSP, but it is nowhere near as flexible as Dreamweaver when it comes to webpage layout...
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  • Profile picture of the author Nigel Greaves
    I've got both XSP and Dreamweaver and while XSP can be used for quick sites I have to say that for anything "worthwhile" I would choose Dreamweaver in preference each time.

    If you've already got past the learning curve you probably won't even save a great amount of time.

    Nigel
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  • Profile picture of the author GoldTrack
    I opted for XSitePro purely because I didn't have the technical knowledge to use a product like DreamWeaver so I guess if I was in your shoes I would not be considering XSP if I already had the Dreamweaver knowledge that would allow me to build more visually appealing sites
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  • Profile picture of the author TelegramSam
    Lots of very sensible replies.

    Much appreciated everyone.

    Thank you.
    Sam
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