Site Samples?

[avayan]

Are there any sample websites I can visit which were done with Fusion 12? I have been upgrading to all the releases religiously but my websites look so lame, I feel like I have been tossing a little bit over $100 every time.

Some times I have gone to add some of the tools, through horrendous pain, only to find they are clumsy and only work to attract all the spammers not even the SETI can get a hold of. I would truly like to see Fusion 12's potential before spending the extra cash. If I am convinced, I will jump at it faster than the speed of light!

Thanks for any input you may provide. Best regards,

JIQ

[UserNameInUse]

HI avayan.

Curious as to why you think your sites are lame, and why v12 would necessarilly let them get up and walk again.

Maybe, just maybe, they are lame, but if you give us a url or 3, maybe we can look at the sites as tbey are and offer constructive advice.

I've been using NoF since v7, and when I look back ay my early sites, i cringe. But it wasn't upgrading NoF that made the difference, so m uch as upgrading my skills, learniong from mistakes and understanding what constitutes a) good design and b) a usable web site. Don't confuse the 2 - there are a lot of pretty web sites that are crap from a user perspective.

[LBA]

I can't speak for the creators of NOF XII but I think it's safe to say 2 things... first, there may not be any sites that were created with NOF XII since it only came out a few days ago. And second, it's unlikely that NOF XII will create better websites. Only you can do that. Better tools help you do your work, but only your inspiration and creativity will make better sites.

[avayan]

OK, I am going to be honest. First, I agree with you and secondly, I am aware that most likely the reason for my websites to be lame is my skills as a lamer ;-) First of all, I am not an artist and secondly, I was not trained as a web page developer. Hence, I need something that will do the job for me. I have been using Joomla, word press and SMF, but the learning curve is superbly steep.

On the other hand, I love the NOF concept. Drag and drop here, write something there, press a button and PUM! A website exists. I have tried the dynamic approach, which is like having three dentists working at the same time while undergoing circumcision, as for no reason, the websites (or the databases) collapse and then I need to redo the whole thing.

I have also tried using some of the applets, but the documentation requires me to psychically guess how they work, only to later on find out it does not work in an appealing way. Some examples are the FAQ and the Guestbook. I did try this on an earlier version, so maybe they are better now. But the headaches were enough to make me desist a retry.

You can check some of my Flinstone technology websites here:

http://www.avayan.com
http://www.avayanelectronics.com (this is the one I work the most and continuously update)
http://www.comicups.com
http://www.avayan.com/r2d2/
http://www.avayan.com/writings
http://www.avayan.com/Music/

These have all been done with Netobjects 11 or earlier. Of course they all follow the same recipe, which may be why they all suck so much.

So next question... Is there a good book that would take me step by step on how to make eye-catching websites with NOF? Note my problem is that I am following NOF template from version 5. So I am not savvy on how to make beyond 2000 websites. Or more like 2010 websites.

Per example, how to make better buttons. Mine make me reach for my eyeballs. How about drop down menus? Easier way of handling dynamic links. graphics that I can align so that it looks like a cool animation without giving me the CSS error.

Thanks for your input! It really seems like I have lots of learning to do!

[gotFusion]

Fusion 12 comes with an all new set of styles that are far nicer than in the past. You can also start a web site project with templates which can be very attractive.

You can mix and match anything from any style or you can add anything you wish to replace any graphic in a style.

It is just takes getting comfortable using the product. What I would suggest is that you not try to create an actual web project but start one just to explore the product. This tutorial will go over starting a basic web site and cover a little modifications (point you where you can modify)

http://www.gotfusion.com/tutorials/tut.cfm?itemID=4069

After you start and customize a half dozen new example sites you will be more comfortable with what the product can do.

[adrian5750]

OK, I am going to be honest. First, I agree with you and secondly, I am aware that most likely the reason for my websites to be lame is my skills as a lamer ;-) First of all, I am not an artist and secondly, I was not trained as a web page developer. Hence, I need something that will do the job for me. I have been using Joomla, word press and SMF, but the learning curve is superbly steep.

On the other hand, I love the NOF concept. Drag and drop here, write something there, press a button and PUM! A website exists. I have tried the dynamic approach, which is like having three dentists working at the same time while undergoing circumcision, as for no reason, the websites (or the databases) collapse and then I need to redo the whole thing.

I have also tried using some of the applets, but the documentation requires me to psychically guess how they work, only to later on find out it does not work in an appealing way. Some examples are the FAQ and the Guestbook. I did try this on an earlier version, so maybe they are better now. But the headaches were enough to make me desist a retry.

You can check some of my Flinstone technology websites here:

http://www.avayan.com
http://www.avayanelectronics.com (this is the one I work the most and continuously update)
http://www.comicups.com
http://www.avayan.com/r2d2/
http://www.avayan.com/writings
http://www.avayan.com/Music/

These have all been done with Netobjects 11 or earlier. Of course they all follow the same recipe, which may be why they all suck so much.

So next question... Is there a good book that would take me step by step on how to make eye-catching websites with NOF? Note my problem is that I am following NOF template from version 5. So I am not savvy on how to make beyond 2000 websites. Or more like 2010 websites.

Per example, how to make better buttons. Mine make me reach for my eyeballs. How about drop down menus? Easier way of handling dynamic links. graphics that I can align so that it looks like a cool animation without giving me the CSS error.

Thanks for your input! It really seems like I have lots of learning to do!

You're being way to hard on yourself (in my opinion)
There's a tendency to confuse 'style' and 'content'
Myself, I'd much rather read a site with great content and a simple style, rather than a 'fluffy', bleeding-edge, flash-animated site that takes ages to load, and then has no useful content.

I frequently have to explain the difference between style & content to clients <g> -
most of the time they are persuaded to concentrate on the content!

Keep up the good work - and stop beating yourself up <g>
Adrian

[Mike]

Hi avayan, loved your r2d2 site!! It goes to prove what others have said, great content can really hold a visitor's attention.

I've included a small sampling of sites created directly form SiteStyles, Templates, or Wizard themes available in NetObjects Fusion XII:

http://NetObjects.com of course

http://mike.netocorp.com/samples/1/
http://mike.netocorp.com/samples/2/
http://mike.netocorp.com/samples/3/
http://mike.netocorp.com/samples/4/
http://mike.netocorp.com/samples/5/

If you have a smart phone here are a couple more samples:
http://mike.netocorp.com/samples/mobi1/
http://mike.netocorp.com/samples/mobi2/

NetObjects Fusion XII provides additional web design tutorials, styles, templates, and stock photos to help you create better looking websites. The community here is very helpful in offering suggestions and solutions to your web design questions. Keep building more sites and learning; your designs will grow with that knowledge.

[crazy_eyes]

Hi Mike,

I really like your sample http://mike.netocorp.com/samples/5/

Are there any tips on how to do what you do at the top (with the black / green) and how can you do something like that with the footer?

Thanks

[Mike]

Are there any tips on how to do what you do at the top (with the black / green) and how can you do something like that with the footer?

The design is available in NetObjects Fusion XII via the Wizard it's called "Wave - Green". You could then take the images and shift the colors make various color variations or reuse them in the footer. If you were to create the design from scratch starting with a nice gradient is a great way to make a simple site, such as this one. Using your image editor's shape tool you can create rounded rectangle buttons with a radius of about 5px. If you have Photoshop a good starting point would be with this set of free gradients.

[Centauri]

OK, I am going to be honest. First, I agree with you and secondly, I am aware that most likely the reason for my websites to be lame is my skills as a lamer ;-) First of all, I am not an artist and secondly, I was not trained as a web page developer. Hence, I need something that will do the job for me. I have been using Joomla, word press and SMF, but the learning curve is superbly steep.

12 year ago I didn't know how to use, or even start computer. I'm almost 50 and I haven't any kind of computer or programming education. I cant draw and I know nothing about the arts.

Then my business went badly and I had to stay at home. To do something I got very old computer from my friend and I learnd how to use it. Then I wanted to make homepages to my ex's company and NOF was the only program which really promised that you can make homepages with it without any special skils. Dreamweaver was totally over my head.

I started to use NOF out from the box and soon I noticed that I really can do working websites with it! Even I still didn't know anything from anything. Then I noticed that the main reason why my sites didn't look very good was....
template!

As I do not have skills to make personal and nice templates by myself, it's better to buy them So I bought all the templates Netobjects had and looked how they are made. I still didn't know how to make templates like that by myself, but from those existing templates I managed to pimp templates which worked for me. Take few of the ready templates, change them a little (or more if you see how to do it) and you'll have nice, quite modern and most of all, well working template/site.

See three sites that I have made with NOF only, totally without any skills of my own

http://www.specialday-ireland.com/index.html
http://www.naimisiin.info/
http://www.morsiusgalleria.com/morsiusgalleria.html

As you can see, those all looks litlle bit the same, as there is one same ready template under them all, only with easy modifications. Of course I know that these my sites are not "state of the art" or will never win any competitions but then again, they are made by a man who still do not know anything about programming and computers And most of all, these sites really work! Now broken links, quite fast, works with most of a browsers and so on.

So to you, do not give up! Buy template (or few, they do not cost much!), study it and fix it for you and you are much happier.