Netobjects Fusion XII web-design software

Netobjects Fusion XII is a website-building program that lets users build sites without having to know the technical stuff such as HTML code.

Instead, it adopts a 'DTP' style of design in which users drag and drop various design elements from the program's libraries onto a blank page, or just tailor one of the supplied templates before fine-tuning and adding their own content.

When you are done, Fusion creates the necessary code to turn the designs into something a web browser can display, building links between pages for navigation and completes any interactive elements such as contact forms, sounds and animations. You can then upload the finished site from within Fusion, rather than having to use a separate FTP program.

Of the more than 300 enhancements that Netobjects says are included in the new edition one important feature is Site Safe which automatically backs up your web projects (and all the associated files) for safe-keeping. There are better templates that include many more of the design elements used in modern websites (Fusion's earlier templates were starting to look tired) and work much better on mobile devices.

There's another kind of boost too in the form of a library of high-quality photos for use on your sites. The new version also offers improved handling for transparent images and tweaks to the way page addresses are generated that will make it easier for search engines to find them.

The program's is still pretty dense. As well as all the DTP-style positioning tools, there are also a lot of web-specific controls, all of which fill up the screen.

However, the drag-and-drop site map in which users organise the actual structures of their websites is still the best we have seen and Fusion makes it easy to see how a page will look in any browser installed on your computer without leaving the program.

Older versions of Fusion sometimes felt a bit slow but version 12 is faster. Site creators who know HTML or want to do more advanced things will find it limiting, but for those who don't, this is a good design program.