Over the past while we have been developing WebEngine, adding new features and new functionality that will enable you, among other things, to create sites for the web and for cell or PDA devices, as well as add interactive animation to your site and/or mobile device - check the readme.txt for detailed information on new features and functionality.

With this release WebEngine is being renamed to 'SiteSpinner Pro'. All registered users of WebEngine will be able to upgrade to SiteSpinner Pro at no cost once the final release is posted.

A word of warning - this is a new version of the software and is still in development. If you are a current user of WebEngine and use it to build your site, then you should continue to use the latest WebEngine beta for your live site. However, as SiteSpinner Pro installs to a new directory, you can have both SiteSpinner Pro and the current version of WebEngine installed at the same time.

Projects saved with SiteSpinner Pro cannot be opened With previous WebEngine betas or SiteSpinner. SiteSpinner Pro can open all projects, but be aware that projects saved with future versions of SiteSpinner Pro, up until and including the final release, may not be accessible by previous betas.

We are posting this beta in the hope that you will help us by providing any feedback you might have. So please, post any comments here, or forward them off to us at vmsupport@virtualmechanics.com

You can download SiteSpinner Pro beta: here

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Derry,

Wow, I get to be the first to comment, (though I am far from technical). I like the new layout, it's very clear and easy to navigate and looks more professional. I like the tabbed viewing of the preview/design pages.

A few things I noticed right away were, 1)In the toolbar above the design window, the toolbars "publish" and "page" are designated with text, which looked at first like a button to me, why not leave the text out? 2) Regarding tabs, as I had stated in an earlier post, it would be nice to have pages open in tabbed view (index, page1,etc.), or at least have that option. The dropdown is nice, but it's better to see the pages laid out sometimes. Again the design/preview tabs are awesome!

I'll tinker with it some more and see what we find! Thanks!

(by the way, it does not ask for a registration code, or state it is a trial. I don't know if this was intentional given it is not for production use).

Aaron,

The toolbar labels can now be turned off & on by a check box in the Options->Toolbar Options... window.

When I installed SS-Pro, it picked up my WE registration code so I didn't have to go digging for it. I hope it stays this way. Previously if you upgraded you had to re-enter the code or use it in trial mode.

I really like the basic Sitespinner. It is worth every penny. Now, let's see about the site spinner pro. For an extra $50.00 I get the ability to add motion to the web page. Is that about it?
I am really sorry this sounds negative.

SiteSpinner Pro also allows you to design your site for use with both desktop and/or mobile devices. If you are concerned about how your site looks on web-enabled phones/iphones, then this program is for you.

Since the basic "engine" is (was?) the same in SiteSpinner and WebEngine, a more important question is how many of the new features, if any, will show up in the basic SiteSpinner?

I'm not a fan of animation on web-pages either. There are a few other features I've found so far that give some added value:

Ability to design combined Mobile and Desktop layouts

Ability to switch previews quickly between your favorite browsers

Built in sound

Support for PNG32 image files and alpha-transparency

Separate CSS files (if you want)

Text line spacing no longer varies between browsers -- yay!!!!!

If you don't need (want?) those extra features, then I agree -- stick with SiteSpinner Basic.

Thank you for the news re the ability to write for web browsers for phones, pda's, etc. Perhaps, at some future point, this may be a priority for me. Now, if SS pro had drop down menus similar to 'sothink dhtml' then I would be thinking seriously about the additional purchase.

I'm excited about this (and the external CSS)! I have been wanting to revamp the portion of my site I made with Sitespinner and this will give me some motivation to give it a go (of course, I will back up the project file first in case I need to go back to Sitespinner "basic")

j razz
www.jrazzcreations.com

I am using webengine version 2
should i upgrade to sitespinner pro ... or wait??

Why not? If you're a registered Web Engine user, SS Pro is free. There are a few updated tutorials too, and you can keep using your old Web Engine.

Take note of Derry's caution in the first post about letting it loose on a live project.

I have been using the V2 2.90 Beta 4 from the blog site, as I was not able to go back to the standard WebEngine. Is this new release the same as that, and should I now just delete the blog version and just follow along with this renamed version? Thanks

The new release should install over the top of your old Beta 4 -- no need to delete anything. That's the way I have done it, and the project I have been working on still works.

Thanks, I installed on a separate hard drive, but saw that they had the same version history. I will un-install SiteSpinner-Pro and reinstall it over my beta 4. I have been using the Beta 4 for production with no problems.

what will i gain by using sitespinner 2.7 vs webengine 2.0?

Nothing. Both were released at the same time -- see here. This is assuming your WE version is 2.00N.

quote:

a more important question is how many of the new features, if any, will show up in the basic SiteSpinner?

That's what I'm curious about.

My guess is none, or at least very few other than bug fixes. There is not much point in having a Pro version of anything if the Basic one is going to gain the Pro features.

That's what I would do if I was running VM, and probably what you would do too

I would hope that they provide support for PNG-32 plus the ability to import transparent images onto the work page and generate true transparent images. That has been a needed improvement to SiteSpinner for quite awhile.

I'd be disappointed if Sitespinner didn't include a fair few of the additions listed above. After all, every other css web program I've seen can link to external css files. The fact that the current Sitespinner can't doesn't make it look like it's a non-pro program. It makes it look like the program needs some serious updating to (if I can use the term) 'stay in the game'.

Some features like mobile phone webpage editing and the like could be called 'pro' features, but there are many things I (and I'm guessing many people out there) would expect to make it into the standard Sitespinner, such as PNG-32... which is supported by every other art-related program that's had an update in the last four years. I'd be a joke and a half if it only made it into the Pro version. Seriously.

Please don't leave Sitespinner as it is and slap the good ol' 'Pro' title on the one with more features. Too many developers do that already, and it looks stupid. A professional version of a program should have features that amateurs commonly wouldn't use, or those that are specific to a professional pipeline. External css is one of a number of things amateurs use all the time. So, if that's only going to be in Sitespinner Pro, please rename the program to, "Sitespinner Extended", or something.

My two cents.

I almost expect VM to stop all further work on SiteSpinner, much like they did with WebDwarf, and roll out SiteSpinner Pro as their main product. It must have been hard for the last 4 (5?) years to maintain both SiteSpinner and WebEngine. It drains company resources.