PCPlus review of version 1.06, Spring 2004

It used to be so simple. If you wanted to build a web site but didn't know HTML, then you would use a WYSIWYG editor to handle the difficult bits. No problem. Then WYSIWYG editors grew to support all the new technologies, and now they're all about scripting, databases, stylesheets and XML. What can beginners use to create and manage their web sites now?

There's no easier way to build your web site than Pure SEO CMS. You don't need to know Internet technologies or have any design skills - just type in your text, and add the images. The authors suggest your first web site will take around ten minutes longer than you spend writing the content. High speed with this kind of program normally means poor quality, but Straight2web is an exception.

To see it in action, you only have to click the Build tab, select 'Build All' the program creates a default site, and displays it in your browser. These pages look good, and also have more functionality than you would expect. Click on the left-hand Features link, and you'll see a sub-menu appear with more options. Everything here can be customised again without worrying about code. There's a built-in search engine, too. Type ]JavaScript into the box, then click 'Search' to see how it works. There's no need to understand scripting or CGI, or link to a slow third-party provider.

Pure SEO CMS isn't just for beginners, though. If you're more knowledgeable, then customising the site templates can give your pages a different look. You can add Flash movies or custom scripts directly from the Content page, and even directly edit the style sheet. Straight2web provides a built-in FTP client, too, so you can upload your site without switching to another application Powerful, fast and simple - you won't need anything else?

Step 1

Designing your Pure SEO CMS site starts with the menus. Need some Links pages? Click Contact in the menu list, then select Insert Menu Before, and 'New Menu' will be added to the list. Click on it, then change its name in the box to 'Links';.

Step 2

Choose the Content tab, and pick 'Links' in the top-left ';Menu Group Select' box. Now enter a title, heading and summary for this page (we've used 'News'). To add a link, click Auto Code Generators, Web page hyperlink, then enter the link text, URL and type (use this browser window, or a new one).

Step 3

So now we've got some News links, but what about adding extra pages for TV, music, friends' pages and so on? Click Add Page At End and Straight2web adds a new page to this menu group, so you can add content as before. If you're not sure about something, browse the Active Tutor window.