CoffeeCup VisualSite Designer for Windows

User Reviews

• Almost a great prototyping tool but nothing more

  steve42lawsonJuly 29, 2012

  Pros

  Easy to use within the limited functional scope, a nice prototyping tool, has some great effects, the "Buttonize" and "Mouseover" features are nice, Publish is easy to use, can be use to produce Professional looking websites.

  Cons

  Uses CSS "absolute" positioning to layout div blocks, uses bitmaps to give div blocks background color (not CSS background-color) and saves as JPEGs rather than GIFs or 8-bit PNGs (only a problem if one uses multiple shapes in a design or to create a border--'cuz no way to create a CSS border (JPEGs save with compression artifacts that sully any image that has sharp color transitions, as will be the case of multiple shapes or border kludges), only one font can be specified (i.e. no fallback font list), no way to specify generic fonts (such as "serif" or "monospace"), only a very small set of font sizes can be selected (no way to type in a font size), Open Published Website confuses the file server root with the web server root, the corner adjuster on a shape is for rotating NOT sizing (very annoying!), when a text block is selected, it displays adjusters that do nothing (you have to double click on a text block to get sizing adjusters), no way to tile background image in div block...

  Summary

  Though they say it produces "Professional Websites", if you look at the HTML/CSS code that it produces, you might disagree. Creating a div block is done by drawing a "shape". That would be fine, except it defines a colored block as an <img> within an absolutely positioned <div> block (i.e. it doesn't even use a background-color style!). Plus, there is no way to add a border, other than putting another "shape" behind it and sizing it so it extends beyond the shape you want bordered (very tedious). The end result is two bitmaps (one of which is a merge of both shapes, so the other is redundant and pointless). There is absolutely no way to create a liquid CSS design (it's all fixed, absolute positioning)! Fonts are handled VERY badly. You can only select one, so there is no way to specify fallback fonts, and there isn't even a way to assign generic fonts (e.g. serif, monospace, etc.)! And, like most of the line of CoffeeCup software, there is a certain disregard for CUI (Common User Interface). One VERY annoying example is with shapes. In just about every other graphics package I have every used, grabbing the corner of a shape (with the mouse), allows you to re-size the shape. Not with VSD. That is how you ROTATE a shape. The only way to re-size the shape (after you have tried to do it with the corner and cursed because it "got you" again) is to use the mid-way grabbers. And, that means if you want to change both the horizontal AND vertical dimensions, you have to change each dimension separately. That can get rather tedious if there are a number of shapes that need changing -- especially since there is no tool for matching the width or height of a number of shapes to a target shape. You can use guides, but they have their own set of annoyances: objects don't snap to them, neither when moving them nor sizing them. And, because you can't lock the guides, it's difficult to make micro adjustments (necessary because of the lack of snap action), a click keeps picking up the guide rather than the shape adjuster. The layout of the GUI wasn't all that well thought out, either. Instead of following convention, the developers over at CoffeeCup, came up with their own paradigm: click on something, and then try to figure out which "Properties Window" contains the properties you want to manipulate. For instance: say you want to change the fill color of a shape. Most packages that deal with shapes and fills, would call "Fill" a property, so from that logic, one might expect to find fill features in the Object Properties window. Not in VSD. Fill is considered an object, and thus, has it's own Properties window. Another example: the "Page" is an object of and to it's self, thus it has it's own Properties window, that you have to go and select, even after you click on the page background. Typically, there is one Properties window that morphs to show the pertinent properties for the object that has focus. That way, the correct properties are auto-magically displayed by selection-context. But, because of the way they did it, if the Page Properties window is showing and you click on a shape, the Properties window continues to display Page Properties. You have to know to click the "Object" button in the toolbar (or right-click and select "Object" from the popup menu). That is NOT user friendly. Which contradicts what one of the "Senior Advisors" stated in response to a post of mine on the CoffeeCup Forum: "VSD is truly a main setup of those that don't have any experience with working with website coding at all and want the ease of drag and drop." It seems to me, if that is their audience, it's not wise to expect these Users to hunt for the proper context. You can insert an image into the background of a "shape", but don't expect it to become a CSS background-image, and forget about tiling it. You can tile a background-image on the page background, but not exclusively in one direction or another (it will only tile both horizontally AND vertically, i.e. not repeat-x or repeat-y). Publish is nice but Open Published Website confuses the file server root with the web server root. Bottom line, their claim that you can create "Professional Websites" with this software is suspect. I would say "Professional looking", but no professional web developer worth his salt would ever produce such shabby code. I have no issue with people using this to create websites, but it's a misrepresentation to make them think they are getting a professional result. That's deceptive, and shameful!

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• Do not walk away from this company. RUN VERY FAST!

  arivers99May 10, 2012

  Pros

  cheap, cheap and cheap

  Cons

  Cheap for a reason Everything sold a la carte and VSD is so limited that you have no choice but to purchase numerous 'basic' addons VSD crashes more often than Danica Patrick causing a loss of whatever you had spent hours working on. CC had no logical explanation or fix for this issue Not suitable for large websites. Could not upload our website using their software which then required 8 hours to upload via 3rd party uploaders. CC again had no logical explanation or fix to this problem and... the 8 hour upload time applied to any change no matter how small. i.e. adding a single word still required 8 hours. Customer service is not a strong point with this company.

  Summary

  cheap for a reason... don't waste your money The highlights of our experience with this company: The VSD software has limited functionality which is why it is cheap. For even basic functionality that is resident in just about every other design software out there you need to purchase 'add-ons' While I understand the 'a la carte' software strategy their approach is akin to selling a car online that looks complete and then finding out it does NOT come with tires, steering wheel, etc. Of course, if you take the time to read all the fine print I'm sure they mention all this. No one reads the fine print and CC is well aware of this. Our VSD software crashed more often than Danica Patrick causing a loss of whatever you had spent hours working on. CC had no logical explanation or fix for this issue Not suitable for large websites. Could not upload our website using their software which then required 8 hours to upload via 3rd party uploaders. CC again had no logical explanation or fix to this problem and... the 8 hour upload time applied to any change no matter how small. i.e. adding a single word still required 8 hours. Ultimately we scrapped the entire software and website built using this software along with thousands of dollars in wasted manhour costs and asked for a full refund. Their response was to refund the initial VSD but not the addons which you are forced to purchase due to the limited functionality in the initial VSD. They claimed that as these addons are standalone and since we did not express any dissatisfaction with them they refused to refund these costs even though they are of no use to non programmers. They also claimed that as we had been using their software for 8 months that they were in fact doing us a favour. Hmmm, apparently building a 300+ page website should take no more than a couple of days in their mind... and of course finding out that it takes 8 hours to upload each time is only something that we could find out after the website was finished and we tried to upload it. CC was aware of all these issues and gave no indication that we would not even be able to upload the finished site. We do not consider an 8 hour upload time to be viable option. As related above and by other customer complaints in this forum, customer service is not one of their strong points. During the course of our issue discussions with them there was the distinct aroma of condescension in their replies. In short based upon our experiences i.e. sizable but simple business / online catalog website I would NOT recommend this software. PS - we recently switched to Wordpress and are kicking ourselves for not finding them before. Impressions thus far...pretty awesome and easy to use CMS software.

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• love it merrily

  March 26, 2011

  Pros

  it works as advertised

  Cons

  i can't seem to get enough of the templates!

  Summary

  i'll recommend it to anyone who wants to build a website for themselves or others.

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• hard to use - no help

  JMH8September 27, 2010

  Pros

  none that I can see

  Cons

  They wouldn't refund my money when I accidentally made an error in online ordering and notified them immediately of the problem.

  Summary

  They don't stand by their work. They claim their product is easy-to-use but good luck trying to figure it out if you are not a professional. They offer to help on the phone if you pay them.

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• Absolute junk software DO NOT GET THIS SOFTWARE

  bluesdrumsSeptember 24, 2010

  Pros

  Upon installing and trying out the features I was fairly impressed with the ease of creating a couple of pages. It went downhill from there.

  Cons

  Pop-up menus are in the way. Can't get to where you want to edit unless you click on the space a hundred times as fast as you can. WILL NOT LET ME UPLOAD AT ALL. Gives me an annoying Error message that it says it doesn't know what's wrong. WHAT??!!!

  Summary

  After spending an hour trying to configure and re-configure the upload tool (I know my FTP information and I FTP all the time with another program to my site), I gave up. I ended up uninstalling this crappy software. I have used Coffee Cup software before with little or no fuss. I am happy that I only tried the Trial version. If, and when, Coffee Cup gets their act together and makes the upload tool functional, I might try it again. For now I will find another WYSIWYG program.

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• Hard to use and terrible support

  AaronzDadSeptember 13, 2010

  Pros

  Uhhh... It was easy to download?

  Cons

  NOT very intuitive. It's as if they invented their own rules for computer usage and you have to learn them. Does NOT work well with Windows7. I had to change my display properties just to access some of the control windows. Support is TERRIBLE.

  Summary

  VERY counter-intuitive program. This program might be good for making the most basic of websites - a few pictures, a little text, and a couple links - but anything more complicated than that and you're up a creek. Trying to figure out how to use the features requires a study of the help files to try to figure out what hoops they want you to jump through. When I asked for help in the forums and expressed my frustration with the program a "Senior Adviser" told me I had to "ask nicely". Sorry, I'm not going to kowtow hoping you'll deign to acknowledge my presence. Searching through the help forums I found a few links that seemed to answer just what I was asking... but the links were ALL DEAD. When I asked in the forums why I should have to change my display properties just to use their software the VP of Product Development asked me "Why do we have to match our software to fit your display." Sure he put a smiley face on it but all the help he could give was "It is something we hope to be more friendly with in the future." Huh??? That's it? No admission of a problem? No determination of a solution?? The rest of the world should adapt to YOUR half-baked software?? Using this program reminded me of using MS Paint years ago. Sure you could sort of "draw" with it but everything ends up looking like a grade-schooler's art project. Oh, and you think you want to use some of the functions lined up on the left side there? Well don't think you can just click those buttons and use them! That costs MORE MONEY baby! Think you want to use this program?? Download the free trial and check it out for yourself first!

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• Not as easy as it claims

  lionxlambAugust 3, 2010

  Pros

  Nothing to write.

  Cons

  A lot,please see the summary.

  Summary

  1.Very limited access. 2.The way they adverting that you can create your own website all by yourself is total crap. 3.If you use an existing template and modify it then you have some chance but if you try to create a webpage all by yourself then you will have to hit your head a lot. 4. There are a lot of fuctions available but none works. For example there are options like adding jukebox,picture gallery and video player etc to your website,but none of it works,because you have to buy all of them at a different cost.

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• Terrible customer support and very limited functions

  yjkodiakMarch 27, 2010

  Pros

  Basic functions are relatively easy to use.

  Cons

  1. Customer support - you either have to pay for it, or you have to wait days for replies that don't answer your questions. 2. Functions are very limited and basic. You must pay for expensive modules for additional functions which still are limited.

  Summary

  1. Customer support is extremely poor, virtually non-existent, and not knowledgeable of the program. 2. The program is very limited. Even if you purchase additional modules, there are still severe limitations to the program. Summary: 1. Customer support costs $15 for 30 minutes. There;s a chat support, but they never reply. You can also choose to send questions to support, but the answers take 1-2 days to arrive, and are regurgitations of the manual, not answering the questions. 2. The basic kit has very limited, basic functions. In order to do more than just basic functions, you need to buy individual program modules, some of which are just as expensive as the basic program. By the time you are finished purchasing all of the modules needed to put together a nice website, you have spent as much money as a quality high-end program such as dreamweaver etc.

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• Good software, great support

  Just_a_UserOctober 9, 2009

  Pros

  Good, user friendly and stable program. You can create and upload your new site build up from scratch in moments. Support forums are great. No programming experience required. Drag, drop and upload, as simple as that.

  Cons

  No border frames and no decent picture gallery. Those are optional against cost. Optional components are reasonable priced.

  Summary

  Good software and fairly priced. If you have no or limited programming experience, this will be an excellent choice. Some popular functions has to be bought optional, but all are reasonable priced. Support is essential of any software and Coffee Cup does a good job. I love their forums!

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• It's all you need.

  twoarrowOctober 8, 2009

  Pros

  It simple, easy to import, easy to layout. It's hard to find a free Web Designer that works as well and easily as Coffe Cup WD. Also, Coffee Cup offers all the bells and whistles you might want for your web site.

  Cons

  None at all.

  Summary

  Try it for the free period and you will buy it. No adds, no gloing through Coffee Cup to post.

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