US Serif Software WebPlus X7

Worked just great.

I bought it as brand new but when I recieved it the wrapper is gone so I cannot give it as a gift because they would think its used since the plastic warpper is missing. I guess everything else is ok but I returned it because it doesn't look new.

Update: As you can see from my review below I initially rated WebPlus X7 a little lower than I had hoped for. I now rate it 4 stars since the introduction of Win 10. The crashing problem I experienced under Win 7 has been resolved in the latest operating system update. There are many features to make life easier as a web site designer. I like having a master page where you change the page layout/content that is the same throughout the website just one time, and every page is updated automatically! Too many features to cover here. Photo shows website designed with X7. I've incorporated several nice capabilities because of WebPlus X7. Now recommend WebPlus X7. ----------------------------------- Shortly after purchasing WebPlus X7 it started crashing when it was first opened. Serif's tech support identified the problem as a conflict with one of Microsofts Windows updates for Win 7. The solution was to uninstall that particular update. This made WebPlus X7 operate correctly ...... for that session. However, when the computer was powered down the automatic Windows Update software found one of its updates missing (the one just uninstalled) and promptly reinstalled the same update. So, you guessed it, the next time WebPlus X7 was accessed it crashed because of the reinstalled update. It has been a continuing endless cycle for 3 months now, still no solution. Today, 11/19/14, I received a sales offer to purchase the new WebPlus X8 .... It was not a complementary upgrade even though my purchase was less than 3 months prior, and it wasn't complementary because my software still crashed. No they wanted to sell a dissatisfied customer a new opportunity for more problems. Tech support has been available so far, up to 90 days. After 90 days you pay for support or you are on your own. Not sure I would have purchased their software had I known the problems I have experienced. Serif is a European company and they seem to have a different outlook toward dealing with their customer base from my experience.

According to Serif Support there is no technical support available for this software. I just got off the phone with Serif Support. I called to register WebPlus X7 which I bought from their site yesterday. They told me that this program is VERY old and no longer eligible for technical support. After 10 minutes of them DEMANDING that I explain why I bought such an old version of the software from their website yesterday and refusing to register X7, I hung up. I then found I was able to register online [...]. There is no link in the software to register on the Internet, but it can be done using the address above.

I have been using Serif WebPlus since version X4. Currently I have WebPlus X7 installed. I have had many issues with this version on my Win 7, 64-bit machine, with constant freezes and crashes. I have sent numerous crash reports from the software to Serif, but I NEVER get any response at all. And my webs don't always display properly in all web browsers. Sometimes they look good in Firefox and IE, but not in Safari. One additional very annoying problem that I still have is a GENERIC program icon on the task bar for X7. I know it's minor, but it is driving me nuts. I have posted this problem to the forums but after YEARS I have yet to find a solution. Currently I am attempting to re-install X7 from the DVD sent by Serif, but the DVD is unreadable, shaking and rattling back and forth in the drive. This is a pity, because the WebPlus program has some good characteristics. But for me, the problems and annoyances are starting to outweigh the benefits, and the lack of support is a deal breaker...

This is an upgrade from X5 for me. I have looked and tried several different "web builders" and I keep coming back to Serif. There is a pretty steep learning curve but the tutorials are very helpful. I don't know any code and don't want to know any code as I don't have the time to learn it. I'm an admitted hack and only do this part time. I took over a friends website when the professional service he was paying for didn't deliver. I stuck my foot in my mouth and said I could do a better job. This software has allowed me to take over and produce a site that averages 100K hits a month. I needed something flexible, functional and that was easy to add/delete and/or change content that delivers professional results. X7 fits the bill nicely and allows me to build a rather complex site with multiple parent and child pages. I know it isn't perfect and a real webmaster would cringe but it works for me and my "client". The first version of the site I used the built in templates and it was OK. It worked but I wasn't happy with it. With X7 and some time, I completely started from scratch and now the site looks and functions the way I envisioned. Out of the 20 or so website builders I have tried, X7 is by far the best one I've used.

Before owning WebPlus I struggled for a long time trying to create a decent looking web site through one of those free online places. If you mess something up, there's no one to help with specific questions. Then I tried WebPlus. WebPlus X7 has a lot of templates that are easily modified but look professional used as they are. You don’t need to use Serif’s hosting for your site and unless you live in the UK, I’d go with something closer to home. There is a bit of a learning curve with this software if you're new to web site building, but being a newbie myself I found the tons of tutorials, loads of help pages, and the WebPlus forum a great place to learn. I’d asked questions via other forums when I ran into problems before, but if someone ever did answer, it was certainly never as fast or helpful as when submitting questions to Serif’s forums. Whether or not you've ever created a web site, WebPlus will help you create a site that looks professionally done, or replace your current rinky-dink site to be one with a great design.

I am happy I chose to get the CD rather than having this excellent website building program downloaded to my computer. I've always thought it better to have the CD in case there is a need to install the program later. This CD worked well right out of the box and enabled me to immediately begin to use the program and start building my wife's business website. So far I am thrilled with jWebPlus X7.

Have used serif for years great results every time only limit is your imagination, Serif has always been an easy to use platform that any novis can achieve great results everytime. Web plus page plus photo plus etc etc all great products that work with each other

Bought this software 24th August 2014. Called Serif 'helpline' 3rd March 2015 for help with the 'Publish to Web' facility which has never worked. Told product was 'no longer supported' because X7 was discontinued sometime in November 2014 and support was withdrawn 3 months later, late February 2015. Told that if I paid £49.99 to upgrade to X8, help would be provided. In short, after six months Serif won't help fix broken software that cost £80, unless I pay another £50. I am sure you can see the problem here so I will limit myself to two comments. First, this product is for serious but not professional users. As a 'serious' user I have invested a good deal of time in my site and this software. I am not a 'professional' so I paid a good price knowing I would need support. I wanted to stick with a brand because familiar software is less time consuming. I FEEL SERIF HAVE PUT ME 'OUT ON A LIMB' AND I FEEL VERY LET DOWN. Second, I note that Serif Webplus X7 is still being offerred on Amazon. I have life and a bed top go to, so I haven't read all the surrounding market text. However, I am sure it won't say, that if you buy X7 today, your brand new software will be completely unsupported. BANDIT COUNTRY! I went for Webplus over Net Objects which is free. I am still having to use FileZilla which is also free. I did this because I thought with Serif I would have somewhere to turn when things got beyond me. Looks like I got that wrong - Serif aren't very good really.

Good web program, fantastic for starter, does not like to upload ftp, had to use stand alone ftp upload e mail system in web plus seem only to work if you use web plus system. over all as much as you would want to pay for this type pf program

Hardly worth upgrading from X5 may be as I use it I will find productivity improvements but none have struck me so far.

Very good software at a fraction of the cost of other website software. Installation to up and running website in a matter of hours. Finally bought this t try and get a better looking website, I just couldn't get the right look with the software I was using biggest problem I couldn't get the site central. Bought this despite some negative comments, and I am so happy I did. Although I did copy some of the content from my original website it only took a couple of evenings to launch the new site, and it uploaded straight away without any issues at all. I am very pleased with the results. The only criticism I would have is the lack of templates nothing wowed me like I had hoped but I did find one I was happy with so depends what you are looking for. You can buy templates from the Serif site at about £14. For the money of the software can't really blame them for charging for better pro templates.