G'day all,

I'm about to start evaluating Coffee Cup (VSD and Editor) and would like to hear your opinions on why I should pick CC stuff.

As background, I've been using various versions of Namo's WebEditor for the past 6-7 years. I've decided to give up on them as their support mechanisms, beta programs and application updates are now virtually non-existant, questionable or laughable.

I haven't made this decision easily, as I still think that they came up with an app with a very, very strong feature set and a beautiful user interface that was immediately comfortable, productive and intuitive. Unfortunately, they approach customer support in the same way a lemming approaches a trip to the beach.

The following questions apply equally to VSD and the Editor.

What do you think of the UI?
What were your biggest speed bumps in producing a site in either of these?
What is your biggest gripe with either?
If you could add one thing to the app, what would it be?
If you could change one thing in the app, what would it be?
If you had to change to another HTML designer, what would you change to?
What's the worst thing about Coffee Cup as a company?
What's the best thing about Coffee Cup as a company?

I hope that's not too many questions. ;-)

Thanks in advance,
Ewen :-)

P.S. I really like the fact that the forums are visited and contributed to by the execs and developers of Coffee Cup. I've only ever before seen this level of coprorate interaction on the Comodo forums and is a primary reason why I would like to love Coffee Cup's stuff.

I think you will get the most comprehensive - and 'honest' - answers to your questions by going through the forums for the two programs.

LOL. I was hoping to avoid having to go through X forum boards to see what people think.

I'll give it a day or two to see if others respond, otherwise I'll follow your suggestion.

Thanks
Ewen :-)

Honestly panic, the best way to get your answers is to download the FULLY FUNCTIONAL trial's for BOTH and "kick the tires" so to speak... IMHO , opinions are worth... about the same as anything coming from a politician

yeah I would have to concur with both Per and Phil, persuse the HTML Editor forum just a bit and you'll get one of your major answers right away. Support is number one at CC and they don't take it lightly at all. Although this is basically a "User" forum, and not the place to put support questions to the dev team, you'll find many a question that a dev or VP will answer because they peruse the forums quite often.

I personally use the HTML Editor and find that it's one of the best I've ever used. It's extremely feature rich (baring in mind it doesn't have every single feature in the world), very intuitively setup, very customizable etc.

Give it a spin if you're a coder and oh.... STAY AWAY from swapping between the code and visual editor tabs in that program! (really wish they would just remove that visual one completely!). If you are in need of visual editing "instead" of HTML editing, then check out VSD. I don't use it, but I can definitely tell you there are tons of happy users of that program as well.

Oh... if you need to use VSD then be sure you are starting there on your sites. VSD, although an awesome builder, doesn't have the capability to import sites at all, so the only real drawback of that program is that you do have to start your site from scratch in it. It does have all the capability to add HTML and Flash and Java etc. through tools built into the program so it's really versatile.

Give the trial runs a workout and see what you think. Hit F1 for the help files and you're on your way. Go to the https://www.coffeecup.com/help/ (through the Support button up top just click it if you have access to it via the Guest Accounts), or to the menu on the Support button check out the Support Artticles http://www.coffeecup.com/help/articles/ for a searchable database of support questions that have been added through the years.

Good luck on it and enjoy the ride, whichever way you decide to go with CC products, you'll love them I'm sure!

Ewen,
I will try to be concise... my comments relate to the HTML Editor...

1.What do you think of the UI?
Intuitive, though I have to say that I haven't tried many HTML Editors other than this one. It was more or less love at first sight!
2.What were your biggest speed bumps in producing a site in either of these?
My own ignorance with regard to actual hand coding. Probably my age didn't help as I was no computer whizz kid when I first started out...more like a silver surfer touching my first ever computer at an advanced age.
3.What is your biggest gripe with either?
With HTML none...with VSD it doesn't allow me to handle code as I would like to (and now know how to)
4.If you could add one thing to the app, what would it be?
Easier handling of other code, such as PHP, though yet again in reality it is probably my own ignorance which blocks me rather than a failing in the software.
5.If you could change one thing in the app, what would it be?
All the things I would like seem to evolve in the updates before I have really been aware that I wanted them.
6.If you had to change to another HTML designer, what would you change to?
I wouldn't
7.What's the worst thing about Coffee Cup as a company?
That they are too far away for me to visit them personally and meet all the terrific people that work there... oh...and some of the bad mannered forum users
8.What's the best thing about Coffee Cup as a company?
Their personal involvement with their customers...they take us seriously

Why? Because it's Pro.