Tool designed for heavy construction

NetObjects will introduce a tool to build entire sites, not just pages.

CNET News staff

July 22, 1996 7:15 p.m. PT

Next week, start-up NetObjects will introduce a Web authoring tool that focuses more on building entire sites than individual pages.

With NetObjects Fusion tool, the company will enter an increasingly competitive market for HTML editing software dominated by Adobe Systems' PageMill, Netscape Communications' Navigator Gold, and, in many cases, ordinary word processors. But the company said its tool will go well beyond standard visual HTML editors, doing for Web site design what Quark Xpress did for desktop publishing.

NetObjects Fusion features SiteArchitect, a visual editor for viewing the entire structure of a Web site, and PageDraw, a layout editor that gives designers precise control over page elements including Hypertext Transfer Protocol, graphics, and media such as Java, ActiveX, and Shockwave applets. The tool will also come with a number of templates that automate the creation of Web sites, as well as visual controls for integrating database content into Web sites, the company said.

The Windows 95 and NT product will be available for downloading next Monday from the company's Web site. NetObject Fusion will ship in the fall and expects a retail price of under $500. A Mac version is under development.