Web Authoring with GoLive

• Product: GoLive 5
• From: Adobe, www.adobe.com
• For: Macintosh, Windows
• Price: TBD
• Pros: Relatively easy to use, intuitive drag & drop interface. A complete tool set for Web site design, layout, and maintenance. Powerful features for visual layout and design, advanced site management, HTML source code and JavaScript editing, as well as several user-defined options. Most significantly, version 5 adds the ability to import HTML (etc.) produced by other programs without altering the code.
• Cons: Users of some web browsers may experience script errors as a result of certain JavaScript code elements the program (optionally) generates. Indeed, the company's "Made with GoLive" home page produced such an error when we visited it at one point, using Internet Explorer 4.0.

History

GoLive, acquired in Jan. 1999 by Adobe Systems Inc., was a respected name in the web authoring and design category with its  flagship product, the US$549 CyberStudio 3. Adobe saw its potential and snapped the company up, soon releasing an updated version of the product as Adobe GoLive 4.0 and, in June 2000, an improved version dubbed GoLive 5. Unfortunately, one thing that disappeared during the Adobe takeover was a stripped-down version of the original CyberStudio product, dubbed GoLive CyberStudio Personal Edition. At just US$99, GoLive CyberStudio Personal Edition was one of the best -- and first -- full-featured Web site tools priced for Macintosh consumers. However, there's no use lamenting the past. Let's look at how Adobe's moved the product forward.

GoLive 5.0

Behold has taken a look at Adobe GoLive! 5 (build x 26, beta). According to author Robert Stephens, "Adobe GoLive 5 is simply the finest web program we have ever used, hands down." We'll add our own comments here as soon as PC Buyer's Guide has had a chance to test the product. Until then, see Adobe's site at www.adobe.com for a list of updated features in GoLive 5.

For Further Reading:

• Web Authoring Made Easy - part 1
• Webtools '98 -  Spring and Summer saw many web-tool releases. Here are some of the best.
• CCW (now discontinued) had a feature on Web authoring tools in its April 1998 issue at www.ccwmag.com
• More Web authoring-related articles are available on this section's index page.
• News.com: Allaire targets Web developers
• TechWeb: How To Hire A Good Web Developer