• On TechRepublic: Five super-secret features in Windows 7
July 10, 2008 9:57 AM PDT

Synthasite gets even easier to use with new UI

by Josh Lowensohn

This morning simple site builder Synthasite has a new and improved user interface that's different from any other site creation tool I've used. There are still themes to choose from, and widgets to drop in, but the site building tool has received a far more polished feel that I think new users will be a little more comfortable with.

The biggest change users will notice is that the tool now scales to the entire width of your monitor. Everything is still drag and drop, but now each element also includes right click contextual menus to tweak various bits of metadata or options.

Having just looked at Wix a few weeks back, there are definite similarities between the two, although I found Synthasite's theme directory to be more straightforward. There are now 60 different themes to choose from, and most have color pallets that you can pick to further tweak the look of your site.

Also new with this morning's redesign are some widgets you can plug into your page, like a new Flickr gallery builder that will put together a pretty svelte looking photo collection from your Flickr photo stream. Photos uploaded to your Synthasite account can now be edited within the tool using photo editor Picnik.

One thing to note is that the service is not using Amazon's S3 storage service to host the blogs like many other simple site hosts do. Instead it's using its own server farm that's located in the same part of the world. Synthasite's CEO Vinny Lingham tells me that he'd eventually like to move to a hybrid solution using several server solutions at once to make sure sites won't go down even if one server cluster does.

In the coming months the service will be expanding to cover niche sites like resumes, specialty blogs, and portfolio sites.

Synthasite's new page creator is a simple drag-and-drop affair. It'll also scale as wide as your monitor to let you see how your site will look live, as you change it.

(Credit: CNET Networks)
Josh Lowensohn writes for Webware.com, CNET's blog about Web applications and services. E-mail Josh, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Josh.
Recent posts from Webware
Review redux: Flixster movie app for BlackBerry
Popular iPhone movie app flops on BlackBerry
Opera Mobile 10 beta browser: First Look video
Google trying not to cross 'the creepy line'
Integrated retweet on its way to Twitter
Mozilla's e-mail group looks toward the cloud
Facebook: We're going after scammy ads, too
Alterna-browsers Firefox, Chrome get quick fixes
Add a Comment (Log in or register)
by igolga July 15, 2008 8:59 PM PDT
buy guild wars gold
maplestory mesos
maple story mesos
maple story
maple story
maple story mesos
maplestory mesos
maple story
maple story mesos
maplestory mesos
Reply to this comment
advertisement

About Webware

Say No to boxed software! The future of applications is online delivery and access. Software is passé. Webware is the new way to get things done.

Add this feed to your online news reader

Webware topics

FAQ: Buying the right Windows 7 upgrade

Readers still have lots of questions on just which version of the software they need to buy in order to upgrade their PC. CNET News tries to offer some answers.

N.Y. lawsuit details Intel's 'largesse' toward Dell

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's federal antitrust case filed Wednesday alleges a longstanding symbiotic relationship between Intel and Dell.

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right