Web Builder Recommendations..

[psanchez13]

What is everyone using for their web builder in the control panels? I am looking at RVSiteBuilder and it appears to be fairly popular. Any other suggestions? Anything that is "recommended" by cpanel as it has the most compatibility..

Thanks!

 

[cPanelDavidG]

You may or may not have seen this list before, but in case you haven't - here is a list of website template systems that work with cPanel/WHM:

Bundled with cPanel 11

* SohoLaunch Pro Base - info.soholaunch.com/index.php?pr=Cpanel

Commercial Templating Systems Compatible to cPanel/WHM (Listed Alphabetically)

* Click Be! - Netenberg.com/clickbe.php
* RVSiteBuilder - RVSiteBuilder.com
* Site Builder CX - SiteBuilderCX.com
* Site Reptile - SiteReptile.com
* SiteBuilder by Parallels - Parallels.com/sitebuilder
* SiteZen - SiteZen.com


If anyone knows of any others that integrate or work with cPanel/WHM, please let me know.

 

[lbeachmike]

Recommendations / Preferences?

Thanks for the list!

Of those listed, has anybody out there compared these site-builder products?

Any preferences or recommendations? Any to avoid?

I'm looking for the one which will provide the best customer experience and will be simplest to maintain and support.

Thanks.

Mike

 

[Intekhab]

We use RVSiteBuilder.

Works great for us.

 

[Fernis]

I would be very interested to hear other opinions on these site builder scripts. I am currently looking into purchasing site builder software for my hosting clients and would like to get the best one.

 

[nyjimbo]

The RvSiteBuilder Pro seems like a great deal. Its got 435 templates and costs less than $12 a month per server. We get alot of customers who want to start a website but the website creation process is too daunting for them. Something like this has got to be a powerful selling point for hosting but I just dont see anyone talking about how beneficial it is or how much more business they do because of it. Since we have a little storefront we get walk-ins who ask about basic site creation but by the time I explain it all to them they are lost and usually just walk away without doing anything. This seems like a better way to snag that kind of sale.

 

[brianoz]

Soholaunch is a good sitebuilder system. We've used it now for close to 3 years. Support varies between good and excellent, and the product is being actively developed. They include an auto-upgrade ability and it can be installed through Fantastico or through cpanel plugins or via your own scripts.

The inbuilt functionality is amazing - as are some of the available templates (it has an active developer community).

The downside is the supplied templates aren't great, but you can get addon templates at reasonable rates.

 

[Fernis]

The RvSiteBuilder Pro seems like a great deal. Its got 435 templates and costs less than $12 a month per server. We get alot of customers who want to start a website but the website creation process is too daunting for them. Something like this has got to be a powerful selling point for hosting but I just dont see anyone talking about how beneficial it is or how much more business they do because of it. Since we have a little storefront we get walk-ins who ask about basic site creation but by the time I explain it all to them they are lost and usually just walk away without doing anything. This seems like a better way to snag that kind of sale.

RvSiteBuilder does look very nice.

Does anyone know which of these is known as the "Best of Bread" among Sitebuilder software?

 

[lbeachmike]

That is what I am looking to know as well. Which one the available Site Builder packages is the best one?

Has anybody compared the other options with RV Site Builder?

Also, once a site is built with RV Site Builder, is the code dependent on the site-builder? In other words, can a client moved to another server and still have a working site, or would RV Site Builder need to be installed on the destination server as well?

Thanks.

Mike

 

[nyjimbo]

I'm going to order RVSiteBuilder Pro right now. I will install it and see how it works, mostly concerned about system performance impact and ease of use for clients.

 

[Fernis]

I'm going to order RVSiteBuilder Pro right now. I will install it and see how it works, mostly concerned about system performance impact and ease of use for clients.

If you get a chance after you get it installed and use it a bit please leave some feedback here for us.

 

[sneader]

siteZen SiteBuilder

I am using siteZen SiteBuilder from sitemagix (http://www.sitemagix.com). I have this installed on 4 servers, and am very happy with the product, and support is very good as well.

Unlike many systems, I can do just about anything with this product, and now I develop many of my sites in this system, then turn them over to the customer to take over.

There is a built in "demo" system, as well as a "free trial" system (so customers can migrate their trial site into a real paid-for hosting plan, if they want).

- Scott

 

[lbeachmike]

Hey Sneader -

That is such outstanding timing for your post, because I just discovered siteZen last night and was *extremely* impressed with it. It is particularly easy to use and very flexible/versatile - that's what stood out for me.

I've not yet installed it, so I can't yet assess how well it integrates with cpanel, but I hope to install it tonight. It is competitively priced, and the verbage is actually literate, which is something lacking in RV Site Builder. This seems like a far-superior product to RV Site Builder. I am simply hoping that the cpanel integration is as well done and hassle-free.

Incidentally, it seems that you are implying that a user can build a site with the site-builder, and then use the site on a non-site-builder equipped account - is that correct?

In other words, if I build a site with the site-builder, does it require the site-builder to function, or does the site-builder simply generate independent fully-portable html code that can be subsequently moved anywhere and modified directly?

Thanks.

Mike

 

[sneader]

I've not yet installed it, so I can't yet assess how well it integrates with cpanel.... I am simply hoping that the cpanel integration is as well done and hassle-free.

It may integrate with cPanel, but I have not implemented that feature (if it exists). I just tell people to go to theirdomain.com/zen and log in with their regular web hosting id/password.

Incidentally, it seems that you are implying that a user can build a site with the site-builder, and then use the site on a non-site-builder equipped account - is that correct? In other words, if I build a site with the site-builder, does it require the site-builder to function, or does the site-builder simply generate independent fully-portable html code that can be subsequently moved anywhere and modified directly?

Indeed it generates independent fully-portable HTML. BUT... once you edit it outside of the siteZEN system, then you cannot bring it back into siteZEN. You cannot import existing pages into siteZEN (I doubt any program like this lets you do that). So, once you start editing it outside of siteZEN, then it needs to stay out.

siteZEN does have the ability to edit the HTML from within the program. It is not recommended, but you can do it. Even better, there are ways to create HTML, PHP and Javascript objects. I use this feature a lot.

Take a look at some of the sample sites listed on my site at http://billing.qth.com/sitebuilder.php.

Scott

 

[robb3369]

RVSiteBuilder

My only issue with RVSiteBuilder is the warning msgs it throws (in WHM) after each upgrade. Basically the issue is that the php.ini for the 3rdParty apps gets updated after each upgrade and you keep getting the warnings that require a perl script to be run on the server, after which it requires cpanel to be restarted...

I wish you could disable those things or set the php.ini to stop changing... but can't have everything... Other than that, I like it and my less web savy users like it.

 

[nyjimbo]

My only issue with RVSiteBuilder is the warning msgs it throws (in WHM) after each upgrade. Basically the issue is that the php.ini for the 3rdParty apps gets updated after each upgrade and you keep getting the warnings that require a perl script to be run on the server, after which it requires cpanel to be restarted...

I wish you could disable those things or set the php.ini to stop changing... but can't have everything... Other than that, I like it and my less web savy users like it.

I think they are fixing that with the next release. Its in the forums on their site. I am still playing with RVSB but so far I like the quick response by their tech people and they seem to be adding new features quickly.

 

[lbeachmike]

The bottom line for me is that I tried both RV and siteZen, and you can just do things so much more easily with siteZen and it's capabilities are exceptional.

I had a client trial RV and siteZen and he entirely ecstatic about siteZen and built his site immediately.

In the end, it's all about the customer experience.

mrk

 

[jobln]

Which one is the easiest one? For newbies?

Which one is the easiest one? For newbies? (just click click click and done)

 

[lbeachmike]

I went with siteZen because of it's ease of use for the hosting client. It is pretty much click click and you're done - however, it's also very versatile. The only issue is that it appears to have quite a few quirks/bugs, but nothing we've not been able to workaround thus far. I've also not yet checked for an updated version.

 

[BuffaloWeb]

I know the thread's a bit dated, but it seems I'm looking for a new site builder. I previously used Interspire SiteCenter, but in their infinite wisdom, Interspire discontinued support without warning and gave no transition plan up to their (outrageously priced) "new" site builder. Of course we have >100 users on the system (thanks Interspire).

So one concern I have is about the company itself. RVSiteBuilder is probably in the lead with regards to this based on their longevity in the market plus the fact that they have other products active in the market for quite a while (eg, RVSkins). But wow! Is it me or is EVERYTHING on their site hard to interpret? The builder routine looks a mess too. Something about their product (and their presentation of it) looks so cobbled together and non-intuitive, it really scares me away.

Parallels... Oh yes, I was a ModernBill customer that got the rug pulled out from under him by Parallels. ...probably wouldn't get anywhere near Parallels this lifetime...

Which brings me to everyone else. Site Builder CX was apparently shelved and Comdev is working on a replacement. SiteZen and SiteReptile look nice and easy to use.

So, how easy and feature-rich are SiteZen, SiteReptile, and RVSiteBuilder? Appreciate feedback from current users!