I thought I would write up a little review about the web site builder script SiteReptile from a Cpanel based web host providers perspective and give a little perspective on RvSiteBuilder and TrendyFlash as well.

I recently have been looking into some web site builders as one of our customers said to check out RVSiteBuilder, Trendy Flash  and SiteReptile.

The very next day I did so. I first went to RvSiteBuilders website and read everything all about RVsiteBuilder. I was impressed by what they say on their site about Rvsitebuilder. I did not hesitate to order the Pro version of RvsiteBuilder. I was immediately given access to everything I needed to setup RvSiteBuilder. No waiting at all. All instructions, the downloads and help files were all right there. Well, I immediately proceeded to install and setup RvSiteBuilder on one of our cpanel shared hosting servers. Everything installed according to plan, everything was automatic and easy. Within minutes, there was a nice link to fine tune the settings in WHM. Once the simple configuration was done, all sites on the server also had a nice link right in their own Cpanels for their sites. RvSiteBuilder is all contained under Cpanel. There is no leaving their web space or their Cpanel control panel for our clients. This is a great and wonderful arrangement for our Resellers as they can also offer RvSiteBuilder to their own custmers at no cost to them.

I next started looking into SiteReptile. Overall the site is not a detailed as RvSiteBuilder's website but that's ok. I went ahead and ordered SiteReptile even while I was feeling apprehensive about placing the order. I had no clue what was going on. I first ended up on a page that would not let me log in. The only message I received was from Paypal about the money I just spent and one little email from SiteReptile also confirming they received my payment and some text saying shortly another email would follow with more details on what to do next. Well, nothing showed up within the next few hours so then I turned my attention to Trendy Flash.

TrendyFlash has an impressive website and full of details about their fine product. I felt at ease placing an order especially after trying out the demo they offered on their website. This is the one that dropped my jaw to the floor. So amazing is this website builder script that it's to good to be true. I ordered and in about 10 minutes I had full details on how to proceed with the install of TrendyFlash. All I can say it was easy and quick. The only confusing thing was when I tried to access the TrendyFlash configuration from within WHM, the page looks so much like their actual web site that I thought the configuration page was not loading but that it was their web site but after really looking at it, I saw the configuration tab in the middle of the page. Once configured, I went to test RvSiteBuilder and TrendyFlash on the server under one of the TweakedHosting test sites. Both worked flawlessly. RvsiteBuilder is very detailed and may get overwelming to the user but if they take a moment with it, they should realize just how much power they wield over their site design and content, it is phenomenal. Trendy Flash builder is just so slick and works like butter. It makes really cool flash based sites. I will leave it up to our users to talk about RvsiteBuilder and TrendyFlash as they get their hands on them and put them through a workout. Both Trendy Flash and RvSiteBuilder work from within the customers website control panel. They never leave or go anywhere. I like that.

Ok so after RvSiteBuilder and TrendyFlash were installed and working extremely well, I still did not have any details or downloads from SiteReptile. I went ahead and opened a support ticket with them and also used their contact form on their site. I asked how long does it take to get the details on how to install SiteReptile. The next day I received a reply saying that they sent the details. I wrote back saying I never got anything but a confirmation email from them and the Paypal receipt of payment. Then after another day, I received a new email with download and installation instructions. At that point I tried to install SiteReptile. Ok, TweakedHosting.com runs PHP 5.3 on its shared cpanel servers as default. They sent a download link for a version for PHP 5.2 . The whole issue is all about Zend which is not SiteBuilders fault. I said to them that SiteReptile will not work on PHP 5.3 so then they sent another download link for versions for PHP 5.3 and for Ioncube loader to use instead of Zend as an option if I needed. I like that and that is nice of them. Anyway, there were still issues with the version for PHP 5.3 with Zend and while I could have spent a whole lot more time screwing around with it to make it work, I just opted to install the Ioncube version which did work fine but I still had some issues which I easily corrected. So after a bunch of days and some head aches I had a working SiteReptile to test out. My overall feeling about SiteReptile is that it is a lower quality web builder script as compared to Rv-Site-Builder and Trendy Flash. From start to finish it was a pain in the butt. Then the scripting is just nothing special but it does do the job. To top it off, I uninstalled SiteBuilder from the server after only half a day of using it and they will not refund my money. I understand many developers do not refund as a policy but you know what, many do. To me, this is a bad policy for customer relations.

From a client / customer / user standpoint I believe that most clients will find RvSiteBuilder the most useful of these for normal websites once they get use to the slight learning curve involved. I can't imagine anyone not being wowed by TrendyFlash. Is it a work of art in form and function. It works best under Internet Explorer and Firefox because of it being flash by nature but still works good under Google Chrome while having some glitches. If you want an impressive flash site, you'll love TrendyFlash but flash is not suitable on the majority of web sites, so take that as you need to.

The Score Card by JaYH:

RvSiteBuilder: B- It would be an A maybe if it was easier for the end user - 8 out of 10
Example sites - not customized at all - http://www.ther1.com/ and http://www.suchecki.us

TrendyFlash Builder: B needs more customization options /  A as a flash only builder - 9 out of 10
A Site I whipped up in a few minutes - http://www.2greenfish.com/

SiteReptile: D- For slow support, no refunds, user needs to leave Cpanel to use it, Add a few points if you want to put up with the low-end interface as it does have an abundant of features and options for the end-user to build a web site. 4 out of 10

So there you have my humble opinion on these web site builders. If anyone who reads this knows of any other cool web site builders that they have used, please let me know one way or another, good or bad as I would like to give them a run for their money and possibly offer my thoughts on them.

Thanks for reading! Cheers! - JaYH

Friday, January 13, 2012

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