From...

by Owen Linderholm

(IDG) -- Not very long ago, building a Web site was a complex proposition that required you to know the arcane details of HTML and Java script. Not anymore. Simple Web site building programs are everywhere.

Sierra On-Line hopes to stand out and has revamped its own entry by releasing a new version of its Web Studio software and bundling it with two other programs, SnapShot Express and iCollect. The program is aimed at home and home-office users and is designed to be simple to use.

The Complete Web Studio, including Web Studio 2.0 with iCollect and SnapShot Express bundled, is available for $79.95. Web Studio 2.0 is also available separately for $49.95

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Web Studio 2.0 adds a huge array of built-in content, including 100 templates, 31,000 graphic images, 2300 photos, 1000 backgrounds, 1500 animations, and 300 sounds. Sierra On-Line also rebuilt the program's interface with movable toolbars and resizable content galleries, to make the page designer's job easier.

Other enhancements include an advanced multimedia tutorial and improved editing tools with functions like auto alignment of buttons, images, and text. Web Studio uses a simple drag-and-drop technique for building Web pages and has unlimited undo and redo, making it very easy for novices to use.

SnapShot Express is a powerful but straightforward image editor that lets you touch up, enhance, and edit photographs for use with Web Studio. You can use it as an image organizer, and you can create slide shows with it.

ICollect is a more unusual tool that lets you set up automated downloads of whole Web sites for offline browsing, which minimizes online time for users accessing the Internet over telephone lines. It also manages downloaded content, and you can use it as a catalog tool to store archive material you might want to reuse. It can store the results of complex searches for offline perusal and can even be set to let other people dial in and browse its catalog at specified times.