Entered CNET Catalog: 02/23/2006
SKU: NWE7-USC
Manufacturer: SJ Namo Interactive
Manufacturer description
With over 2 million users, the award-winning Namo WebEditor 2006 suite is one of the most complete Web authoring applications ever created and quite possibly the only software you will need to create, edit, publish and manage your websites. An integrated development environment empowers Web professionals to create cutting-edge sites. Easy-to-use functions enable beginners to grow into highly skilled Web designers. The Namo WebEditor 2006 suite is optimized to make any type of HTML document in any circumstances to the taste of user. You can get the felicitous capabilities for stylish designing, seamless coding, and flexible content authoring power through Namo WebEditor 2006 suite.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 04/18/2006
In our tests of Namo 2006, installation took several minutes, and we didn't encounter any speed bumps. Once Namo WebEditor was installed, we opened to an intuitive, WYSIWYG interface. The Namo page-design app is similar to that of a word-processing program, with a window for adding content such as text and images. Four tabs at the bottom of the interface let you switch among editing, HTML, dual, and preview modes. Panels make it easy to find formatting commands and content libraries. Tools for inserting layers, tables, flash content, images, JavaScript, and frames are also easy to locate.
Adding content is easy. Enter text directly or import it via the File menu or the Site Library. You can import graphics and flash animation by dragging them from the Site Library.
Namo also adds plenty of functionality for HTML coders. Working with Namo is straightforward if you've used a Web editor before. If you haven't, Namo ships with a good selection of wizards and more than 200 templates that you can tailor to your own needs. The designs aren't inspired, but they are free. Starting with the Site Wizard, you can build a basic site in a few minutes, then drag and drop text, images, and multimedia files onto the pages.
We found one annoying quirk with this technique, though: dragging and dropping some Microsoft Word files resulted in strange word spacing. However, if we opened the Word file and cut and pasted the text into Namo, the content appeared fine. Unfortunately, we found that many features were buried deep within drop-down menus and dialog boxes.
The Site Wizard contains a nice selection of themes, letting you inspect each one and view a preview in your Web browser.
For designers who want to move beyond the basic level, Namo provides more than 80 JavaScript actions (rollovers, expanding navigation menus, layer effects, banner rotation, and so on); XHTML (Extensible HTML); blog posting, and WebDAV collaboration. We especially appreciated the Tag Selector, which lets you easily select elements. Namo also supports Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) via the formatting panel and even includes an equation editor. Its Site Manager makes it easy to add, delete, rearrange, and preview pages.
New to the 2006 version is the ability to add text and line art to images without having to load a separate editor--convenient for simple edits. For more complex vector graphics, you can use the included WebCanvas vector-based graphics. This vector graphics toolset is easy to grasp, making it a snap to whip up buttons and banners, and some of the tools are built into WebEditor.
A few short tutorials in the Namo folder help you get started, but the program assumes that you have a basic knowledge of Web design. Beginners should supplement the program with a good introductory design text. Namo WebEditor 2006's support Web site offers a searchable knowledge base, as well as free user forums. But you must register to access the phone support, which some users found difficult to reach even during weekday hours.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
1/10
This app SUCKS!!!
Pros: Nice, easy to use WYSIWYG editor
Cons: Re-writes code, deletes/disables database connections if code generated by the app via any wizards are modified by the user.
Review:
I have been using this program for the past month. I think that this product SUCKS!!! It is nice for a WYSIWYG HTML editor, but the product description is deceiving - you can't create and edit graphics within the program as I thought it was capable based on the program description. My main issue with this program is the fact that this program will re-write your code. It will undo any editing that you do within the program including deleting any database connections and logic that were originally built by the program via any of the wizards. In addition, the program will crash for no apparent reason. In fact, I ran a database wizard for creating a table based on a database, the app crashed. THIS IS FRUSTRATING!!!!! I expect that I can run a wizard to create a connection to a database and be able to edit the code and the program not touch the code. Also, when using a database wizard, there is no way to customize the layout of the query displayed on the website using the wizard - this requires editing the code directly. Again, when making this change the program will either revert the code back to the way the wizard designed the query layout or delete the db connection and any loops and variable assignments created by the wizard. I recommend EVERYONE STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT! In fact I am looking for a new program today to use instead of this crappy product!
User Rating: 
2/10
Namo Web Editor Support is Nonexistent!
Pros: Generally easy to use.
Cons: Support is so bad you should not buy this product unless you can hire a web developer when you run into a ditch.
Review:
Namo?s support is a hoax. I have encountered support people who don?t know the software, who put me on hold and never get back to me, promise to call back and don?t, promise to email me instructions and don?t. I have never received any follow-through with their promises, but rather a dodge to get me off the phone.
Here is the history:
Early-September: 1st contact with the Support Center asking for help.
Sept. 27th: I get a response which says, ?First, we would like to apologize for the late response and for any inconvenience.? I scroll through other people?s inquiries and repeatedly find this same response. Namo asks for an email with more information ? which I send the same day. I get no reply. I send three more emails with no response from Namo.
Finally, on October 14th I talk to Avikwee, one of Namo?s Support staff. He tells me he will look into my problem and call me back in ten minutes. I never hear from him again.
Two days later I talk to Jay, another Namo Support staff. He advises me to reload my Namo software, which I do and get no change in my problem. In a second call he tells me to send a file of my website for the tech staff to analyze and fix, which I do within thirty minutes. I never hear from Jay or the tech staff again.
I send two more emails but get no response. On October 28th I talk to Jake, with Namo?s Support staff. He tells me I need to clean up the site?s registry. There is no reference to doing this procedure in my manual. He takes my email address and says he?ll send me instructions as to how to do this. I never get the instructions from him. I send another email requesting the registry cleanup instructions. I get no response.
On November 10th I call again and talk to Jeffrey with Namo?s Support staff. I tell him I want him to send me email instructions as to how to clean up the registry. He takes my email address. I ask him a specific question about the procedure. He obviously doesn?t know the software, and asks if he can put me on hold for two minutes. He never gets back to me, and never sends me the email.
Before this I was considering buying the latest version of Namo, but now that I know the Support is one where there is little wait on their phone line, but you get staff who don?t know the program, and never follow through, I will look for an alternative to Namo. Its absolutely inexcusable for a problem to go unaddressed two months!!
Here is the history:
Early-September: 1st contact with the Support Center asking for help.
Sept. 27th: I get a response which says, ?First, we would like to apologize for the late response and for any inconvenience.? I scroll through other people?s inquiries and repeatedly find this same response. Namo asks for an email with more information ? which I send the same day. I get no reply. I send three more emails with no response from Namo.
Finally, on October 14th I talk to Avikwee, one of Namo?s Support staff. He tells me he will look into my problem and call me back in ten minutes. I never hear from him again.
Two days later I talk to Jay, another Namo Support staff. He advises me to reload my Namo software, which I do and get no change in my problem. In a second call he tells me to send a file of my website for the tech staff to analyze and fix, which I do within thirty minutes. I never hear from Jay or the tech staff again.
I send two more emails but get no response. On October 28th I talk to Jake, with Namo?s Support staff. He tells me I need to clean up the site?s registry. There is no reference to doing this procedure in my manual. He takes my email address and says he?ll send me instructions as to how to do this. I never get the instructions from him. I send another email requesting the registry cleanup instructions. I get no response.
On November 10th I call again and talk to Jeffrey with Namo?s Support staff. I tell him I want him to send me email instructions as to how to clean up the registry. He takes my email address. I ask him a specific question about the procedure. He obviously doesn?t know the software, and asks if he can put me on hold for two minutes. He never gets back to me, and never sends me the email.
Before this I was considering buying the latest version of Namo, but now that I know the Support is one where there is little wait on their phone line, but you get staff who don?t know the program, and never follow through, I will look for an alternative to Namo. Its absolutely inexcusable for a problem to go unaddressed two months!!
User Rating: 
9/10
Love this suite cause it's sweet!
Pros: canvas(img editing) has lots of options, very efficient, well thought out, intuitive, great help file
Cons: find and replace
Review:
I never write reviews, but felt compelled to write this one cause I love this program. I have been looking for a html dev tool for a long time, and can't afford D weaver or F page, but the free ones and cheap ones seemed so basic or didn't work well in vista or didn't have wysiwyg or i didn't like the layout or the way it published, and i love this program. every time i think it's missing something that i want, i find with a little more searching which button to use or where to find the option. The main problem I found so far is that I wanted to be able to do global find and replace to edit multiple pages at once - and though it has this option, it won't ignore white space and is a little buggy in the dialog box so I couldn't get it to replace more than a word of code. Though I am a still a beginner to web development, I think this is a great product to begin with, so that you don't feel limited with the other cheap options and don't have to pay $400. I don't know why I like it so much - I just like the way it works and feels and was surprised others didn't like it as much as I did.
User Rating: 
8/10
Great product
Pros: A true WYSIWYG editor. (As close as you'll ever get anyway)
Cons: You NEED to read the manual and become familiar with how it works.
Review:
I feel badly for the people giving this product such a negative review. It's clear that Web design is not for them. Perhaps hiring a professional is in order. No I don't work for the company either.
I've never had it crash on me nor have I ever needed to call their tech support. It's really quite easy to use especially for those who are inept with HTML as I am. Take your time, read the manual and you'll be surprised at how quickly and easily you can put a basic website together. To top it off you can't beat the price.
I've never had it crash on me nor have I ever needed to call their tech support. It's really quite easy to use especially for those who are inept with HTML as I am. Take your time, read the manual and you'll be surprised at how quickly and easily you can put a basic website together. To top it off you can't beat the price.
User Rating: 1/10
Sucks big time
Pros: Dual-pane view
Cons: Remote files not in the main window
Review:
It could be excellent, as it's the only available wysiwyg web editor that mimics Dreamweaver's dual-pane layout (code + preview).
Unfortunately, the remote files cannot be displayed in the main window, you have to switch to an FTP window (FileZilla-like).
So stupid!
Unfortunately, the remote files cannot be displayed in the main window, you have to switch to an FTP window (FileZilla-like).
So stupid!
User Rating: 1/10
This program is NOT for a non-techy!
Pros: Nice looking box and packaging.
Cons: Not easy to use or understand. Documentation and help is cryptic and convoluted.
Review:
This program stinks! It does not, in any way live up to its claims. Very difficult to use and has a cunmersome workflow. Great if you have nothing better to do with your life, like run a business or something.
User Rating: 8/10
Great Program for the Money
Pros: High-end features at a fraction of the price, simple to use, solid.
Cons: Minor interface quirks
Review:
When I started using WE (v 5.5) I knew little about designing a web page and even less about html. I know more about design now,and even know a reasonable amount of code, but I really don't need to because WE 2K6 is so simple and reliable. I can use code if I want to, but seldom do.
Having used other programs including Dreamweaver, GoLive, and FP I think this one wins hands down.
The drag-and-drop interface makes page creation (and updating) a breeze. The included FTP client couldn't be easier to use.
greendr's review said: "After buying the product I was able to get a new web page up. Updating it became a problem."
This is how it's done: You edit your page, save it, drag it from your computer to your site in the FTP client, click "yes" when asked if you want to overwrite the other file, and that's it.
To others who whine they can't figure out how to use the program...go on line and get some basic education about how to set up a web page (like I did).
I can't comment on the Tech Support because I have never needed it.
Overall, for the price you would be hard-pressed to find a better, more flexible program.
Having used other programs including Dreamweaver, GoLive, and FP I think this one wins hands down.
The drag-and-drop interface makes page creation (and updating) a breeze. The included FTP client couldn't be easier to use.
greendr's review said: "After buying the product I was able to get a new web page up. Updating it became a problem."
This is how it's done: You edit your page, save it, drag it from your computer to your site in the FTP client, click "yes" when asked if you want to overwrite the other file, and that's it.
To others who whine they can't figure out how to use the program...go on line and get some basic education about how to set up a web page (like I did).
I can't comment on the Tech Support because I have never needed it.
Overall, for the price you would be hard-pressed to find a better, more flexible program.
User Rating: 9/10
The best webeditor I have tried
Pros: Great upload facility
Cons: Can't mention any at the moment
Review:
I started up using Frontpage years back, but got frustrated because it was too controlling - wanted the user to make webpages the way Microsoft wanted it done. And when uploading the pages Frontpage was supposed to take care of anything for you. In the beginning it was nice, but it ended up being really annoying as my knowledge developed. Then one day I found the description about Namo somewhere on the web. It was cheap, so I purchased it and tried it out. I got excited from the first moment on, because it could do all the stuff that Frontpage could, without being controlling. I love the way you can change from one page to another by just clicking the tabs. And if you don't want to use the templates you can easily do the coding in the WYSIWYG or directly in HTML. Three different tabs below: Edit, Edit & HTML and HTML. The second is great. Edit something in the WYSIWYG, then pres the Edit & HTML tab and the window is divided in two: The WYSIWYG below and above the HTML code displayed at the point of the cursor. I love the FTP upload facility, which is very clear. You can even have PHP code displayed if you have the right server installed.
I am surprised this great Webeditor is not more wellknown in Denmark. It should be ... and the price is very low compared to the competitors!
I am surprised this great Webeditor is not more wellknown in Denmark. It should be ... and the price is very low compared to the competitors!
User Rating: 
3/10
A real stinker
Pros: I can't think of a thing.
Cons: Doesn't deliver, No support.
Review:
Web Editor 06 is a sharp looking package that falls far short of what is promised.
Editing may be WYSIWYG but publishing same is another matter.
I have read many posts to the forums and apparently I am not alone.
While not a beginner, I have read the help files supplied with the program but found few answers to guide me.
There is no on-line support available and user telephone support is not an option.
I created a web site using the site manager feature but when published, many of the pages created were nowhere to be found.
Creating and uploading a single page is likewise a frustrating effort.
While WebEditor looks great when loaded, in practical use it falls far short of expectations.
Even a feedback letter is returned "I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses (choiss-hosting@namo.com).
This is a permanent error; I've given up".
My personal advice, spend your hard earned money on a more reliable program.
Editing may be WYSIWYG but publishing same is another matter.
I have read many posts to the forums and apparently I am not alone.
While not a beginner, I have read the help files supplied with the program but found few answers to guide me.
There is no on-line support available and user telephone support is not an option.
I created a web site using the site manager feature but when published, many of the pages created were nowhere to be found.
Creating and uploading a single page is likewise a frustrating effort.
While WebEditor looks great when loaded, in practical use it falls far short of expectations.
Even a feedback letter is returned "I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses (choiss-hosting@namo.com).
This is a permanent error; I've given up".
My personal advice, spend your hard earned money on a more reliable program.
User Rating: 2/10
No tech support for a product that doesn't work
Pros: Lots of features. Very WYSIWYG
Cons: No tech support, holes in the manual, Help commands don't do what they say they will
Review:
Namo may have a great product if only I could use it. Their tech support is non-existent. The product is billed as an easy WYSIWYG program ideal for first time web editors. That's me. I'm proficient on basic computer use and have used Netscape's composer successfully in the past, but I don't know HTML and have never used a higher end editing program.
The manual looks pretty good at first. It is annoying to read through 4 sentences explaining what a cursor is, but it does suggest that they are starting from the beginning for first time users. The problem is two-fold. First, they skip steps. There is great information on setting up your site tree and great information on laying out pages, but nothing on how to get from your site tree to the screan that will lay out the pages. Lots of omissions like that. Maybe a more experienced editor could figure it out. Secondly, the program doesn't do what it says it will do. Again with the site tree, the Help menu says if you click on one of the pages listed on your site tree, it will open the page. Sounds great, but it doesn't happen.
The real problem is tech support - there isn't any. There is a phone number in the manual that is not working. On the web site, the support page has a picture of three smiling people in head-sets - this is a cruel joke. There are no phone numbers unless you count the one for South Korea. They have a forum for questions that are supposed to get answered by their support people. I've been waiting for an answer for 5 days. Nothing. Furthermore they don't even tell you where to look for an answer - will they email it or do you have to go back on the site and check in? I've tried both. I also emailed their sales and PR people since those were the only direct emails available - nothing.
Bottom line - I think this could be a great progam if they worked on the kinks, fixed the manual, and had good tech support. As it is, I'm just grateful that the store where I bought it is going to let me exchange the open box.
The manual looks pretty good at first. It is annoying to read through 4 sentences explaining what a cursor is, but it does suggest that they are starting from the beginning for first time users. The problem is two-fold. First, they skip steps. There is great information on setting up your site tree and great information on laying out pages, but nothing on how to get from your site tree to the screan that will lay out the pages. Lots of omissions like that. Maybe a more experienced editor could figure it out. Secondly, the program doesn't do what it says it will do. Again with the site tree, the Help menu says if you click on one of the pages listed on your site tree, it will open the page. Sounds great, but it doesn't happen.
The real problem is tech support - there isn't any. There is a phone number in the manual that is not working. On the web site, the support page has a picture of three smiling people in head-sets - this is a cruel joke. There are no phone numbers unless you count the one for South Korea. They have a forum for questions that are supposed to get answered by their support people. I've been waiting for an answer for 5 days. Nothing. Furthermore they don't even tell you where to look for an answer - will they email it or do you have to go back on the site and check in? I've tried both. I also emailed their sales and PR people since those were the only direct emails available - nothing.
Bottom line - I think this could be a great progam if they worked on the kinks, fixed the manual, and had good tech support. As it is, I'm just grateful that the store where I bought it is going to let me exchange the open box.
User Rating: 9/10
Best Web Product - bar none
Pros: Easy to use, easy to understand, great features
Cons: Phone support -not that I really needed it!
Review:
I have been using this quiet product for years now and always go with their newest product. I have been in a pich and needed to to create better than average sites in a pinch. This product has allowed that to happen---error free.
C-Net's review pales and makes it sound like this program is just one step above "freeware" and Front Page. I threw out Go Live, Dreamweaver, and a bunch of other here-today-gone-tomorrow products, and my replacement has been WebEditor and will continue to be so.
The first reviewer mentioned support being weak, I will concede that their phone support lacks a solid backbone. I have not had to use the phone support for WebEditor, but for some of their other products and they are all tied into the same support line.
The user forums are where I get most help/advice, but that is usually my preference for any product I own (users tend to take products to the limit and are much more creative).
I always manage to discover something new with each release and this is no disappointment at all.
I HIGHLY recommend this over any other web developement product...bar none!
C-Net's review pales and makes it sound like this program is just one step above "freeware" and Front Page. I threw out Go Live, Dreamweaver, and a bunch of other here-today-gone-tomorrow products, and my replacement has been WebEditor and will continue to be so.
The first reviewer mentioned support being weak, I will concede that their phone support lacks a solid backbone. I have not had to use the phone support for WebEditor, but for some of their other products and they are all tied into the same support line.
The user forums are where I get most help/advice, but that is usually my preference for any product I own (users tend to take products to the limit and are much more creative).
I always manage to discover something new with each release and this is no disappointment at all.
I HIGHLY recommend this over any other web developement product...bar none!
User Rating: 2/10
Little to no support and crashes all of the time.
Pros: I can't say much positive because I give up.
Cons: Their support group must not know English or they don't understand their own product.
Review:
After buying the product I was able to get a new web page up. Updating it became a problem. I have spent 3 days at this. Responses were "not enough information" or wrong information because they didn't understand. They don't seem to have a phone or at least no one speaks English at it. No tutorials so I would expect more support to be available. I give up on this software. I suspect the positive reviews are experts or employess because I don't see it. What good is it if their manual is hard to read, little to no support and it continually crashes. I'm just counting this up as a learning experience. A tutorial and a phone number would be a huge improvement.
User Rating: 8/10
Great value for performance, easy to use
Pros: Easy site organization/reorganization, automatic nav. bar creation and maintenance, use of editable themes to easily control visuals
Cons: Occasional need to edit html.
Review:
The official Cnet review didn't mention the main factors I bought NAMO for:
1) Themes are editable and applicable to pages as desired. These control most of the visual appearance of a page very easily and seamlessly.
2)The Site Editor allows you to easily insert, delete, and rearrange the pages (drag and drop) and completely takes care of all the Navigation Bar changes for you. In addition it's really easy to change nav bars appearance with the Themes and the nav. bar type by right click + editing their properties.
I find the wysiwyg editor view a lot like Microsoft Word to use, but of course somewhat more to deal with. Tables, and other features will seem very familiar.
I've been using Webeditor for about three years and have upgraded to each new version. I tried Microsoft Front Page first since I already had it in Office. Webeditor was much easier, seemed more capable, and puts out more standard code. The Webeditor new site Wizard seemed to take quite a while to work through, but it was really instrumental in getting my first site up easily and really quickly considering the overall time spent. I've had several other people switch to Webeditor at my suggestion and none have gone back.
MS Word files have a lot of extraneous word processor stuff if you try to paste a full .doc file. Be sure to accept all changes before you paste to Webeditor. You are much better off to copy and past from an open .doc file. Or, usually even better, in Word do a File + Save As: Webpage, then close the Word file and reopen the resulting html file, then copy and past that. The latter technique usually give the cleanest transfer, especially if using footnotes or other advanced Word features. Webeditor has some Tools to help clean up extraneous stuff from MS Word files, but be sure to save your page before using them. You're still best off to paste in the cleanest file you can.
Note that these are MS Word issues that would affect any html editor. Extraneous unrecognized code shows up as gold icons with a ? in the Webeditor wysiwyg editor. They're also easy to manually delete or use Find and Replace.
Once in a while the wysiwyg editor gets confused a little, probably due to my incorrect editing techniques, and some minor editing of HTML is required. Adding special html, php, etc is very easy using the tabbed windows to change viewing modes. One small peculiarity is that Webeditor doesn't add the .htm or .html file extension automatically when inserting a new page, perhaps because there are choices.
Overall, the program works very well and is much more capable than I am. I have created and maintain three websites, with 6 to 16 pages. I think it could easily handle much larger sites.
1) Themes are editable and applicable to pages as desired. These control most of the visual appearance of a page very easily and seamlessly.
2)The Site Editor allows you to easily insert, delete, and rearrange the pages (drag and drop) and completely takes care of all the Navigation Bar changes for you. In addition it's really easy to change nav bars appearance with the Themes and the nav. bar type by right click + editing their properties.
I find the wysiwyg editor view a lot like Microsoft Word to use, but of course somewhat more to deal with. Tables, and other features will seem very familiar.
I've been using Webeditor for about three years and have upgraded to each new version. I tried Microsoft Front Page first since I already had it in Office. Webeditor was much easier, seemed more capable, and puts out more standard code. The Webeditor new site Wizard seemed to take quite a while to work through, but it was really instrumental in getting my first site up easily and really quickly considering the overall time spent. I've had several other people switch to Webeditor at my suggestion and none have gone back.
MS Word files have a lot of extraneous word processor stuff if you try to paste a full .doc file. Be sure to accept all changes before you paste to Webeditor. You are much better off to copy and past from an open .doc file. Or, usually even better, in Word do a File + Save As: Webpage, then close the Word file and reopen the resulting html file, then copy and past that. The latter technique usually give the cleanest transfer, especially if using footnotes or other advanced Word features. Webeditor has some Tools to help clean up extraneous stuff from MS Word files, but be sure to save your page before using them. You're still best off to paste in the cleanest file you can.
Note that these are MS Word issues that would affect any html editor. Extraneous unrecognized code shows up as gold icons with a ? in the Webeditor wysiwyg editor. They're also easy to manually delete or use Find and Replace.
Once in a while the wysiwyg editor gets confused a little, probably due to my incorrect editing techniques, and some minor editing of HTML is required. Adding special html, php, etc is very easy using the tabbed windows to change viewing modes. One small peculiarity is that Webeditor doesn't add the .htm or .html file extension automatically when inserting a new page, perhaps because there are choices.
Overall, the program works very well and is much more capable than I am. I have created and maintain three websites, with 6 to 16 pages. I think it could easily handle much larger sites.
