I've posted this in the Wordpress Support forum too - I'm really hoping that one of you can help a lady out?! Hi there. I've recently stumbled across Artisteer - and have been playing for a couple of days in the demo version. I like what I'm seeing so far... and am also interested in that they'll be rolling it out for Joomla and Drupal soon too. I'm finding it extremely easy to use. I haven't tried installing anything I've exported from it (no point, as there's a watermark on the demo version, and I don't want that all over one of my websites). I think that because it seems easy to use, I could roll out simple websites to clients in less time than playing in DreamWeaver... freeing up time to concentrate more on the larger projects that we do. However - before I part with my hard earned cash... I'd like to know what you guys think of it. Of course on Artisteer's own website, everything is glowing and fluffy... but have any of your guys had problems with it? I've only ever bought well established and trusted names in the past - so I don't fancy a dead duck. If it does what it says it does... then great! But if not, I'd like to be forearmed. E x
I haven't heard anything back from any messages I've left asking for feedback. I still like the look of it - but today I emailed them with a support question that I want answered before I purchase, and I haven't heard from them. Anyone able to help?
I would love a review too - I usually hand-code themes but if I could put something together and focus on the design and not the coding part, that would be wonderful! I heard someone say that they thought Artisteer themes look similar and processed - is that true or can you pretty much do any kind of design you like with it? Can you make Magazine style WP themes?
I wrote a review. You may view it at MyWayNow.net Also see FireMyDesigner.com Artisteer is an extremely promising platform. That said, there do seem to be some compatibility issues if you're using Joomla and running modules not included in the core package. But their forum is a great resource for resolution. Hope this helps.
Artisteer is a great tool but you cannot create an entire site by just using it. Templates? Yes. However Artisteer adds their links in the footer, but if you know what you're doing it's easy to remove. For me, I am graphically challenged. Artisteer saves me a lot of headaches and time in that department. Still you'll have to go in and alter code but it is a time saver.
I think its great, I like how its easy to use.. I think it's pretty flexible, I can make a WP theme that's perfect for me, so I don't think its lacking much.. but then again I lack when it comes to coding so I can't compare it.
I will export an artisteer theme for you, so you don't have to buy it. Just go to silverhosting.us/?q=node/187
Artisteer is great if you just want to have a theme as it is and no further modification. The thing is that it uses a non-standard coding for the created theme and so tweaking it for your purpose (or your end users) might be a bit difficult unless you are programmer.
Hi, I had a rush job and purchased Artisteer without doing the free trial. It created great looking webpages and WordPress pages in the tool itself, but when I exported the content, it required a lot of time to fix up the output to look right online. It took more time that I had for my project, so I asked for a refund and was refused! I requested the refund one day after I purchased it. They refused to refund me AND, to add insult to injury, I was villified as inept and trying to con them on the forum. The whole experience left a really bad taste in my mouth and needless to say (but I will anyway), I will NEVER purchase any software from Artisteer again. I feel like I was conned out of $49. Mistreating honest customers is such a short-sighted business practice. I post my negative experience with Artisteer whenever I see people wanting to know about it because I think they should understand what to expect. I hope this helps someone.
Artisteer is a great tool. It drastically speeds up your web design time. I would say of all the tools I use (Use it for drupal mainly) Artisteer has been the most useful and easy. The support at artisteer is pretty bad from what ive heard, ive never actually tried to contact them, but thats the word. They do have a forum which is decent and there are sites out there popping up that will eventually help support artisteer. I will be posting full Drupal artisteer tutorials and help, at the link posted. There are also tons of free themes a bunch made by artisteer. I want to say an artisteer theme made the drupal.org site but don't quote me on it.
Yes, their link is there by default but you can easily remove it. When exporting the template, just click on Options and unchecked the "include link" option. Check my website made with Artisteer, no link there - codewaresolutions.com
Artisteer creates bloated code. Most html editors do. I stopped using them because my pages loaded faster when I stopped. Now that search engines penalize sites that load slowly, it is really something to think about.
As a tool that is trying to be all things to all people you have to expect a compromise. I looked at a couple of examples (for plain html rather than wordpress) and was reasonably impressed by the use of divs and css to reduce bloating. My WP theme work at the moment is copying existing sites so that the blog fits in so Artisteer isn't needed but for those of us who are programmers and not designers it seems to be a great way to keep the design in-house without having a final product that looks circa 1999.
I think Artisteer is great. I use it for most of my websites to create a nice simple template which I can then work with and customize. It is also useful for those who can't code but want to make a simple design that looks good and functions well. Yes you can. I do this regularly.
Thanks for your input The trial version of Artisteer does not seem to allow users to save html files so I've not been able to check this. Which version of Dreamweaver do you have anyway? Do you have Artisteer Home ($50) or Standard edition ($130)?
You can save the files, but the images are heavily watermarked rendering the trial virtually useless commercially. If you know how to recreate the images chances are you don't need or want artisteer