I Really Like Using Artisteer!
I use both WordPress and Drupal quite a bit for websites I build. I love these content management systems, (CMS), because #1…they’re free. And #2…they have so much support. There are tons of “plugins” for WordPress and “modules” for Drupal.
Something else I love about them is if you don’t like the way your blog or website looks, you simply change the “theme”. There are a lot of free themes available or you can purchase custom made themes. While I like the ability to use the free themes that are available, I also had a desire at times to “create my own” website look. Unfortunately, I knew absolutely NOTHING about themeing for WordPress or Drupal, and didn’t really have a desire to learn. Well…I had the desire, I just didn’t want to take the time to learn it.
So then a “web designer” friend turned me on to Artisteer. He had been using it to create themes for some sites he was working on and was really impressed with it. The first time I used it I was hooked! It makes it SOOOO easy to create my own themes!
It’s really cool because you have so much control over the theme. Color schemes, blocks and image placements, menu’s, sheet layout’s, sidebar placements and on and on! For those of us who wanted a custom theme but didn’t want to learn CSS, it’s a dream come true!
I will say that the software has felt a little cumbersome at times. Part of that is just the sheer amount of options that are available to you. It can be a bit overwhelming. But the more you use it, the easier it all becomes.
After saying all this, I have to admit that the theme that I’m using for chrishoyt.com was NOT created with Artisteer. I was using this theme before I purchased Artisteer and I really like it for this blog. But…when it comes time for a change, I’ll no doubt be using this software.
Give it a test drive. There is a demo you can watch on the site and you can actually download and use the software but I believe it puts a watermark on the themes until you actually purchase the software. It gives you a chance to try it and see if you like it.
Let me know what you think.
