Actinic makes it easier to build e-trade web sites

Actinic version 8 gives designers and firms better tools to develop and manage e-commerce sites

Actinic has upgraded its e-commerce site-design products to version 8, adding more powerful functionality.

Version 8 covers two product lines: the Self Build Range aimed at merchants who want to build and manage their online stores themselves, and the Web Designer Range for web designers and their clients.

The Web Designer Range includes Actinic Designer, which now features a more flexible and intuitive user interface, enabling web designers to produce sites more quickly and efficiently, according to the firm's managing director, Phil Rothwell.

"Web designers usually want to give operation of the site to the client as soon as possible and to give their customers the functionality they need," said Rothwell. "Version 8 can keep the web designers happy [by boosting their productivity]."

A point-and-click feature, for example, enables designers to click on a particular part of the web site to see the relevant piece of HTML code in a separate window, and they can then alter the code as they wish. This gives the design process a much more intuitive feel, said Rothwell.

Actinic Designer will retail at £350 and designers can develop sites using new client software with either the entry-level Catalogue product (£200) or the more feature-rich Actinic Business (£450).

"The web designer can also co-brand the new package with Actinic [highlighting more clearly] the value-add [provided] by the designer," said Rothwell.

The Self Build range is designed for firms wanting to develop e-commerce sites in-house, so the emphasis is on easy-to-use functionality and marketing and merchandising tools such as the "also bought" and "best sellers", which are similar to features commonly associated with Amazon.

"These [features] will help our customers to increase sales, especially if they are smaller firms," said Rothwell.

The Self Build tools come in Catalog and Business versions, priced from £379 and £799 respectively.

Actinic 8 will enter a brief public beta trial later this month and a full release is expected shortly afterwards.