And it's all backed by an excellent Fog Creek promise. If, for any reason, you aren't satisfied within the first 90 days, you get a full refund. No questions asked. This is an excellent policy and we explicitly want to point it out, since it's something other vendors should provide. But will you be satisfied? For that, you'll have to read on.

Functional overview
To test the creation and management of CityDesk, I actually created a Web site. The site had a multi-level structure, with image galleries, frequent updates, and archiving. The intent of the test was to see just exactly how easy it was to create, update the site and how automated the site could become.

CityDesk conveniently uses a Windows File System interface for navigation and creation, so even the most novice of users should feel comfortable in its environment, shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B

CityDesk uses a familiar interface. Click picture for a larger image.

Creating the body, or text, of your pages is as simple as typing it in the article window. Or merely cut and paste it. You can then fine tune the formatting, assign a template, publish date, choose a language or languages, and audiences. By assigning the audience, you can control who has access to that particular page, or the entire site, and who doesn't.

Templates are the backbone of CityDesk. Everything is done via templates. They make it possible for everything to look the same, or to add diversity thoughout the site. And they make it possible to institute global changes with ease. In Figure C, you'll find the template interface, and some of the templates created for the test site.

FIGURE C

Templates allow CityDesk to generate a variety of pages. Click picture for a larger image.

Figure D shows the template for the Home page of the test site.

FIGURE D

The home page template. Click picture for a larger image.

In Figure E, you see the template used for articles.

FIGURE E

The articles template. Click picture for a larger image.

Figure F shows the template for the Coach's Corner column.

FIGURE F

The Coach's Corner template. Click picture for a larger image.

In the case of the test site, the templates didn't have a whole lot of variety in their features, one to another. But your templates can be as simple, as complex, or as varied as you'd like. CityDesk will even create templates for you via import from other page builders, like FrontPage. Be forewarned though, FrontPage has a tendency to do something weird to the code at times. If you're familiar with HTML, then you should be able to find the error. If not, then you may need to seek some assistance.

CityScript
The real power of CityDesk is in the CityScript scripting routines, shown in Figure G.

FIGURE G

CityScript give CityDesk its strength and versatility. Click picture for a larger image.

These scripts are what make it possible to automate many of your site's functions, such as lists and archiving. Beware though, CityScript can cause as many headaches as it cures. Having previous experience in coding would be helpful.

I did encounter some problems with my scripting, and after consulting three other programmers, and Fog Creek support, I still did not have a solution. Eventually, CityDesk guru Terry Kearns was able to dredge up the answer to my problem in Fog Creek's old archives.