I tried the trial version but the default themes do not look very good.

There are many you can purchase very cheap that look much better. If you know code you should go with the HTML editor anyway, if for no other reason than pure flexibility.

There are lots of themes to choose from and you can get even better value from the Bundles.

https://www.coffeecup.com/store/themes/visual-site-designer/

Ralph if you can put a screen shot of the sort of thing you are after, in this thread, one of the regulars in here might be able to provide something for you.( ready made )

One of the advantages of cc visual site designer is that you can use the program itself to produce your own themes. (website link in signature is a theme i produced with cc VSD)

I only tried cc first about 14 months ago, i am a total novice, but now produce my own themes with relative ease.

What sort of thing are you after ?

With the support you get here you will probably find exactly what you want given a little bit of trial and error

Viv

Ah. I see what you mean. I could create my own themes. I just do not want to pay more money for more themes at this time. I do have the HTML editor but thats not the reason to get the Visual Site Designer. I just want to try something new and edit designs faster & easier.

Ralph the html editor is way beyond me , I would not know where to start

VSD has opened up a whole new world

I can create my own themes and better still, change the colours , or have one theme in multiple colours.

It took me a while to discover but i can now chang the background themes in seconds

One of my own attached below just as an example ( very amateur i know but it works for me)

Ralph
In the html 2009 editor
Why not try file - new from layout.
Select one of the layouts and if you know some css/html have a play around with one of the layouts and see if you can create a design to your liking.

Dave :: after a spate of spam emails, a techy friend of mine told me to take out my email addresses, which were in my website, the same way you are doing most of yours.
My spam mail reduced by about 90% since : apparently spam bots like email url links !

You could also try a email scrambler(Click Below) or put a form on your site and have captcha with it by using Coffee Cup Form Builder.

http://www.dynamicdrive.com/emailriddler/

I do usually buy or get free templates and edit it in the HTML Editor or just use Note Pad Plus.

I will play around with Visual Site Designer more to get used to. Thanks for the comments.

One of the easiest ways to get around the email problem is to make a graphic with the address on it