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Planner 5D review
12:30 pm | December 15, 2021

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro Software & Services | Tags: | Comments: Off

3D Home design is a complex affair, so it’s always impressive when developers turn this into an online service which you can access and work on from the comfort of your favourite web browser. Not all of them succeed, mind, as the constraints of working online can affect performance, flexibility, features, and even interface design. So where does Planner 5D stand against the best interior design software?

Planner 5D: Pricing & plans

  • A free tier, a free one-week trial of 'Professional' trier, and a range of other subscription plans and a bespoke service

The best way to check out a service is to be able to try it for free, and Planner 5D understand that. In fact, they offer two ways to do it. The first one is the simplest option: sign up to the ‘Free’ tier. It allows you to create and share as many projects as you want, and work across devices. There will be limitations of course, such as a restricted catalog and an inability to access high quality renders.

The first paid tier is ‘Premium’. With it, you gain access to automation tools to speed up the creation of projects, over 8,000 furniture items, 5 renders per month, and the ability to turn a file or image into a 3D plan. All this, and more, can be yours for $5 a month on an annual plan (or $20 on a month by month basis).

Next is ‘Professional’, which includes features such as unlimited 4K renders, being able to upload 3D models in various file formats, moodboards, 360˚ panoramas, custom branding and more, for $33.33 a month on an annual plan, or $50 on a month by month basis. This is also the only tier you can try free for a week (although you’ll need to give them your card details to access it, and you’ll have to remember to cancel it should you decide it’s not for you).

Finally, there’s ‘Enterprise’, for those who need more high-end features. This is a custom tier, so the subscription price will also be bespoke.

You can check out Planner 5D by clicking here.

Planner 5D: Interface

Planner 5D home design software during our review

The Wizard helps you create a room and furnish it in seconds (Image credit: Planner 5D)
  • Although the interface that greets you when you login feels cluttered, the one designed when you’re into your project is sleek, well organised, easy to understand and very responsive.

Once you’ve created an account, you’ll be graced with quite a busy interface, with drop down menus at the top, a sidebar to the left, and the rest of the window dedicated to any project you previously created.

To create a new project, all you have to do is click on the appropriately named ‘New Project’ button. You’re offered a few options, such as starting with a blank slate, uploading a plan created elsewhere, working off of a template, or using the ‘Smart Wizard’. There’s also an option to hire a designer, but since Planner 5D boasts that no design knowledge is necessary to use their service, we opted to ignore that one.

The Wizard does make things easier and quicker, but we were disappointed not to have full control over the room’s dimensions, and the position of the windows and doors. Still, if you want something designed quickly based on a handful of available shapes, and randomly generated furniture placement, this is definitely the option to go for.

Planner 5D home design software during our review

Can’t find the object you’d like to add? No problem: provide a 2D image, and Planner 5D will transform it into a 3D object for you (Image credit: Planner 5D)

Once the automation is complete, you have full control over your project. This is were you gain access to an incredibly well implemented interface. At the top, you’ve got a menubar with undo and redo buttons, a tool to view and add additional floors, a properties section, a render one, and an easy way to switch between 2D and 3D views.

To the left is a sidebar containing all the tools you’ll need during the creative process, from building tools, to furniture, and plants, as well as a section reserved for the items you’ve used recently (to make it easier to find them again), and your favourites. Everything is well organised, easy to find, and very responsive.

Planner 5D: Building a Project

Planner 5D home design software during our review

Planner 5D has a wide range of furniture, for both indoor and outdoor (Image credit: Planner 5D)
  • Numerous options, coupled with complete versatility and the ability to effortlessly switch between 2D and 3D, while being able to do (almost) everything in either view. We had no complaints.

Having a good interface is one thing, but it’s how it responds to your commands that can make or break a service. And here, Planner 5D truly excels. We mentioned how well organised the tools were: clicking on the category you’re after in the sidebar, expands it. From there, you’re given a number of sub-categories, and within those, multiple examples of items you can use.

Adding rooms is super easy: select the basic shape and it’s instantly added to your project. You can then reposition it. Altering its dimensions is just a question of clicking on a wall to select it and bringing up coloured knobs on either end. Use those to resize that wall, or drag the entire wall to preserve its length but change its position (any wall connected to the one you’re changing will be altered as well so they remain connected).

Windows and doors snap to any wall they near as you drag them, matching that wall’s angle in the process. When it comes to furniture, you have great flexibility in placing anything that’s available into your project. You can even group objects together, making it easier to move them all in one go.

One feature we were very impressed with was the ability to import the image of an object into Planner 5D (as long as it has a transparent background), and the service will turn it into a proper 3D object for you. We tried it on a handful of objects and the results were remarkably good.

Adding furniture is one thing, but you’ve also got options to apply different materials to your inner and out walls, along with the flooring. It’s also possible to change an object’s base material and colour. You can actually have a lot of fun with that as Planner 5D doesn't restrict you to sensible choices: want to cover your armchair in wallpaper and have a sofa made of brick? Go for it!

Planner 5D not only allows you to design a multi-storey building, you get to have fun with landscaping as well. You have lawns, plants, lighting, even greenhouses, garages and pools.

You'll find it’s pretty effortless to switch between 2D and 3D views, as you're able to do almost everything in either view: add and alter furniture, move doors and windows, the lot. The only thing we found we were unable to do in 3D was adding and resizing walls and floors, but that still gives you a great amount of options to work in the environment of your choice - nearly all the time.

Planner 5D: Shares and Renders

Planner 5D home design software during our review

You can render high quality views of your design to share with others (Image credit: Planner 5D)
  • You’re offered a generous number of options to share your work, from providing a URL of the project itself, to creating high quality renders, and even 3D walkthroughs (although those take a long time to render).

You have a few options open to you when it comes to sharing your project with others. You can print a copy of what you see, get a link so others can have a look at it online, (they’ll be able to explore, but won’t be able to alter it unless they have an account themselves), or export the design as a DWG or DXF file. If you just need to create images, you can take a basic screenshot of what you currently see, create high-resolution renders or even a video walkthrough. All options are easy to set up and organise.

All in all, Planner 5D is a very well designed service, is easy to use, and allows you to create projects very quickly. Selecting and editing objects is intuitive, and measurements are always on display when working in 2D, helping you remain accurate at all times. If there's any downside, it’s that it's a resource hog: even with nothing else open, creating a project quickly kicked in the fan on the MacBook Pro we were using for this review, and they remained for the duration (the battery took a beating too).

Should I buy Planner 5D?

Planner 5D home design software during our review

Altering walls is a simple matter of dragging the wall itself or its edges - but this can only be done in 2D (Image credit: Planner 5D)

Buy it if...

You need to do 3D design from any computer, without having to install any software, and you require a lot of versatility in the way you create a project.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You don’t like the idea of a 3D design service that’s accessed via a web browser which uses so much of your computer’s power.View Deal

We've also reviewed the best architecture software and best landscape design software

SEOTesting.com review
6:35 pm | February 26, 2021

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro Software & Services | Tags: , | Comments: Off

SEOTesting.com is one of the few SEO tools out there that help you run various tests with your SEO strategy. You can run a test before and after changing your strategy to see its effectiveness. It offers rank tracking and different types of reports and can also be integrated with Google Chrome Extension and Google Data Studio Connector. In this review, we will give you an overview of what SEOTesting.com excels at, where it may fall short, and how it compares in terms of value for money. Whether you are an expert or just starting out, this review will offer an unbiased perspective to help you determine if SEOTesting.com is the right tool. Let's explore and discover more about it.

SEOTesting.com: Plans and pricing

SEOTesting.com pricing

(Image credit: SEOTesting.com)

Single Site Plan ($40/month)

Ideal for individual website owners, this plan covers all features for one website. It's perfect for small business owners or solo entrepreneurs who need a comprehensive SEO toolkit for their single website.

Team Plan ($100/month)

Designed for small to medium-sized teams or freelance SEO professionals, this plan supports up to five websites. It strikes a balance between functionality and cost and is ideal for businesses or consultants managing multiple sites.

Agency Plan ($300/month)

Targeted at large SEO agencies, this plan allows the management of up to 20 websites. It's a robust solution for agencies handling extensive SEO projects across various clients.

All plans include a 14-day free trial, offering a risk-free way to explore the tool's capabilities. The subscription is flexible, operating on a month-to-month basis with easy cancellation options. For those interested, SEOTesting.com also entertains inquiries about annual plans. The pricing is straightforward, based on the number of sites without additional user fees, ensuring a transparent and simple pricing structure.

SEOTesting.com: Features

SEOTesting.com dashboard

(Image credit: SEOTesting.com)

Comprehensive SEO Testing

SEO Testing is a powerful resource for conducting various tests, which are essential for understanding the impact of your SEO strategies. It includes Time-Based tests, which lets you compare your website's performance before and after making specific changes. Next, you get an SEO Split Tests feature which lets you create specific control groups and test groups of URLs to analyze the effectiveness of different SEO tactics. You also get a Group SEO Test that helps you examine multiple URLs or queries together and gives you a broader perspective on your results.

Additionally, it also has URL Switch Tests which evaluate the impact of significant changes, such as publishing topic clusters. Moreover, the ability to conduct tests on historical data provides a unique viewpoint that lets you apply current strategies to past performance and assess long-term effectiveness.

In-depth Reporting tools

SEOTesting.com excels in its reporting capabilities as it offers a range of insightful tools. For starters, the Content Decay Report is instrumental in identifying pages that are losing traffic. This helps you to pinpoint areas that need revitalization. Then, the Brand vs Non-Brand Report sheds light on how different query types affect your site's search performance. Similarly, Content Groups are invaluable for agencies or large sites as they help in performance tracking of specific URL clusters. The tool also enhances content strategy with features like search intent highlighting in queries, tracking Google algorithm updates, and custom annotations in Google Search Console data. Not to mention, the reports focus on long-tail keywords, CTR opportunities, and new keyword rankings and provide actionable insights for you to fine-tune your content strategy.

Content Optimization Focus

SEO Testing focuses heavily on optimizing your site’s content. It recognizes which pages would benefit from adding popular search terms to their titles and meta descriptions, and it gives recommendations for improving the content based on Google Search Console’s data. During our tests, we loved the Cannibalization tool, which helps to identify and resolve conflicts between internal keywords on different pages. Moreover, the tool gives you a quick overview of the most successful and least successful keywords and pages and reports on the questions your website ranks for.

Integration and Accessibility

SEOTesting.com is designed for seamless integration and ease of use. The Google Chrome extension and Google Data Studio Connector are especially remarkable and greatly improve the user experience. For instance, the Chrome extension not only helps with on-page SEO but also shows Google Search Console data right on the browser. It makes your work much more streamlined and organized. Plus, the Google Data Studio Connector makes it easy to add SEO test data to your existing dashboards and makes data presentation and analysis more efficient and insightful.

SEOTesting.com: Interface and in-use

SEOTesting.com focuses on delivering a user-friendly experience through daily email updates containing crucial metrics from the Google Search Console. Moreover, you can customize your own dashboard as per your needs and demands. This emphasis on user experience, combined with the tool's various testing models and reporting capabilities, positions SEOTesting.com as a valuable resource. It particularly benefits those who prefer a data-driven approach to improve their online presence. With its wide range of features, SEOTesting.com streamlines the SEO testing and content optimization process quite seamlessly.

SEOTesting.com: Support

Responsive Customer Support

SEOTesting.com support

(Image credit: SEOTesting.com)

SEOTesting.com offers direct support through a chat widget on its website. The team is online from 9 am to 5 pm UK time. This immediate access to support staff ensures that users can get quick answers to their queries. Additionally, users can reach out via email at hello@seotesting.com for more detailed inquiries or support issues. This dual-channel approach caters to different preferences and ensures that help is just a few clicks or an email away.

Extensive Documentation

The platform has an extensive collection of documents that cover different parts of the tool. It has a guide for beginners, detailed explanations of features like Search Intent, annotations on SEOTesting graphs, and guides on running various SEO tests. The documents are easy to use, with clear instructions and tips to help users make the most of SEOTesting.com.

Specialized Report Guides

SEOTesting.com queries

(Image credit: SEOTesting.com)

SEO Testing’s support team provides specific guides for each type of report generated by the tool. These guides offer insights into interpreting and leveraging reports for SEO optimization, such as finding click-through rate opportunities, understanding top queries missing from titles and meta descriptions, and even utilizing the Content Decay report.

Integration Support

As we already mentioned, if you’re looking to integrate SEOTesting.com with other tools, the platform offers support for their Chrome Extension and Google Data Studio connector. This includes guides on how to set this up and make the most of these integrations. These integrations help you to enhance the tool's functionality and user experience.

Google Search Console Resources

SeoTesting.Com pays importance to Google Search Console as well. They provide an introduction and a list of tutorials and guides for understanding Google Search Console and how you can use SEO Testing to make the most of this feature.

SEOTesting.com: The competition

SEOTesting.com competes with various other alternatives, each with its own unique features. First, is BAVOKO SEO Tools, known for its detailed data and specialized workflow management. Similarly, SEO Scout uses search console data to boost organic traffic. On the other hand, Surfer SEO is great for optimizing content and creating data-driven strategies quickly, whereas, SimilarContent focuses on SEO writing and provides keyword coverage scores for content-focused SEO. Apart from these, Rush Analytics is perfect for small businesses and agencies as it offers an easy-to-use interface and precise scaling of SEO efforts.

Moreover, GetGenie brings AI assistance to content and SEO on WordPress and combines multiple app features. Lastly, Rank Math offers a WordPress SEO plugin for content optimization based on industry best practices. It’s vital to notice that all these competitors focus on different aspects of SEO, from overall management to specialized content optimization and AI tools, catering to a wide range of business needs and SEO strategies. But, if your focus is on testing your strategies along with some other SEO tools, SEO Testing can be an ideal choice for you. Be it the user interface or the cost, it stands tall in this sea of competition that it faces in the industry.

SEOTesting.com: Final verdict

SEOTesting.com mainly focuses on testing and data analysis. It's not an all-in-one solution, but it excels at what it does. The tool's strength lies in its ability to monitor and create extensive reports on the results of your SEO activities with precision. This is what makes it a valuable asset for content analysis and optimization. However, it falls short in areas like rank tracking and technical SEO, which means it's best used in conjunction with its competitors. For those who prioritize data-driven insights and content optimization, SEOTesting.com is a strong contender. Its user-friendly interface and evolving features, backed by top-notch customer service, make it a worthwhile investment for specific SEO needs. While it may not replace your entire SEO toolkit, it certainly enhances it, and offers plenty of unique features that other tools might not always have.

Hands-on review: Updated: iPhone 5
3:12 am | September 27, 2012

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones | Tags: , , , | Comments: None

Hands-on review: Updated: iPhone 5

Hands on review

The Apple iPhone 5 release date is upon is, with the latest arrival boasting a 16:9, 4-inch screen, new smaller port, thinner, lighter[……]

Read more

Hands-on review: Updated: iPhone 5
3:12 am |

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones | Tags: , , , | Comments: None

Hands-on review: Updated: iPhone 5

Hands on review

The Apple iPhone 5 release date is upon us, with the latest arrival boasting a 16:9, 4-inch screen, new smaller port, thinner, lighter[……]

Read more