Friday 7 January 2011

Build Your Own Website: Which Site Platform?

By Candy Gourlay
Because of the popularity of this blog post, I will be updating this from time to time, to make sure the info is still up to date. I've closed the comments because this sort of post attracts spammers like a magnet.

Continuing the big  Build Your Own Website discussion over at the British SCBWI message board (this was on 7 Jan 2011!). In case you have come late to this discussion, we are looking at ways by which authors can build their own websites at minimal or no cost. So our big question today is:  which site platform should you use? I am listing the ones I have actually tried out. If you would like to recommend something I haven't listed, do leave a comment ... but if it sounds too much like spam, be warned that I will delete it.
New New New
How to choose a domain name


BLOG INTERFACES I'VE TRIED 

Updated 11 Feb 2014

Back in 2011, I wrote that this was my favourite amongst all the blog interfaces. In my opinion it's still the easiest to use, especially if you're the type who finds new technology daunting.

Pros:
  • Though it is a blog, you can use it as a website (check out my author website candygourlay.com which is a Blogger blog).
  • It belongs to Google, so it integrates with other Google products such as Picasa, Adwords, Feedburner and Google Analytics
  • If you have many blogs, it has a great dashboard.
  • If you master the layout, it's easy to add widgets and customise the look of the site. There are so many fantastic templates - you can buy them in as well.
  • It has a cool smartphone interface
  • It's a blog with a sophisticated archiving system.

Cons:
  • If you want your own domain, getting your domain working with Blogger can be a nightmare with some hosts - my domain is hosted on 1and1 and there is some kind of incompatibility with Blogger so I had to daisychain it with Cloud DNS. If you need help, you could read this or this or if you want a headache, this. 1and1 were useless when I asked for their help, which is a shame because I've been a loyal customer for years. Domain hosting is easiest if you're hosted by GoDaddy. If this makes you feel nauseous, just stick with the yourdomain.blogspot.com
  • It really, really helps to know a bit of HTML because there are a lot of unexpected things that happen - like extra lines or formatting that doesn't work - and it helps if you can go under the bonnet to find out what's wrong.


Updated 11 Feb 2014

Many people assure me that Wordpress is the easiest of the blogs to use. Although I've worked on lots of Wordpres blogs I just don't find it intuitive. Maybe I've spent too much time on Blogger. Having said that, I've always been envious of Wordpress blogs because since time immemorial Wordpressers have had the ability to have more than one page on their blogs. Thank goodness Blogger has wised up and added this facility!
What you need to know: there are two Wordpresses! Wordpress.org is free but requires you to host it on your own webspace. Wordpress.com is like Blogger, in that you sign up and pay for a domain as well as any additional services  (they call them upgrades) you might want (to customise the design for example, you would have to pay for the Custom Design Upgrade - this is free on Blogger).

Pros:


Cons

  • The problem with all those plugins is they slow your website down. So watch your (website's) weight carefully.
  • Wordpress attracts fanatics similar to Apple fanatics.
  • They charge for extras that are free on other blogs!

WEBSITE BUILDERS I'VE TRIED

Apologies but this section of the blog post is a bit dated. I will update it when I have the time.

1. Jimdo
Updated 11 Feb 2014
Back in 2011, I heartily endorsed Jimdo.  It is still one of the easiest to use website providers that I know. Three years on it is still easy to use but its templates are looking dated. I'm afraid I've moved my author website over to Blogger - partly because having a separate blog and website split my traffic.

Advantages: Stats, brilliant Search Engine Optimization tools, fantastic to customize if you know code, easy to add pages, change page names, add contact forms, message boards, slideshows. A Pro site gets rid of ads and includes domain hosting. I've been very happy with support - which is quick and personal. And Jimdo supports its users by now and then highlighting user websites on their blog. I love that you can upload a favicon.

Disadvantages: Templates aren't pretty. It's bandwidth heavy so you do need a fast connection. Won't work with a  geriatric computer. The blog is weak so if you want all the bells and whistles of a blog (with archiving, etc), you also need to set up on a separate Blogger (or one of the others) site (on the other hand you can change the date on the blog post - that's cool). You have to pay per email address.


2. Weebly 
Edited 25 Jan 2013
I tried Weebly a while back when they used to allow you to create a website free and then later required you to upgrade to a paying site. I am told that you you can create a website for free now - prettymuch the same rules as Jimdo. The interface is different to Jimdo's in that you get a palette of features across the top of your browser which you drag and drop where you want them to be.

Advantages: Templates are a LOT prettier than Jimdo's. Same easy terms. No advertising even if you use the free version. Update! Weebly has some amazing new features that almost tempt me away from my Jimdo site. It allows you to have a different design on individual pages - on Jimdo every page follows the same template. Mobile view.

Disadvantages: The edit mode involves dragging objects from a toolset along the top of the screen. Which means it's really hard to work with if you've got a small screen. Needs fast bandwidth. I used to complain about Search Engine Optimization but now it's amazing.
Highly recommended if you've got a big screen.



3. Wix
Added 25 Jan 2013




Advantages: I used to exclude Wix because it used Flash and in the age of the iPad, Flash is a no no. However the new Wix now uses HTML5 - and boy, is it gorgeous. Perfect for websites that want that extra visual oomph like photo galleries and illustration websites, animated page changing, etc. Search Engine Optimization is great - you can set meta tags on every single page. Signing up for a domain is fast and easy. Wix even helps you create a landing page for your Facebook Fan Page (however the widget is still uncomfortable to use ... but in time). The visuals you can create are pretty amazing - including setting the transparency of boxes and colours.

Disadvantages: If you know HTML the web builder doesn't allow you to insert anchor links within the page. There is no mobile view. It's one format fits all - ie. if you set one box to be white with an opacity of 100% all the boxes in the website have to be white with an opacity of 100%. Having said that thing about animated page turns - I turned it off. Sorry, it's too slow! In fact the entire website takes too long to load (and I have a very fast machine). Too too slow! Even so, I love my website. I hope Wix sorts out the speed issue soon.

Which should you choose? It's a bit like buying a laptop. You really ought to get your hands on it before deciding which one. Everyone's got different skillsets, different attitudes, different tolerances. The main thing is to play (yes, play! enjoy!) and see what works for you. And don't forget the priority list: 1. The Book 2. The Book 3. The Book 4. The Website 



19 comments :

  1. I tried MrSite on the recommendation of a few other writers. I found it full of bugs and ended up having to write most of the code myself. The good thing about it is that if you are completely technophobic there are three settings; beginnner, intermediate and advanced. If you set it at beginner then you can't see the code at all, it's all set for you. This does mean that you can't go wrong...or it would if there weren't so many bugs! If you totally fear html it might be good for you because you'll probably be so please that you have a website that you won't care that paragraphs don't align. Otherwise, I'd go with something else, it will only annoy you.

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  2. thanks for this, elen. this is why it's so important for providers to give people a free taste before they commit. people have different experiences - i've actually heard one or two people say Mr Site was easy to use. The main thing is to try them out ... and if it has possibility, give yourself time to get used to it - it's always tough at the start.

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  3. I use www.officelive.com for some web sites, including Bridge House Publishing, The Red Telephone, Creative Cafe and CafeLit.
    They're good. You can buy more space but I'va not got anywhere near using up the free space so far. There are just one or two features I can't seem to get e.g. password protection for parts of the site.

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  4. I'm an author with a blog - I tried WordPress but found it difficult to get it how I wanted it and then started getting huge amounts of spam from it - mainly as 'trackback' comments and people trying to sell everything from trainers to viagra! I'm now on Blogger and find it so easy to use and (touch wood) have had no spam problems. Would certainly recommend it for anyone whatever their skill level.
    www.kathleenjonesauthor.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Posting this in two parts due to word count.

    I recently tested many of these when looking for a group website platform, so the following might help.

    Wix was great with its versatile placement of elements, but as it is all flash it isn't desirable for clients who wish to view on mobile devices such as iPhone or iPad. It also doesn't do sub menus so you needed to use Mini pages to show and hide buttons, which was very slow to display, and tricky to set up. It wasn't a satisfactory substitute for good sub-menu navigation.

    Weeble is simple to use, but like many of these programs that operate the editing via the internet, I found it slow to respond to my entries. It is also clumsy regarding placement of elements, so you have to add a 2 column element box, and then add another 2 column element box inside each half if you want to divide up the page width for placement. Otherwise, elements all sit one above the other. But... it does allow for a nice simple free (ad free) website if your requirements are simple. Navigation and sub menu was simple too, it automatically creates a tab for each page and you can decide if it is visible, or if it is a sub menu. I actually quite like Weebly, and feel it is friendly for people to use, and offers a good free site.

    Moonfruit also allowed a lot of freedom with element placement, and allowed me to add thumbnail images in a grid with text below each image, and link the images to pages rather than open as larger images - something some of the other sites didn't make possible. The most irritating thing with Moonfruit was the heavy 'sell' to sign up to one of their paid services every time I logged in, and the countdown of the trial session. It completely put me off going with them. Moonfruit does create html and flash code to enable the best of both worlds for viewing.

    Posting the second part to follow.

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  6. Part two.

    Mr.Site doesn't allow a free trial so I was unable to test it without purchase, and although there are cheap offers via Amazon, you have to register the domain to begin the design of the site. As I already have a site on the domain name I would have used, I couldn't do that... so haven't trialed it. I do hear it has limitations for layout, but is a great simple option if you want a commerce site. For about £20 you can buy the starter site on Amazon, and when you renew you will need to pay the full regular price, but it is good value as it includes the domain name and hosting for the year. You can release your domain name back if you wish to leave Mr. Site, but there is a charge of around £15 to do that, and of course, your site can only be edited through Mr Site so if you leave, you can't really use your existing site.


    One other site builder I tested, that might also be worth people checking out is 350 pages. http://www.350.com/site/products.htm

    I have only tested the sample site that they offer on their website for you to see how the interface works, but for me it kept crashing! The blurb on their site looks good though and it might be worth checking out!
    http://www.350.com/site/products.htm

    NOTE
    Always check if you can park your domain elsewhere, or check the terms of buying a domain through the host with such all website building options, as some hosting companies make it difficult for you to regain control of your domain if you move to another provider.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Candy, thanks so much for taking the time to provide us with this valuable information. My first website was with Wordpress but I didn't get on with it - I'm not geeky enough to tweak it to my own design. I'm now with paying Jimdo and I much prefer it. I still don't have the expertise for the reall flash look, but I prefer the simpler look anyway and I'm happy with my site. It's very easy to update, which reminds me, I haven't done so for ages.

    Yes, the blogging bit isn't great, but there are plenty of good blogging sites and all you need is a link.

    Now, back to my writing target for the day . . .

    ReplyDelete
  8. re Weebly - yes I didn't like the way Weebly created columns at all.

    Thanks, June for all the additional information ... I'll add it to this article later so that the piece is complete for posterity.

    Re Jimdo blogging - i do use it on some of my sites for News - then I can have an individual page for every news update and it presents the news nicely in short bites.

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  9. @Kathleen - the spam trackback comments are a problem with Jimdo too. but I've set privacy so that I have to approve things before they go live so I just dump the notices when they come. don't you hate spammers?

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  10. I'd love to hear something about Squarespace - it looks so promising.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Candy,
    I love what you do with Jimdo, Ning is fab, though I found Jimdo a bit hard to use myself - I like drag & drop whenever possible.

    I've also tried Mr Site (not for a writer website) and I found it quite difficult too. I had to stick with the basic level, as soon as I tried to get to a more advanced level it became too complicated. At the basic level I couldn't change the font or put the pictures exactly where I wanted. It's good value for a paid site though.
    I know people who have tried Cabanova, but this seems to use Flash. Again, it can be free or paid.
    Teens are enjoying Tumblr, but that's a micro blog.
    Apple has a website building program on the Mac too.
    Lesley

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Candy
    There is no end to your talents, or energy or your generosity. And you write lovely books. Thank you. Excellent stuff on websites, facebook, tweeting, blogging, I have been reading it with interest while I work on the missing link – getting published. Your whole approach is so extensive there is definitely a book in it. For your spare time of course.
    I have a website for a property in France which I let and I use Moonfruit.com, flash based, drag and drop, self build. Very easy. You can either have a simple free site or pay for more widgets like video streaming etc. Not sure if you have looked at it.
    Pat White

    ReplyDelete
  13. I use blogger. I can't remember who recommended it I might have just come across it. It works for me, esp as it has my FB tag on.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Candy

    I've been using Go-Daddy and their Website Tonite web-builder for a few years now but have decided to move on. The web-builder is fairly easy to use and you don't need to be able to code. There are plenty of templates and you can adapt them with your own images, but they are all very corporate looking (even the obvious domestic ones) and seem to assume that a linear approach to the design is the only one needed. That's the reason why I want to move.

    Hope this helps flesh out the options a bit.

    Jeannette

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi,

    The Jimdo free version is very easy to use - The Bunny of Hope, Banrock, likes it, and his site was set up by a computer idiot (me) in minutes: http://banrocksbuddies.jimdo.com/
    Though he is not a very active blogger, and at the moment is on strike due to lack of wine.

    Teri

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  16. Shocked that Banrock partakes of wine! He's just a bunny!

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  17. Candy, bunnies are the worst: didn't you know?

    I meant to mention - regarding the Jimdo free version - you used to get stats on it, but they don't seem to be there anymore. If I click on it I get advertising about Jimdo Pro.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Trying once more to post part two!

    Mr.Site doesn't allow a free trial so I was unable to test it without purchase, and although there are cheap offers if you buy the package via Amazon, you have to register the domain name for the site to begin the design layout. As I already have a site on the domain name I would have used, I couldn't do that... so haven't been able to test it. I do hear it has limitations for layout, but is a great simple option if you want a commerce site. Many of the photo gallery options are flash based.
    For about £20 you can buy the starter site on Amazon, and when you renew next year you will need to pay the full regular price, but it is good value as it includes the domain name and hosting for the year. You can release your domain name back if you wish to leave Mr. Site, but there is a charge of around £15 to do that, and of course, your site can only be edited through Mr Site so if you leave, you can't really use your existing site. If you decide to register your domain name elsewhere, you can direct it to the Mr.Site servers, but of course, then you are missing out on their free domain part of the package.


    One other site builder I tested, that might also be worth people checking out is 350pages.
    I have only tested the sample site that they offer on their website for you to see how the interface works, but for me it kept crashing! It may have been a problem with using Internet Explorer! The blurb on their site looks good though and it might be worth checking out!
    www.350.com/site/products.htm

    NOTE
    Always check if you can register your domain yourself, or park your domain elsewhere, or check the terms of buying a domain through the host with such all website building options, as some hosting companies make it difficult for you to regain control of your domain if you move to another provider.

    Another thing worth checking is server downtime. Some of the free hosted websites have a high proportion of server troubles! If you want to ensure your site is up and running fast at all times, it might be worth the upgrade to a paid-for service.
    If it is a small fast loading site, this might not matter so much.

    One other point for Candy about blogs… Blogger. You can change the date of blog posts in Blogger too. It is done in the ‘Post Options’ section below the blog post window. From there a drop down area is revealed and you can change the date/time of the blog post to display as you wish. You can also schedule posts to publish at set times.

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  19. I just wanted to update that Weebly and Wix have had fantastic improvements to their systems ... Jimdo is slightly left behind unfortunately. Do check them out.

    ReplyDelete

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