WEEK 2

This week I will be covering the topic of website builders because one of our assignments this quarter is to create a website. This is a valuable skill to have in today's world because everything has a website. It has been important for me to learn how to build a website because it will be a great space for me to showcase my work in event planning, much like an online portfolio. However I would have never known the importance of building websites or how to build one if I had not been given the opportunity to do so. 

As you may know I have some experience working with blogger, however now I have experienced both Wix and Weebly. Both cites are much like blogger in the sense that they are free, stupidly easy to use and give the user the ability to reach their readers from anywhere and did I mention that it's FREE (as a college student this is very appealing). With that being sad they are all very different and present pros and cons. While I took the time to try out all three to see how they work (meaning I now have multiple websites/blogs) I don't expect you to do the same. That is why I am going to give you a comprehensive overview of each, I'll do all the work you just sit back read, watch and listen!

Wix

You probably know of Wix from their funny commercials featuring professional athletes, selling the idea that its so easy even an athlete can create a website on their own, like this one,

Really though, it is that simple! All you have to do is go to http://www.wix.com/ and sign-up. Once you are all signed up they provide the tools to get you started. The first thing you do is select a template that appeals to your style and topic and then you go. Then you are able to edit that template in which ever way you would like. And don't worry about the learning curve surrounding how to edit because they provide a video that walks you through the process step-by-step. To give you a better idea of how to set up a Wix account here is a video,

So, what was my experience with Wix? I really liked it! It was very user friendly and I loved that even though I had picked a "template" I had the freedom to make it my own beyond just the background, color and font style. While the positives far outweighed the negatives there were a few things that I wasn't so fond of.

1. Right after signing up you have to classify your site into a category. I found that my topic (Simon & Garfunkel Fan Club) didn't really fit into a category.
2. I didn't like that the templates already were set up to be just like a completed blog. This meant that I had to change a lot of things in order to make it my own.
3. While it is user friendly and provides an awesome video there were some things I had to figure out on my own. 

Here is the link to my Wix website, http://kourtneysand.wix.com/idratherbeaforest

Weebly

Much like Wix and other site generators Weebly gives you the ability to create your website, blog, portfolio. etc. To get started all you have to do is go to http://www.weebly.com/ sign-up and follow the steps.

Weebly is great when it comes to building a site with a team because it allows everyone to work on it at the same time. This is especially great for my group in COMM 350 because we are all very busy and this site will give us the freedom to work on the site when we can and even at the same time. Weebly also has a bunch of other features! Check out more of their features at, http://www.weebly.com/features/#!/features.

Things I liked;

1. The themes are crisp, clean and modern.
2. Layouts were very in-line with current themes in the industry.
3. Multiple people can all be working on the site at the same time.

Things I didn't like;

1. The dragging and dropping for editing sites.
2. It was difficult to understand how to edit and how to create posts.
3. There are some features unavailable in the free mode and if you click on them they try to get you to upgrade. 

Here is my Weebly website, http://idratherbeaforestthanatree.weebly.com/

Through my research of Weebly I kept coming across Weebly vs. Wordpress. I don't know much about Wordpress and I have never used it before but I have hear that it is kinda an industry standard. Here is what I found,

http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/weebly-vs-wordpress-whats-the-difference/

Conclusion

So which one do I think is better? That is a tough question because each one has its advantages and disadvantages. If I were creating a personal blog I would use Wix because I loved how user friendly it was and it was just very straight forward. However if I was to do something more professional like and online portfolio or website I would use Weebly because of the way their templates are designed. I would also use Weebly for any website I need to create that involves multiple people. I would advise you to watch the videos I posted and check out the links to see which site suits your needs more. If you are still undecided or would like more information and an in-depth look both watch this video (last one I promise!)! 

That is for this week, I hope that this helped you in creating your own website!

Kourtney