Website Building Resources:

 

If you are going to build a website you should first ground yourself in some kind of code-based software.  I teach Dreamweaver to my first year students so that they get a feel for HTML and CSS. 

 

But, my students are not computer science or graphic design majors, they are Mass Communications majors.  So, after learning how to build a website from the code up, I move into learning how to use the free, website building tools available to best tell their stories and house their projects.

 

Although there are many tools on the market for building websites, the ones I use most often are Wordpress.com, Wix.com and Weebly.com.  I guess you have to have a name that begins with a W to be a success in Website-building.

 

Any one of these sites can help you create a beautiful and functional website for free.  That is, if you don’t mind your website being named: www.wordpress.com/mysite.  But if you want your own URL it will cost as little as $49 per year. 

 

If you want to know the differences between each of these tools, just go to the sites and play around, you will get a feel for what works best for you. 

 

Also, here are some sites that give the Pros and Cons of some of the more popular web-building sites:

 

http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/wix-vs-weebly-vs-squarespace-vs-jimdo/

http://www.creativebloq.com/web-design/best-website-builder-8133804

http://www.websitetooltester.com/en/website-builder-reviews/

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220447

 

I build and teach my Communications courses using Wordpress and Wix.  Wix has thousands of templates and is very easy to use.  There are many great interactive tools that are available with this tool to help you build fun and interesting interactive stories. 

 

One of my favorite interactive tools available on Wix.com is Grabimo(Grabimo.com).  This tool helps you collect, manage, and publish user experiences in multimedia format: Video, Audio, Photo, and Text on mobile and PC.  This is a freemium product, which means you get the first 10 user uploads for free, after that their subscriptions begin at $10 per month.  This tool is mobile friendly so you users can film a story with their phone and upload it to your site(you must approve their upload before it goes live).

 

Project: Build Website with Wix.com