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Website builder

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Website builders are tools that allow the construction of websites without manual code editing. They fall into two categories: on-line proprietary tools provided by web hosting companies, typically intended for users to build their private site; and software which runs on a computer, creating pages off-line and which can then publish these pages on any host. (The latter are often considered to be "website design software" rather than "website builders".)

Summary

Website builders are tools that allow the construction of websites without manual code editing. They fall into two categories: on-line proprietary tools provided by web hosting companies, typically intended for users to build their private site; and software which runs on a computer, creating pages off-line and which can then publish these pages on any host. (The latter are often considered to be "website design software" rather than "website builders".) The majority of people who use website builders do so to make business websites [1].

History

The first websites were created in the early 1990s.[2] These sites were hand written in a HTML.

Later software was written to help design web pages and by 1998 Dreamweaver had been established as the industry leader; however some have criticized the quality of the code produced by such software as being overblown and reliant on tables. As the industry moved towards W3C standards, Dreamweaver and others were criticized for not being compliant. Compliance has improved over time, but many professionals still prefer to write optimized markup by hand.

Open source tools were typically developed to the standards, and made fewer exceptions for the then dominant Internet Explorer's deviations from the standards. The W3C started Amaya in 1996 to showcase Web technologies in a fully featured Web client. This was to provide a framework that integrated lots of W3C technologies in a single, consistent environment. Amaya started as an HTML and CSS editor and now supports XML, XHTML, MathML, and SVG.[3]

On- and off-line

On-line website builders typically require customers to sign up with the web hosting company. Some companies provide examples of what a fully functional website made with their website builder looks like. The range of services varies anywhere between creating basic personal web pages or social network content (Widgets) to making complete business/e-commerce websites, either template based or - on the more flexible platforms - totally design free.

The main advantage of an online website builder is that it is quick and easy to use, and does not require any experience. Often a website can be built and be up and running live on the Internet quickly. Technical support is usually provided, as are how to video and help files. This makes online website builders ideal for the beginner.

Sites are generally created using either HTML or Adobe Flash. HTML is a standard format supported by all browsers. Flash has a growing popularity, mainly since it has overcome some limitations such as not being seen by web crawlers such as Google and Yahoo, and thus being indexed. Flash is more resource intensive than HTML. HTML tools are divided into those that allow editing of the source code and those who only have a WYSIWYG mode.

Off-line web builders cater to professional web designers who need to create pages for more than one client or web host. Modern off-line web builders are usually both WYSIWYG and allow direct editing of source code and cascading style sheets (CSS) styling. They generally require at least a basic understanding of HTML and CSS code. They are more flexible than on-line builders, but may be expensive to buy. There are some open source web builders which may be downloaded free of charge.

Online website builders

Website builder comparison

Yola BCZ.com uCoz Jimdo Cubender Moonfruit Weebly Doomby Webnode Webs Wix Webpin WebHornet WebPaper
Platform HTML HTML HTML HTML HTML and FLASH HTML HTML HTML HTML HTML Flash and HTML5 HTML HTML HTML
Disk Space 1Gb 5GB 400Mb 500Mb 5GB 20Mb Unlimited 10Mb 100Mb 40Mb 2.5GB 50Mb 1GB 2Mb
Max upload file size 15Mb 25Mb 15Mb 5Mb 1 GB 20Mb 5Mb 10Mb 8Mb 40Mb 15MB 20Mb 20MB 5MB
Custom domains Non-free Non-free Yes Yes Non-free Non-free Non-free Non-free Non-free Non-free Free Non-free Free Free
Number of Templates 100 100+ 258 77 30 94 100 71 16 X 300+ 300+ 300+ 40 70+
User management No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Non-free Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Backups No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No Non-free No Yes No Yes Yes
Bandwidth Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 1Gb Unlimited Unlimited 1Gb 100Mb Unlimited Unlimited 30 GB 1Gb
Template builder No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No Yes No Yes
Template editor Non-free Non-free Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Password protection Yes Yes 1 page Yes Non-free Non-free Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Blog Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes widget
Forum widget Yes No No Yes widget Yes Yes Yes Yes No No widget
Email forms Yes Yes No Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Photo Albums Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 400 Photo Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Comments Disqus Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No widget
Site News Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
FTP No Yes No No No No No No Non-free No No No No
File catalog No Yes No Yes No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No
Article catalog No Yes No No No No No Yes No No No Yes No
Site catalog No Yes No No No No Yes No No Yes No Yes No
Statistic Partial Yes Non-free No Yes Non-free Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Non-free Yes
Polls No Yes No No No widget Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes
Online games No Yes No No No Yes No No No No No No Yes
Tests Yes Yes No No No No Yes No No No No No No
FAQ No Yes No No No No No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
Chat widget Yes No No widget No No No No No widget widget Yes
Guestbook No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
E-shop Partial Non-free 5 items limit Yes No Yes Non-free Non-free 5 items limit Non-free Yes Yes Yes
Site search Google Yes No No Google No No Yes No No Yes Google No
Portfolio No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
Widgets Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Force Ad : Front End No Partial Partial No Ads No No Ads Partial No Ads Banners Partial Partial No No
User Ad Yes Yes Yes No Non-free Yes Non-free Yes Yes Yes Non-free Yes No
Number of pages Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 15 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 8 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Websites per account 5 Unlimited 1 1 1 2 1 Unlimited 1 Unlimited 1 1 Unlimited
OpenID No uID Yes No No No Yes No No No No No No
Meta tags Yes Yes Non-free Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Custom logo Yes Yes Non-free Yes Partial Yes Non-free Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RSS Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No
RSS import No Yes No No widget Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No
Email Non-free No Non-free No Non-free No No Non-free Non-free Non-free Non-free No No
Cost Free Free Free Non-free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Non-free Free
Support Yes Yes Yes Yes Non-free Yes Yes Yes Non-free Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mobile Site No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Gadgets Yes Yes No No Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Site map Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
PHP No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Newsletter No Yes Non-free No No No Partial No Yes Yes No Yes Partial
Multi-language support No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No

See also

References

  1. ^ "Website Builder Survey". easywebsitebuilders.net. 2010-08-09.
  2. ^ "Berners-Lee on the read/write web". BBC News. 2005-08-09.
  3. ^ "Amaya Home Page". W3.org. 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2010-09-29.


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