Comments for The Codeless Website: Four Awesome Tools for Creating Cool, No-Tech Sites

The Codeless Website: Four Awesome Tools for Creating Cool, No-Tech Sites

2009-07-20T01:11:42Z

Sometimes, even HTML is just too hard.

In this postmodern world, we're all professionally fragmented jacks of all trades, and few of us have the patience (read: OCD) for learning enough CSS and Flash to allow us to keep up with the Jonses in terms of functional, sexy web design. Here are some cheat sheets, the Cliff Notes of site creation, if you will. Read on to discover four awesome, in-browser resources for creating your own beautiful corner of the web without the horror of code.

]]> Edicy: Sites in Seconds

Edicy is a resource we just found out about recently. The in-browser site creation and editing service gives users a simple toolbar for text, video, and images and a lower dashboard for changing page design. Users can insert tables and Google-powered maps, and the drag-and-drop image features for creating multiple galleries was awesome for achieving a visually pleasing page and would probably be great for portfolios or family websites. The blog feature was so-so; we don't really see Edicy as a competitor when it comes to the CMS game, though. Still, we created this page in about 15 minutes, making Edicy one of the fastest tools we've worked with.

YourOwn.com: Edicy offers free vanity.edicy.com domains and publishing to any domain the user chooses for about $8.50 a month.

Choose Your Own Coding Adventure: Users can only pop the hood, so to speak, on HTML for sections of text. We couldn't find a way to, for example, change the color scheme or background image or page formatting.

SEO-riffic: Edicy lets users add keywords and descriptions, but not other metadata or tags for images or other media.

Zimplit: Fully Simple, Fully Editable

Zimplit is a resource we reviewed some time ago, but we feel it's perfect for this particular round-up. We were able to create a simple, elegant page within about a half hour. It's an open-source, dead-simple application that works just as well for code-free "dummies" as well as it does for those with an inkling or two about web design on the back end. For non-coders, a gallery of great design templates kick things off, and a simple 12-button toolbar does it all after that.

YourOwn.com: Vanity URLs on Zimplit.com are available, and regular domains (plus email addresses) are available starting at around $4.25 per month.

Choose Your Own Coding Adventure: Users have complete access HTML and CSS for their pages, making this a great resource for learning as you go.

SEO-riffic: Sorry, Charlie. You'll have to access the code to tweak your metadata and keywords.

Wix: Flash Sites for Flashy Folks

We're not going to lie: Creating a Flash site in Wix will take you a little more time. But for those who desire that Flash-y touch, this is one of the best free resources you'll find. This editor will present tools familiar to those familiar with other graphic design programs such as image editing or more GUI-oriented website editing programs. The effects, behaviors, animations, and other options offer complete control. Also, we adore the horde of multimedia gallery options. You've got slide shows, Apple-like sliders, and tidy matrices. But to be honest and fair, Wix is just as strangely buggy as any Flash service you've tried to use.

YourOwn.com: There's a whole slew of premium options. Users can elect to choose their own domains for as little as $4.95 a month. An ad-free site, however, costs a dollar a month more.

Choose Your Own Coding Adventure: We couldn't see any back end here, folks. But with all the design options available through the Wix interface, we're not sure you'll need much more.

SEO-riffic: "SEO Friendly" options start at $4.95 a month.

Amplifeeder: A Catchall for the NMDs Among Us

Another site we've reviewed before is Amplifeeder. What users create there may not qualify as full-on websites, but for those who are hip, Amplifeeder creates sites that are the living end in terms of social media aggregation. Really, we all create so much content across our various networks that a personal site can be static and even redundant. Amplifeeder uses great design templates to bring together blog posts, Twitter and Facebook updates, Flickr pics, YouTube videos, and any number of other social media happenings. The page we created is beyond cool and serves as a gorgeous, clean portal to all the places we really live online. Plus, the data you put here is all portable, backup-able, and restorable.

YourOwn.com: Hosting options are coming soon, according to site creator Jon Davies.

Choose Your Own Coding Adventure: Customize your heart out with a blank CSS slate.

SEO-riffic: This part's all up to you. Your SEO will be the moment of truth: What DO you really talk about and share most? Transparency meets SEO when Amplifeeder serves an aggregation of your social streams.

So there you have four great resources for website creation, from super simple to creatively complex. Now get out there and start souping up your web presence. We just made keeping up with the Joneses that much more competitive.

Comment from Web_Design_Kent on 2011-04-19

2011-04-19T11:58:36Z

Nice post full of great tools, cheers

Comment from Christopher Brown on 2011-04-19

2011-04-19T11:56:17Z

Nice set of tools. My web design company is always on the look out for tips and tricks like this.

Comment from Causes of Chest Pain on 2011-04-12

2011-04-12T19:18:23Z

These services are very great, I love them very much.
Thanks.

Comment from Web Application Development on 2011-03-28

2011-03-28T19:39:26Z

If a site sell goods then the site going to lose some new customer as well as creating doubt on existing customers mind. Less trust means less sell....

Website Design Services

Comment from Web Design Kent on 2011-03-26

2011-03-26T12:57:59Z

Web Design Kent

Comment from Janet Trevor on 2011-03-22

2011-03-23T04:06:24Z

Thanks a lot for this compilation. I'm particularly new to some of the websites you posted here, and I'm glad I was able to find them because of your hard work on this post. This will also prove very useful for the IT courses I'm currently taking. Thank you.

Comment from Kent Marketing on 2011-03-21

2011-03-21T14:25:06Z

Like it! Good stuff

Comment from Cool Websites on 2011-03-10

2011-03-10T17:57:51Z

Great post. Thanks!

Comment from formula 21 on 2011-03-05

2011-03-05T16:54:39Z

Good round up - web publishing is becoming more accessible all the time. Though I think two caveats bare mentioning here.

Comment from altın çilek on 2011-02-21

2011-02-21T18:34:24Z

+1 for weebly and the latest wordpress platform. I wouldn't know what to do without WP.

Comment from Chartered Surveyors Kent on 2011-02-21

2011-02-21T11:39:15Z

What a great article! I've just spent a fortune on our new website, but there is definitely scope to use this software in the future.

Comment from orjin krem on 2011-02-18

2011-02-18T12:04:06Z

Great article. I might introduce this to our customers for use to create their hotel and guest house websites.

Comment from tütüne son on 2011-02-18

2011-02-18T12:01:53Z

Good round up - web publishing is becoming more accessible all the time. Though I think two caveats bare mentioning here.

Comment from Hotel Systems on 2011-02-05

2011-02-05T23:42:04Z

Fantastic article and very informing. Many thanks!

Comment from Hotel Systems on 2011-02-03

2011-02-03T15:09:37Z

Great article. I might introduce this to our customers for use to create their hotel and guest house websites.

Comment from Tristan Collings on 2011-02-03

2011-02-03T14:23:05Z

Interesting article. Might be something I can recommend to our customers at http://www.custwin.co.uk

Comment from Ganttic Scheduler on 2011-01-19

2011-01-19T23:11:10Z

Our site (www.ganttic.com) runs on Edicy and we're really happy with it.

Comment from yuregininsesi on 2011-01-09

2011-01-10T00:52:57Z

Good round up - web publishing is becoming more accessible all the time. Though I think two caveats bare mentioning here.
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Comment from Jerome on 2011-01-03

2011-01-03T18:19:43Z

Totally agree, i switch to WP and never coming back! lol

Comment from Projector Tests on 2010-12-20

2010-12-20T12:53:02Z

Yes I agree, +1 for them for the job well done!

Comment from alice on 2010-11-09

2010-11-09T08:05:55Z

I'd consider "bad" writing to be poorly researched writing that misses a huge detail.testking mcse For instance, if one were to use a single example to try and make one's point only to find that example was completely faulty and irrelevant.testking mcts Like if one were trying to make the case that Demand Studios writing is poor by showcasing a piece that wasn't written by a Demand Studios writer. That's bad writing that does a great disservice to the reader. Luckily, Demand Media can't take credit for that gaff. That's on the author.

Comment from Backlinks on 2010-09-29

2010-09-29T19:43:57Z

+1 for weebly and the latest wordpress platform. I wouldn't know what to do without WP.

Comment from Web Design Kent on 2010-08-28

2010-08-28T20:21:02Z

Nice work!

I shall be checking out those tools. Although Im not sure they will tempt me away from my current set of tools ;)

Comment from Web Design Kent on 2010-02-24

2010-02-24T10:38:19Z

With the progression of the Web, hundreds of web design tools have been established around the world to serve the growing demand for such work.Excellent list. Thanks for getting it together. Guess it took a lot of time and effort.

Comment from Rat Wulf - Web Designer on 2009-09-03

2009-09-03T22:51:30Z

This is a very helpful list of tools! I work in a web design company and i think this resource provide all inclusive solutions to our customers. I will recommend it to my partners. Thank you!

Comment from apeanut on 2009-08-31

2009-09-01T03:45:41Z

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Comment from nusret on 2009-08-08

2009-08-08T12:53:53Z

thanks for article very

Comment from Kevin on 2009-07-24

2009-07-24T22:21:17Z

I second SquareSpace.

We spent quite a bit of time building our site using various authoring tools, could never get it quite like we wanted it, and maintenance was a hassle. With SquareSpace, we were able re-build it to look just like we wanted it to look in about 2 days. Add articles, sections, navigation, etc. is super easy and the price is good - we use the $24/month version.

Here's the site should you care to see what a SquareSpace site looks like: http://www.nextwaveperformance.com

Comment from php programmer on 2009-07-23

2009-07-24T03:58:17Z

i tired the tools you suggested. I vote for zimplit. Couple it with the web development tool Sajax and you will see great results.

Comment from Kylie ap Garth on 2009-07-23

2009-07-23T11:17:19Z

Another site you didn't mention is the social networking & publishing platform Webjam. Basically it allows you to make a site and share content on multiple pages using modules you add to the page. Check out site examples: http://www.webjam.com/explore

Comment from Abdul on 2009-07-23

2009-07-23T08:57:07Z

Nice Selection. Thanks for collecting these awesome tools. We are using this very easily.

Thanks for sharing,,

Comment from monassoc on 2009-07-23

2009-07-23T07:24:25Z

Very interesting post ! I didn't know those websites.

In the same way of easy-to-create websites. We are now working on a similar project http://monassoc.com it's mainly for associations but everyone can use it.

Visually we don't have so many templates as Edicy but we have some more options like a gallery, a forum, an event calendar. It's only in French but you should check this, we've focused on usability. You shouldn't have any trouble using it even if you don't really speak french.

Raphael

Comment from Dana Todd on 2009-07-21

2009-07-21T14:58:01Z

So how is Amplifeeder "codeless"? It's not for lazy people or noobs. From the directions on the download page:

"In the extracted folder you will find a file called AmpliFeederDatabaseScript.sql. Create a database in SQL Server and execute this script against it to create all of the tables and stored procedures needed by AmpliFeeder. You will need to create a user in SQL Server and give it datareader and datawriter permissions on the newly created database. You will also need to give your newly created user EXECUTE permissions on any of the installed AmpliFeeder stored procedures.

Copy the AmpliFeeder folder contained in the distributable to your Inetpub/wwwroot folder or some other place where you want IIS to serve the application from. Set up this AmpliFeeder folder to be a web application in IIS. If you are using IIS 7 you will need to set the Application Pool type to be 'Classic .Net AppPool' under the site Basic Settings.

Open the web.config file in the AmpliFeeder folder in your favorite text editor and change the value of the AmplifeederDBConnectionString connection string setting to match your installed database and environment. Browse to the root of your new application to continue."

Codeless my ass...

Comment from Vijay Rayapati on 2009-07-21

2009-07-21T08:24:26Z

GizaPage.com is a nice tool for quickly building an individual or brand social identity site.It also helps in organizing, branding and managing multiple social profiles.

Mine is at http://www.amnigos.com

Comment from mark shervey on 2009-07-20

2009-07-20T20:00:33Z

might want to check out weebly as well. http://www.weebly.com. a lot of cool features and pretty easy to use.

Comment from Jeff on 2009-07-20

2009-07-20T19:39:12Z

which is the best for people that already own their domain?

Comment from Matt Wiseley on 2009-07-20

2009-07-20T16:35:12Z

Good round up - web publishing is becoming more accessible all the time. Though I think two caveats bare mentioning here.

First,a pure Flash site will make getting found in search engines difficult.

Second, it's important to think of where you might want to take your site down the road a bit. Will you need to start over if you require more control in the future?

EditMe is another option - it has the benefit of optional HTML/CSS editing if and when you decide you want or need it.

Comment from sjjh on 2009-07-20

2009-07-20T16:23:28Z

Another website builder site is scrapplet.com

Comment from milosh zorica on 2009-07-20

2009-07-20T13:30:56Z

a great review!

you forgot to include www.gizapage.com .

Comment from Timo Reitnauer on 2009-07-20

2009-07-20T09:23:22Z

This is a good list of tools that can be used for your own domain. However, I think a domain name should come first because it is the only way how you can really own your online identity. There are a lot more services with a custom domain option. See http://iwantmyname.com/features/custom-domain-applications-and-dns for an overview.

Comment from runescape gold on 2009-07-20

2009-07-20T07:08:10Z

we all create so much content across our various networks that a personal site can be static and even redundant. Amplifeeder uses great design templates to bring together blog posts

Comment from Charles Liebert on 2009-07-19

2009-07-20T02:05:00Z

Hi Jolie,

nice review, but as noted @Tom, it seems the Fifth one, is gone missing ;)

Also, I'm suprised you didn't review Soup.io, that let you put in seconds à website (altrought, they don't sell domain themselves), with all you need in term of SEO (HTML 5 semantic, etc, etc...).

cheers

Comment from Tom on 2009-07-19

2009-07-20T01:51:23Z

Nice article, though I'm surprised Posterous wasn't included.

One small thing: Opening paragraph says five resources are reviewed, but there are only four.

Comment from Marc Krisjanous on 2009-07-19

2009-07-20T01:44:57Z

One thing I have concerns about with these types of services is if your site ends up on their domain for example myblog.service.com then issues arise if the person gets so popular that they should have their own domain. The hit to SEO could be huge.

Then again - maybe these types of services are not for the hopefuls out there looking to be in the top 100 blogs whatever...

Comment from Dave on 2009-07-19

2009-07-20T01:43:35Z

Great! Have been looking at a few of these recently. The only one i think you are missing is Squarespace.com - another fantastic tool thats gaining a lot of followers.