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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: online 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 offline and which can then publish these pages on any host. (The latter are often considered to be "website design software" rather than "website builders".)

History

The first websites were created in the early 1990s.[1] These sites were manually written in HTML.

Over time, software was created 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.[2]

Online vs. offline

Online website builders typically require customers to sign up with the web hosting company. Some companies provide examples of fully functional websites made with their website builder. The range of services varies anywhere between creating basic personal web pages or social network content to making complete business and e-commerce websites, either template based or, on the more flexible platforms, totally design free.[3]

The main advantage of an online website builder is that it is quick and easy to use, and often does not require prior 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.[4]

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 that only have a WYSIWYG mode.

Offline web builders cater to professional web designers who need to create pages for more than one client or web host. Modern offline 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. However, though they are more flexible than online builders, they are often expensive. However, some open source website builders may be downloaded free of charge.

List of online website builders

Website builder comparison

Yola uCoz Jimdo Edicy Moonfruit Weebly Doomby Webnode Webs Wix Wordpress.com
Platform HTML HTML HTML HTML HTML HTML HTML HTML HTML HTML 5 HTML
Disk space 1Gb 400Mb 500Mb 5GB 20Mb Unlimited 250Mb 100Mb 40Mb 2.5GB Unlimited
Max upload file size 15Mb 15Mb 5Mb 50Mb 20Mb 5Mb 15Mb 8Mb 40Mb 15MB 50 MB
Custom domains Non-free Yes Non-free Non-free Non-free Yes Non-free Non-free Non-free Non-free Non-free
Number of templates 100 258 77 49+ 94 100 100+ 16 X 300+ 450+ 200
User management No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Backups No Yes No No No Yes No Non-free No Yes No
Bandwidth Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 5Gb 1Gb Unlimited Unlimited 1Gb 100Mb Unlimited Unlimited
Template builder No Yes Yes Partial No No No No No No Non-free
Template editor Non-free Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes Partial
Password protection Yes Yes 1 page Yes Non-free Non-free Non-free Yes Yes Yes Yes
Blog Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Forum widget Yes No widget Yes widget Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Email forms Yes Yes No Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Photo albums Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial
Comments Disqus Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Site news Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
FTP No Yes No No No No No No Non-free No No
File catalog No Yes No Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes Partial
Article catalog No Yes No No No No Partial Yes No No Yes
Site catalog No Yes No No No No Yes No No Yes Yes
Statistic Partial Yes Non-free Yes Yes Non-free Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Polls No Yes No Yes No widget Yes Yes No Yes widget
Online games No Yes No No No Yes No No No No No
Tests Yes Yes No No No No Yes No No No No
FAQ No Yes No Yes No No No Yes No Yes Yes
Chat widget Yes No No widget No Non-free No No Yes No
Guestbook No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
E-shop Partial Non-free 5 items limit External service provider No Yes 5 items limit Non-free 5 items limit Non-free Non-free
Site search Google Yes No Yes Google No Yes Yes No No Google
Portfolio No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No
Widgets Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Force Ad : Front End No Partial Partial No Ads No No Ads Partial No Ads Banners Partial No Ads
User Ad Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Non-free
Number of pages 3 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 15 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 8 Unlimited 40
Websites per account 5 Unlimited 1 Unlimited 1 2 Unlimited Unlimited 1 Unlimited Unlimited
OpenID No uID Yes No No No No No No No Unlimited
Meta tags Yes Yes Non-free Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial
Custom logo Yes Yes Non-free Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RSS Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
RSS import No Yes No No widget Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Email Non-free No Non-free No Non-free No Non-free Non-free Non-free Non-free Non-free
Cost Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free
Support Yes Yes Yes Yes Non-free Yes Yes Yes Non-free Yes Yes
Mobile Site No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Gadgets Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Site map Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
PHP No Non-free No No No No No No No No No
Newsletter No Yes Non-free Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No

See also

References

  1. ^ "Berners-Lee on the read/write web". BBC News. 2005-08-09.
  2. ^ "Amaya Home Page". W3.org. 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  3. ^ "Website Building Software". Website Tutorial. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  4. ^ "Creating a Website". 4CreatingAWebsite. Retrieved 23 March 2013.


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