Website builder/hosts such as Squarespace or Weebly: Should I use one?
August 2, 2013 11:48 AM
I need to put together a gallery-style website showing off my artwork and craft projects. I love the look of the Squarespace templates, but Weebly and Wix are much cheaper/free. I used to maintain a blog via Blogspot and Wordpress, but have no website-making knowledge other than that. What's the right choice for me?
Ideally, I'd like to be able to add new photos to the galleries as often as I'd like. I'd prefer to not have outside ads, and would like to be able to link to other sites (artist/craft friends). Right now, I don't think I'll be selling anything through the site, but that may be something I'll want to add down the line. This is not a money-making venture or my main gig, so hiring a professional would be overkill. I do have a domain name I'd like to use, and would rather not have to add ".wix" or what have you to the end of it. Any thoughts on these "drag-and-drop" style website design services? Which should I go for? It could be one I haven't listed, I really don't know the field. Thank you!
Ideally, I'd like to be able to add new photos to the galleries as often as I'd like. I'd prefer to not have outside ads, and would like to be able to link to other sites (artist/craft friends). Right now, I don't think I'll be selling anything through the site, but that may be something I'll want to add down the line. This is not a money-making venture or my main gig, so hiring a professional would be overkill. I do have a domain name I'd like to use, and would rather not have to add ".wix" or what have you to the end of it. Any thoughts on these "drag-and-drop" style website design services? Which should I go for? It could be one I haven't listed, I really don't know the field. Thank you!
I had the exact same project recently and preferred Weebly over Wix (cleaner interface, easier to use).
Behance is also a good choice, even though it's more of a portfolio site.
I do believe Weebly allows you to transfer the site to your own domain but it may be at the paid level.
posted by amicamentis at 11:57 AM on August 2, 2013
Behance is also a good choice, even though it's more of a portfolio site.
I do believe Weebly allows you to transfer the site to your own domain but it may be at the paid level.
posted by amicamentis at 11:57 AM on August 2, 2013
I do believe Weebly allows you to transfer the site to your own domain but it may be at the paid level.
This is correct. I use Weebly for my site and you do have to pay to not have .weebly in the URL, but it is much cheaper (and a million times easier to use) than what I had before. (SiteKreator.)
My site is extremely simple, like I really should put some more effort into it, so I can't say how it is for galleries/artwork. But I know there are a ton of features I've never even looked at. I will just reiterate how idiot-proof it is.
posted by DestinationUnknown at 12:16 PM on August 2, 2013
This is correct. I use Weebly for my site and you do have to pay to not have .weebly in the URL, but it is much cheaper (and a million times easier to use) than what I had before. (SiteKreator.)
My site is extremely simple, like I really should put some more effort into it, so I can't say how it is for galleries/artwork. But I know there are a ton of features I've never even looked at. I will just reiterate how idiot-proof it is.
posted by DestinationUnknown at 12:16 PM on August 2, 2013
I have some experience managing a couple of wordpress.com sites with custom domains. Very cheap, lots of good FREE templatess, reasonable prices on upgraded templates, pretty painless, and I can grab links off any given page for sharing purposes just as I would sites that I administer myself all the way up to the dedicated server level.
I have a side business as a web developer, and I think if I were in your shoes I'd look at that route; domain is about $26 a year, and extra storage is, for example $25 for 50 extra GB a YEAR. 50 GB is a lifetime supply of photos, assuming you're doing them at web-appropriate resolutions (even very large on-screen).
Another advantage is that you're working in an interface similar to a custom WP install on your own server, so if you did graduate to a hosted site like that you'd need very little retraining.
I'd assume that doing a PayPal donate button or buy button would be easy enough to do and place in the post; if you were wanting to operate a cart I'd go a different direction. DM me if you'd like to know more.
posted by randomkeystrike at 12:18 PM on August 2, 2013
I have a side business as a web developer, and I think if I were in your shoes I'd look at that route; domain is about $26 a year, and extra storage is, for example $25 for 50 extra GB a YEAR. 50 GB is a lifetime supply of photos, assuming you're doing them at web-appropriate resolutions (even very large on-screen).
Another advantage is that you're working in an interface similar to a custom WP install on your own server, so if you did graduate to a hosted site like that you'd need very little retraining.
I'd assume that doing a PayPal donate button or buy button would be easy enough to do and place in the post; if you were wanting to operate a cart I'd go a different direction. DM me if you'd like to know more.
posted by randomkeystrike at 12:18 PM on August 2, 2013
I've used Weebly for years for multiple uses and have never had a problem with it. Highly recommended, super easy.
posted by kdern at 12:29 PM on August 2, 2013
posted by kdern at 12:29 PM on August 2, 2013
randomkeystrike, I hadn't thought about using WP for something so image-heavy. Does it resize images for mobile? Is it as drag-and-drop as Weebly would be? Assume I am an easily confused person.
posted by chowflap at 1:49 PM on August 2, 2013
posted by chowflap at 1:49 PM on August 2, 2013
I am using weebly for my domain - it was very, very easy to set up, easy to add picture and do a gallery display. You do NOT have to pay if you already have a domain that you want to use - so you own mydomain.com, you can point it to your weebly site and all of the pages show up as my domain.com/pagename
However, weebly does what it does - if you don'l like any of their templates, I would go somewhere else. it can be annoying if, for example, I want some headlines in one color and some in a different color. There is probably way to do it if you spend a little time learning html (or whatever) but that's not happening at my house. I figure they trying to enforce some good web design in terms of what you can do and can't do. But what it does do is very easy, quick and free. No outside ads (just a "pwered by weebly logo at the bottom" and you can easily link to outside pages.
posted by metahawk at 2:55 PM on August 2, 2013
However, weebly does what it does - if you don'l like any of their templates, I would go somewhere else. it can be annoying if, for example, I want some headlines in one color and some in a different color. There is probably way to do it if you spend a little time learning html (or whatever) but that's not happening at my house. I figure they trying to enforce some good web design in terms of what you can do and can't do. But what it does do is very easy, quick and free. No outside ads (just a "pwered by weebly logo at the bottom" and you can easily link to outside pages.
posted by metahawk at 2:55 PM on August 2, 2013
There are some pretty good responsive layouts for WordPress now, Elegant Themes have some nice image focused portfolio themes.
posted by brilliantmistake at 3:55 AM on August 3, 2013
posted by brilliantmistake at 3:55 AM on August 3, 2013
I love Squarespace. I've been a Squarespace customer since, well, I can't remember, but now Squarespace 6 is out and it's awesome. Very beautiful, especially for photos. Mobile sites are as gorgeous as desktop versions. I fiddle around with Wordpress, but I don't care enough about web design to delve deeply into customizing the CSS.
posted by awesomelyglorious at 9:30 PM on August 3, 2013
posted by awesomelyglorious at 9:30 PM on August 3, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by scruss at 11:57 AM on August 2, 2013