Weaving a Website

What a tangled web we weave when first we practice webpage design

So we have been tasked with discussing our experiences in website building. We are working on websites for our class, in class. Which isn't exactly ideal for me, since I tend to mumble to myself  while working through new things (I try not to, really I do), and it's not usually in English.

I have had a lot of experience with Wix.com, therefore there shall be several comparisons to it. I am very fond of Wix's interface because they make it easy to add photos, designs and new pages.
However because of all my experience I decided to try two other sites.



Weebly and Strikingly

Weebly.com caused me to mutter several times in frustration. Oh the joy of learning a new interface. I had so many arguments with the computer while working on these pages.
I wondered how bad could I be messing up this badly. After a while I gave up and asked for assistance. 
It wasn't my incompetence for once it was my "aura" of Computer-no-worky-for-you. 


Weebly has its own quirks and works with preset locations or sections. You choose the content you want for each preset section and it loads into place. Personally I feel it inhibits creativity to some degree where Wix.com does not. This can be beneficial to someone who wants to make a simple page without much flair or design.

Strikingly was suggested by a good friend. They use it for their company, therefore I decided to try it. Stikingly is far more limiting in its interface.

Where Weebly has pre-made buttons to insert, Strikingly has pre-made pages to edit, and beautiful scrolling layouts. Everything on Strikingly is on one page, keeping the layout streamlined also making it great for mobile use.

This blog discusses the pros and cons of the two sites, much of which I was in concurrence. Both have plenty of free options, but weebly offers a few extra goodies, such as sound, when you are willing to pay. However I found this to be impossible with Strikingly. After much searching, I could not find a way to insert any type of sound onto the Strikingly page.

Conclusion

When designing a website personal preference goes a long way. I like Wix.com the most. It was shown to me years ago, so I have had many an opportunity to play with and learn how to maneuver its many options, and in my humble opinion they have the best features for creative design.
Once I learned how Weebly.com worked, I began to like it a bit more, even more so after using Strikingly.com. However, I can see the benefits of both. For someone who isn't very creative, or desires something more simple Weebly.com and Strikingly.com are perfect. 

Audacity.

I have a love hate relationship with the Audacity audio program. It is a fantastic program, I am familiar with it via radio theater and my own uses for recording, however any hate is purely on myself for not knowing more about this truly wonderful program.  It would have done me a lot of good to take the time to hunt out blogs or tutorials like the one found here (at http://www.makeuseof.com/) giving ideas and ways to use it for podcasts, multi-track recordings, or my favorite, practicing foreign language. I found a helpful tutorial for Audacity. The proctor (he never introduces himself) takes you from the set up, to saving. He shows you how layering tracks is done as well as how to manipulate sounds with all the features.

However I found him slightly annoying to listen to, but the information was good. I have worked with Audacity for a while now, however I never thought about things like changing existing files, or that you could use auto-tune:

This video takes you through the steps of auto-tuning using a plug in called G-Snap. I am not a fan of auto tune, but it is a popular element in music lately. The video shows you how to download and use the GSnap plug in, so that isn't an issue. He does a good job of explaining how everything works while telling you how to control the program.

That is all for this week. If anything else, go play with these programs, learn how enjoy them and maybe learn how to curse in another language to keep it interesting.