User of Google mail, Docs and Google+ will
be right at home with the company’s own website builder technology. Needless to
say, it follows the same kind of theme that the rest of the Google family
offer, which for some can either, be a blessing or a curse.
Google
Sites
The obvious advantage to using a Google
engineered site is, of course, the ability to integrate all the other Google
products into one site. If you’re looking to create a collaborative site for
your family, then Google Sites would be an ideal place to start, where you can
include Google Calendar, Maps, Gmail, Docs and YouTube. However, for a standard
publicly viewable site, Google Sites lacks the pizazz of Wix or Weebly.
“Once the content is on the page, there’s
not really a lot manipulation you can do”
Signing
up is easy, especially if you already have a Google login in some form or
another
Signing up is easy, especially if you
already have a Google login in some form or another, and the initial creation
of the website requires very few steps: pick a template - Blank, Classroom
site, Soccer Team, Spring Floral Wedding site or browse from the millions of
sites already created by Google users. Then name your site, which automatically
fills in the site location. Select a theme, of which the selections are quite
basic and laughable when compared to the previous two website builders we’ve
looked at. Finally, enter the captcha and click the ‘Create Site’ button.
The
obvious advantage to using a Google engineered site is, of course, the ability
to integrate all the other Google products into one site
The whole process shouldn’t take more than
a couple of minutes, but when you factor in the browsing of the template
gallery and the fact that, annoyingly, Google doesn’t auto-check if your site
location name has already been taken, and then the process may take slightly
longer.
Once you have your new site up and running,
you're left with a very basic interface that does little to offer any
encouragement or help. The buttons available are unmarked, but a mouse over
will reveal them as Edit Page or New Page, with a More button that expands to
include various settings for the likes of access permissions, AdSense,
Templates, Attachments and so on. The editor function is very bland and offers
a little less than what an average word processor is capable of. There is the
ability to drag and drop content from other web pages or your computer, but
once the content is on the page, there’s not really a lot manipulation you can
do with it.
Basic
Themes in Google sites
To be honest, you could be forgiven for
comparing Google Sites to one of the many free website builders from 20 years
ago, with its uniformly dire themes and very little control over the size and
placement of page elements.
However, if you insert one of the Google
products, then you're offered a slightly more advanced editing feature set,
although not by much. Splitting the page into columns or inserting tables is
easy enough via the menu in the top left in editor mode, and you can access and
edit the HTML behind the scenes, should you need to. In addition, you can opt
to add Google’s AdSense, which will enable a selection of appropriate adverts
in a sidebar in a vain attempt to earn you money when someone clicks on the
links - which, let’s face it, isn’t going to earn the average user anywhere
near enough to retire on. And there are the thousands of Google Gadgets that
can be added, most of which are, admittedly, fairly useless.
Good
for Google apps but a poor place to build a website
In conclusion, Google Sites offers a nice
place to dump your Google content or share the odd picture, but for building a
decent looking, functional and semi-professional website, then you’re better
off looking anywhere but here.
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Details:
·
Price: Free
·
Manufacturer: Google
·
Website:
·
sites.google.com
Scores:
·
Quality: 5/10
·
Value: 6/10
·
Overall: 5/10
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