ePortfolio
As indicated in the course recap, I feel the ePortfolio concept is of considerable value. I have found Weebly to be a very effective tool and easy to use, once its personality is learned. As I have discovered in this course for other tools, it is amazing that Weebly provides such software and service free to the public. One thing I should have done is to have taken the time to review the tutorials on Weebly.
Notes from Tool Selection Process
For several years, I have been developing web pages using FrontPage which allows complete freedom in format. Web site builder applications are a lot easier to use if you are willing to live with their restrictions. I tried Weebly first so ran into my initial frustration with inflexible templates there. Next was Google and I wound up building the same pages but still fought the navigation system. I found Google had a lot more functions. Finally, I tried Yola and struggled with the template limitations again. Yola and Weebly were closer in personality and function. My detail reaction to the use of each is as follows:
Weebly http://alogpile.weebly.com/
Templates can’t be modified (like even picture size) but there are a lot of them. One does learn how to avoid the restrictions, like don’t pick a template with a picture but pick an open one and then inserts a picture free form. Could not add picture to text banner in template, although plenty of room. No spell check – major item. Can’t add image at bottom of navigation bar on left (plenty of room). If choose paragraph with picture, can’t use unordered or ordered lists in paragraph. Doesn’t tell you what is default font size and line spacing. Does not tell you font size, can increase/decease size but not know what it is. I put a link in the navigation bar and then could not edit it (I assume I am missing something.) Operational controls lacking – no save draft capability, no undo/redo or go back – very frustrating and undo/redo only available on text editing. Does not exploit wide screen. Could not add alternate text for photo except on replace photo bar. Photo sizing and cropping very good. Could not edit alternate text. Application froze at one point and I didn’t know where I was in editing since no save capability. In general, found templates very restrictive and operational controls poor.
Google https://sites.google.com/site/alogpile/
Very hard to pick a template – they seemed very directed at education and collaborative use. So I picked a blank template. Vertical Navigation looks good with sitemap and nice search capability. Uploaded my first image and found could not crop it, but had good control over alignment, wrap, placement and alternative text. Spell check. Undo/redo on edits. Has a great revision history and ability to go back to one of many previous version! Had difficulty controlling/editing page heading. Great mapping facility – Google Maps! Has restricted access capability and page level sharing. Problem when displaying page with IE7 on a narrow screen – picture moved out of place relative to text. Could not print it. I inserted another line between paragraphs and that enabled it to work on IE7. Google gives my site a secure connection via https but it is annoying for a display only site and I assume that it is because it appears to be oriented to the business marketplace.
Yola http://alogpile.yolasite.com/
All pages have to be same style/format. I didn’t want a picture on second pages, just the top banner, which there isn’t. Nice Page Manager gives control over page order. Looks like good site activity tracking. Great looking Contact Us page with map. . Limited picture capabilities - cannot have text wrap on picture – very big limitation. . Has alternative text for pictures. Good text management but doesn’t tell you what is default font size and line spacing. Can’t add picture to bottom of vertical navigation bar. Does have some operational controls – better than Weebly but not close to Google.
General comments in conclusion: Although Google was my first choice due to operational function, my Weebly site probably looked the best. As I mentioned in the beginning, I came from a free form background so I struggled with the discipline of rigid templates and limited function. I guess next time, I would try to find a Google template I liked and try for the best of both worlds.
Notes from Tool Selection Process
For several years, I have been developing web pages using FrontPage which allows complete freedom in format. Web site builder applications are a lot easier to use if you are willing to live with their restrictions. I tried Weebly first so ran into my initial frustration with inflexible templates there. Next was Google and I wound up building the same pages but still fought the navigation system. I found Google had a lot more functions. Finally, I tried Yola and struggled with the template limitations again. Yola and Weebly were closer in personality and function. My detail reaction to the use of each is as follows:
Weebly http://alogpile.weebly.com/
Templates can’t be modified (like even picture size) but there are a lot of them. One does learn how to avoid the restrictions, like don’t pick a template with a picture but pick an open one and then inserts a picture free form. Could not add picture to text banner in template, although plenty of room. No spell check – major item. Can’t add image at bottom of navigation bar on left (plenty of room). If choose paragraph with picture, can’t use unordered or ordered lists in paragraph. Doesn’t tell you what is default font size and line spacing. Does not tell you font size, can increase/decease size but not know what it is. I put a link in the navigation bar and then could not edit it (I assume I am missing something.) Operational controls lacking – no save draft capability, no undo/redo or go back – very frustrating and undo/redo only available on text editing. Does not exploit wide screen. Could not add alternate text for photo except on replace photo bar. Photo sizing and cropping very good. Could not edit alternate text. Application froze at one point and I didn’t know where I was in editing since no save capability. In general, found templates very restrictive and operational controls poor.
Google https://sites.google.com/site/alogpile/
Very hard to pick a template – they seemed very directed at education and collaborative use. So I picked a blank template. Vertical Navigation looks good with sitemap and nice search capability. Uploaded my first image and found could not crop it, but had good control over alignment, wrap, placement and alternative text. Spell check. Undo/redo on edits. Has a great revision history and ability to go back to one of many previous version! Had difficulty controlling/editing page heading. Great mapping facility – Google Maps! Has restricted access capability and page level sharing. Problem when displaying page with IE7 on a narrow screen – picture moved out of place relative to text. Could not print it. I inserted another line between paragraphs and that enabled it to work on IE7. Google gives my site a secure connection via https but it is annoying for a display only site and I assume that it is because it appears to be oriented to the business marketplace.
Yola http://alogpile.yolasite.com/
All pages have to be same style/format. I didn’t want a picture on second pages, just the top banner, which there isn’t. Nice Page Manager gives control over page order. Looks like good site activity tracking. Great looking Contact Us page with map. . Limited picture capabilities - cannot have text wrap on picture – very big limitation. . Has alternative text for pictures. Good text management but doesn’t tell you what is default font size and line spacing. Can’t add picture to bottom of vertical navigation bar. Does have some operational controls – better than Weebly but not close to Google.
General comments in conclusion: Although Google was my first choice due to operational function, my Weebly site probably looked the best. As I mentioned in the beginning, I came from a free form background so I struggled with the discipline of rigid templates and limited function. I guess next time, I would try to find a Google template I liked and try for the best of both worlds.