Weebly is a free tool that is great for digital media, because it allows individuals to create a website for business, weddings, a group or organization, portfolio, blog or any other use where individuals can showcase their accomplishments or work. Weebly is a very simple tool to use and is easy for viewers to navigate through. There are a variety of free, pre-designed themes the user can choose from. The layout is extremely simple which is great because not everyone understands how to use the web and its many resources. I like that the admin panel (elements you drag to your site) is on the left side and on the right side you are able to preview your work. There is a build, design, pages, store, setting and a computer and mobile view tab. Users can add dividers, columns and slideshows to their pages. Individuals can also add pictures, audio, video and text to their site or blog easily.
In the setting tab, there is an option that allows the user to give other people access to edit their website. I personally do not use that option and don’t plan on using it, but I do not see anything wrong with it. In the site planer, option individuals are able to set goals for their website before creating it. The support tab has a live training webcasts option that shows individuals live tutorials of how to do everything on weebly. The live streams run on Pacific time, but if an individual misses the live webcast there is an option that allows them to view a recorded tutorial. One of my favorite features is the store tab that allows individuals to build an online store where they can add images, a short description, the price and more for products they are selling. Of course all elements on weebly are not free. There is a pro page where people have more resources such as adding a search engine to a page, but you have to pay for that feature. I like the fact that people can add their social icons such as facebook, twitter, email and more to make it easier for others to contact them or find you on the web. Social media is a huge tool that is often used for reporting so this is a useful tool.
Everything automatically saves, but that is a downfall for this site. If you delete a page there is no undo option and command+z (for macs) does not work. This is one of the few issues I do not like about this tool. Another problem with this site like other sites is Just like all websites there are glitches and sometimes the webpage freezes which is annoying especially if you are in the middle of designing you website.
Overall, weebly is a cool, simple website building tool. I used this tool to put my first portfolio on the web and also for an assignment I had which was to create a front page of a newspaper layout and also for an assignment to create a front page of a newspaper layout during my undergraduate years. I really like that this tool is far from difficult and is easy to navigate through. I also like that you can login by using your facebook account. I tend to forget my passwords so having the login with facebook option is great. It takes no time to create a website using weebly and it is easy to find your weebly site on search engines, such as google which is very beneficial.