• Recommend:
• 0 Comments

GeoCities Adds Simplified Web Builder

Company says new Web page tool is well-suited for casual users, but it's still more difficult to use than other browser-based offerings.

By Paul Heltzel, PCWorld   

If you don't mind banner ads, a Web site's browser-based service can be a great location for your home page. No-cost sites like Tripod, iCat Commerce Online, and GeoCities let you build a Web page without needing any special software. And when the company upgrades its applications or services, or adds new ones, you enjoy the benefits with no installation headaches (although you may need to upgrade your browser).

GeoCities on Thursday released GeoBuilder 1.0, a new Web-based tool that offers a friendly interface for page building, without requiring you to deal with any HTML, as the service's earlier online editing system did.

GeoBuilder 1.0's browser-based interface is quite easy to use. Clearly labeled tools don't overwhelm and are easy to figure out quickly. GeoBuilder won't break any land-speed records, but then most of the free services suffer from sluggishness.

Registering was a fairly quick process. However, I don't like the questions about my income and marital status--which make me feel like a targeted customer, not a member of a community. I left these areas blank, but it did require my gender and birth date (so does Tripod). Seems like I'm giving that out a little too often online--guess I'm getting a lot of cards this year.

Another complaint: The program made me pick a community to reside in, giving me a tongue twister for an address (http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Facility/3436/). Tripod and Homestead addresses are much more straightforward ("www.homestead.com/username" for example).

Personally, I prefer Tripod's Web authoring tools, even though they're less sophisticated and maybe a little slower. And iCat stands out for electronic commerce (you can offer as many as ten items without having to pay). But overall, GeoBuilder is an easy-to-use and friendly tool that can provide you with a reasonably attractive page.

If Geocities' 11MB of space won't hold the site you've got in mind, you can upgrade to the GeoPlus premium service, which provides 25MB of space for $4.95 per month.