• Recommend:
• 0 Comments

Best of the Free Site Builders

Free Web-hosting services GeoCities and Tripod go head-to-head.

By Paul Heltzel, PCWorld   

As with Coke and Pepsi, the differences between Tripod and GeoCities are more a matter of taste than of substance. Both Web-site services offer free home pages, plenty of space (11MB), slightly slow interfaces for building pages, and numerous add-ons such as traffic trackers and promotional tools. However, Tripod stands out for its simpler online construction tools and integration with Microsoft's Web authoring tool, FrontPage 98.

Tripod offers two ways to build: a text-editor called Freeform and a templates-based program called Quickpage. New users will want to use Quickpage, which lets you choose templates, then customize the information on your new pages.

Geobuilder, a drag-and-drop editor, is GeoCities' builder of choice (the service offers an impressive array of five different interfaces for creating pages). This Java-based program loads right into your browser. But despite a reasonably simple-to-use interface, the tool is unbearably slow and, at least in my experience, buggy. JavaScript errors abounded as I attempted to import a page that was not built using the tool.

With both services, you're better off sticking with the templates offered or building with your favorite HTML editor (one you have installed on your hard drive), then uploading your pages. Netscape's Composer (included free with Communicator) and Microsoft's FrontPage Express (bundled with Internet Explorer) are vastly more sophisticated tools than the ones these services offer. If you have FrontPage 98, things will be much simpler with Tripod--the program will work with either service, but is more tightly integrated with Tripod.

Both services offer simple text editors for those inclined to write their own HTML, but again, you're better off using a separate text editor. Compose in Notepad or your word processor, preview your files in your browser, and then upload to the service of your choice.

Finally, and not insignificantly, Tripod offers an easy-to-remember address. You access Tripod pages at members.tripod.com/~yourname/; GeoCities uses an unwieldy naming convention that requires you to choose a "neighborhood" before you get an address. In my case, the address was www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Facility/3436/username. That's a browserful, and the final reason I'll stick with Tripod.