Design Website

These days, it seems that everyone has a website. Unfortunately, many of these websites are either bland, or sloppily designed by people who don''t understand how to use HTML effectively or are intimidated by it. And, they don''t have the money to spend on a good page editor, so they limp along using the page templates that their website might provide, or they attempt to use programs like MS Word, which offers conversion to HTML. Yet, there are many free tools available that people can use to give their sites some extra polish that will put them a cut above most sites on the WWW. Here is a listing of three of my favorite online tools that will help you create and manage your site:

ColorMaker http://www.bagism.com/colormaker/

This is an essential site to use when designing web pages. It allows you to select the text, link, and background colors from a table. Then, you can preview your choices, and make changes to them to compare different color schemes and change them instantly. It even allows you to upload multiple backgrounds and combine them with your color choices. Once you have found the combination you''re going to use, click the link that says, "copy the Body Tag," then copy the text that is shown, and paste it into your document.

Media Builder http://www.mediabuilder.com

If you don''t have a graphics program, you can still have pictures on your site, and not be limited to their original size or color. GifWorks, part of the MediaBuilder Networks, is a free, online GIF editing program that will transform these files with a number of effects, and even make buttons for your site from any GIF that you upload.