I’m back again sharing another robust discussion from the previous version of our Forum. This conversation about best website platforms was started by Jo Thompson. She asked, “Hello, I’m new to the affiliate group and would love recommendations from seasoned pros on the best CMS (content management system) template or SAAS (software as a service). I’m looking at Wix, Weebly, Squarespace and a few others. Would love to know any specific templates you recommend, along with your CMS recommendations. Any other relevant/associated advice would be most welcome.”
And the two pages of comments went like this:
| Sandra Block, Ph.D. | Hello Johanna Research the web for sites that are currently offering online workshops. Select a few that you like and copy the address for that site. Paste the address into a site like https://gochyu.com/ (no affiliation). You will usually find the site platform (Wix, etc.) and the theme used on that site. Any add-ons used to support workshops should also show up. This way you can identify useful tools/plug-ins to research further and then make an informed decision and build your learning platform. This is not about copying a site. That way there be dragons! |
August 15, 2020 3:50 pm |
 River Elizabeth Hall |
I am in the midst of exploring this as well and would love to know what you think so far Johanna! I’m really hoping to find something that I can easily integrate into a simple author website as well. I’m going to try out the above suggestion too. Maybe we can compare notes because I think you might have a better handle on this than I do. | August 16, 2020 5:21 am |
 jo thompson |
Thanks. I haven’t had a chance to research any sites yet. I was hoping that members with actual sites would weigh in. But I’ll share with you anything that I find. Right now, I’m experimenting with Wix and with Weebly, but they aren’t particularly user friendly. Hope you’re well. | August 19, 2020 5:40 pm |
| jo thompson |
So I have nearly completed my site, except for the booking options. I ended up going with Wix.com. They’re more user-friendly than Weebly, which was my second choice based on research. In fact, I signed up for both and tried to build out my site on both platforms. I gave up with Weebly. Perhaps because I wanted to customize it so much, it became an issue. Wix requires some knowledge about setting up websites; I’m not a coder, but I’m in the industry and was able to figure out most of it. They also have a quicker option where you input your requirements and it sets up everything for you, but I’m a control freak. It’s really trial and error and easy to undo any mistakes you make. Alternatively, in my informal audit, WordPress seems to be a very common CMS for many AWA writers, which is a good thing to know. I’ve already bought my domain name, but haven’t switched it over to Wix yet, but I’d love any feedback you may have for my site: wordswillflow.wixsite.com/write
Thanks, Johanna |
August 31, 2020 8:52 pm |
 Sandra Block, Ph.D. |
Hello Johanna
Congratulations on the site build. My preference for websites is a clean, uncluttered look and you have that. I agree re WordPress – I am using it to build my site. A couple of thoughts: (1) creating a link on your home page for each workshop might facilitate sign-ups and (2) will you be adding a newsletter sign-up? Many thanks for inspiring all of us Sandra |
| jo thompson | Sandra, thanks for your kind feedback. I was unable to link directly to individual workshops from the home page because of an API issue. If I can’t fix it, I’ll delete the module and people can go directly to the workshops page. As for a newsletter, that’s not a priority for me just yet. I’ve actually gone ahead and transferred the domain, so my site is now not branded w/wix info. It’s simply http://www.wordswillflow.com | September 1, 2020 7:30 pm |
 Emily Stoddard |
Hi Johanna! This can be a tough question to answer in terms of what’s “best,” because it depends on how you’re running your particular workshops or what your future plans might be. For instance, if you’re doing local workshops and collecting payment in person or need limited online payment options, something like Wix or Weebly can work out.
WordPress and Squarespace offer more in terms of e-commerce, analytics, etc. — with Squarespace being more accessible, in my experience, if technical stuff isn’t your idea of a fun time. Both of those have their own limitations in terms of online engagement — if you want to get into online workshops and more online outreach/blogging/etc., then there are pros and cons to both. My studio has evolved from WordPress in the early days and then to Squarespace for about four years. This year, some growing pains led me to switch to Kajabi. It was a big, big project. I don’t regret at all being with Squarespace for so long, but it’s made me think a lot about the value of choosing tools that you’ll “grow into” rather than the tools that feel just right at the time. At the very least, be open to treating your website like an evolving tool, rather than a one-and-done project… choose as best you can for where you’re at, knowing that no matter what, you’re likely to evolve as you get practice with the tool, whatever tool that is. Good luck with your new site! |
September 2, 2020 9:11 pm |
| Sandra Block, Ph.D. |
Hello Johanna I took a look at your evolved website – the ‘find a workshop’ button is a great addition. Let us know how Wix works out for you. |