Hi Janelle,
I created a WordPress site for our church
library website.
On Blogger (Google) I've had
3 websites. The biggest problem with each is the blog format means order
is the most recent first. It works on the 2 Blogger sites because of the
way they are structured (although sometimes my main blog needs a reminder to
catch all articles when I have a multi-part series).
I'm also the webmaster for a storytelling
site. It uses a Google
"classic" site and I'm not sure how the "new" sites
differ. I am uncertain if both new and classic are still offered. I
can tell you that the classic site gets past the blog problem of the last post
is what you see first offered on both WordPress and Blogger. I think the
Google sites will do what you want and is not only flexible, but easily
maintained.
Any reservations? Yes, I'm finding sites
now need to be both full screen and mobile versions. I also find many
templates look exactly like that...a template.
My own storytelling website was made with a
webdesign program that was a more user-friendly WYSIWYG program giving results
comparable to Dreamweaver. I went through various versions and they've
now made it a "legacy" product, so I won't suggest it. I've
been holding off on how I'm going to create a mobile version. In that
respect I look forward to whatever results you receive.
I'm also going to give my own experience with
GoDaddy. I started there and you can definitely do better even though
it's a well-known source used by many. It's been ages since I worked with
them, so my memory of problems is very hazy, but know I was able to do much
better way back by switching to Earthlink (remember them?) and eventually away
to my own provider. My recommendation, if you don't need to go with a
freebie option, is contact Host My Site.com --
U.S. based and 24/7 support by phone, chat, or email. It includes domain
management (my site and my blogs), automatic yearly billing if wished, and a
webmail account, although I suspect the library's email will be what you
use. I've been with them for many years. I also know someone who
thinks equally highly of Kingwebhost and has used them for many
storytellers and storytelling organizations. I could put you in touch
with her if you like.
The de Angeli collection is a real gem that
deserves online promotion! Best wishes in your efforts.
In response to this, I have not used either of the other websites. I have, however, created a website for my church as was able to use templates to help make it look better.
The website is wix.com.
You have a free version, but you will be littered with wix ads. However, it does give you several premium options. It's best to try and snag it when there is a sale.
But in the end I find this website to be easy to use and not too terrible on the wallet. The options we chose was like $28 for the domain this is covered for the year (extra was added to protect my identity), and $16 for the website premium for each month.
Did you get some good information? I was
going to respond earlier but
it's been a crazy week.
We started using Wordpress for our website and I
love it. I used
DreamWeaver for about 10 years prior and this is
so much easier. If you
had any specific questions, I am open to try to
help you.
We have regular menus and pages, plus a calendar. And we have a blog. There are many, many free templates that you would never know are free for wordpress because they look lovely. We used a free one for a couple of years and then decided to spend $50 on one that we liked. We pay for our web address and storage through Blue Host for all of our files. That costs 4.95 per month. These are the only costs involved. I can update from anywhere that I have internet access. A much better option for us.
Hope this helps a bit.