I've been
searching and searching for an online platform that I could use to create an
ideal user-centered and interactive experience. I would like visitors to my
website to not only view the content presented, but also leave comments,
request information, suggest alternative paths or websites, add content that
could bring further clarity to a concept or provide feedback on my chosen
format or design. Short of developing a whole new website, I would prefer a
tool that would allow for all of the above, is user friendly, and easy to navigate.
During my
search, I was really amazed by the many options for each aspect of my goal, but
was also frustrated and overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices. To add to
all this, the reality is that in order to fully appreciate what a tool has
to offer you'd be better off signing up and exploring its capabilities. In fact
in most cases you are required to create an account to use the service. As you
can imagine, this all takes time.
The
frustrations begin when you realize that one tool might be able to accomplish
one or two of your objectives flawlessly but is unable to perform another, or
achieve a critical nuance. If you're like me, you'll find yourself in this
quandary - you like that tool '#1' can do 'X', 'Y' and 'Z' but you don't like that it
cannot do 'W' and 'T' ... you really need 'W' and 'T'! On the other hand tool '#2' can do 'W' and 'T' very well but does a lame job of 'Z', and doesn't do 'X' or 'Y'. So you move
on to tool '#3', but '#3' only accomplishes 'W' and does an exceptional job at
it. You only wish tool '#3' was combined with '#1' and '#2' but that is simply not
the case so we move to tool '#4'. Of course after signing up you realize that tool '#4' actually does a little bit of 'X' and 'Y' but really was designed to
accomplish 'A', 'B' and 'C'. Can I scream for you? I'm certain you can now appreciate
why I've mentioned being frustrated.
And guess
what? Like a good novel or a movie, everyone likes happy endings but unfortunately
for me, I'm still searching for that ideal platform. Here's a preview of the
sites that I've only just recently signed up with, while trying to reach my
goal: Linoit; LessonPaths; Padlet;
Storify; Symbaloo;
WebriQ and Weebly. As I said, some of this and a little bit of that.
Without knowing exactly what it is you're working on, it sounds to me like a blog or webpage service would allow all these things with the use of a comment section. Have you tried Google Pages? Google products, as you may know, are usually pretty comprehensive yet easy to use.
ReplyDeleteIncredibly, I've been "all around the mulberry bush" and didn't really focus on Google at all. Checked out Google Sites and you're right - it's simple, easy to use, and able to do most of what I'm trying to accomplish. Thanks so much for sharing because the solution was right at my doorstep, but I've spent a whole lot of time wondering around the neighborhood. Unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteHi. I know what you mean. I believe WordPress will provide what you're looking for. It's one of the top platforms used for blogging and you can search and find plugins that add to the functionality. A commenting system that is cool is DisQus which can be added to WordPress. There are other plugins that let you add a Wiki functionality. See WPBeginner.com for guides and tutorials.
ReplyDeleteDepending on the level at which you want others to add content (is the comment level OK?) a blog may be the way to go. How open do you want to be with people adding to the resource?
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking a blog is the better way to go since comments would be sufficient.
ReplyDelete