SimpleSite is a Copenhagen-based WYSIWYG web site builder for novice customers.
The service is surprisingly primary in some areas. You aren’t getting any web site templates, as an illustration. As a substitute, SimpleSite makes use of just a few very customary layouts, and gives controls that will help you customise the colors and the content material.
There’s higher information in SimpleSite’s Primary plan, which allows constructing web site as much as a most of 15 pages, fully without spending a dime. This has a number of the points you typically see with free web site builder plans – restricted design options, advertisements for SimpleSite – however there’s additionally a really uncommon plus: you possibly can promote as much as 5 merchandise in your individual net retailer, a characteristic nearly everybody else reserves for his or her high-end industrial plans.
SimpleSite’s Professional plan drops the advertisements, permits limitless pages and provides you entry to all design options, whereas additionally throwing in a free area with as much as 5 e-mail addresses. The net retailer nonetheless solely helps a most of 5 merchandise, sadly. But when that is not an issue, you possibly can join £eight.33 ($10.83) per 30 days billed yearly.
The E-Commerce plan permits limitless net retailer merchandise, however would not seem so as to add something additional, and it is costly at £23.33 ($30.33) per 30 days. Shopify’s Basic plan has vastly extra options and lots of extra addons out there, however is fractionally cheaper at $29 (£22.74).
Getting began
A chunky ‘Get Began’ button on the SimpleSite dwelling web page makes it very apparent the place to start, and one click on later, SimpleSite’s Design Wizard started strolling us via the method of making our first website.
This began by selecting the aim of our website (private, enterprise), earlier than transferring on to select a color scheme, a web page background, essential opening picture and website title. We’re unsure it is smart to pick out all these design parts earlier than you have even begun to work on the location, however you possibly can all the time settle for the default settings and alter them later.
Design wizard full, you are prompted to enroll together with your e-mail deal with, earlier than being requested to decide on your URL. You will get a subdomain without spending a dime (yourname.simplesite.com), however we have been additionally given the choice to register a .co.uk area for less than £1 ($1.30).
We took the subdomain choice and have been redirected to the SimpleSite editor, the place a few tiny tutorials defined the fundamentals of including content material and previewing the outcomes. These contained no surprises, so we cleared them and have been able to go.
Editor
The SimpleSite editor is without doubt one of the most stripped-back and minimalist we have ever seen. Overlook the same old densely packed sidebars or different display muddle, SimpleSite has a single toolbar with solely 5 buttons Preview, Share, Design, Pages and Account – and a Assist button, bottom-left.
The physique of the web page is dedicated to a view of your web site. Hovering your mouse over any element on the web page shows some primary actions you possibly can carry out on it, and left-clicking the element offers you entry to extra.
Unusually, SimpleSite would not can help you add new web page elements by dragging and dropping from a sidebar. As a substitute the service shows ‘Add Content material’ buttons in all places you are capable of insert objects on the present web page, and clicking any of those shows a toolbar with objects to select from.
SimpleSite’s alternative of objects is, effectively, restricted, to place it politely. We have been provided simply ten: Headline, Textual content, Picture, Divider, Slideshow, Video, Poster, Contact Type, Map, Signature.
These objects are usually very primary. There is not any picture editor, as an illustration. The textual content object would not assist bulleted lists. You’ll be able to’t have a slideshow play routinely. You’ll be able to’t customise the Contact type to make use of it for different functions. You get the concept.
Maybe probably the most fascinating editor characteristic is how simply you possibly can add objects facet by facet. Add a video, as an illustration, and also you would possibly need to insert a picture or block of textual content to 1 facet. That is fiddly in some editors, not possible in just a few, however right here you merely click on the Add Content material button alongside the video, and select the Picture object, the Textual content field, or no matter else you want.
This generally is a neat contact in some conditions, however there’s an issue: it’s extremely rigid. Your picture can solely go to the left or proper of the video, as an illustration. Every object will get half the allotted area, with no resize choice, and no method to individually align the objects (centre the video, perhaps, and right-align the textual content.)
SimpleSite presents some site-wide configuration choices in its Design panel. You’ll be able to swap between 5 format choices, for instance, altering particulars just like the width of your web site (does it take all of the out there area, or sit someplace in the midst of the browser tab?) and the way content material is ordered. You additionally get to decide on color schemes and mixtures of fonts. Essentially the most fascinating characteristic is the background choice, which not solely permits utilizing static photographs, but additionally presents just a few video backgrounds (clouds, snow, waves and so forth.)
The Design panel would not can help you flip off the customer counter in your web site footer, sadly, a characteristic which was laughably dated fifteen years in the past. However this will a minimum of be hidden from the Customer part of the Account panel, the place you may additionally discover a hidden choice to permit guests to remark in your website, and a few quite simple analytics that will help you monitor customer numbers over time.
Total, SimpleSite’s editor could attraction to newbies, as it is easy to select up and construct quite simple pages. However in the event you’re seeking to do something superior, it isn’t the service for you.
Media
The SimpleSite picture object is slightly brief on performance. You’ll be able to add photos from your individual system, with a most file dimension of 5MB, and we like the combination with Pixabay’s free picture library. However there is no approach so as to add photographs by hyperlink, or import them from different providers. There is not any modifying options past crop and rotate. And there is no server-based media library the place you possibly can retailer commonly-used photographs for straightforward entry later.
A primary Slideshow object helps you current a number of photographs to your guests, however this additionally has its limitations. For instance, there is no apparent method to reorder the pictures, as soon as they have been added. You’ll be able to’t stop the slideshow from routinely enjoying, or outline the variety of seconds every picture is displayed. The free plan additionally restricts the Slideshow to simply 5 photographs, doubtlessly an actual annoyance.
The Add Web page part consists of the power so as to add a Photograph Album web page. That is primary, little greater than a web page of thumbnails, however there is no apparent restrict on the variety of photographs, and you may reorder them by dragging and dropping.
The closest we may discover to a spotlight was the Video object, which not solely permits embedding YouTube and Vimeo clips, however can even add motion pictures of your come clean with a most of 100MB (the free plan additionally limits video size to a most of ten minutes.) That may very well be very helpful for a household website, maybe, the place you need to share clips with mates, however with out having to host them elsewhere.
In the event you’re extra all in favour of customary video embedding, although, SimpleSite is slightly underwhelming. You’ll be able to enter a URL, add a heading and outline, however that is basically it. You’ll be able to’t cover or tweak the participant controls, or stop the ‘associated movies’ displaying on the finish of the clip.
There have been odd technical points, too. For instance, once we previewed our web page, began a video, then returned to the editor, the video would proceed to play, with no method to flip it off (till we hit Preview once more.)
As soon as once more, then, SimpleSite managed to supply one or two fascinating options, however these have been drowned out by the overall lack of performance and the poor implementation.
Weblog and e-commerce
SimpleSite advertises itself as having the ability to create a weblog, however that is a really questionable declare. There isn’t a separate running a blog system, no idea of weblog articles, no approach so as to add common metadata (writer, tags, metadata), no method to schedule article publication, and no technology of a front-end web page with abstract textual content and pictures for every submit.
All you possibly can actually do in SimpleSite is create new pages to signify posts, then manually construct one other web page to summarise and hyperlink to them. There’s some supporting expertise within the capacity to permit customers so as to add feedback to every web page, however we do not suppose that is sufficient to name this a ‘weblog’.
SimpleSite deserves slightly extra credit score for together with an online retailer with even its free plan. Okay, it might solely assist 5 merchandise, however that may very well be sufficient for informal customers.
Discover what the shop has to supply, although, and you start to understand why SimpleSite is giving it away. The platform is horribly underpowered, and completely unsuitable for any type of critical software.
There is not any choice to import product catalogues, as an illustration. Product descriptions do not assist wealthy textual content, and may’t have hooked up movies. There’s assist for ordering merchandise by dimension, however you possibly can’t add customized variations of your individual (color, materials.)
SimpleSite is not outfitted to take orders from abroad. The service cannot differ taxes, delivery choices and costs or quoted supply instances to take account of the vacation spot.
The one automated fee methodology out there is PayPal, though you possibly can choose to deal with funds your self through e-mail.
In the event you perceive the problems, and also you’re proud of the 5-product restrict, then SimpleSite’s retailer may nonetheless be a helpful component of its free plan. However once more, in the event you’re on the lookout for something even barely superior, this is not the product for you.
Help
SimpleSite is not precisely full of options, nevertheless it has so many quirks and points that you simply’re positive to wish assist and help sometimes.
The editor’s reassuring inexperienced Assist icon means that’s by no means far-off, however click on it and it is best to put together to be disillusioned. There is not any knowledgebase, no hyperlinks to useful articles or in-depth data on the service, only a handful of very primary tutorials which let you know little greater than “this button does that.”
There is a bit more assist tucked away within the Account part, which appears weird to us. Why is anybody going to look there? However in the event you do stumble throughout it, you may discover just a few very primary FAQ pages on getting began, marginally extra technical points and the phrases and circumstances of the service. It is higher than nothing, although completely insufficient for any critical troubleshooting.
In case your query nonetheless is not resolved, then you possibly can contact the corporate through e-mail, however the web site assertion that “we attempt to answer all requests inside two enterprise days” is not precisely encouraging.
This will not be a significant situation for everybody. In the event you simply need to construct a really primary free website, with some textual content and some photographs, you would possibly by no means want pressing technical assist in any respect. But when your web site is genuinely necessary, SimpleSite’s laid-back strategy to assist is more likely to be a significant drawback.
Closing verdict
Outdated and underpowered, SimpleSite would not deserve your money, though the free plan and net retailer may very well be fascinating to some.