Compare Tools to Create a Website
Looking to create a website? We have a few different tools for you to build a website - anything from a basic blog for a class assignment to a sophisticated department portal.
Challenge
There are a number of factors to consider when deciding what technologies to use to build your website:
- Who will contribute content to your site?
- How much and how frequently will you change the content or layout?
- What types of content or features will you include?
- Who should have access to your website?
Solutions
There are several technologies available for you from easier-to-use Google tools to more complex web hosting tools. For further consultation and help deciding which tool is best suited to meet your needs, please contact [email protected].
Google Sites
Google Sites offers collaboration features and direct integration with Google Drive.
Recommended Resources
Effort Required
Key Considerations
- Template and layout designs automatically adjust for screen size
- Easily arrange content sections on each page
- Limited ability to customize the look and feel of the site
- Can be configured to achieve UMN branding compliance
Drupal Lite
Drupal Lite is an alternative to the University’s Drupal Enterprise content management platform and offers a quicker and simpler website development solution.
Recommended Resources
Effort Required
Key Considerations
- Pre-built content types (such as Biographies, News/Blog)
- Pre-configured components (such as custom site footer, accordions, and callouts)
- What-you-see-is-what-you-get (“WYSIWYG”) editing
- Especially well suited for smaller and simpler websites
- Requires little to no prior web creation experience/skills
- Uses the accessible UMN-branded Folwell theme
Drupal Enterprise
Drupal Enterprise, an open source content management platform, is the official content management system (CMS) of the University of Minnesota.
Recommended Resources
Effort Required
Key Considerations
- Full-featured website design with very few limitations
- Well suited for larger or more complex sites
- Highly customizable (with a learning curve)
- Offers both development and production environments
- Can be provisioned as a blank slate or with the default content types and roles included with Drupal Lite as a starting point
- Comes with full admin access