How to Set Up a Family Website
To some extent, blogs have replaced personal websites, but the personal website still has its place and uses. In fact, some of the free website hosts also include blogs and photo albums as part of their website package.
The advantage of a website over a blog is visual space. This may not necessarily be in the space behind the scenes to upload and hold all of the things you want it to; it simply means a spatial representation on the screen. And along with this, the ability to visually organize the space so it is easier to find things such as photo albums, blogs, links to useful information or other websites, how to subscribe to mailing lists, and how to contact the webmaster to send information, photos, and links to be included on the site.
Sometimes a blog archives this information or you have to scroll forever to get to the information you want. A website offers more options for organizing and accessing information easier. This is probably even more important for an older person trying to find something on a computer screen.
You don't have to have knowledge of html or how to build a website to get a simple site up and running in a short period of time. There are a number of long-standing, free hosting sites offering web-building tools built into their sites. Some have tools that are easier to use than others, but since these sites are free, you can try out a few and see what works well for you. Some of them also let you use your own web-building tools such as Adobe's Dreamweaver and Microsoft's Front Page if you prefer.
Most of these free web tools are WYSWIG, which simply means “What You See Is What You Get.” As you type in text and upload photos, the tool builder shows you what your page will look like when it's complete. Others toggle from the building tool to a preview screen. It's a matter of personal preference as to which one will work best for you. Most of the free sites also offer upgrades to a monthly fee for more space and better tools. It's best to start out with the free stuff and see how you like doing this first.
Some of the sites you may want to investigate for setting up a free website include:
Most of these sites have been around for a number of years and have great support staff to help you with problems as well as comprehensive FAQs (frequently asked questions) and quality web tools. A family website can be something that grows with your family and helps keep you all close, even if your family is spread out all over the country.
Even though you might run a small website, you can include links to sites all over the web. For instance, perhaps your niece took some cute videos of her baby boy and uploaded them to YouTube, or your brother uploaded video of himself and his wife zip lining in Hawaii. You may be able to place a direct link to YouTube so people can view the video from your site or just a link leading to where the video has been uploaded on YouTube itself.
Again, setting up and managing family blogs or websites might even be a project for your teenage or college-aged children to do. You feed them the information you want posted and they can set up the pages, upload the photos, and keep the site up to date.
It does afford you the opportunity to post bulletins and information, photos, and links to websites for more information about your parent's disease process, treatment options, and prognosis. This can be helpful when you don't have a lot of time and patience for explaining things to high-maintenance relatives and friends.
