Web resources:

How to make a website for kids

SuperClubsPlus – build kid’s pages inside their website

Popfly – Kids make their own web page or game

Netkids-  Kids Make a free website

Dorling Kindersley clipart (for use in your home or school project)

Kaboose free icons

HTML for kids

CyberSmart – Kids safety online

Tips

Australian children born within the past decade have had the internet in their homes since birth. It’s pretty natural for them to want a website of their own!

If you’re not sure how to put a site together, you can learn together! Free website options mean that you can dabble to your heart’s content, and it’s an educational experience for both of you.

Some topics for a kids website:

• • Kids can create a  site for their soccer team, netball team or dance group.  All the team members can look at and share photos of games or events. Be sure to check with the coach or teacher before starting a website, and make the site private.
  • If your child has a hobby, why not encourage them to build a site around it? They can post photos of their creations, achievements and information about their hobby.
  • For a special project, you can help them create a family tree website– all the family, no matter where they are in the world, can visit the site and even add their own photos and stories.  You can find information about free family websites here.
  • For a school project, perhaps the teacher will allow your child to create their work online.  A school project might even be to make a website!
• As with any website for kids or made by kids, safety is very important. Take a look through cybersmart.gov.au to ensure your children enjoy their online experience safely.

A blog might be a good place to start – your child can blog about their pet or hobby. (No personal or identifying information should be given in regard to a younger child. An adult should monitor the blog.)

You can make a free blog at Wordpress (http://wordpress.com) or Blogger (http://www.blogger.com)

Or, you can use your own hosting and install a Wordpress blog at http://wordpress.org

You don’t need to run a Wordpress blog like a blog.  Your child can make a website that looks like any other website on online. For example, if a girl is interested in games for girls, she could make a Wordpress site about girls games online. (The Game Girl website in the linked example was made with a self-hosted Wordpress site.)

Image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/tzioum

Anyone can make their own website for free– sometimes within minutes!

There are free website options flying everywhere on the web these days!

But what are the pros and cons?

The following is a general guideline on things to look at and look out for:

PROS of free websites

Quick to start and get online.

An ordered, clean-looking website.

Everything taken care of for you– you don’t have to worry about the cost and effort of finding hosting, and you don’t have to build a website from scratch or know how to code.

Amazing websites that you can create, such as thriving community websites, with the latest social networking features included.

Hundreds of free templates and themes available for some free website options, such as at wordpress.com

No need to worry about renewing hosting; your website stays online year after year.

Great for kids to make their own website.

Great for businesses to try, and then update to professional features later on.

CONS of free websites

You could end up with a cookie-cutter website (one that looks like thousands of others.)

Your website might carry advertisements from the free website company.

Your website might carry links to the free website company.

Your website might have limited customisation options.

If you’re not using your own domain name, your website URL will look like a subdomain. Example: www.mywebsite/freewebsitecompany.com

There might be a charge if you want to use your own domain name.

The best features might involve paid upgrades.

You might not own your own content!
Check the terms and conditions carefully for statements that the company can use your content in any way it sees fit.
(This might just involve promotion – but even then, do you want it broadcast to the world that you’re using a free website provider if you’re running a professional business?)

You could lose your content and website if the company decides on a different format, or if it goes out of business. 
(As an example, at the moment, Yahoo 360 is changing over to Yahoo Profiles. If you want to keep your content, you have to change it over. If you didn’t get the message, you’ll lose your website.)

If your website is hacked, the company could decide to delete your account without warning. There are stories of this happening with free blog accounts.

Free websites in this post refers to programs where both the web builder and hosting are free.

With so many different kinds of free websites on offer, it’s impossible to comment about the individual terms and features of each company.

Free websites are are a booming business on the web, and many people seem to be very happy with what they offer. The sheer amount of Wordpress.com and Blogspot sites is testament to that!

You can make your own website completely for free– just be sure to look at the whole picture before jumping in!

Image credit: http://www.dubbelklikdesign.nl/

i-do.com.au

The i-do.com.au website asks that you add them as your homepage and they’ll provide you with a free wedding website. If this is one of your favourite sites as you count down to your wedding, you might like to try creating your site there.

easyweddings.com.au

When you register with easyweddings.com.au, you gain a free wedding website, and also a range of pretty cool and useful tools– such as a seating planner and interactive to-do list.

ewedding.com

edwedding.com has beautiful wedding templates. The wedding website you create allows your wedding guests to log in and RSVP your invitation and they can also download maps of venues, allows you to make a wishlist and registry, and allows you unlimited photo albums.

Great for nonprofit, social and sporting groups to have their own space to get together and to organise their events. 

A commercial venture can also make a start with a free community website and move up to paid upgrades at a later stage.

ning.com

When you head to ning.com there is not a lot there to tell you what’s about. Just a screen where you can sign up. A bit like Facebook. And just what is different about Ning compared to Facebook and MySpace anyway?

Well, Facebook and MySpace are about profiles–even within Facebook and MySpace groups, you flip through pages and profiles. Which is all good. But if you want something more integrated where you can see more of your group at a glance– Ning might be the option for you.  You can keep track of your group’s events, connect with others in your own forum, The look is clean, and you can customise your ning to suit your group. And once you sign up, you can interact with other groups within Ning with the same ID.  Ning was co-founded by Marc Andreessen and Gina Bianchini, with Gina as the CEO.

Ning says: “Ning was started with a simple premise: when people have the freedom to create a new social experience online, uniquely customized for the most important people and interests in their lives with no effort, no cost, and infinite choice, the world is a better, more colorful and certainly more interesting place in which to live.”

webs.com

webs.com is a very slick-looking site where you can create a fully-featured home for your group. You can share photos, keep a calendar of events, invite members and allow them to add their own profiles, create your own forums and even assign moderators to manage the forums. You can be in widget-heaven with easy widget installation. Paid upgrades include a web store.

Webs says: “Whether you are part of a volunteer fire department, organizing a running club, planning your high school reunion, seeking a spot to post news and events for your local swim team, or looking to connect with fellow Tay Zonday fans, it’s easy for you and your group to communicate online with Webs. Our completely customizable templates and tools help you build a site unique to the needs of you and your members.”

(We have no idea who or what Tay Zonday is!)

wetpaint.com

Boxloads of features and options for your community group at wetpaint.com.  Private onsite messaging, photo galleries, video galleries, dynamic page organisation and much more. Wetpaint was started when a friend of the founders developed cancer and was unable to find a social group where he could connect with others going through their own cancer journey.

 wetpaint says:  A Wetpaint website is built on the power of collaborative thinking. Here, you can create websites that mix all the best features of wikis, blogs, forums and social networks into a rich, user-generated community based around the whatever-it-is that rocks your socks. A social website that’s so easy to use, anyone can participate. Paid options include the power to integrate social publishing into your website.

ourcommunity.com.au

In Australia there are a number of initiatives for nonprofit community groups that you can find through this website: ourcommunity.com.au  It’s a large website full of advice and resources for Australian community groups. The page for resources on free website options can be found here

A family website can be a small project within your own immediate family– to record all the events, photos and happenings. Or it can encompass your extended family, and reach back through the ages, detailing the lives of generations of your family. A family website can be a fascinating insight into where you came from, and wonderful for your children to see and interact with.  Make it a special family project.

These are some free family websites that offer different features. If you intend on building up a site that will be around for a long time to come, be sure to choose a solid company.

myfamily.com

At the myfamily.com site, you can show your important events right on the homepage.  You can choose to leave voice messages, make photo stories and family trees. Family members can log in and add their own photos, videos and update the family tree. You can have unlimited members and unlimited storage, even on the free plan. Paid plans include being able to upload additional MBs per month.

myfamily says: “Since 1998, myfamily.com has helped millions of people keep in touch with their family and friends by sharing photos, stories, news, family trees and more on their very own private web site. If you don’t already have a family web site, sign up today for FREE, and see for yourself why myfamily.com has been providing private family web sites longer than anyone else.”

shutterfly.com (Shutterfly share)

 With Shutterfly Share, a family can keep track of the daily schedule and upcoming events. All members of your family site will be auto-notified of comments and updates made by other family members. Nexo.com was acquired by shutterfly.com and is in the process of changing over during 2009.  For the moment you can sign up at either nexo.com or shutterfly share.  Being part of Shutterfly, family members can order prints and photo books directly from the website.

Shutterfly.com says:  “Communicate and collaborate with the people who enrich your life- whether it’s softball teammates, your child’s second grade classroom, your neighbors, or an entire wedding party.”

 comehome.net

At comehome.net you can create an online family gathering place in an informal setting – a place where you can share recipes, gift lists and even yard sales. (known as’ garage sales’ in Australia)

comehome.net says: “ComeHome.Net is a Free Private Family Web Site for close and extended family. Keep in touch with all your family members, no matter how far away they live. Share recipes, photo albums and genealogy information as if you lived on the same block.”