Wix Review- Easy to use flash website creator
Founded in: 2005
Company Headquarters: New York, NY
Websites managed: Over 3 million
Because it offers a convenient drag and drop editor that can create both Flash websites and static presentations, Wix is ideal for small business owners who want to present an exceptionally creative web presence without paying for professional services. Wix offers multiple ways to showcase portfolios, making it especially popular among photographers and other artists seeking to publicize their creations.
Features
Wix offers a plethora of features and add-ons that can significantly enhance the look and feel of any website. Although most of these features are not unique to Wix, Wix does differentiate itself by offering a website editor that allows for more advanced customization than most other website editors. Likewise, while most do-it-yourself web design suites offer predominantly static websites, Wix offers the largest range of Flash templates as well as an ample number of static designs. The only drawback of Wix is that it does not offer an obvious way to integrate email into your website.
Features Include:
- RSS feeds
- Flash templates and static templates
- Media players
- Comment functionalities
- Contact forms
- Google maps
- Shopping carts
- PayPal integration
- Various photo display options including albums, slideshows, rotating carousel display and others
- Video integration from YouTube and Metacafe
- Clip Art, animations and icon libraries
The Combo, Unlimited and eCommerce packages which are purchased on an annual basis also come with a voucher for $75 in free Google AdWords advertising which can help attract visitors to your website and extra revenue to your business.
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Ease of Use
Wix’s drag and drop editor that is a pleasure to use. You can browse website templates by category or scroll through the vast selection until something catches your eye. Once you’ve chosen the template for your site you can begin editing and adding features and text immediately.
Template selection
Wix displays your editing options around the border of the computer screen so that each type of editing is located in an easily identifiable location. The left side of the page is the place to change or add images, multimedia additions, and textual changes. The bottom of the screen is where you can make changes directly to the template, such as adjusting the color, the menu options or the general appearance of the template. The top of the website is where you can save your work, view your changes and undo anything that you don’t love.
I tested out Wix’s web design services by creating a website for a spa. I began by choosing a template for my site.
Original template
I began by changing the name of my site as well as the colors of the squares above it.
Adjusted template
What is unique about the Wix website editor is that you can adjust the colors with equalizers that can fine tune the color exactly how you want it, instead of choosing standard shades. I proceeded to remove the boxes from the top right of the design and to add sample text.
Completed homepage
Another useful element of Wix’s templates is that they provide a sample for the entire website, not just a structured design that will need to be tweaked for each individual page. Flipping through the different pages of the website can be done on the tab in the middle of each page so that you can keep your thoughts in place and make changes to each page as needed.
Lastly, while I didn’t choose a Flash template for my completed website, Wix offers dozens of stylish and equally user-friendly Flash templates to choose from for those who want to add a bit of action to their site. I did experiment with the Flash website templates, and found that using a Flash template was just as intuitive as using a static design.
Sample Flash template
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Customer Service
Wix provides customer support through their help center and via email. The support page is well organized into 3 primary sections; Wix Help Topics, Top Questions and Video Tutorials. The most helpful of these sections is the Video Tutorials section which provides clear and concise information about how to edit your website using the Wix site builder. The Wix Help Topics and Top Questions sections focus more on site add-ons and extra features such as search engine optimization and Google applications.
At the top of the Help Center is a place to ask a question. Unfortunately, in the 6 times that I tested this feature, I received irrelevant responses that did not answer my question.
An answer from the Wix Help Center
Fortunately, Wix seems to be aware that their answers may not match the questions, and they allow you to email a representative if you need more help. I submitted a question via email as a free member at 8:15am EST on a Monday morning. I received an answer 6 days later.
My free membership question to Wix
Free membership response from Wix
I also emailed Wix using my premium membership, to see if the response would be faster. I sent the email on a Wednesday morning. I received a response about 6 hours later, but was disappointed to see that instead of providing a direct answer, the representative only sent me a link to the help section, which did not directly solve my problem.
My premium membership question to Wix
Premium membership response from Wix
I approached the manager of the Wix support team to discuss the problems that I encountered with the help center. She was extremely amenable and eager to correct the problems and enhance the user experience. She mentioned that the support team is expanding regularly to meet the needs of Wix’s growing customer base, which is a normal process for new companies. She also pledged to research the technical problems and work quickly to resolve any lingering issues.
Finally, Wix offers a very useful “Wixepedia” which has a similar organizational structure as Wikipedia. It includes a glossary of terms, advice on how to use the Wix editor, support for the premium upgrade. The most unique and useful part of this service is troubleshooting support – called “error FAQ”. It provides various errant scenarios within the website editor and explains how to fix them.
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Wix in the Media
Homepage - Wix.com graphic design user, Michelle, telling about her experience with Wix.com in the Canadian TV show "HomePage"
CBS MoneyWatch Wix introduces a new batch of free design templates Read Article
Summary
Positive Features
- Easy to use website builder
- Useful video tutorials
- Unparalleled color customization
- Vast group of add-ons and applications
- $75 Google AdWords credit with yearly packages
- Allows for the creation of Flash websites
Negative Features
- Limited Help Center
- No email integration included in the site builder