The do-it-yourself Web emerges

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A less apparent danger is that end users, particularly in businesses, could use information from an unreliable source, which will ultimately lead to bad decisions, said O'Kelly.

Long tail for apps
Although previous attempts at simplifying Web site development have fallen short, proponents say technology advances are reviving the idea in a different form--and there's no shortage of demand.

Witness Ning, a start-up started by Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen.

The hosted service lets people make their own applications by copying a wide range of existing templates, from sharing restaurant tips online to a site that lets people submit music covered by Creative Commons. Since launching last year, the site has thousands of user-created applications.

While Ning is appealing to consumers, Coghead intends to bring do-it-yourself application development to corporations.

"We really want to enable the people closest to the business situation to create the application. Up until now, they've had to rely on programmers and a difficult translation process," said Coghead CEO Paul McNamara. "We see tremendous frustration."

Now in early testing and slated for release by the end of the year, the hosted service is designed so that a "moderately technical" person--for example, someone who writes macros in Excel--can construct applications that involve electronic forms and a work flow, such as automatically escalating a customer service request.

If successful, the service could lead to an outpouring of new applications, said Coghead founder and chief technology officer Greg Olsen. Often business people bypass the IT department and use products such as Intuit's QuickBase to solve their problems.

"It's sort of the 'long tail' argument for applications," Olsen said. "Millions and millions of people need applications, but the threshold to do them has been too high."

Developers invited
Although many Web 2.0 services are meant to be more accessible than traditional Web building tools, both professional developers and hobbyists are very much part of the picture.

For example, Ning's Web site is designed so developers familiar with scripting languages can tap into and customize Ning's services through APIs (application programming interfaces).

Providing APIs to encourage developers to create customized Web services that drive site traffic is becoming commonplace. That's also a central strategy to Web giants Google and Microsoft.

Even within corporations, more powerful tools for end users do not spell the end of professional developers, said Burton Group's O'Kelly. Tasks such as application design, ensuring data integrity and providing guidance to end users are vital. "These are power tools. And if used without discretion, power tools can hurt people," he said.

The service providers themselves, such as Coghead, will be using sophisticated development techniques, noted Seely Brown. Using a service-oriented architecture, the hosting site can launch new customized services quickly to the end user, he said.

"Service-oriented architectures are the first step toward creating agility. These (front-end services) may be the second step," said Seely Brown.

Joe Kraus, CEO and co-founder of JotSpot, said that what is happening with the do-it-yourself Web sites is analogous to many other technology waves, from PCs to podcasting.

"The biggest revolutions in technology are do-it-yourself revolutions," said Kraus. "When you give people the power that had been limited to specialized (tools), powerful things happen."

[rturner2]

another do-it-yourself product...

...is from Webation (<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.webation.com" target="_newWindow">http://www.webation.com</a>). I have used their Webation Active product and it is really easy, flexible and powerful.

[Europodboy]

Or just buy a mac

Or just buy a Mac and get iLife which includes iWeb for free. -
Sorted!

Community Trail Guides

WikiWalki www.wikiwalki.com is a sports community trail guide - worth checking out.

[tipper_gore]

over rated

A lot of these diy "website builder" products seem a little over rated to me. I go in expecting a lot and it ends up being basic word processing.

[rturner2]

I agree...

I agree that most are very bad... they throw in a rich text editor and then call it a "web site builder"! Or each page is limited in the content that you can put on the page.

Try Webation Active from Webation (<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.webation.com" target="_newWindow">http://www.webation.com</a>) which is more flexible and powerful. You can even design your own HTML layouts and link to the Webation Active platform via XML / XSL to allow easy updating for a non-technical user.

[EggInternet]

Cool tool  MotorMapUSA.com

Searching for cars on eBay has never been so easy
Google Maps + eBay Motors Mashup = www.MotorMapUSA.com

New site shows the bargains on eBay to help people easily find their dream car, at dream prices, instantly searching through local and national markets and displaying the autos locations on a map.

[rturner2]

Business model

"Many new hosted service companies have not yet thoroughly tested their business models, which is a risk to customers and their data. In general, so-called Web 2.0 companies tend to rely on ad revenue or subscriptions to finance their operations. "
- I know that Webation (www.webation.com) has been operating profitably for over 5 years and does not support themselves via advertising.

Is this tested enough O'Kelly re: 5 years in a technology business?

I believe it is important to realise that the market is split between new "web 2.0" companies that are offering free services and then more mature companies offering non-free, non-hype products to business users that expect and want to pay for reliability and mature / tested products.

There are many web development companies that sell products (eg. web site builders, CMS etc) and services that are very profitable.

[huddie klein]

Blah Blah

In the end this is not going to change anything, because what's most important about a website is interesting, usefull or artistic content. No diy-tool will help you to do that...

[margritlb]

No big deal

The big web hosting companies all offer some sort of website
creation too. And boy, are those sites ugly! The web creation
tools are ok (i supposed) for people who just want to put
something up on the web for fun. But anyone who wants
credibility on the web should hire a designer. Decent web
designers can do more than html. They can actually plan a
design around the content and goals of the person/business
behind the site.
Tools like this just help the proliferation of bad design and bad
content. Thankfully, Google puts those way down on their page
rank and we're likely to never see them.

[JoeCrow]

Dotso.com is a favourite mashup of mine ...

Dotso.com is a great mash I use regularly. Check it out if you like your news in the one spot.

[Msteffen]

a more developed system than Coghead to build web-based business apps

Recently, the idea of building custom business applications has become trendy. Virtually overnight two systems, ZoHo Creator and Coghead, have been getting a lot of attention from bloggers and the media. However, people are overlooking the most time-tested source of web-based platforms for custom-build PM solution platforms. There has been a system on the market for over 5 years successfully doing the same thing ZoHo Creator and Coghead aim to do. This system is &lt;a href="http://www.interneer.com&gt;Interneer Intellect</a>.

Intellect is a web-based, user-friendly system that allows the average person, with or without knowledge of computer programming, to easily build fully-functional and extremely useful business applications. Intellect automates the processes needed to deliver results with easy to understand visual guides and wizards. Since Intellect is fully configurable without coding, companies gain the flexibility to adapt to change, eliminating the need for costly software modifications in the future.

Intellect's Instant Application Framework makes it simple to quickly create dynamic forms, interactive tables, work00flow diagrams and collaboration tools such as due date notifications and sign-off requests. As a result, the typical business user is empowered to configure the system whenever necessary, even if he or she has no knowledge of computer programming. If you can get by in Excel, you can build sophisticated applications with Intellect. Intellect allows for levels of flexibility and user-control not possible with hard-coded applications, at a fraction of the cost.

If you are considering using ZoHo Creator or Coghead to build custom applications for your business I would suggest also looking into Interneer Intellect. All three systems offer their own unique strong points& but Interneer Intellect by far has the longest list of functions and capabilities. This in itself is reason enough to register at Interneers site and view the product demo and/or white papers.

[innov8ivemind]

I own http://www.basement-waterproofing-products.com which is a DIY website for home improvement. I have found that people are starting to take things into their own hands, from web design to home improvement. DIY saves time, saves money and ensures the job gets done exactly how you want it to get done!