To state the obvious, ads are usually annoying. Usually they are only vaguely related to the content on the page and most of the time it is a highest bidder situation and not one where the website owner actually cares about the product. While this is totally understandable when the money is right, many of the sites barely make more than a few pennies and some only enough to cover their hosting cost.
I have been very reluctant to have ads on this site for several reasons.
- Small blog = who cares.
- Had a hard time finding something relevant when I first tried them out.
- Ads are just ugly.
- I freely admit to using AdBlock Plus and it felt very hypocritical.
Then I stumbled across a piece of software at The Red Ferret Journal called Artisteer. It is software which basically lets folks who know little to nothing about CSS and HTML customize their own websites. It is not like many types of software that are provided by hosting companies which offer a handful of templates and minimal customization options. For the most part it allows the user to produce a fairly unique website, very tailored to their needs. The aspect of the software that garnered my attention was the fact that it not only creates standard websites, but that it also exports templates for several CMS platforms such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and even supports Blogger.
Below is a video demo available on their website. The ability to crank out custom websites does come at a bit of a price; it is available in two flavors: Home and Standard Edition. Home addition is priced at $49.95. Standard Edition which is the more robust of the two is priced at $129.95. If you choose to check out the software, I would appreciate it if you clicked one of the links around here, but I won’t be heartbroken if you choose not too.
***************Update: My Test Box is giving away two licenses for the Home Edition. Go over there and try and snag one. The giveaway is open until November 30th.*********************
