Canva Website Builder
A somewhat different approach to website creation.
In order to use Canva, you must create an account, but all they need from you is your name and an email address to set one up. Once logged in, go to the website creation section of Canva’s website and you’ll be presented with 162 templates, which you can narrow down not by category, but by their principal colour. It’s a little unusual, but it appears to be your only option, aside from scrolling through them all. You also have the choice of starting with a blank website, should you prefer.
As you click on various templates, you’ll notice that some state that they are “Free to edit and download” while others are “Included in Canva Pro”. Sadly, there’s no way to find out which are which aside from clicking on them. Don’t worry too much though: if you’re testing the service out, you can still select and experiment with a ‘Canva Pro’ template – you’ll just have to pay for it prior to publishing it.
Once you’ve chosen the one you like, you’ll enter the editing process proper.
The interface is broken down into sections. The main one shows the currently selected page. You have thumbnails at the bottom, representing all your site’s pages, to the right are available pages for the selected template, and on the far left is a sidebar, giving you access to all the tools you need to customise your website.
You’ll notice that just because you chose a particular template, you’re actually not restricted to it: you’re able to choose another template and add one or more of its pages to your project, allowing you to design something truly unique.
All placeholder text and images can be altered or replaced. Click on a text box and relevant editing tools appear at the top, allowing you to change the font, size, colour, alignment, etc. You can apply different styles, or even place your text on a curve.
When it comes to images, you have a host of tools to alter, modify and otherwise improve them, straight from within the application. These range from basic image adjustment tools such as brightness, contrast, saturation, etc, to 20 filters whose intensities can be altered, to a long list of effects.
When it’s time to publish your design, Canva offers an interesting list of choices, including turning all your pages into a single scrolling page, or adding a navigation bar for visitors to click through each of them, for instance. There are four choices open to you which you can preview one after the other if you like, to help you select the one that works best for you.
Canva offers an unusual website creation tool which has its advantages, but it’s not for everyone.
Steve Paris