Holiday project: Making a website with Wix

The holidays are in full swing, and you’ve got more free time on hand than usual. Ready to tackle creating that new website or blog? 

It’s a daunting project, but online tools of the last several years now make it much easier than in the past, with drag and drop options that can let you create something that looks really good within a few hours. That is, once you master the basics of how the programs work. 

The three most popular choices right now to do this are WordPress, Squarespace and Wix. 

WordPress is targeted toward tech nerds who don’t need support, while Squarespace and Wix are for the rest of us.

I’ve been unhappy with the look of my WordPress photography blog for some time and wanted a fresh start. I was inspired to give Wix a try by my friend Ed Baig, who, after he left us here at USA TODAY, started a Wix website and blog that just looks fantastic.

So I created a new blog in a few days that may not look as great as Ed’s, but it clearly is more appealing to the eye than what I have with WordPress. (IMHO.)

Before you get started, know that with Wix you can use it to create a website for free. However, your web address will have Wix in the name, and you’ll have Wix branding all over the site. Once you decide you’re serious, you’ll want to pay to remove the branding and get your own personalized domain name. 

(For instance, http://blog.jeffersongraham.com vs. https://jgraham25.wixsite.com/photowalks)

WordPress is sort of free. The basic open source software costs nothing, but most people also buy “themes” from software developers to make their blogs look cooler, and they can cost anywhere from $25 to $100 to purchase. Then you’ll also have to pay a company like GoDaddy, Bluehost or Dreamhost to “host” your blog, at anywhere from $5 or $10 monthly, to way more, depending upon the size of your site. 

another massive cyber-security hack. How to protect yourself? Jessica Guynn has some ideas. reports came out this week that Apple is indeed working on an I-Car, an Apple produced electric vehicle that will be a tech showcase to rival Tesla. Wow! Siri could open the door for you, talk to you as you drive, play personalized entertainment that only Apple would be able to provide. And of course, nag you that you’ve run out of storage and need to upgrade now. 

Need a personalized mask or Zoom themed coffee cup? On-demand retailer Zazzle told us it’s a banner year, where pandemic themed merchandise helped the company grow its sales by 50% over the same time in 2019. 

This week’s Talking Tech podcasts

Reliving 20 years of USA TODAY tech coverage with KTLA’s Rich DeMuro. (In case you hadn’t heard, I’m stepping down as tech columnist on Jan. 4.) Thanks Rich for going down memory lane with me. 

“Is Facebook listening to me?” The Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler joins me to tackle everyone’s favorite tech conspiracy theory. 

Yamaha’s new digital saxophone. Tom Sumner, the president of Yamaha Corp. of America, tells us about the new, easier to play and more versatile instrument. 

How food delivery changed our lives in 2020. DoorDash, Instacart and Uber Eats became daily habits in our pandemic lives. 

Who wants to take a ride in an I-Car? I do. Don’t you? 

That’s a wrap for this week’s newsletter. This is my next-to-last for you. Next week, my goodbye column, thanking you all for 20 years of reading, watching and listening, and recalling tech highlights of these two amazing decades. In the meantime, I invite you to follow me on Twitter, where I’m @jeffersongraham

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