Free and easy online help

Here's a post from Denise Renckens, NINA board member and V.P. for Audience Development at the Small Newspaper Group:

Do you love the word "free"? I do, too -- especially when it's in the same sentence as "software."

As an editor, I'm also a big fan of software that help me execute ideas without having to ask for help from programmers. They're great people, but they usually have full plates, and I don't have the patience to wait for my turn in line.

So, for all of you frugal non-programmers with big online ideas and the courage to poke around at unfamiliar software, here are two products that I've recently found useful:

ZeeMaps: This software allows you to build a custom online map and publish it on your Web site. I used ZeeMaps to create a map to accompany a weekly dining column that I write. I used color-coded tacks to indicate the type of business, such as restaurant, bar or coffee shop, and I included custom fields to indicate a business' hours and specials.

If you already have the addresses and information in a spreadsheet, creating your custom map is even easier. Save it to a CSV file and ZeeMaps can import the data. (CSV stands for "comma-separated values", and it should be an export option in your spreadsheet application.) ZeeMaps can also export the data, so your data isn't trapped in the software.

When you are ready to share your creation with the rest of the world, review some settings (such as if you want a legend to appear at the bottom of the map, and what location the map should be centered on) and the HTML code will be generated for you. That code can then be pasted into a Web page. When you add markers or update entries, your changes will appear automatically on any sites using the original HTML.

I've been happy with ZeeMaps and haven't had a reason to try alternatives, but there are other options. One is mapbuilder.net, and Google and Yahoo both give the public access to their mapping engine. However, in the latter cases, the need for a custom API key deterred me from going further.

Sprout Builder: A few months ago I was looking for a way to build a simple Web site. I didn't own a Web development application like Dreamweaver, nor did I have the time to learn to use it.

Sprout Builder saved the day. The Web-based software lets you "build, publish, and manage widgets, mini-sites, mashups, banners and more. Any size, any number of pages. Include video, audio, images and newsfeeds and choose from dozens of pre-built components and web services."

To start a project, choose from numerous Web-standard sizes or indicate a custom size. A handful of templates are available to help you get started. I found them useful as practice projects while learning how the software works. Once a project is created, add and manipulate elements using the various palettes. Insert media, including photos, audio and video. There are also "services" that allow you to insert special functions such as an RSS feed or a Yahoo map.

When you're done, clicking the "Publish" button will generate the initial HTML code or update the code if it's already been published. That means you only have to worry about the HTML once, which is a big plus. After the HTML is embedded somewhere (like a Web site or Facebook page), you can update all instances of your Sprout just by making a change in the Sprout Builder interface and selecting the "publish" button again. To my knowledge, the only change that requires fresh HTML is if you modify the size of your Sprout.