A Bend start up called Web Blox is taking a whole new spin on how websites are created. Those who have hired web-savvy people to build their website know all too well how much time, money and headaches go into building a company website.
It never seems to be an easy process and business owners often don’t like the final product. Founders Paul Ruettgers and Colin Blackett have completely changed the way websites are created and maintained by putting power into the hands of everyday people.
“By creating an extremely easy user interface that interprets the highly complex backend programming, Web Blox allows anyone to create websites, manipulate the design, and adjust the size and functionality of their website without having to know web coding or design,” Ruettgers explains.
“Our goal is to give non-technical people the basic building blocks so they can quickly and easily build their own websites without depending on unpredictable web contractors.”
Within a few minutes, it’s possible to create a website, modify its design, upload a company logo, and adjust the design elements and the amount of pages.
With the programming talent provided by Blackett and the user interface designed by Ruettgers, the two entrepreneurs have created a cloud-based website application that is nearly as easy to use as Facebook. Users can click-and-drag web pages into existence, point-and-click designs into place, and simply copy-and-paste text and images right into the actual web pages.
Web Blox is completely WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), requiring no installation, and incredibly easy to use.
Ruettgers’ brother, Sisters resident and former Green Bay Packer Ken Ruettgers, experienced a recent website crisis when his organization’s website, www.GamesOver.org, went down and the developer couldn’t be reached. Sports Illustrated had interviewed Ken and the issue about him and GamesOver.org was two days away from hitting newsstands, but his website was unable to be accessed.
Frustrated with his downed website and away on vacation, Ken called Paul to see if he could help him completely rebuild GamesOver.org from the ground up using Web Blox. Once he had Ken’s logo, written articles and a couple design elements in hand, Paul was able to create a new 20-page website in only two hours. The very next day the new GamesOver.org website went live.
Kristy Hessman of Rac Sacks, a Bend-based importer and designer of Vietnamese-inspired handbags, credits Web Blox with saving her time, money and her sanity. She built her business’ website, www.RacSacks.com, in just a few hours using Web Blox.
“I had always heard that WordPress was the way to go when building a website,” explains Hessman. “I found a template that looked nice, but I had to have a friend install it for me. I was ready to start plugging in content, but I got completely overwhelmed at the complexity of WordPress. After seeing a short demo of Web Blox I immediately ditched WordPress and in just a few hours I had an amazing looking website live and ready for visitors. I’ve used Dreamweaver and Front Page, but what floors me about Web Blox is not only how simple it is to use, but how professional the site looks because of the variety of design elements that are incorporated into it. It’s like having a web designer, web programmer and web host all in one simple program. It’s as easy to maneuver as Microsoft Word.”
Web Blox offers a free 30-day trial at their website and package prices are $19.95, $29.95 and $49.95 per month depending on the size and usage of the website. Ruettgers and Blackett are currently expanding the capabilities of Web Blox to provide additional functionality.
www.webblox.com
