How to Create Free Websites Instantly to Share Information Fast

How to Create Free Websites Instantly to Share Information Fast: "

Have you ever felt envious of bloggers for having the platform to share whatever is on their mind? Well, nowadays there is no need to maintain a fully fledged blog in order to share cool things you find, interesting email you get and other things that require setting up a web page.

You can easily create free websites instantly in order to share content with the world. Here are some web applications that will allow you to share files and emails, create anonymous web pages and annotate links you share.

Note that all the applications presented here are registration-free and only require one or two mouse clicks to get going. Another advantage is that they save the time of opening attached files or reading text offsite. After you set them up you can easily share them via Twitter, email, Facebook and so on.

Transform an email into a webpage

Moomeo is a nifty little web service that transforms an email into a public webpage. Just forward any email to post@moomeo.com and within a minute you’ll get back a link you to a webpage you can share.

The webpage contains exactly the email you sent, with the attachments displayed in a sidebar, along with some sharing options (Twitter, Facebook and more). At the bottom of the page people can comment. See a screenshot below or visit a live example.

Go ahead and try it right away! Send an email to post@moomeo.com.

File to webpage

file2.ws is a great tool for sharing files by using them to create free websites instantly. It can handle numerous kinds of files, including images, audio, documents, programming source code, web documents, and archive.

To set up a file based webpage, click ‘Choose file‘, browser for a file on your computer (up to 15 MB), and click ‘Start conversion‘.

Once uploading is done, you’ll see a link to the webpage. People with whom you share it will be able to see the file without downloading or opening it. If they do wish to save the file to their computer – there is a direct link at the bottom of the page.

Here is an example of an Excel file I’ve shared.

Start from scratch

Several services will let you create a standalone webpage from scratch. Copytaste, Dinkypage, and Pastehtml will all do the work, each with its own special features. The services vary in the ability to comment, adding or not adding advertisements and so on. All work within a single click and allow you to edit the HTML or just write plain text.

Annotate any webpage

Pagetweet is designed to let you annotate webpages before you share them. You can add a 140-character comment at the top of any webpage.

After you enter the page’s URL and add the comment, you’ll get a link to the exact same page, with the comment at the top of it. People who visit this link will see the webpage along with your comment. If they forward it – other people will see your comments as well, so it is better than just sharing a link via Twitter or email.

See below how an annotated webpage looks like. Visit the actual page here.

Do you know other cool ways to share content online? Share it with us in the comments!

Image Credit : Immagina

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Gantter.com - web-based project management alternative

Gantter.com - web-based project management alternative

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Ninite – Easily Install All Your Favorite Free Apps In One Go

Ninite – Easily Install All Your Favorite Free Apps In One Go: "

So when you get a new machine or you do a reformat what is the first thing you do? If you are not imaging your system, chances are you will need to install the pieces of software that enable your machine to be a tool instead of a big paper weight.

I find myself downloading Putty, VLC, Firefox and a multitude of other applications each time I install. The ones I downloaded the last time around are easily outdated.

It is important to grab the latest and greatest versions to protect against bugs or other issues with the software. So you have a list of 10 items you need to download and install. Wouldn’t it be MUCH easier if we could select these applications from a list or website and have IT download and install my applications?

It sure would be! And now we will show you how you can do just that! Head on over to Ninite and once you are there it will be a breeze to get the applications you want on your system with a limited amount of clicking. (Note: Ninite currently works only on Windows PCs)

Once you hit the installer app site you will see a screen that looks like this:

Under the instructions you will see applications and check boxes. You can install from a vast array of applications ranging from Skype to Firefox, Dropbox to Google Earth and back to Putty and Notepad ++. You will see the applications broken up into categories that include Web Browsers, Messaging, Imaging, Documents, Anti Virus, File Sharing, utilities, compression, tools and other items. The list is quite extensive but if something is not there you can suggest it!

Let’s run through the list and check the check box next to each item you want to download. If you want FoxIt reader installed simply click the box next to it – it is that simple. When you are done selecting the items you want in your installer app, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the screen.

You will see directly under the entry for Eclipse there is a grey button that says – Get Installer. All you need to do is hit this button and a custom installer app will be created for you on the fly so you can install all of these packages with ease. I selected 3 items and hit Get Installer.

The screen changed and told me the download would start shortly – I can only imagine they are compiling your download at this point. And sure enough in about 1 minute another window popped up.

My new installer app was ready to be downloaded and installed. I clicked Save File and Firefox saved the file to my normal download folder. I navigated through the jungle that is my hard drive and double clicked on the executable. The file’s name has all of the applications listed that you selected. That’s nifty!

Once I ran it it started preparing to run which took about 30 seconds.

Then the application started downloading my installers at the speed of light. The three of them were complete in under 1 minute.

As soon as the downloads were complete Ninite started installing each of the applications silently. I saw NO prompts. Very cool!

And as quick as it started – it was complete.

Upon checking my start menu all of the applications I choose were installed with the newest versions. This is a very handy tool!

Does anyone else use something like this on Windows? We would love to hear about it in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

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How To Upgrade From XP To Windows 7 In 4 Easy Steps

How To Upgrade From XP To Windows 7 In 4 Easy Steps: "

Windows 7 will be released today. We have already given plenty of love to Windows 7. If you are still using Windows XP and want to switch directly to Windows 7, you might get disheartened knowing that there is no direct path to upgrade Windows XP to Windows 7. However, with a bit of planning and with appropriate tools, you can move from XP to Windows 7 with minimal of fuss. If that is what you are looking for, this is the guide for you. Let’s set the ball rolling straight away.

Step 1: The checks

First off, you would want to make sure your existing hardware can support Windows 7. Windows XP has been out for a long time and your hardware might not support the newer and comparatively more demanding versions of Windows like Windows 7. These are the official system requirements:

• 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)


• 1 GB of RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit)


• 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of available disk space (64-bit)


• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

You can use the Windows 7 Upgrade advisor to see if your computer will run Windows 7. Once you are sure that you are good to go, hop up to the next step.

Step 2: Backup and Migration

It is always a good idea to have backup of your important files and settings that you worked so hard to create. We have shown you various applications to backup your files and settings in the past. If you would rather not install any new software, a simple copy and paste would suffice for the time being. Just make sure to include everything you might need. While you might have set up your folders differently according to your taste, here are some key locations that you should check out and decide if you would like to back them up:

• My Documents


• My Music


• My Pictures


• (If you have more than one user account on your computer, make sure to back up their files as well)


• Your projects folders and files, if it is your work computer


• Browser bookmarks, saved passwords, etc.


• Other program data under %AppData% (This doesn’t always work. It is better if you use respective applications to export settings)

Another option you can use to quickly backup and transfer your settings is the Windows Easy Transfer tool that you can find on the Windows 7 DVD. Browse to the folder named support and then to migwiz on your Windows 7 DVD and launch migsetup.exe. This will launch the Windows Easy Transfer tool.

Choose how you would like to transfer the settings:

and then select what to transfer:

and Windows Easy Transfer will do the rest and give you a file you can store, on say a flash drive to transfer the settings to new installation later.

Step 3: Drivers

Next up are the drivers. It is always a good idea to search your computer manufacturer’s website to see if they have newer drivers for Windows 7. Older drivers may not always work, or may not work as intended. This is especially true for drivers made for Windows XP. I was able to use an XP display driver with Windows 7 beta but it didn’t work when Windows 7 RC came out. You might have more luck with Vista drivers on Windows 7, but nothing is guaranteed. So if you are trying to get older drivers to work, you better be prepared to play around after installation.

Step 4: Install

Finally, you are ready to install Windows 7. Pop in the DVD and restart your computer. Boot from the DVD and follow the prompts to install Windows 7.

Choose Custom (Advanced install) when given the choice:

Then choose the system drive (which was your C: on Windows XP) as the partition you would like to set up Windows 7.

Wait for the installation to complete, and boot into Windows 7 once you are done.

Installed, now what?

Already here? Way to go. Now that you have Windows installed there are few additional steps you should take before you are ready to go. First off, make sure you install an antivirus before you start browsing the web or transferring files using USB drives. MS Security Essentials, AVG, Avast and Antivir are good free choices. You might want to look into commercial ones if you want something better. ESET and Kaspersky are good choices over there (Oops! Did I start a flame war?).

Install your favorite applications now. This would be a good time to get the latest versions if you have been postponing pending software updates. Looking for some software recommendations? Check out the Mark pack.

Oh and don’t forget to restore the settings you backed up earlier. If you went the copy-paste route, its time to do some more copy-paste. If you used Windows Easy Transfer instead, click on Start button and type Windows Easy transfer, launch the application and let it know that this is your new computer, then browse to the location you stored those settings to and let it do the rest.

Hope this helps you plan your upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. Once you are done, use the comments area and tell us know how it went and if Windows 7 is worth the price tag!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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A Simple Guide To Set Up Your School On Facebook

A Simple Guide To Set Up Your School On Facebook: "

Creating a Facebook page for your school or college isn’t as simple as it is when you’re just creating a personal page. There are several pitfalls that I came across when doing so that Facebook simply hasn’t addressed, and the administration process involved in adding schools on Facebook is more complex than a normal profile.

Firstly, you don’t sign up a school on Facebook as you normally would when making a Facebook page for a school. Although you do need to have a normal profile to do so. On the homepage, when logged out, there is a link underneath the normal ‘Sign-Up’ option pictured below. Click on it.

This will take you into the registration process which will ask you to name the institution and give other details such as the location. Make sure you select ‘Education’ from the drop-down menu when asked for the type of organisation you’re registering. The reason why you must click on this particular link is because Facebook’s name recognition technology won’t allow you to enter in a school’s name on a personal profile. Another reason is because much of the personal aspects of an organization’s page is taken away and replaced with more formal functions such as the ability to be a fan of the organization’s profile such as that of a band or a club – or in this case a school.



Once you have entered in all the required information, you can save it.

This will then take you to the administration page which will be bare. See ours (The MUO Academy) pictured above. Your first steps will be basic and should be focused on improving the look of the page. First, add a profile picture by placing your mouse cursor over the picture area. Then click ‘Add picture’ when the button appears. I suggest uploading a picture of your school or its coat of arms. Next, add a little bit of information about the school in the area below the picture.

Then, click ‘Edit Page’ underneath the photograph. This will bring you to a page with options to alter pretty much anything about your page. For a school on Facebook, perhaps you would want to place a location or age restriction on the site for security reasons. Or maybe add a discussion board for the pupils and staff to chat. All of this can be done here. You can also set up your mobile version to publish status updates (I think this is aimed more at celebrities), and add notes, events, pictures and videos to your profile.

Clicking on the ‘Ads Manager’ button near the top of the page will bring you to the page where you can view your current advertising performance on Facebook. In the top right-hand corner there is a ‘Create an Ad’ button which will allow you to create advertisements to be displayed on Facebook for your school as seen below in the screenshot. However, these do cost money.

Do one last check over your page and ensure that you have everything there that you think will be needed. Find pupils and staff on Facebook by searching for their names and add them. Then, when the page is ready to go live, click ‘Publish Page’ at the top of the home screen. Your school’s page is now available for all to see.

Here, we come to the final, major pitfall that Facebook refuse to fix – logging back in. Because the School’s Facebook page must be associated with a person’s profile (i.e. yours), there is trouble logging in. When you enter in your e-mail address to sign in it will take you to your personal page. Facebook offers no link on their website to allow companies to sign in. I suspect this is to maintain the more ‘people orientated’ style. You can only sign into your school’s page on Facebook to edit it via this link: www.facebook.com/pages/manage.

For the remainder, it’s all the same as using Facebook normally. There are small differences between business pages such as those for schools and pages for ‘Groups’. Groups are intended for websites and the likes where as pages for business are intended to have a large following of ‘Fans’.

One piece of advice I’ll give you is to ensure that you have permission from the proper authority within the school to make the Facebook page. Some schools don’t like being associated with social networking because of cyber-bullying and some even look down on schools making profiles as unprofessional within their field.

Is your school on Facebook? Is it a useful for an institute to be “socially available”? Think aloud in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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