Flooha is an application for creating a custom website with add-ons or plugins. Packages are created, installed, and hosted by Flooha. Users must then use the chosen hosting source for managing and editing the site.

Flooha was founded by Matt McGinnis and Manoli Escala as a better way to build software. The site is currently in beta and asks for feedback from users if any problems are encountered.

Flooha creates and installs the site using the chosen tools, but does not assist with administrating the site once it is up and running.

Once registered, users choose an app or app category for their site. Choices include blogs, calendars, eCommerce, forums, and more. Users are then asked to choose the core app for the web build. For example, choosing “blog” led to WordPress or b2evolution. Next, users are offered choices for Add-ons. This may be confusing for those unfamiliar with the utility they have chosen. The add-ons include template choices.

Add-ons are plentiful and it takes a lot of time to wade through them. They are listed alphabetically, but can be filtered. Even with the filters, wading through the add-ons is a tedious process, especially if the user is unfamiliar with them.

Once add-ons are chosen, clicking “build” takes the user to the personalization page. A package name and description must be chosen for the app that has been put together. After a brief wait, the package is created. It is important to note that not all add-ons displayed are compatible with the chosen version of software. Users will likely need to visit the support pages to create the websites as the interface is not intuitive.

After the site is built, clicking “install” leads to request for site name, email address and admin name. The package is then installed to Flooha. Error messages must be resolved prior to editing the site.

During testing, attempts to access the Control Panel lead to WordPress yielded messages that username and password were deemed invalid. While Flooha creates the initial site, it seems that users must master the chosen software in order to edit and create content. While the heavy work is done as far as creating and hosting, it would be nice if the interface continued to help with management.

A username, password, and email address are requested on the Flooha home page.

The free plan restricts users to 100MB of disk space, 500MB bandwidth, add-ons, and a custom subdomain. Four paid plans will be offered when the program is out of beta and will range from $4.95/month to $89.95/month. The larger plans offer more bandwidth and space, as well as unlimited cloud backups, email support, firewall, and more.

This application would be great for users who don’t want to spend time creating a site and installing it, but are familiar with the platforms for managing the site once it is created.

• Free to use
• Paid plans in development
• Easy registration
• Many themes/add-ons
• Packages are created for users

Flooha video