Moogo is an application for creating custom websites. It is menu driven, so no programming or HTML knowledge is necessary. Free and paid plan options are provided.

Visit www.moogo.com

Moogo is a project from Ideakone. Mikko Nurminen and Antti Ala-Ilkka, the founders of Ideakone, launched Moogo in 2007 after establishing a similar Finnish version.

Moogo is a combination tool. Some portions of site management are done directly on the page and some redirect users to a design page.

The introductory video is brief and informative. After viewing, and clicking to continue the free trial, users are left on their web page. While it looks similar to the preview, the advertising is dynamic and intrusive. The flashing large ad for Moogo detracts from the overall page and is extremely distracting.

Text is entered via an easy to understand text editor. Tabs provide links to site management, settings, and additional services. Interestingly, the additional features are all at à la carte pricing. Each one cost $3.99/month. These features include banners, calendar, stats, and more.

Site management is not drag and drop, which means making changes on a template and then viewing the site to check the result. The site management tools are fair at best.

Before doing anything, users are asked to choose the type of layout they prefer, by selecting the layout and header and viewing a layout preview. Next, users choose a web address. Next, an email address, password, and referral source are needed. Once complete, users are invited to view an introduction and are reminded that if they wish to continue beyond the trial period, they must order a paid plan. If no order is placed, the site will be shut down automatically.

In addition to a free, limited plan, all paid plans feature a free 14 day trial. After that, users can choose to sign up for the Person plan with blog, forums, stats, no ads, calendar, and 500MB of storage for $4.99/month. The next plan is designed for Organizations and is $9.99/month. It is similar to the personal plan and includes 5 email accounts, a mailing list, banners, news, search engine, and 1GB of storage. The Business Plan, at $14.99/month offers 10 email accounts, an eStore and 5GB of storage space.

Moogo would benefit users who wish to create a website for free or with one of several paid options. Some knowledge of site editors would be helpful and make the interface less frustrating. The free trial is a great option for people to try it out before purchasing a paid plan.

• Free trial
• Several paid plan options
• à la carte additions to sites
• Easy text editor

Visit www.moogo.com

Moogo video