50 web tools for student online publications

Regardless of your student publication’s online platform, you can enhance content presentation with these 50 online tools.

1. AM CHARTS

Create interactive and animated Flash-based maps without knowing Flash. Embed the results in your web site. <
http://www.amcharts.com/
>

2. AM MAP

Create interactive and animated Flash-based maps without knowing Flash. Embed the results in your web site. <
http://ammap.com/
>

or

3. SWIVEL CHARTS

Upload a database and Swivel will help you choose the best way to display the numbers visually. Then grab the HTML code to put onto your web page <
http://www.swivel.com
>

4. AUDIO NOW

Tool for streaming radio music, news and talk by using your existing phone. <
http://audionow.com/
>

5. BRAVENET WEB TOOLS

Free and subscription based web tools that include a blog, online calendar, guestbook, password protection for web sites, hit counters, photo albums, web templates, FAQ services, vote casters, classified ads, mailing lists, chat rooms, guest maps, e-cards, headline news, web pools, e-mail forms, message forums, speaking characters and more. <
http://www.bravenet.com/
>

6. CLASS TOOLS

Classtools.net allows you to create free educational games, activities and diagrams in a Flash! Host them on your own blog, website or intranet. <
http://classtools.net/
>

7. CLIP ART

Clipart.com by Jupiterimages is the largest collection of royalty-free images offered by subscription on the web. For one low price you can download all the clipart, photos, fonts and sounds you need. <
http://www.clipart.com
>

or

8. iSTOCK PHOTO

Member-generated image and design community. Find your inspiration on the world’s leading royalty-free stock destination. Search for over 4 million photographs, vector illustrations, video footage, audio tracks and Flash files. <
http://www.istockphoto.com
>

9. CREATING KICK-APP WIDGETS FOR YOUR WEB SITE

Presentation by Amara Aguilar on creating widgets for your web site. <
http://web.me.com/amara_media/widgets/Home.html
>

10. CUSTOM RSS GOOGLE GADGET

Enter the RSS source you want displayed on your page and this tool creates code for a handy widget to paste you’re your site. <
http://www.gmodules.com/ig/creator?synd=open&url=http%3A//customrss.googlepages.com/customrss.xml&pt=%26context%3Dd%26synd%3Dopen%26lang%3Den%26.lang%3Den%26country%3Dus%26.country%3Dus%26cat%3Dall%26num%3D1%26start%3D-1%26cols%3D1%26objs%3DUtS&sn=UtS&lang=en
>

11. DIPITY

Create timelines and embed them in your web page. <
http://www.dipity.com/
>

12. EMBEDDED MEDIA HTML GENERATOR

The Embedded Media HTML Generator has been developed to ease the burden of inserting video and animations into web pages. Select the type of video and get help generating code to paste into your pages. <
http://cit.ucsf.edu/embedmedia/step1.php
>

13. FACEBOOK CONNECT

First, build a Facebook page for your student publication and co-post content . The use FB’s new Facebook Connect to link your publication to that site and place a Facebook widget on your web site. Use it to bring the new content from your social media network to your regular site. <www.facebook.com/connect>

14. FEEDWEAVER

Feedweaver allows you to create your own personalized RSS feeds. You can create your own feeds by combining source feeds from your favorite websites, and use filters to choose what you want in it! You can combine multiple RSS feeds into one. <
http://feedweaver.net/
>

15. GOOGLE GADGETS

Hundreds of widgets that take advantage of RSS feed to provide content of all kinds. <
http://www.google.com/ig/directory?num=24&synd=open
>

16. HTML TO PDF CONVERTER

It’s a simple HTML to PDF Converter. No need to install any applications on your computer.

It’s free and without registration! Simply type in the URL of a page and it converts the page to a PDF. <
http://html-pdf-converter.com/
>

17. iPETITION

Create free online petitions to generate support for your cause. <
http://www.ipetitions.com/
>

or

18. TINY PETITION

Create a Twitter-based petition. <
http://www.tinypetition.com
>

19. ISSUU

Issuu turns your print documents into beautiful online publications. Publish to an audience of millions and get your message across to anyone, anywhere. It only takes a minute and it’s free. <
http://issuu.com/
>

20. JOT FORM BUILDER

Web based WYSIWYG form builder. Its intuitive drag and drop user interface makes form building a breeze. Using JotForm, you can create forms, integrate them to your site and collect submissions from your visitors. <
http://www.jotform.com
>

21. KEEP HD

KeepHD is a sweet tool that lets you download HD videos off Youtube! Not only can you download HD copies of your movies, you can also download the mobile 3GP version for your mobile devices plus the standard MP4 and FLV format. <
http://www.keephd.com
/>

22. LIVESTREAM

Online video broadcast platform. <
http://www.livestream.com/
>

23. MIPPIN

Allow readers to access your publication on their web site by signing up for this free app and then promoting it on your web site. <
http://www.mippin.com/
>

24. MY CSS MENU

MyCSSMenu provides the average webmaster with tools to create custom, cross browser compatible css menu. The generator makes it easy to create custom web navigation: Horizontal, Vertical, Drop-down menu without having to know all the complicated HTML and CSS. <
http://www.mycssmenu.com/
>

25. MY FONTBOOK

MyFontbook is an unique online font viewer that helps save designers time by providing a number of tools to view installed fonts quickly and easily. Unlike a classic font management tool, MyFontbook is platform independent and can be used freely through any web browser. <
http://www.myfontbook.com/
>

26. ONLINE TOOLS FOR REPORTING

Blog entry defines some of the online terms such a widget or content management system. Also explains some of the tools on this list. <
http://dunnreporter.com/online-tools-for-reporting
/>

27. PICNIK ONLINE PHOTO EDITING

Picnik is photo editing awesomeness, online, in your browser. It’s the easiest way on the Web to fix underexposed photos, remove red-eye, or apply effects to your photos. <
http://www.picnik.com/
>

or

28. PHO.TO

Online photo enhancement and presentation platform and a variety of other photo services. <
http://www.pho.to
>. Also see related services while there to turn photos into cartoons <
http://cartoon.pho.to
> or animated avatars <
http://avatar.pho.to
>.

29. POLL DADDY

Create online surveys and polls for your website, blog and social network. Best for short poll questions. For longer surveys also see Survey Monkey. <www.polldaddy.com>

30. PRODULE

Web-based visual tool for rapidly building customized Flash widgets. Similar to SproutBuilder and Wix. <www.produle.com>

or

31. SPROUTBUILDER

Sprout Builder is a web-hosted, visual authoring solution that allows creative professionals to quickly and easily create branded, rich-media content and widgets. Used to be free, but now requires a paid model. <
http://sproutbuilder.com
>

or

32. WIX FLASH PRESENTATIONS

Wix offers you a simple powerful online platform to make flash websites, MySpace layouts and more. No downloads or programming needed. Similar to Sprout, but free. <www.wix.com>

33. PUBLISH2

Save, organize, and publish links to interesting and important news on your own web site or blog, with just a click. Save links privately for your own reporting, then publish selected links along with your story to enhance its value. <
http://www.publish2.com
>

34. SCRIB.D DOCUMENT EMBEDDING

Scribd.com allows you to upload files in PDF, PowerPoint, spreadsheet or photo form, then spits out the code for you to embed it in a Web site or e-mail it anywhere. <
http://www.scrib.d.com
>

35. SLIDE SHARE

Take your PowerPoint slide shows and share them on the web through embedded widgets. <
http://www.slideshare.net/
>

36. SURVEY MONKEY

Powerful and easy to use web-based tool for creating surveys. Free for simple, short surveys or pay a fee for longer surveys. Good analysis tools built in and you can embed links to your surveys into your site. <
http://www.surveymonkey.com
>

37. TABLEIZER

A quick tool for creating HTML tables out of spreadsheet data <
http://tableizer.journalistopia.com
/>

38. TEXT MARKS

Deliver targeted SMS text alerts to your subscribers’ phone numbers. You can enter 160-charcter messages from the web site or set it up so you can send them by phone. You can also create small communities that can communicate with each other. <
http://www.textmarks.com/
>

39. TR.IM URL SHORTENER

Create short URLs from long ones. Great for Twitter. Free and simple to use. Just paste the long URL into a field, click a button and a short URL is generated. <
http://tr.im/
>

or

40. BIT.LY URL SHORTENER

Similar to TR.IM, but one character larger. Includes a tool you can place in your browser menu for easy use. <
http://bit.ly
>

41. TWITTER

A real-time short messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices. There are a ton of related programs that allow you to customize the way you interact with the tool. You can also generate widgets so that your tweets can show up automatically on your web site. Start at <
http://www/twitter.com
>

then look at

42. 30 WAYS TO CREATE TWITTER GROUPS

Great blog entry by Mashable on how to customize your publication’s use of Twitter. <
http://mashable.com/2009/07/13/more-twitter-groups/
>

43. VODPOD

Your favorite videos on the web, in one place. Save videos you like as you surf the web. Lets people watch videos you save on your blog, website, Facebook, MySpace or just about anyplace. <
http://vodpod.com/
>

44. VUVOX

VUVOX is an easy to use production and instant sharing service that allows you to mix, create and blend your personal media – video, photos and music into rich personal expressions. <
http://www.vuvox.com
>

45. WIDGET BOX

Instantly turn your blog or RSS fed into a widget to share with others. Or you can grab widgets created by others. Grab content from one part of your site and show it in another part of your site with a “blidget.” <
http://www.widgetbox.com/
>

46. WIDGETBOX

A variety of widgets for your web site, including a tool that makes widgets. <
http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/youtube-videos
>

47. YOUTUBE REPORTER’S CENTER

The YouTube Reporters’ Center is a new resource to help you learn more about how to report the news. It features some of the nation’s top journalists and news organizations sharing instructional videos with tips and advice for better reporting. <
http://www.youtube.com/user/reporterscenter
>

48. YOUTUBE VIDEO WIDGET

This easy to install widget provides the ability to quickly add video directly from YouTube to your desired destination. <
http://www.widgipedia.com/web-widgets/details/techstuff/YouTube-Video-widget_390.html
>

49. ZAMZAR

Free online file converter. Convert files from a dazzling array of formats into almost any other logical similar format. Simply upload the file and within a short time you can download the converted file in the format you choose. <
http://www.zamzar.com/
>

Okay, so there are only 49 tools here, not 50. Time for my readers to suggest a 50th tool for student publications to use.

About these ads