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How can I add a (preferably) free search engine to my Web site?
- Search Tools for Web Sites, Intranets and Portals ~ A comprehensive overview of search engines for individual Web sites. Tons and tons of information here!
- Atomz.com ~ A wonderful service that "allows you to quickly add a powerful search engine to your Web site with no hardware or software to install." It's free if you have less than 500 pages on your Web site. A lot of Web sites use Atomz - maybe you should too.
How can I add white & yellow pages, & maps to my Web site?
- InfoSpace ~ InfoSpace is one of the major suppliers of this sort of information on the Internet; in fact, they're used on the Web sites of Netscape, Lycos, the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft, CBS, & ABC. Now you can provide the same information on your Web site! Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money. How much? A $5,000 minimum startup fee, plus a monthly maintenance fee. Oh well - it was a nice idea. If you'd like to do something similar for free, become an InfoSpace affiliate. They'll even pay you for everyone you send to their site.
How can I add a poll or survey to my Web site?
- Zoomerang ~ This easy-to-use service is free for surveys of less than 20 questions. More involved capabilities are available for a fee.
- Polls from FreeTools.com ~ An easy way to add a poll to your site, free. Only one question is allowed, however!
- Livepoll ~ This company charges money for their service; however, it is also targeted at business users, not consumers.
How can I add a message board to my Web site?
- Conferencing Software For The Web ~ The site describes itself as "A comprehensive guide to software that powers discussions on the Web." It is divided into freeware & commercial software. I'd start here if you're looking for a message board.
- WWWThreads ~ Message board software used by a lot of Web sites. Available in both Perl & PHP, you will need to download & install the code on your server. Reasonably priced at $100 & $200, depending upon your needs.
- Ulitmate Bulletin Board ~ Another commercial message board that is used by a lot of big Web sites. Just like WWWThreads, you will need to download & install the code on a server you control. Based on Perl. Priced at $199 to buy & $75 a year for updates.
- Slash Hosting ~ If you would like a message board just like the one at Slash-Dot, then this is the place for you. This company hosts Perl- & PHP-based message boards based on the Slash-Dot code. The service starts at $29.95 per month and goes up from there.
- phpBB ~ "phpBB is a high powered, fully scalable, and highly customisable open-source bulletin board package ... Based on the powerful PHP server language and your choice of MySQL, MS-SQL, PostgreSQL or Access/ODBC database servers." Free.
- Sporum ~ A free, open source bulletin board that a lot of people like.
How can I provide up-to-date news on my Web site?
- News Index Personalized News Ticker ~ You choose the exact topic of news, and they make sure your news ticker is constantly updated. Note: the ticker is Java-based.
- Moreover ~ Allows you to place breaking news on your Web site. Also has information for developers regarding how to add news to Web sites and Web applications.
How can I provide the latest weather forecast to my Web site?
- EMWIN ~ The Emergency Managers Weather Information Network. This is a list of hardware & software vendors who can tap into the EMWIN network. Some are free.
- Distributing Weather Products through an HTTP pipe ~ "Metcast is a request-reply and subscription (channel) system for distributing weather information. Metcast is a projection of MIME and HTTP (SMTP) into the meteorological domain."
- Weather Underground ~ It costs money, but it works. Weather for anywhere.
How do I turn my Web site into a channel?
Are there any sites that offer several of these extras?
- Master.com ~ Gives you a way to add the following to your Web site, free: search engine, message board, stock quotes, auction & classifieds, feedback manager, custom news, poll maker, form maker, & calendar.
- FreeTools.com ~ Offers a free poll, multi-poll (more than one question), user reviews, message board, guestbook, horoscope, recommendation, Web-based email, and search engine.
- Alxnet ~ Add a free guestbook, poll, & quiz to your Web site.
Want to suggest a Web site we've missed, or let us know about a broken link? Email & let us know!
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