From Facebook profile pages to blogs to personal websites, almost everyone who knows how to use a computer has some sort of online presence nowadays. If you've always wanted to crate a personal page or site but found it difficult, you don't need to head to the nearest blogsite for a rather drab-looking one.

Apple's iWeb, part of the iLife suite of creative leisure software, offers Mac users the ability to create professional-looking sites with minimal effort. I took iWeb for a spin to see just how easy it was to crate my own website and blog, or if I will end up tearing my hair out in frustration in the end.

Creating websites

If you are used to thinking that web publishing tools are applications that involve a lot of coding and complicated computer language, then iWeb is going to surprise you. Creating websites in iWeb required no HTML knowledge at all, and it almost seems as if this multimedia publishing tool does not make use of HTML at all.

The first thought that struck me as I started iWeb was how similar it's interface looked compared to a publishing or office productivity application, such as iWord or Microsoft Office. You start creating your new by picking out a theme and a template from a number of choices, adding text, pictures and other multimedia elements such as video as you go along.

Adding content is easy - if you've used a word processor before, chances are that you will do better with iWeb. Inserting pictures is usually just a matter of clicking and dragging, and importing other multimedia content can be done with just a couple of clicks on an easy to understand menu. Unlike many other web publishing tools, there is no need for users to upload their picture files fist onto a server and then creating a link to the file - iWeb does it all for you.

iWeb '08 also includes a photo gallery template for all its themes, so users can just add a fresh page to their site, select the photo album template and spruce up the page with their own pictures just by clicking and dragging. Users of other web publishing tools will know that creating photo galleries is often a very tedious and frustrating task, as the images have to be cropped and uploaded before they can be added to the page. Compared to other web publishing tools I've used, iWeb works like a dream with photo galleries - cropping, aligning and editing photos can all be done on the page without a hitch.

Website customisation

One of the new features in iWeb '08 is the HTML Snippet tool, which allows users to copy and paste any web widget from other existing websites onto their own webpage without any coding or HTML knowledge. Like that countdown ticker or a live weather update? Just copy it with the Snippet tool and paste it onto your site. I found this feature especially handy, and even beginners will find it easy to create a website with more than just simple content.

I also like it that iWeb includes many image customization tools to create studio-quality graphics by just checking boxes and clicking a few buttons. You don't need Photoshop and advanced graphics skills to add a drop shadow or an image reflection to the photo you just added to your webpage - clicking a couple of buttons on the image Inspector box will do the job.

Perhaps the only downside to iWeb's pretty amazing customization tools is the fact that it has a relatively limited number of templates. The latest installment of iWeb '08 comes with 8 new themes, upping the total number of available choices to 26 - a pretty measly number. Because new themes are difficult to create, and are expensive to buy (third parties offer templates for a steep $15 each), chances are that beginners will end up having sites that looks a little like everyone else's.

Publishing your website

Getting your website online can be a simple no-brainer process or a headache with iWeb, depending on the service you choose. Apple recommends all users to publish their site to its online service MobileMe, and those who do not listen will soon understand why.

Moving your site from the desktop to the Internet is a one-button affair when you subscribe to MobileMe. Choose to publish your site to a non-MobileMe site however, and there are chances that your website might look different, or some features (such as certain widgets and image features) will not appear.

I would recommend anyone using iWeb to consider getting MobileMe, as the data sync service offers a number of other handy features. But at $148 per year for an individual account and $228 a year for a Family Pack account, it's expensive especially if you are just using the service for a personal webpage.

A great web publishing tool without the fuss

With its easy to use interface and one-click functions, iWeb is a great multimedia publishing tool for beginners and people who want to create functional, good-looking sites without the fuss.

If you are looking for a reliable tool for a personal webpage, then iWeb might be worth considering. However, the service seems to be tied a little too closely to Apple's MobileMe service, so you might need to sign up for it as well for the complete iWeb experience.