Page shortcuts:

tools for generating websites, online presentations, digital stories and hypertexts

Website & Digital Story Generators

WordPress.com
Free site and blog generator. (Check out the different theme options. These are how you transform it from a blog into a website.)

Wix
Free website generator. Offers many easy to use themes. Simple drag and drop page layout/editing process.

Google Sites
Website creation tool. Not the prettiest option but it integrates well with other Google tools.

Squarespace
Site generator (Not free.)

Medium
Social blogging tool, good for long-form pieces with embedded media.

Adobe Spark 
Spark is a web-based graphic design tool from Adobe. There is a limited “starter plan” offered for free. There are three main components to Spark: Post, Page, and Video. Each is available as an individual app or can be used in your browser. Page offers templates and allows you to create dynamic webpages. Useful for web-based presentations which can be contained on one page (rather than a full, multi-page website).

Digital Presentations/Posters

Prezi
Free presentation tool. Allows you to design something like a large/interactive poster. You are able to zoom and move around on this poster to take the audience from one point to the next. Allows you to embed images, text, sound, and video. Very handy and useful, but there is a bit of a learning curve.

Diagrams.net
Free and open source tool for creating online diagrams. Also available as an app that can be downloaded. This tool is designed to help users create a wide range of simple and complex diagrams. However, my students have also used it to create digital posters and infographics.

Adobe Spark 
Spark is a web-based graphic design tool from Adobe. There is a limited “starter plan” offered for free. There are three main components to Spark: Post, Page, and Video. Each is available as an individual app or can be used in your browser. Page offers templates and allows you to create dynamic webpages. Useful for web-based presentations which can be contained on one page (rather than a full, multi-page website).

Glogster
Tool for creating interactive multimedia posters. Popular and easy to use but no longer free. Costs $30 (as of 5/2017).

Hypertexts & Choose Your Own Adventure Games

Twine
Free interactive storytelling & game design tool. Allows you to create hypertexts. These are modular digital texts with links connecting different modules to each other– think of a “choose your own adventure” book in digital form. Twine can be used by individuals with little to no HTML experience, but Twine also accepts HTML markup and can be styled/customized. It’s easy to pick up the basics with Twine and, if it’s primarily all text, it’s easy to generate something quickly. Can be more time intensive to make if you want graphics, more complicated loops of choices.

tools for creating interactive and embeddable components for digital projects

Infographics:

Canva
Useful infographic/graphics generator. Free and many templates to select from.

Easel.ly
Useful infographic/graphics generator. Free and many templates to select from.

Piktochart
Similar to Canva, Piktochart is a useful infographic/graphics generator. It has many templates to select from, but read the fine print and stick within your limits. The free options are limited.

Diagrams.net
Free and open source tool for creating online diagrams. Also available as an app that can be downloaded. This tool is designed to help users create a wide range of simple and complex diagrams. However, my students have also used it to create digital posters and infographics.

Adobe Spark
Spark is a web-based graphic design tool from Adobe. There is a limited “starter plan” offered for free. There are three main components to Spark: Post, Page, and Video. Each is available as an individual app or can be used in your browser. Page offers templates and allows you to create dynamic webpages. Useful for web-based presentations which can be contained on one page (rather than a full, multi-page website).

Timelines:

Timeline.js
Free timeline generator tool from Knightlab.

Tiki-Toki
Timeline generator. Free version allows for one timeline at a time. Premium version allows for multiple timelines and for embedding the timeline on websites.

Time Toast
Timeline generator. (Basic plan costs $5.99 a month)

Misc:

Thing Link
Generates interactive/annotated images/video. Offers free and premium options.

Juxtapose
Image/frame comparison tool from Knightlab. Allows you to juxtapose two images and easily swipe back and forth between them. Very handy for before/after images and when you want point out subtle changes/differences between two images.

Adobe Spark
Spark is a web-based graphic design tool from Adobe. There is a limited “starter plan” offered for free. There are three main components to Spark: Post, Page, and Video. Each is available as an individual app or can be used in your browser. Page offers templates and allows you to create dynamic webpages. Useful for web-based presentations which can be contained on one page (rather than a full, multi-page website).

Are there other tools you can recommend? Let me know and I’ll add them!