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It’s been about 18 months since I first wrote about Zapd, a clever app that lets you build simple, attractive Web sites using nothing more than your iPhone.
Why would you want to do that? To chronicle something cool, of course, like a wedding, vacation, party, or even a work project. I mean, your photos are already in the phone, right? The next logical step is to publish them where friends and family can have a look.
Of course, most such events involve your friends, family members, and/or co-workers, who will no doubt be snapping photos of their own. That’s why the new Zapd 2.0 allows others to contribute their own content to your site. Now, suddenly, you’ve got the means to whip up a crowd-sourced blog, photo album, project diary, or the like. And that’s seriously amazing.
Though it’s been rebuilt from the ground up, Zapd still works much the same way as before: choose a template (the app has about 45 of them, with more to come), give your site a name, then start adding text, photos, and/or links.
These elements can be rearranged just by dragging and dropping. This can be a bit tricky within the tight confines of your iPhone’s screen, but ultimately it works just fine.
When you’re done, Zapd will instantly publish your site to a custom zapd.co (yes, that’s .co, not .com) URL and/or share it via Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail.
The app now has various social features as well, including an Instagram-like feed of other users’ “Zaps” and the option to follow your friends (and vice-versa).
Unfortunately, Zapd still isn’t universal, and there’s still no version for iPads. But at least your published Zaps will reformat themselves to whatever screen the viewer is using: phone, tablet, or desktop. In other words, your published site won’t be as small and cramped as where it originated.
Like the previous version, Zapd 2.0 is free. It’s a great tool made better by the addition of collaboration and social tools. Definitely worth a look.
