I am "sticking" this thread because I want to show other SBIers and soon-to-be SBI! owners that you can escape the common SBI! design and layout by following the instructions for "Uploading Your Own HTML" in SBI!.
This is something I've been wanting to do for at least a year now but kept putting it off. Well, I finally finished my site last night and you can see my new SBI! site that was designed completely with Dreamweaver...
http://www.flat-stomach-exercises.com
This site is particularly special to me because for the first time I didn't use any template. I designed this from scratch using CSS and includes (Gotta love Dreamweaver!!!). Every single aspect of this design is controlled by CSS and all sections (except the main content of course) are maintained in an include file so updating my header, footer, left nav or right sidebar is all done by updating
one file.
So if you're new to design, CSS (cascading style sheets) gives you the flexibility to create one style sheet that defines everything from my hyperlink colors, page background, left nav width, right sidebar width, fonts, sizes and colors for my H1, H2, etc., width of the entire site, bullet design, even those dotted lines you see around my left and right nav....sweet!
So if I want to change any aspect of my site's design all I have to do is change that one style sheet and instantly the entire site is updated.
The #1 complaint I see from people looking to buy SBI! is that all the sites look the same. While I agree they are all pretty similar, I will say that design still brought in thousands of visitors per day to my site, and I still earned a great deal of income with that simplistic layout. So while design is important, content still rules.
Because remember, when the average Joe is surfing Google and find your site, most people aren't going to know your site's layout looks like thousands of others (nor will they care). They came to get what they searched for.
But it is nice to be able to have
complete flexibility with the design of my site now and thanks to the "Quick Upload" feature in Site Central, I can upload multiple pages at once similar to a regular FTP program.
I will admit, setting this up initially was a bit of a monster because you have to put certain comments in your pages so SBI! will understand the includes, etc. Remember, SBI! is not like a regular Web host so you have to work around their own functionality. And the very first time you upload your pages with the new design, you do have to do it one by one.
BUT... from here on out I can use the "Quick Upload" feature to re-upload any pages and that includes my style sheet, include files and regular HTML files. Again, the "Quick Upload" feature allows you to upload multiple files at once.
There are explicit instructions for how to do everything and once your site's template is complete, updating the rest of your pages is pretty much copy and paste. I was very impressed by how well the instructions were written.
So I wanted to post this to show existing SBIers and soon-to-be customers that you can break out of the standard SBI! design and use your favorite software to manage your site.
However, I will say that before you do the transition, it's important to become familiar with an editor of your choice first. I spent an evening reading up on CSS and Dreamweaver and created my site how I wanted it Dreamweaver
FIRST. Then I tackled the instructions for the migration second.
Trust me when I say I will
NEVER,
EVER create a site again where the entire site is not controlled by CSS and include files. What a major timesaver.
2createawebsite.com also uses CSS and includes but there are still some HTML tables sprinkled here and there. My SBI! site does not have a
SINGLE HTML table. All boxes are controlled with CSS.
So the lesson in all this is...
The out-of-box SBI! templates are basic and common, but they won't prohibit you from having success with your site. If you're just starting out and don't know much about HTML then stick with the regular templates. They are fine. Your goal is to write content and make money so make sure that's your focus.
But when you're comfortable and ready to go outside the box and create your own design that you'll have complete control over, SBI! has outstanding instructions for doing this but I would highly recommend you buy an editor (I love Dreamweaver as if you couldn't tell) and become familiar with that FIRST.
And by all means, take some time to learn CSS and unlock the power!
Site Build It! still has some ways to go when it terms to allowing certain functionality (MySQL, regular FTP access, etc.) but they are making progress fast and I'm so happy making the transition to my own design wasn't as bad as I originally thought it would be.
And the best bonus of it all is that my AdSense CTR is up to nearly 8% from 5%.
Break Away From The Standard Site Build It! Design
Perfect timing for me to really appreciate what you are saying.
Since I have yet to start writing my site (I am still on Day 5 and haven't picked the name yet
) I am clueless about a lot of the technical writing/uploading stuff you are talking about here!!!! 
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