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+--- Thread: Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing (/showthread.php?tid=118765)
Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing - Zoidberg - 06-16-2011
Just a quick rant; have spent the last several days messing around with both Sandvox and RapidWeaver, as a replacement for quick website creation, to replace iWeb. Yeah, I know iWeb will still work for a while but I'm jumping ship now. Getting pissed about the loss of both MobileMe hosting and the end of development of iWeb. Then again, Apple is pretty flakey when it comes to software support so I guess I shouldn't have sunk my business eggs into this basket.
One thing I love about iWeb is that I can do some really quick and clean site setups. I like the image masking, something I've not found in any of the recommended alternatives.
And a big ding against RapidWeaver; it passes itself off as WYSIWYG editing, but not really. Or maybe it is; I think of iWeb as WYSIWYG, and RapidWeaver has a taste of that but I guess when I'm looking for is more drag-and-drop style editing -- that is, editing of the site as it looks. Whereas I kind of took to Sandvox right off the bat, RapidWeaver just left me flustered every time.
I played around with squarespace but I'm not getting what I need out of it, either. I haven't played around with Freeway yet, so I guess I'll try that next.
Re: Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing - Robert M - 06-16-2011
Zoid,
Maybe this link will help you a bit in your search:
Right now, I use Seamonkey to edit an existing web sites. However, I wouldn't want to create with it. I'd rather use a WYSIWYG editor like Freeway. Maybe get a few basics from a template but then tear it apart and put it back together my way afterwards. iWeb and similar programs seemed too cumbersome to me for that task. One of my requirements is the ability to access the actual code. Although I'm a novice at best when it comes to creating web sites, I find it easier to delve into the code to make a quick change to text in the site.
Robert
Re: Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing - jdc - 06-16-2011
Yeah, good luck with that.
Ive tried them all too -- nothing is as easy as iWeb.
I can deal with the no more MM hosting -- but no more development of iWeb is a bummer.
RW needs add ons just to even draw a simple box, ugh.
Freeway is more of a full fledged site builder, pretty big learning curve. I even bought the Pro version to use. I didnt even bother copying it over from my old Apps folder when I got a new drive.
My problem is I dont give a crap about the code, and I dont ever want to see it. I want it to be like driving a car: get in, turn the key, go. I dont want to have to know how the engine, transmission and drivetrain work just to be able to drive.
Re: Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing - Zoidberg - 06-16-2011
I recreated my basic site in Sandvox pretty quickly. It wasn't hard, and I could get used to it -- but, damn, the inability to mask images is almost a deal-breaker. Here's an example of one of the client pages I made: http://web.me.com/coreworks/LE/Projects.html (it's a bit long; was just working with the company to subdivide the projects a bit). Setting it up was a snap; I did the curved mask image and just dragged & dropped each project photo. I cannot find one other web site editor that does the same thing.
Damn Steve Jobs and his flakey "nope, not going to make it anymore" attitude with this stuff.
Re: Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing - Ken Sp. - 06-16-2011
iWeb will continue to work as a web design tool. The only part that MAY break with the demise of MobileMe is the ease of uploading the website.
I have many websites in iWeb, and have some upload to MobileMe and some to other web hosts.
The one button publish works just fine, the only hard part is configuring the path to upload or "FTP" the file.
Once configured for each website you make you can still one button publish by pushing the publish button.
iCloud will not break iWeb, just make it a little harder to configure the first time.
That being said-It appears that iWeb is a dead end, but it works in Lion. I also am looking for alternatives for myself and clients. Apple will likely kill it, but it seems that they may offer something new, that works on the iPad or have a completely web based solution like SquareSpace.
Re: Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing - Zoidberg - 06-16-2011
Ken Sp. wrote:
iWeb will continue to work as a web design tool. The only part that MAY break with the demise of MobileMe is the ease of uploading the website.
I have many websites in iWeb, and have some upload to MobileMe and some to other web hosts.
The one button publish works just fine, the only hard part is configuring the path to upload or "FTP" the file.
Once configured for each website you make you can still one button publish by pushing the publish button.
iCloud will not break iWeb, just make it a little harder to configure the first time.
That being said-It appears that iWeb is a dead end, but it works in Lion. I also am looking for alternatives for myself and clients. Apple will likely kill it, but it seems that they may offer something new, that works on the iPad or have a completely web based solution like SquareSpace.
Was kind of hoping that was why iWeb wasn't getting updated; that there was a big HTML5/online version in the works, especially when I kept reading so much about the whole iCloud thing. Killing MobileMe hosting was pretty much the last nail in the coffin for iWeb. Happy to hear it works under Lion, at least for the time being. Maybe in the next 12 months one of the current site-design guys, or a new player, will make something that captures iWeb's ease of use. Again, Sandvox comes pretty close but it's still clunky compared to iWeb, IMO.
BTW, how do you handle multiple site uploads, given iWeb's singular "omniscient" site window/setup? I have about a dozen sites (my main business one and a handful of mini client sites, similar to the one in my example) all under the same banner, as it were. (I seem to recall an add-on that allowed this, but I'm blanking out.)
Still holding out hope for something new from Apple but, given their track record with this (what is this, the second or third website app they've killed?), I'm not sure I'm going to trust them again.
Re: Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing - M A V I C - 06-16-2011
Anymore, I think all of these editors should be avoided 99.9% of the time. There's so many other options out there that are easier, more robust, more future proof...
FWIW, no app is "true WYSIWYG".
Re: Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing - deckeda - 06-16-2011
iWeb will eventually be like Claris Homepage: loved by some, who wind up suffering under an OS emulator to keep it running a little longer. Time to transition your sites to something else; Wordpress et al today take over the role of the casual site creator.
Re: Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing - Robert M - 06-16-2011
Mavic,
I disagree. For those of us who want a bit more control over a web site but aren't inclined to learn HTML (and related languages and such), they valuable tools. While no app is truly WYSIWYG, some come close enough that it doesn't matter.
Some of my web sites started as torn apart and rebuilt Claris Home Page templates. I used Claris Home Page to work on them. Once Claris Home Page was no longer viable, I switched to Netscape Composer. That became an issue, so I looked at alternatives. Programs like iWeb and Sandvox and online alternatives didn't offer me the ease of editing and control I required for my sites. If they did, I'd be using one of them. Enter Seamonkey. It opened my sites easily. Offered me easy editing in both the WYSIWYG editor as well as in the code itself.
At some point, I'll revamp the site completely. When that time comes, I'll do the same thing. Find a WYSIWYG editor. Find a template that is suitable. Tear it apart and rebuild it with the WYSIWYG editor. Afterwards, I'll use the WYSIWYG editor and/or modify the code itself to make changes as necessary. I liked Freeway Express quite a bit and would've switched to it a while ago. It just didn't allow for enough pages in a site when I used it and I couldn't afford its big brother Freeway Pro. Hence continued editing in Seamonkey.
Robert
Re: Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing - Zoidberg - 06-16-2011
Agreed with what Robert said, above. I've no problem tearing down and rebuilding the site, but I need certain elements of creation to remain. I'm no HTML jockey and, at this point, shouldn't have to be, any more than I should know UNIX commands to do chores & repairs in the OS. (alright, alright; applejack notwithstanding)