I am using RapidWeaver 8.7 on a macBook with os X 10.11.6 since December 2020, but today trying to open the app causes an unexpected crash. Sometimes I can see for a few seconds the window of the project I have been working on, sometimes it just crashes right away!
I have tried to start pressing shift key but nothing changes.
What to do next?
Yes, it shouldn’t be compatible, but I tried older versions and they didn’t seem to have what I liked, so I tried and I was able to create a website and work on it and add a few plugins all in several sessions from November 2020 to now, so why it just happened now? Sometimes when I start the app I am able to see the homepage for a few seconds before it shuts down. I thought it was just a bit strange but of course I am no expert on the matter! Thanks.
Honestly I am like you, no expert, and I’ve had problems multiple times.
I’ve learned to keep multiple copies of my project, most importantly I always keep a copy of the last working project for times when I have to troubleshoot crashes. It’s tough determining whether the problems were related to RW, OS X, updates, individual stacks…corruption when the project is saved…
Some of my stacks no longer worked as they should after updating to Big Sur so through trial and error I replaced them with similar ones that worked 
When RW works it is wonderful but it can become the crashiest program on my Mac.
Having said that, your responsibility should be to use the latest compatible version for your OS at least…
Others will weigh in…
There’s not much anyone can help you with. Compatible doesn’t always mean that you can’t open up an application, it means that you probably won’t be able to use it without problems.
Just because you were able to get a project started with an incompatible OS doesn’t mean that you won’t get to a point where it no longer works.
If I remember correctly, one of the compatibility issues with os X 1 had to do with previews crashing. That was a long time ago so I might not have remembered correctly. But if I’m right you are trying to preview a page and now when you start RW it’s going straight to preview mode.
You can try to hold the option key (not shift) when you attempt to open RW. But the reality is that you need to either upgrade your OS or downgrade RapidWeaver.
On retrospect I was a little naive hoping it would keep working!!
Right now it’s completely useless, even starting with option key pressed and disabling everything, it keeps crashing.
Well, since on my macBook osx 10.11 is the latest supported version I guess I will have to wait until I buy a new computer before returning to editing my website!
Thank you all for you help!
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Perhaps you aren’t the only naive one…
I just updated to the latest version of stacks ( and it has broken some elements of my blog.
I’m very tired of this too!
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Looking looking on the forum I found this post which states that RW 8.1.7 is compatible with OSX 10.11 even if it is better used with 10.12, so I erased RW 8.7 and downloaded RW 8.1.7 which opens perfectly my files and doesn’t crash … so far!
It would be nice to know which version of RW is the last supported on OSX 10.11!
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Often times incompatible software will keep running until you use a specific feature, or a new plugin, or a different stack, or new theme. That new thing will run in a slightly different path inside the software and bump into that one place in the code that the software is linked to a new OS version that is absent in the old OS version.
I know a few people that are trying to keep an older Mac working. I totally get it. I have an old laptop and I’m trying to hold out buying a new one until the next MacBooks come out. I’m surviving on outdated macOS versions too.
The best advice I have is: treat every update as the one that will destroy your setup. Keep backups of your favorite apps and plug-ins. If an update ends up killing things, jump back to your working version.
Even that’s not a guarantee, but it’s at least a way to avoid some of the headaches.
The other best advice I can give: Stick with like-versions. If you are using macOS from 5 years ago – it might be wise to stick to software from at least 3-4 years ago too. That means plug-ins and apps. If they’re much newer than that, and the OS and apps get too far apart, then they’re more likely to stop working.
And good luck with your older Mac (or whatever quirk is keeping you on El Capitain).
i’m having the same issue, after paying for RW 8, it crashes upon opening. very upsetting. this is not on an older mac, it’s a 2018 mac mini core i7 w/ plenty of RAM.
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