I had a good laugh when you started running into problems and said, well, it is beta software. I can’t wait to give it a go. I have a couple websites that I want to rebuild and have been patiently waiting for Elements. I tried to redo them by hand (using html, css, js, etc) and it got too fiddly and I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. Elements is really looking good.
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I’d really love to get in on the beta and get my hands on it.
Cheers,
Peter
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I just wanted to make a price observation as I’m seeing all kinds of conflicting statements for price: the video shows Plus at 119 pounds which is about 153 dollars or 141 euros
That Plus price is about the same as Classic (90) + Stacks (50), so from that standpoint I guess it’s inline w/ inflation, etc.
I’m a little worried about Pro pricing, but we’ll see what devs / designers have to say on that.
Thanks,
Bill
Stack-Its
Very handy to see the menu opening when selecting a component.
Hey Dan,
I’m quite interested in testing out the beta! Can I give it a go?
Thanks!
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FYI: If you’d like to be added to the beta list, we now have new instructions up over on this thread!
What about Pro pricing has you concerned?
I have a question about pricing. I am guessing that when I sign on for Elements I will still need to maintain my subscription to Classic so that I am able to update my existing sites. That would make the whole bundle way too expensive for me to justify. Most of my clients are in the entertainment industry which has been devastated post Covid (myself included). The majority of my websites are beneficiaries on my “Free List”.
Even disregarding my personal situation, I suspect that most Elements users will need to keep Classic at least until they transition their current sites over to the new app.
Would you consider bundling a license for Classic with the Elements subscription, even if only for existing users?
BTW, I am really keen to try the Beta. 
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Can I have access to the beta?
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No problem, you’re on the list. Expect an email in the coming days/weeks as we roll the beta out to more users.
I’d like to join the beta programme. I’m planning to build an image based website over the next few months. I’d like it to be in Elements so I’d be happy to start working on it in the beta and report back on any issues.
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No problem, you’re on the list. Expect an email in the coming days/weeks as we roll the beta out to more users.
Congratulations all at RealMac! I believe that it all is worth the wait!
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Good question there. I would have the same scenario, using Classic alongside Elements and that would make the annual subscription rather pricy. Also, I noticed that your pricing is now in Pound Sterling and not in US$ as on the website currently - Will that be changed?
Good question, the solution is probably to stop your Classic subscription and hop on over to Elements when it’s out of beta and ready for full time use. Remember even when you stop your subscription, you can still continue using RapidWeaver (and Elements).
Our payment provider detects your location and displays local pricing, so if you view from the US you’ll get your price in USD 
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One question regarding the three different pricing tiers: Will I be able to create and develop custom elements for selling/distribution - like custom Stacks in RW - with every pricing tier?
Cheers Maik
Hi Dan,
Further to my post requesting beta access, I cancelled my RW subscription because there doesn’t appear to be a crossover/migration option for existing licenses? If there is, please let me know otherwise I think this would be helpful for other occasional users of RW who have a license renewal coming up and are not sure of their options.
Also, can you please advise if there will be pricing for education/charities/voluntary work?
Why I’m asking is I am sure there will be others like me who can maintain a website for very appreciative local causes and have no interest in being rewarded for efforts, so ideally a charging structure from free(?) (with some discrete Realmac branding/watermark/embedded commentary/legal jargon?), through tiers to cover other non-profit/altruistic concerns. I appreciate this may not do much to recoup the obvious investment in Elements, but might generate full-price sales from those who have encountered Elements in a non-profit environment.
Thanks
David
I’ll take up the elephant in the room first and if this is the wrong place, please just move it.
As a designer of websites for clients, I am now faced with the fact that I have to pay almost $300 for RWE every year. In 2019, I still paid $59 for an unlimited version of RW. In 2022 and 2023, it doubled with a subscription model for one year for 110CHF. And now it’s almost tripled.
Sure, costs can be passed on to customers, but this huge cost increase should have a real countervalue. Unfortunately, I haven’t always had the time to look at all the things from the development of Elements, but perhaps it is the case that I would no longer need frameworks such as Foundry, Blogging Stacks or Stacks themselves if I used Elements, because Elements has increased so much in terms of performance. Then things would look very different. But I just assume that in this rather small universe, you don’t want to upset your add-on developers too much. After all, it doesn’t make sense. Or does it?
I would welcome a general clarification with the following important questions:
- Will RWE continue to integrate the entire, existing universe of addons?
- Will all addon developers like Stacks, Foundry, Foundation, etc. support RWE?
- What about the adoption of existing projects built with Stacks 5 and other addons and frameworks?
- What about my RW Classic 9 licence, which expires in September? Will there be further updates or even a new version 10? How long will this version be supported?
- I’ve read some contradictory things about how the two seemingly inseparable elements like RW and Stacks will continue to merge. Or not.
These questions and their first-hand answers are absolutely fundamental for me and presumably others who have not kept abreast of the development process without interruption. I have searched everything but have not found an overview of the next steps anywhere.
Thank you very much!
That is correct, so what would have cost you 100’s of dollars previously is all included in Elements. The beta doesn’t yet have blog functionality, but it is on the roadmap.
No. Elements will not support Classic legacy themes. It’s been a tough decision to make, but ultimately we think Elements will be a much better product if we build it for the future.
Elements supports a new style themes that are more modern, and work in a totally different way to Classic themes.
No, stacks are not compatible and cannot be used in Elements.
No, they will need to be rebuilt.
No, both versions of RapidWeaver will coexist as they cater to slightly different customer needs.
RapidWeaver Classic continues to serve thousands of customers who maintain and build existing websites using a variety of legacy plugins and addons. We will continue to develop and update RapidWeaver Classic to support this “classic” workflow. RapidWeaver Classic requires macOS 10.14 (Mojave) or a newer version.
RapidWeaver Elements represents our vision for reimagining web design on the Mac. Our goal is to make it easier and more powerful than ever before. RapidWeaver Elements leverages the latest Apple technologies and requires macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or newer.
Not sure where you read that, but just to clarify, Elements is completely new and will not work with anything Stacks related.
We have a full Elements FAQ here, that we regularly update as things progress and change.
Hope that helps.
Thank you @dan for the detailed clarification. First of all, it is very positive that RW Classic is being further developed and supported and that we can continue to use this entire environment with all add-ons. This gives me the opportunity to look at RWE at my leisure. A rebuild of all pages would simply be impossible.
I am very curious to see how RWE will perform and how it will be at least an equivalent replacement for such powerful tools as Stacks or Foundry. Such a comprehensive reorientation is a real tour de force and is always associated with risks and I hope, of course, that you will succeed as you envisage.
On the other hand, I will of course look at the further development of all the add-ons, which for me are the primary development environment for websites. Since all of these things obviously no longer go together and will at least partially go their separate ways, I would like to get a comprehensive overview.
Thanks again Dan and good luck with the beta phase!
Edit: One more question about the new platform: will there again be an API that other developers can use to extend RWE or will Realmac continue the whole thing as a closed system?
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