New to RW, use Dreamweaver normally but building site for a friend

RapidWeaver Classic
1

I’m helping a friend build a site she’ll use to chronicle her year traveling the globe. I use Dreamweaver normally and will be using Hype 3 and other HTML5 animations, own designs and graphics, etc. but will build it using RapidWeaver as it seems the best for her to use. She’s not a designer or programmer, so I set her up with one of my Synology servers and registered her domain and hosting with Namecheap. Ideally I want to build a fully custom site without a template as I’ll be creating my own, hoping to simply drag and drop animations/HTML5, images, graphics, etc then simply FTP the site to Namecheap, allowing her to use RapidWeaver for easy updates and changes.

Is this a realistic possibility given the platform? I spent a few weeks researching options and this seemed the best given the circumstances. I’ve purchased the “Stacks 3 Plugin Bundle” and am deciding what else would be useful. Thus far I’ve noted “Foundation”, “Foundry”, and “Archetypon” for custom font usage. Any recommendations/suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

-Cory

2

If you know your way around and don’t mind building everything yourself in RW then you might also consider the free Blank theme - https://themeflood.com/blank/ - which supports Bootstrap.

If your friend isn’t technical then you could add something like Easy CMS from Joe Workman and use to create places on the site where she can upload text and photos.

Rob

3

Thank you so much, greatly appreciate your quick and helpful advice.

I’ve been playing around with it since I last posted and bought a few recommended staples:

  • Stacks 3 Bundle (Accordion, Blocks, Collage, Flow)
  • Foundation Starter Park and Pack 1, 2

I’m considering “Foundry”, but as you suggested I’d rather simply use a blank template and build out from there. I grabbed Stacks and Foundation as Joe Workman has a discount using code freeway, saving me roughly $90. I noticed Total CMS yet Easy CMS may be best for my needs unless Total CMS has must-haves (haven’t compared the differences yet).

Thanks again for your help, you definitely confirmed RW is the best option. I’m impressed with its versatility. Not as extensive as Dreamweaver but extremely impressive and easy to use, perfect for her work.

4

I just switched to Namecheap hosting and could not upload to FTP, FTPS, or SFTP (rapidweaver options). Are you able to publish your RW site using namecheap? If so, would you mind sharing how you did it?

Namecheap support keeps telling me that it is a limitation with RW that is the issue.

Please inform.

Thank you kindly,

Roy