I’m new to RapidWeaver although I bought the program some time ago. I just haven’t gotten around to using it until now.
Previously, I built websites using iWeb, which came with iLife years ago. However, many people are telling me that my website looks rather antiquated, so I figured I’d finally use this program I got.
Long story short, I’m ready to go back to iWeb despite its age and shortcomings. All I want to do is put a heading on a page, place a picture or two, create some tabs with links on them, and write some text, similar to what iWeb had.
I’m a veteran computer user (who admittedly is weak in HTML) but could easily do exactly this with that old classic program HyperCard…but this is just too much.
I don’t do well with training videos and prefer to actually read something. The manual was sort of worthless here; I did look at it.
I can’t find anywhere to place text blocks, etc…and then when I go over to the preview, even on the blank template, this default site comes up with default fonts that can only be changed between “serif” and “sans serif”…no customization beyond that. There’s some cartoony picture of a house that I can’t get rid of either.
How do I just place elements on a page using a graphical user interface? Or do I need to switch programs?
I’m not here to watch videos or to become fluent in HTML, all I need to do is build a more up to date page than what I have now. Please advise.
It’s hard to tell what you’re talking about since we can’t tell even what screen you might be on, perhaps a screenshot would help.
Again hard to say, that doesn’t ring any bells for me, but again without knowing whrer you are it’s impossible to say.
With any software, it takes a bit of effort to figure out how things work. RapidWeaver is no different, you probably spent some time learning iWeb. RapidWeaver 6 is now two releases old and is not fully compatible with the latest macOS High Sierra. I don’t remember RW6, but I don’t remember it having a user manual. know you said you don’t want them but Training Videos are going to be your best bet. The getting started course (free) only takes. about 30min to watch, it’s on RW7 though: https://rapidweavercommunity.com/tutorials/getting-started
I came from iWeb as well. When I first started with RW, I joined https://www.rapidweaverclassroom.com/ and it was really helpful. I know you said you don’t want to watch videos or become fluent in html, but there is a lot to learn and it takes time… you can’t just hop on and expect to make it work right away.
There are “themes” that are like templates, but most of us use an addon called Stacks, which are drag and drop text, image, etc blocks that you are asking about.
And what @teefers said is to be considered as well… RW6 is not supported with the latest Mac OS.
It’s depressing that a software suite doesn’t come with a good manual, especially for a program that has as much power as this one does. Videos are very tough for me to follow–I’m not even that good at following a TV show, let alone an instructional video. I do best with books.
Strangely, iWeb was easy to pick up for me. I never even read anything on it and was able to figure everything out. Usually, I can figure software out without much effort–that worked for Excel, Photoshop, Word, and even HyperCard, then read the book later to figure out what I’ve been missing.
Knowing this program is older now and not fully compatible, let alone seems cumbersome, I elected to go back to iWeb and just try to change as much as I can. It may not lead to a mobile-friendly version of my site or a more modern experience, but the WYSIWYG interface is much better for me personally. I’m not a professional web designer by any means and just wanted to update something, but it seems RapidWeaver is a bad fit for me given its lack of written documentation and overall learning curve.
He did say he could use iWeb just like that without documentation and I agree that it was that simple to use. I loved iWeb but it was quite limited and not up to par to today’s webstandards.
@acuradude@dan
I had to learn RapidWeaver immediately (enough to make changes and add a “classic” blog report daily) when I was thrown a 1200 page project that contained only RW plugins, no meta data, etc etc. It also had an outdated and non-supported theme. The site is now updated and working well though it still needs some “design polish.” (I’m more a of techie and I have no design talent .)
My point? Nothing is “free” nor “handed to you on a plate”. You have to determine to dig in your heels, learn what you must, experiment, fail, learn more, fix, and then go build websites.
I’ve used RW 5, 6, 7, and 8. It’s been a ride. Looking forward already to new features, new stacks, etc.
Though I agree that RapidWeaver has it’s frustrations at times (new release bugs, lack of docs for new features, etc) I find that I have become addicted to RW. It is fun and challenging because (with Stacks) there are so many add-ons, so many great developers involved, so many great people on this forum to help.
@acuradude Been so long since I used iWeb, one thing I am sure that it does not do is make responsive websites. Now, you might not want a responsive website, but if you are worried about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), then you should know that Google is lowering the rank of websites that are NOT made responsively. So if that is an issue, you will want to change. Maybe if you link to your old site, we can help you figure it out.