Rapidweaver - what do I need and where does it end?

RapidWeaver Classic General
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Hi,

Now I realise the “what do I need” portion of my title is a “how long is a piece of string” question but having spent the past forty eight hours looking at the options for extending Rapidweaver I am just getting more uncertain where my money should be spent. Part of my problem is that I don’t know what problem I want to solve, so feel free to give me your opinions.

My daughter is a student reading Art and Design at university and decided that she wanted a web site to display her portfolio. She decided to create a site using Adobe Portfolio and seems pleased with the results. However, I can see that the Adobe product could be quite limiting in the long term so wonder how I can duplicate the style of the site using Rapidweaver.

Here is her site : https://madeleineknight.myportfolio.com/

The key issues were and in some cases are : aligning text with graphics which is hit and miss, using four images used as fancy buttons at the bottom of each gallery page and the use of a specific font/typeface throughout the site.

Trying to reproduce the site using Rapidweaver presents me with a learning opportunity and some challenges.

Theme?
I have no idea which theme to start from and suspect that it probably does not have a great influence so I’m experimenting with the new themes that come with Rapidweaver version 8.

Alignment
I don’t anticipate that aligning text boxes with graphics will be a problem as Rapidweaver offers many options especially from within Stacks which I have purchased.

Buttons
I believe that fancy image buttons require a stack such as Big White Duck’s sectionsbox https://www.bigwhiteduck.com/stacks/sectionsbox/. (Thanks to Rob for pointing this out to me in another post)

Fonts
The use of fonts reveals the dilemma that the Rapidweaver ecosystem presents. Most themes only offer a default theme font with no obvious method of changing it. However, it is possible to use styled text in many regions but this soon becomes quite hard work.

A better method is to use a line of CSS on each page e.g. * {font-family: arial, tahoma, sans-serif} (please note I am only repeating what I have discovered on the web). Another as yet untried option is some form of font control through the use of stacks. Joe Workman sells one for (gulp!) $50 or the new to me (double gulp) Foundry stack includes a font selection option in its collection of stacks. I have no idea which is best suited to the task and downloading trials only goes so far in the hands of a novice.

Now I realise that I don’t need any tools, Rapidweaver included, to create a website, apart from a text editor, a web browser and some ftp software but the right tools make the job a lot simpler. So I wonder given that I have am only creating sites for my own use what extras to Rapidweaver would you recommend as must haves ?

best wishes

Simon

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Use a framework solution like Foundation 6, that should meet all your requirements and a page as you have linked it should be easy to build

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Hi Simon,

I’m using RW for a few years now. I am, like your daughter, a (former) art student. I invested hundreds of Euros in templates and stacks along the way. Recently I purchased Foundry by Elixir Graphics and found out I should have done this much earlier. Foundry, along with Potion and Thunder, gives me the freedom to design, align, use the fonts of my choice… just the way I like. I don’t buy themes anymore since I start from a blank canvas. I’ve rebuilt a few older sites in Foundry and they look just as I intended.

Maybe you should check this out on the Elixir website for yourself.

Another option is Joe Workman’s Foundation. It’s a similar package where you have a lot of freedom in designing websites. Joe Workman is very respected developer and his products are top (I have quite a lot of his stacks). For me, and this is a personal opinion, is that the learning curve of Foundation is higher than Foundry’s. But both options are very solid.

Hope you find a solution that suits your needs.

Hans

ps. I checked your daughter’s site. Looks very clean and nice, but it takes a long time to load which is a disadvantage in the world of websites. Anyway, nice work.

2 Likes
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You’ll want to look into the Stacks plugin from YourHead Software whichever way you jump. It’s the essential addon for Rapidweaver.

After that, I’d also consider Source, a ‘micro-framework’ which less expensive than the others mentioned here, yet has many of the same advantages. The basic version which includes a blank theme and 13 stacks is free.

Just to muddy the waters a bit more, you could also look for a theme that includes the kind of fonts you want to use on the site and has a similar feel to your daughter’s existing site. Themes are by their nature, more restrictive, but if you find one that works, it’s a really quick way to build a site.

Have a look at https://archetypon.net/themes/
and
http://michaeldaviddesign.com/

3 Likes
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Thanks all of you for your replies. I should have mentioned that I do have a copy of Stacks4 which is so far largely untried. I think that I will follow your advice and investigate some form of Framework to use within Stacks and I think that I will start with trying Source as this from their web site seems to describe me, plus the price is right :

You want to see what is possible with Stacks before committing to one of the larger frameworks. Source is easy to learn and offers a great playground for you to test out building sites using a freeform framework for FREE! You might even find that it is all that you need!

Also Panans’s comments rang true :

I can quite imagine buying a theme or other extra which does 98% of what I want and then having to spend again to gain the final 2%.

Thanks again for your comments and suggestions which have been a great help. Now I should try and produce a site.

best wishes

Simon

1 Like
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Hi @skids

Definitely worth giving Source a go. Hundreds of people have found that does is indeed offer all that they need to build their webpages - you can see some testimonials here.

I still surprise myself with how much I can do with the included stacks. It is very seldom that I have to use a third-party stack and when I do it is for the likes of a specialised slider or gallery stack (that I would choose to use even if using a framework that included their versions of these).

And remember too that there is a full (and completely free) video course that takes you through the building of your first webpage with Source. Find out more.

Any questions let me know.

Thanks,
Stuart

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Hi Stuart,

I have just installed the free version and was wondering if I should buy the add-on pack, but I’m probably better off watching some of the tutorials first.

I’ll report back here as I doubt that I am the only Rapidweaver user who is overwhelmed by all the options and to some extent the terminology.

best wishes
Simon

2 Likes
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Thanks for this very helpful start.

Bob

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