I’m extremely new to RW. We built our current site with ProPhoto on WP and looks like RW will be a great way to upgrade its look, the goal is to make it responsive, modern yet clean and different than any other’s videographer/photographer’s typical WordPress site.
There are few things I don’t know about RW:
If I go with a theme, can I add any stack I want? I love “Full page stack” and the idea of placing our video in full screen mode but I can’t find a responsive theme that’d already have that feature
How much do the themes limit me in doing what I need to do (adding stacks and other plugins), changing the place of menu etc?
Is Foundation too much for someone who has very limited amount of time and basic idea about web design?
Any ideas, advice, suggestions are extremely appreciated.
Foundation is basically a blank theme. It’s not difficult but you do have to create everything on the page. But, that’s what makes it so flexible. I’m building my first foundation site now, and enjoying the process.
There are others also.
I think most all of the modern themes work with stacks. And if you go that way, the nav, and a lot of features will already be there.
Most themes have a free demo, so try a few out would be my best advice.
The biggest “problem”? Is there are so many themes, stacks and plugins to choose from
The forum is a great resource, people here are very helpful.
Many theme developers don’t have demo themes - just so you don’t waste time looking for them.
All active developers’ themes will work with stacks. If you want to use Rapidweaver, Stacks is the way to go.
Themes rarely limit you in terms of adding stacks and other plugins, it’s part of what makes RW so good. Most themes don’t allow you to play around with the menus very much. A theme with a horizontal menu will often allow you to position it left, centre or right but won’t allow you to switch to a vertical menu.
If you have limited time and only have a basic understanding of web design I’d avoid Foundation. It’s a great product but you’ll be starting from scratch.
Personally I would go the Foundation route if you plan on using RW regularly and just accept there will be a learning curve but if you prefer using a theme go for one with a demo that you can test thoroughly. In the past I have purchased themes that looked fine on the developer’s site but after a while serious bugs and limitations occurred that have never been properly fixed.
These days with Foundation I also prefer to stick with Foundation only stacks or at least ones made by the same developer because I often find bugs when using stacks from other developers within a Foundation project.
I just read that Foundation 6 is about to come out… It does sound very promising… The themes looking great on developers’ site and not so great on your project is something I’m certainly concerned about… And there are not that many themes that will support video on main page etc… Not that will clearly say so. Thanks for advice!
Actually Foundation 6 and Foundation for RapidWeaver are two different things. Foundation is made by Zurb. It is a Framework that Joe used to make Foundation for RapidWeaver. Foundation for RapidWeaver currently uses Foundation 5. Foundation 6 by Zurb is already out, and Joe is working on Foundation 6 for RapidWeaver, but no ETA on when it will be out. Some people say Foundation has a learning curve, but for someone like you, who is new to RapidWeaver, if you start out that way, there isn’t much more to learn than learning RapidWeaver itself. In fact, if you master Foundation for RapidWeaver first before other things, than RapidWeaver and other theme types is even easier (my 2¢). Joe does offer many great videos (as most developers do) on his theme, so be sure to check out his YouTube channel. If you decide to go with Foundation, I would suggest signing up for his Google+ Community as there are a lot of knowledgable people about Foundation there. I would also suggest you check out Big White Duck (in fact, check them out what ever you decide) as he offers free stacks, most are add-ons for Foundation but there are some that work in all themes as well.
Good luck in your choice and welcome to the RapidWeaver community!
