What is happening to RW? Once a friendly company with focus on an application that was easy to use with a thriving online support community and focus on users and add on developers. Now none of that seems to remain.
My project freezes 9/10 times I open it.
One of my pages with a lot of stacks most of the time I open the project one of these happens and I have to quit or force quit:
-RW won’t initiate the preview load (the spinning wheel never appears)
-the app freezes when trying to load the preview
-RWC loads the preview but then cant’ load the stacks in edit mode (see screenshot below)
This is the page with a lot of stacks, there is no bad code, this is an RWC issue
RWC is the only app on my entire computer that crashes. The only one. Including free apps developed by one person in a garage.
I’ve tried exported my entire website and emailed it to RW with an explanation of all these issues, but RW never even responded.
What am I paying for? I have zero interest in “elements” and am disgusted by the way RW have treated stacks developers - RW creating a system for converting stacks to elements and then abandoning it, leaving stacks developers with hours/days of work using this system to convert hundreds or thousands of stacks all for nothing. A number of prominent stacks developers have left RW, and the rest seem to be extremely put off or considering leaving.
Honestly, RW is just going to go out of business at this rate. I feel like I have to convert my site to something else because it’s either now or later when RW folds due to disregard for customers and stacks developers.
i’ve just seriously had it. I just tried to open the above page in my project 15 times and it is stuck with this stacks loading message in edit mode, and I can’t work on my site
RW - have some respect for the people that have made your application a success. The stacks developers are due more credit than you for the success of RW. And you treat them like they are necessary annoyances. And fix your ridiculously buggy app that you charge a premium for. Like every other company that has the gall to charge a subscription.
Now that you’ve vented - if stacks don’t appear in edit mode, or if a *single *page won’t render in preview mode, this is usually due to a combination of stacks on that page that clash (i.e. are not really compatible, and that can rear it’s ugly head at times) or an incompatibility with the hardware acceleration in newer versions of macOS.
The incompatibility with Stacks and the hardware acceleration in newer versions of macOS has been a problem for a while. If you use Foundry, you can switch hardware acceleration off in the Control Center, which fixes the issue (edit mode will be a bit slower when scrolling though). Other frameworks and Stacks itself doesn’t have an option to disable hardware acceleration unfortunately, but individual stacks might have the option.
Incompatibility with stacks among each other is a difficult thing to locate. Sometimes it helps to just publish the page, and look for odd things in the code using the developer console, but this doesn’t always show where the problem lies.
Totally understand, and t’s incredibly frustrating when tools you rely on don’t behave the way they should. Just to clarify, though: the issues you’re seeing in RapidWeaver Classic are almost certainly related to the Stacks plugin, not RapidWeaver itself. Classic is a solid, stable app, but over the years it’s had to carry the weight of an increasingly complex and third-party-dependent plugin architecture, with Stacks being a major (and unfortunately fragile) part of that.
That’s one of the key reasons we’re building Elements. It’s a modern, next-generation Mac app that doesn’t rely on Stacks or any legacy tech. Instead, it’s fast, stable, and built from the ground up with today’s web standards in mind. No more patchwork, ust a clean, all-in-one workflow designed for the future.
Really sorry to hear that, we know how frustrating it is when you can’t even open your project. The fact that it hangs on the “stacks loading” message is the giveaway: that part of the system is entirely controlled by the Stacks plugin, and unfortunately not something we can fix from the RapidWeaver side.
The developer of Stacks has been inactive for quite some time now, which has left a lot of users (and us) in a difficult position.
Thanks for letting us know. I’ve searched our help desk using the email and name tied to your forum account, but I couldn’t find anything. It’s possible something went awry in transmission.
Could you email your project to forumsupport@realmacsoftware.com so we can take a look? Since it’s likely a Stacks issue, I’d also recommend CC’ing support@yourhead.com so the Stacks developer (if available) has visibility as well.
We really do want to help, and again, we’re actively working on a future that avoids these kinds of frustrations entirely.
Thank you for the very level headed response, it says a lot that you respond to criticism with humility.
i understand that you’ve been put in a really difficult place with RW becoming completely dependent on stacks and then the stacks developer disappearing and not supporting it and that crippling your app.
So I understand the move to Elements. But this is such a delicate thing to do, to transition people to a whole new format of your app. And you have probably lost me as a customer for elements in the way you treated stacks developers. I know many of them who have told me about this. You gave them all a program to convert stacks to elements and they spent hours/weeks converting hundreds/thousands of stacks and then you abandoned that program and left all of them having to start over, and some of them just could not do that and have abandoned RW. That was such a clumsy, thoughtless move on your part and something I’m honestly not sure you will come back from.
I honestly just don’t’ trust this company anymore. i cant’ be re making my website every couple years because the web development app I use becomes unstable or goes belly up.
i do appreciate your offer of support though and will send my project to you.
FYI, this post is not a “vent”. The point was not to “release emotions”. The point was to tell RW that someone who has been using RW for nearly 20 years and was really really happy with the app for most of the time can barely stand using it now and i feel like i have to re build the site in a different program which is a nightmare, i love my websites in RWC.
If. you are losing 20 year old core customers, that is something you should know about. And might mean you are doing something wrong.
I read your post and could see some of me in your post i.e. with frustrations of stacks and the future. So here’s my take and please take it as my view only. Like you I have used RW since version 2 running a small home based e commerce business successfully for many years. I bought into RW from Realmac and most probably hundreds of stacks over the years. I currently use Foundation 6 and Cartloom as my most prevalent stacks but use many others mostly Joes and Gary (Doopbox) to add various other aspects to my little sites. However as I approach my 70th birthday it’s easy to stick with what you know, but that is not me! I have often asked both on forum and also live at Joes summits “what happens when one man teams have health problems to their software platforms?” the reason I ask this is at my age one thinks of what happens to my business when I die? Its not morbid but factual so I have with the help of my accountant an “involuntary leaving” of my business plan, which is reviewed yearly but I have a buddy in RW world who is primed and ready to take over reins of RW side, I have a power of attorney for my son to step in in business side to control bank accounts and business etc. So you can see by this I have a succession plan for my business. I have learned through age and experience not to put all my eggs in one basket - so here goes IMO - RW is not a company its an app, Realmac is a team of developers not a one man company, they develop Apps of which RW and ELEMENTS is one of them, RW will still work at with RW or Classic state with your stacks that you currently have. ELEMENTS is NOT RW and is written on a completely different platform (which I am sure you know) and to close your eyes to change may not be in your best interests in the long run. I am using STACK APPS Beta and Joes Stacks alongside ELEMENTS in beta form and I am starting to change my mind as to what way to go. I love learning new things and everyday is a school day for me - sadly at 70 my enthusiasm for life is what keeps me young - my outward body might not show that these days but inwardly I am still kid! It is your decision and I respect that totally what way you go and encourage your thoughts above, I did not see that as a “rant” but frustration of not being where you want to be because of the importance to you. During my journey in IT I have come across brilliant bits of software, freeware etc. and have loads of 5.25 and floppy discs with some of them on still, however as Microsoft and Apple (mainly) have changed IOS and no longer support these wonderful programmes I am left with memories of what used to be. I do have experience of age and my age tells me that ELEMENTS is strongly favouring my way forward and each day it is developing into something easy for brain. I do want to say that this is still BETA and is only getting better by people like you coming onto forums and expressing your wants, desires and most importantly your experiences so keep coming here and I suggest you don’t close your eyes to change as you may get left behind. I have run a business since 2007 and I have had to morph over time to be successful and sometimes change is necessary to carry on succeeding. Emotional energy and stress sometimes has got in the way of change but in general I am known in my other professional career as a disruptor, change manager and leader. Good luck and take the path which is best for you. PS I am also very friendly with a bot that helps me tremendously so I am getting into AI more each day too!
You’re not alone in feeling this way. The writing’s been on the wall for many years now.
Stacks is a dead-end. Development is sporadic (if it’s happening at all), Isaiah has gone completely quiet, and there’s no roadmap, no transparency, and no meaningful progress. Stacks might have been revolutionary once, but it’s now running on outdated architecture, maintained by a solo developer who seems to have moved on. That’s not something we want our customers to have to depend on.
It’s exactly why we built Elements from the ground up, to move beyond those limits and deliver a modern, future-proof tool that evolves quickly and doesn’t rely on hope.
It is your decision and I respect that totally what way you go and encourage your thoughts above, I did not see that as a “rant” but frustration of not being where you want to be because of the importance to you. During my journey in IT I have come across brilliant bits of software, freeware etc. and have loads of 5.25 and floppy discs with some of them on still, however as Microsoft and Apple (mainly) have changed IOS and no longer support these wonderful programmes I am left with memories of what used to be. I do have experience of age and my age tells me that ELEMENTS is strongly favouring my way forward and each day it is developing into something easy for brain. I do want to say that this is still BETA and is only getting better by people like you coming onto forums and expressing your wants, desires and most importantly your experiences so keep coming here and I suggest you don’t close your eyes to change as you may get left behind. I have run a business since 2007 and I have had to morph over time to be successful and sometimes change is necessary to carry on succeeding. Emotional energy and stress sometimes has got in the way of change but in general I am known in my other professional career as a disruptor, change manager and leader. Good luck and take the path which is best for you. PS I am also very friendly with a bot that helps me tremendously so I am getting into AI more each day too!