Hi; I am new to Rapidweaver and really struggling with editing text in the basic programme (I have also bought Stacks but haven’t progressed that far yet). I have typed in (from scratch) a couple of short paragraphs and am trying to edit them, to change the size of the text and the font. I move the ‘font size’ slider in the ‘styles’ menu at the right, but nothing happens. I try to change the font using the menu at the foot of the Edit page, but there’s no acknowledgement such as a check mark by the font I want, and when I go into Live view, everything is still in Times. Not only that, but all spacing has disappeared, spaces at the end of sentences, returns for new paragraphs, all have gone in Live view and all the text has run together.
I may be new to RW, but designed our previous website using Freeway and am adept with InDesign. I suppose I was expecting the same facility in changing text size and fonts that you get in those programmes. Any advice much appreciated; this is so basic and incredibly frustrating not to be able to do it. Thanks
I a Stacks guy…and got text I always use BWD Paragraph Pro
So much control!!!
And FREE!!!
Thanks, that’s much appreciated, and I will get into additional stacks at a later date. Right now, I really want to know whether I am doing something wrong, or whether the software is faulty.
Thanks
What page type are you using to enter the text Alison?
Hi Rob; I believe that it is a Styled Text page
Hi, Alison,
Indeed, being familiar with InDesign and/or Freeway doesn’t do you much good when working with RW.
What I would suggest is this: the sooner you’ll start using the Stacks plugin and stacks add-ons, the quicker you’ll become proficient in designing and publishing your website. Without Stacks, RW is rather unwieldy and grossly limited (in my humble opinion).
As Joe mentioned, there is a bunch of important free stacks (donationware) from BWD (Big White Duck – one of the best developers in RW circles).
There’s also the free Source framework that has many advantages over pre-made themes and over other frameworks (again, in my humble opinion).
Typography is mainly controlled by your choice of theme in Rapidweaver and it’s much better to use the theme’s controls to change the way your text looks, as opposed to trying to fiddle with the editor window. Text on the web isn’t the same as printed text and doesn’t really behave in the same way.
The themes that are included with RW8 don’t offer much control over fonts. Save your work and then try using a different built-in theme from RW7 (Open the Themes drawer and choose Rapidweaver 7 themes) - Voyager is a good example.
Once that’s loaded, switch to Preview and then select Master Style on the left. Next, make sure the Page Styles panel is open on the right and then scroll down until you find the body text setting. Here you have a choice of four different fonts.
Thanks Rob, I will give that a try.
I appreciate what everyone is saying about Stacks increasing the functionality of RW, but the way I like to learn is to build from the ground upwards. I’ve figured out part of the problem; in the Theme which I am using, you can only change the font in plain text, not in headlines, blockquotes etc, where the font seems to be built in to the theme, as you say Rob. But there’s no question that the text size slider does not work in any mode, and I need to understand why. If I’m doing something wrong, or if the software has a fault, I really want to know now, while I’m trying to do something very basic, rather than down the line when it affects other things and I tie myself in knots trying to figure out why it’s all going wrong. Maybe I’ll contact Realmac to see whether they can shed any light…
What theme are you using?
Mountains
you don’t get much typographical control with Mountains but if you preview the Styled Text page and go to Master Style in the left hand pane and then drag the Font Size slider (over on the right) left or right you’ll see the change.
This is 12px
This is 24px
Yes, that is what I have been doing; but I assure you that the size does not change. I tried changing the font back to Times, which is standard for that theme, and moving the Text Size slider. The font size still doesn’t change, but moving the Text Size slider to the right gives double-spacing to the paragraph…
The slider only changes the font size if you don’t alter the font yourself. I think Playfair is the default font for Mountains but @dan will know for sure. Maybe he can also explain what’s going on more clearly than I.
Thanks, I thought it was Times, but Playfair is obvs pretty similar.
I’m starting to think that there is no way of adjusting the size of text which you add to your page. It looks like the Text Size slider only affects the size of the menu in the header, and the footer text.
OK, as long as I know. As everyone has pointed out, there are ways around it.
Thanks, all, for your help
@Aadela I don’t know the answer to your specific issue as I’m always using Stacks. However, there is a general hierarchy of behavior to keep in mind. The key is understanding anything done with RW has to use a theme. But not all themes are equal!
The other issue is that in general you don’t want to set font, font size, and spacing on a per page basis but for your site overall. Then to only change when needed for “special stuff”
Here’s the hierarchy:
- Basic RW. The themes included for free with RW are … basic. Some may offer more options than others. But essentially these themes offer very limited or zero built in options.
- Other 3rd Party Themes. These vary a lot. Some are paid, some are free. But some of these themes give you a wide choice of options within the theme: especially regarding fonts, font sizing, line spacing, and width of the container (visual area where fonts go). I’d suggest checking out some of Will’s themes here: https://themeflood.com . Some of his free themes offer lots of options. Almost all of his paid themes offer lots of options.
- Frameworks. This includes things like Foundry, Foundation, Source, and a few others. Frameworks are the most open-ended options for creating sites. They offer you really unlimited freedom of design. However Frameworks only work if you already have Stacks.
… I realize you don’t want to purchase Stacks or a framework at this point. I’m just describing all this so you have a mental image of how it all works.
Thanks Mathew, that’s really helpful. Yes, I am trying to get a good overview of how RW works; only with that basic understanding will I be able to see what I need in addition to RW in order to build the site that I have in mind.
I do have Stacks however; my initial RW research showed that they were pretty much essential. Now that I have a clearer idea of what basic RW can’t do, I will look into what Stacks I already have and what others I need to acquire.
Thanks again for your help
Alison, I like building from scratch as well. But what I discovered when first starting with RW about a year ago is that RW is not the ground… it’s more like the bedrock. And as you’ve noted, the ten page types RW provides are just the basics for building a rudimentary site, and many decisions are made for you. Stacks are more like the ground, but as an architect, I know that I don’t just start building on the ground… I first need a good foundation. In my case, Foundation 6.
The magic of RW is that Realmac has done these two things: built an app where you can build a site with no coding on a Mac, and assembled a substantial group of dedicated developers building lots of add-ons which allow you to do many things.
The magic of Stacks, which by itself has even fewer tools than RW’s ten page types, is that Yourhead has created a framework where other developers can build almost any add-on, and you can organize your work in ways that rival the latest version of Wordpress… and you don’t have to go back and get a new degree to learn how to run it.
Bottom line… skip the dirt, and go straight to the Foundation (or Foundry; both work on Stacks) and start building your great site! FWIW, here’s what I learned when first getting started about a year ago: Rebuilding My Web Hopefully several things there are helpful.
Thank you Steve, very eloquently put, and very helpful. I’m starting to work with Stacks now and have Foundation or Foundry on my radar!