As a graphic designer and publisher of many years’ standing, I’d just like to add a few thoughts on actually switching from Classic to Elements, especially as there are multiple updates all the time, with the latest - Elements 2 (Beta) just being announced.
I’m 100% behind the switch over happening, but am still unsure about how and when to implement it. We’ve being running with Classic for many years, and still have a site that works. All standard stuff that only uses a small part of what even Classic Rapidweaver can do. But you have to realise that all our sales, every day of the year are handled and done by Rapidweaver (and ECWID) this way - but it works and is a doddle to correct and publish pages, even if some of them are a bit weird.
Having said that, there is a huge amount of work in the content the site currently has - 100s of author pages, blog, news, products and general information that needs to be taken across to Elements. A big job indeed, but the chance to improve the site when we move to Elements should not be missed. And won’t be, but it’s not as easy or straightforward as you may think. We can’t remain as we are, but Classic is now limping along like a faithful old dog, refusing to stop but unable run very fast any more. We are getting some alarming security warning signs, that won’t go away and major repair surgery is not really an option. In case you ask, I have tried importing from Classic to Elements. It sort of works, but was more bother than it’s worth to clean up and use what came over.
As a small company we do most things ourselves (like a lot of Rapidweaver users I suspect) so we have to learn on the job as we go. No web gurus or influencers here. I’ve been trying the last few months to get my head around the new Elements software and am finally starting to understand its foibles. It isn’t the same as Classic, nor should it be, but at the moment we have to maintain the original site alongside creating a better, newer version of it in Elements. Running two sites at the same time means a lot of extra, unpaid work . . . and, for me anyway, quite mentally challenging!
Of course, most of this change to Elements has to be done offline, but if that’s not hard enough, before we switch we have to add the shop part of the site (the bit the customers actually buy from). That means adding code from ECWID (and please don’t get me started on their approach to typography), standing well back and lighting the touchpaper. Then we’ll see if it works properly. At the moment it doesn’t - I’m getting a curious blue background on my shop pages in Elements . . . even though the same code gives me a lovely white background in Classic . . . perhaps Dan has hidden a little instruction in the code somewhere just to see if I can work it out . . . which I can’t!
So what next? It would be good to hear the views of other small businesses suffering from what I’ve come to call SOS - Switch-Over Syndrome.
Regards to all, Jon