Say hello to the latest Archetypon theme for writers and bloggers that features built-in search engine and masonry grid layout.
Ventura main features:
Search layouts on navigation and off-canvas bars
Search engine stack included (Stacks plugin required)
Masonry grid layout
UIkit support
Extensive list of options
Ventura comes bundled with the UIkit Search, a static search engine that needs no data-base and is very easy to use. Alternately Ventura can also work with third-party search engines, like Stacks4Stacks Indexer and RapidSearch stacks.
Thanks @chet! I believe you are not alone. I always loved the Blog plugin, that’s one of the reasons I got into RapidWeaver many years ago. Hope to see it improved in a future version
The built-in update process for themes and stacks to my knowledge has no “date” feature, so how does the user apply updates? Do they have to manually get updates?
@teefers there’s no subscription. Updates for now are done manually, via Cartloom. After one year you can get another year of updates and support. Or continue using your product without renewing. No pressure.
It is an open market, so he can decide to do business anyway he likes.
I don’t think support is the issue. I doubt many developers get a lot of support requests for products that were purchased 13 months ago. Most of the support comes as new users are learning the product.
My primary concern is that users understand any updates even in the limited 12-month period have to be found and applied on their own.
The built-in update process within both RapidWeaver and Stacks will not work. It will be the users’ responsibility to find out if there is an update and then mainly apply these.
This is outside the normal RapidWeaver process. Ever time you launch RW, it checks for theme and plugin updates. There is also a manual Check for Updates… button that performs these checks. Stacks has the same functions to check for addons.
I have to agree with @teefers. I’ve used RW for a long time and remember the days of updates through cartloom. Something wasn’t working that had been updated, but I didn’t have the update as I hadn’t checked. It was a whole load of hassle. With the number of stack and themes out there, in my opinion automatic update checks are essential.
I plan to purchase this theme shortly, one of the many I have purchased from Lucas since Archetypon came on the Rapidweaver2 platform.
I do have concerns, however, about themes are stacks dying almost upon arrival with their developers, of which Archetypon cannot be mentioned. Working with @Lucas all these years, I have confidence that with an important theme like Ventura, considering that any site build with it is built to last like any Wordpress site and that with headaches from so many daily digital tasks to take care of, Archetypon may reconsider continual updates. But where added support is required after one year, one pays for it.
It may be much to ask, considering the softwares that offer me such benefits cost in the hundreds of dollars (one particular over $1,000), which is the reason developers should consider their pricing vs. real value.
To be fair the stacks addon system has gradually improved over the years. It would be nice if they added a deprecated stack setting on the system, so you didn’t have to find out by clicking on the stack help link and find a 404 page missing error, hinting the stack is unsupported.
Personally I find the RW frameworks most helpful. Simply because I build my site, and as many users are using the framework, it’s support is more long lasting. Plus version upgrades are paid for which is how it should be. Can’t remember the last time I used a theme!
I’ve used Foundation, Source and Foundry but if I find a theme that works for the job, I’ll always use that. It’s what Rapidweaver was built for!
About themes and frameworks: in my themes one can get the best of both worlds. I make possible to use all stacks from UIkit framework in the themes, so if you already own UIkit you are not limited to one theme design plus still able to use all native plugins like the Blog and Photo Album.
