🙋‍♀️ What’s taking Elements so long!

Elements
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I know some of you are probably wondering, what’s taking so long to get Elements out the door?

Now, I’m not Dan (@dan), Ben (@bon), or Realmac, so if I’m putting words in anyone’s mouth, feel free to correct me. But as a longtime customer and user, here’s what I’ve picked up from various posts and updates over the past couple of years.

At first, the new tech for the next big product was supposed to be compatible with Stacks. Sure, Stacks (and stacks) were going to need some changes. And yeah, we all know the announcement and early process didn’t go as smoothly as hoped. But that’s behind us now—however, when the Stacks community decided to go in a different direction, that was the game-changer—suddenly, Realmac had this huge opportunity in front of them. That was when Elements was truly born.

Without the need to worry about legacy compatibility, Realmac started asking themselves some big questions: What if we had no restrictions? What if we focused on building the best website design software possible—using the latest tech, creating space for 3rd-party developers, and building tools to ensure all add-ons are compatible from the start, right from the core? What if we made it feature-rich and and easy to use, so anyone could have an affordable yet powerful website builder? What if we built a true WYSIWYG experience, taking everything we’ve learned from 20 years of making apps and pouring it into one product from day one? What if we ask the community, from the very early stages, what they want and build it for them?

That’s Elements.

Sure, it’s been a long wait, and I get why some might be impatient. But these are the reasons I’ve gathered for the delay, and in the end, we’re all going to get something incredible. The community has been asking for this for years, and it’s finally happening.

This is Elements. It’s going to be worth the wait!

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Patience gone. Still using Rapidweaver 9.2.1. Looking at alternatives. In case no more support for Rapidweaver. Spent so much on themes, stacks, plug-ins, etc.

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@samsiu RapidWeaver Classic is here to stay. We recognize that many users still rely on Classic, and we’re committed to supporting and updating Classic for the foreseeable future. Just last week we shipped 9.3 and we already have another Classic update in the works, due out later this month.

My advice would be to continue using Classic for now, and try the Elements Public Beta later this year.

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Hi @dan I must say that your recent exchange with Yourhead warmed my heart. Seeing you and Isaiah exchange to solve a problem impacting RW/Stacks users shows a path that many of us really hope for: a reconciliation.
I see this as an increase in the chances of survival for Yourhead and Realmac. It is obvious that the user base having already been divided due to your falling out, continues to dwindle due to the delays in obtaining a version with which to publish a site whether with Stackspro or Elements.
Returning to a partnership would greatly reassure users, would not prevent Realmac or Yourhead from continuing to develop Stackspro and Elements, would allow you not to see your financial resources dwindle little by little, unfortunately I fear that it will be faster than that in reality.
I don’t live off of IT, it’s a non-exclusive passion, but I can’t keep quiet when I unfortunately see what is happening inexorably, the reason can sometimes be through wishful thinking. I’ve often been told that I’m a dreamer… I claim it. Christmas is coming after all, so…

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wow…never knew you was Realmac’s spokesperson Flash

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I just want to see them succeed! Plus I want to use Elements for a long time!

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My experience over the years is that when software is rushed, bugs are an issue and fixing actually takes longer than getting it closer to working flawlessly.

I believe by taking their time RW has a much better chance of getting things right than having to constantly come up with fixes. Add to that the opportunities of “customers” getting “special requests” and that adds more time and effort than if it were like other companies, “my way or the highway”.

In the meantime, RW Classic and Stacks works well enough to produce some really nice websites, so the rush for Elements is like kids wanting to open their Christmas presents a week before Christmas.

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