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RapidWeaver 2 is an automated web design package that allows users to design, create and publish web sites fast, but to a consistently high standard. There are more than 20 pre-designed themes to choose from included and more available from purchasable "theme packs."
"Practically all 'simple' web-page-makers are clunky and overburden the novice user with paragraphs of incomprehensible HTML, overwhelming any attempts at creativity." says Daniel Counsell, Director of RapidWeaver's publisher, Realmac Software Ltd. "We believe RapidWeaver 2 is a breakthrough in web design as no direct HTML editing is required to produce a professional looking website." says Counsell.
RapidWeaver 2, on the other hand was designed from scratch in Cocoa to be easy to use , and more than that, it requires not even a vague understanding of HTML. Users can choose and create navigation bars and buttons from drop down menus then customize each page as they desire. Then click on the "export" button and you have a fully functioning Website ready to publish on the internet.
I was intrigued. I've built several relatively simple Websites over the years, but aside from a bit of experimentation with Claris HomePage and Netscape Composer, I always have done it from scratch, coding html tags in a text editor. RapidWeaver sounded like it could eliminate a lot of the drudgery from that process.
The program disk image is a relatively modest 2.1 MB download. Just drag it to the applications folder and double-click to start it up. You are presented with a blank document like this:
The first step in building your Web page is to choose your Style from the the themes drawer.
You can browse the themes by clicking on the preview until you find one that you like. The main window in RapidWeaver updates to reflect your choice in realtime. If you're not sure which one you like best, don't worry. You're not locked in and can change themes instantly by picking another, even when your Web page construction is finished. This is really one of the most powerful features of RapidWeaver -- the facility to change the entire appearance of your site with the click of a button. Here are some samples of theme appearance, and the one I used for my test.
More themes can be downloaded from the RapidWeaver forum:
http://www.realmacsoftware.com/support/
Once you settle on a theme, at least provisionally, it's time to add some navigation Buttons. To add buttons and page content, click on the "Content" button in the toolbar. A new window will open showing lot's of options
In the bottom left hand corner of the Content window you will see a a plus (+) and minus (-) button, these are used for adding and deleting buttons. Click the plus (+) button to add a new button. (When you create a button it also creates the html page for that button) You should now notice a new button has been added to the list. just above the plus and minus buttons. You can now proceed to customize your button by using the controls on the right. You may need to resize the button using the horizontal slider. Enter the text you'd like to appear on the button along with choosing the font and size. You can rearrange button order using the up and down arrow buttons.
Once your button or buttons are configured, it's time to add some page content Each button you create has a dedicated web page associated with it. For example, when you select the "Home" button from the list on the left and click on the "Content" tab you can insert the page title and content. Once you're satisfied with the content for the "Home" page, proceed to the other pages. You can always and edit or modify page content at any time.
You can also use the other tabs in the Content window to add footer information or a background color or picture to your Webpages.
You choose colors from the standard Mac OS color palette and pictures can be any image file you like. Sample images and backgrounds (including Panther and Jaguar) are included in the download package.
Once you have finished editing your pages press the "Done" button, and your Website will appear inside the main RapidWeaver window. Use the Display button to view and proof the separate pages.
When your Website is completed to your satisfaction, just click the Export button in the toolbar and choose the desired destination. To give your Website a browser test, load the "Index.html" page from the folder that is created using your favorite web browser. The final step would be to upload your completed Website files to an Internet server such as .Mac.
To test the program, I used existing content from my old MacCave Journal Website that I built in 1999.
HTML coding can be entered in the any of the content fields to customize and enhance your Web page appearance and features. although this is optional. It can be as simple as some bold tags or as complex as a form or table layout.
The text within the RapidWeaver webpages is controlled by a style sheet. If you want to alter the color size or font once the page is built look in the resources folder and edit the file called "styles.css."
I found that RapidWeaver works pretty much as advertised. It's not quite as intuitive as I had expected from the promos, but it doesn't take long to get the hang of using it. If you get stuck, there is a good, 20-page illustrated PDF manual in the application folder, that walks you through the basics as well as including sections on Tips & Tricks , Template Design, Template Syntax, Template Graphics, Template Structure, and Building a theme (Tutorial).
This is a very Apple-oriented piece of software, as one might expect from a company called RealMac Software, and if you like the feel of Apple's iApps, you'll like RapidWeaver. It has that understated Apple elegance.
RapidWeaver is optimized for Mac OS X 10.3 or greater and Apple's Safari web browser installed. It will run under 10.2, but for best results 10.3 is strongly recommended. The program requires a fair bit of processor grunt, and I found on my 550 MHz G4 PowerBook with 640 MB of RAM, its performance was more than a bit sluggish, especially when applying page content. It was certainly usable, but if you have a G3 or a slow G4, be prepared to do a bit of waiting while RapidWeaver does its stuff.
However, on the whole it does its stuff well, and you really can create a great looking Website using this program without a smidgen of html skill, , and best of all, it's fun to use.
RapidWeaver is demoware, so you can download and try it without making a cash commitment. RapidWeaver 2 sells for $29.95 (USD) for a single user license and $300 (USD) for a 50 user site license. RapidWeaver 2.1.1 is a FREE upgrade for 2.0 and above registered users.
For more information visit:
http://www.realmacsoftware.com
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Are the pages created standards-compliant? If the software doesn’t say so, did you check the pages you created with a validator?
This is a very important point for me, and I wish it was important for all makers of websites…
Thanks.