iWeb Replacement

Wyodor,

Thanks. I have followed those instructions you linked at least 20 times. Nothing. Total failure. I tried and tried and tried.

You mention "it is never the user". I presume you are being facetious?

I never balanced a checkbook in my life, and it was always, me. So, I have doubts.

EasyWeb still does have a way to go (at least for my needs) you are limited to web safe fonts at the moment. It is also common to hear "oh, that can be done with an HTML snippet" and, HTML snippets can fix a lot of short falls with iWeb.

as a novice I'm about to take a leap of faith in Easyweb, I think if they get enough support from you enthusiasts they will keep updating and improving on their soon to be released iWeb replacement software. I think the company sounds very genuine & enthusiastic and hopefully my skills will grow with thiers.

Wish me luck

cheers...

as a novice I'm about to take a leap of faith in Easyweb, I think if they get enough support from you enthusiasts they will keep updating and improving on their soon to be released iWeb replacement software. I think the company sounds very genuine & enthusiastic and hopefully my skills will grow with thiers.

Wish me luck

cheers...

Jeff,

Your comparison chart is comparing a much older version of EasyWeb that has since been updated and improved.

If you think we have over promised on anything, please let us know in the EasyWeb forums and we can work on it.

As for saying it will be released soon, it is an extremely complex application. We are improving it based on the feedback we have been getting over the last few months. iWeb 09 was developed over a 5 year period to get to where it was today.

EasyWeb still does have a way to go (at least for my needs) you are limited to web safe fonts at the moment. It is also common to hear "oh, that can be done with an HTML snippet" and, HTML snippets can fix a lot of short falls with iWeb.

You are just as "limited" as you were with iWeb in terms of fonts with the built in text object. However, there are ways you can use any font.

We won't have everything in the initial release, but we will have a lot.

If you have specific suggestions, please post them in our forums and let us know. If you say we have "over promised" please be specific. Everyone has different needs and we need to know what you mean by this, otherwise we can't make the improvements that customers need.

We have worked on making EasyWeb very easy to use, while providing the ability to do advanced things with a very advanced HTML Widget option and other features.

Well we wanted to announce it so we can start inviting users to beta test it and so that they would able to provide their feedback while it is being developed. That way it can provide the features they need.

There are important things we are focusing on that iWeb never had but users always requested, and that no other web builder has. These things are very complex to do and to get right. Under the hood EasyWeb creates websites that are leaner and load faster (taking advantage of how browser's cache style sheets, and images), accessible (using new HTML 5 tags that make websites work better for visitors with disablities), integrating online services, and creating the most powerful HTML Widget.

All that while still being very easy to use.

EasyWeb is being compared to apps that have been around for more than half a decade. As of right now, I think it holds its own and provides benefits not found anywhere else.

And of course we will be pushing out updates much faster than iWeb ever did.

If you want to join the beta program let me know.

--

Paul from RAGE Software

You are just as "limited" as you were with iWeb in terms of fonts with the built in text object. However, there are ways you can use any font.

This is not true iWeb provide you with an option of converting font to images.

Also, EasyWeb is lacking control over text: ie justification, spacing & the ability to add an image to a text box & image wrap.

Also, no list function: bullet, numbers etc.

I have posted these in the forum and via email with a result of maybe sometime in the future version 2.?

I think this comment was a fair comment:

I think eventually EasyWeb has the potential to be a good iWeb replacement but, it has a ways to go. EasyWeb has done alot of over promising and hasn't quite delivered yet on features.

What is not fair is to compare an application that is still in Beta to those that have been released for quite some time.

Its kind of irresponsible to focus on the negative and completely ignore the features that other similar apps. don't have!

Have you tried listing all the improvements and new features there are in EasyWeb compared with iWeb?

EasyWeb makes it really easy to use non web-safe, hosted fonts for those who are prepared to go half a step beyond beginner level. How hard is it to paste one line of code into a box?

To suggest that the ability to convert text to an image is a feature shows a certain lack of knowledge of how far web design has moved forward since iWeb was invented.

Have you tried listing all the improvements and new features there are in EasyWeb compared with iWeb?

No.

I was merely answering questions that I have been receiving reguarding typography.

Things like Text Justification, letter spacing, line spacing, image wrap, bulleted or numbered lists

Now to be fair I didn't start using iWeb until version 2. But, EasyWeb has been marketed as an "iWeb Replacement" and is missing several features that people use in iWeb regularly. Like the ability to add descriptions to images in the image gallery, the ability to control the number of images shown on a page in the image gallery, image wells, image masking, & I could go on really.

If you look in the EW forum under General Discussion/EasyWeb Instructions you'll find out how to install fonts on your Mac so that they are available in EasyWeb (and any other app) and how to reference them from Google by pasting in one line of code.

As already pointed out, text justification is not used in web design. Text is aligned - left, right or center. Justification is used in print media.

Line spacing is not used in web design. The correct way is to use line height and this is how it is done in iWeb.

Just because Apple tried to make iWeb like DTP software doesn't mean that its the best way to go about things. Recall that iWeb is old, out of date and redundant.

Nobody can expect to jump from one software to another and master it immediately. There has to be a learning curve.

After spending considerable time with EasyWeb, I can say that it is streets ahead of iWeb in functionality and its potential is huge. Those who have been using iWeb for a while will have to adapt and unlearn a some stuff - just like a Windows user switching to Apple has to.

For those who craved more functionality in iWeb, and were frustrated by the difficulty in implementing custom code, EasyWeb is a dream come true. Its just a question of learning how to maximise its potential, embracing modern web design principles and leaving redundant techniques in the past where they belong..

If it is about code purity everyone should stop using these WYSIWYG web programs and just write the code themselves.

As far as uploading & distributing fonts this could open a person up to copyright infringement (even fonts are licensed) as a recording artist you should realize this. It is unlikely that many people will be using a font they created themselves.

Some people like things like their websites to look a certain way & want things like formatted text.

Lastly, I DO believe that EasyWeb has potential. It just still has a way to go yet

We're not talking about code and its purity here - its about copying and pasting one line if code into a box and dragging a font file into the font folder on your Mac. Its not exactly rocket science and well within the capabilities of a beginner who is capable of following simple instructions.

Its not a question of "uploading & distributing" fonts. The fonts are referenced on the Google servers.

Find out all about it here...

http://www.google.com/fonts/

In web design, text formatting consists of color, alignment, decoration, transformation and indentation. EasyWeb is capable of all these functions.

You can use a Google Font by downloading it to your computer and dragging it to the Font panel to install it. Then just enter the Google Font link in the Head Code section of EasyWeb.

That's all there is too it. The email thread between you and Jeremy is a month old and it didn't have this feature yet.

If it is about code purity everyone should stop using these WYSIWYG web programs and just write the code themselves.

That is obviously not possible for many people and not the right solution. EasyWeb actually does many code optimizations to take advantage of browser caching that most people, even when coding themselves, don't use and no other WYSIWYG editor currently uses. It places text style css code in one global file so it is cached by a your web browser, it preloads images for smooth mouse over/mouse down transitions, it uses new HTML 5 tags to make your site more accessable to people with disabilities and search engines.

The HTML output engine is extremely advanced and under the hood your website will be much more efficient than most websites handcoded right now. Somethings it doesn't do as well, but others it does much better. It certainly exports code much better than any other WYSIWYG tool.

There are things EasyWeb doesn't and won't do in the first release, but there are a ton of features it has over any other tool currenty out there. We will continue to improve it and make it better.

We want to hear feedback and we want to make it great. It's going to cost some money, but it will help you transition away from iWeb into a more modern web building tool. If you want something Easy and you want something powerful, I think EasyWeb will replace iWeb for most users.

Jeff I'm a total novice, reading this thread it seems obvious to me that the Rage team would love you to embrace the app as you have a lot of positive critique to offer which could be for the betterment of all. Their may be trade-offs to start with in the final released version but to go forwards sometimes one has to take a step back to achieve the overall benefit of progress.

I'm just reading the Beta forum for now & the critical input from users like Roddy & co is amazingly useful for the developers, I think it would be brilliant to see a lot more of your participation as you have plenty to offer & your help at this stage could prove immense for us all.

I have a very strong hunch Easyweb is something that's going to be very successful.

Jeff I really look forward to your posts back in the beta forum.

Amen. Stick with iWeb. As long as it will work with any new OS X updates, I'm using it. I use Dreamweaver on one of my sites, simply because it wasn't created with iWeb and it's too complex to try to change. But all the rest 20+ I created and edit with iWeb and it works great!

I have a real problem with Adobe. Period. Dreamweaver was just fine when Macromedia was calling the shots. Adobe took it over and priced it out of reach to all but the filthy rich. I hate Adobe, but Deamweaver is really the only choice for high-end websites. Very complicated to learn well, and more overkill than most people need.

Apple made a real big mistake in dropping iWeb. (along with MobileMe). I would really love to know the true reason behind that decision?

You mentioned having issues with Yahoo hosting. Check out MacHighway. I have been with them for some time now. They are very Mac oriented and posting with iWeb to their servers is a breeze.