Everweb

Well, I can vouch for the fact that EverWeb does in fact work with another host and not just Rage's own hosting.

I used 1 and 1 web hosting and re-built one of my sites with EverWeb and then when it was ready, I published to a folder and then used Cyberduck to upload all the files to my web hosting account at 1 and 1 with no problem at all.

You do not need to use Rage's own hosting - I did it. However, I have since re-designed the site using Drupal as I needed to be able to do more with the site and have members logging in etc., and this was more than EverWeb could cope with, so I changed to a Content Management System that is ideal for this.

Hi James,

I am very sorry for the problems you are having. Can you please respond to the ticket we sent you yesterday at 7:30 EST. We are very close to getting you up and running.

I can assure you that EverWeb sites work flawlessly on any third party web hosting service and this is just a slight mixup that we can help get resolved.

If you can respond to our email, instead of responding here because this is an iWeb discussion forum.

I can honestly say Everweb is amazing! I'm not a shill or stooge for Everweb, I am a user, and it works perfectly for me. I wished it had more widgets, but you can buy more from separate vendors, but there should be more by default. I give Everweb a thumbs up, I use it daily!

I was about to buy EverWeb. Before doing so, I google-searched reviews about the company, and came up with very little information on them, other than these comments on these apple discussions, and their own website. This makes me hesitate. There's oodles of information and outside reviews on so many of the alternatives. It just makes me wonder. However, their customer support seems fantastic.

What is easier to learn:

• EverWeb

• Weebly, or

• WebAcappella ?

JRIH - I appreciate your honest input and opinions. I cringe when I see another trash you simply b/c your opinion is different than his (he sure is an authority!!), and I admire you when you keep your composure and don't drop to his level. Heaven forbid someone saying anything negative about EveryWeb (which again, I *really* want to like!).

Regarding missing iWeb... many of us are in the same boat. Yeah yeah, "move on"... I know... but it's not impossible that Apple comes up with an easy web builder such as iWeb, but with more up-to-date features. I repeat: it's not impossible. I do agree we shouldn't count on it, and prepare with another webbuilder.

I want to like EverWeb (wish they never changed their name from EasyWeb), and over a year ago, read up on it, got their Beta plan, but never could get the hang of it. I kept hitting snags on the simplest things. I would ask, and I didn't understand the answers, and when I followed the directions, it didn't fit. I don't want to feel that I need to have an IQ of 180 in computer-tech to run a website. I was willing to go through the learning curve, as all new softwares have, (tho I forget there being a learning curve with iWeb; it seemed so natural)! I just don't want to spend 100+ hours transferring my 200+ pages from iWeb to EverWeb, if EverWeb will later go out of business, as iWeb did. Or, I get stuck and can't make a page.

Firstly you need to remember that Weebly is not the same as either EverWeb or WebAcappella.

Weebly is an online web creation package that is published on the Weebly servers, but I think you can register your own domain name with them if you want to.

EverWeb are both apps that you download and use on your computer and the files are also stored on your computer - not so with weekly. With EverWeb and WebAcappella you need to upload the published files to your server/host, but with Weebly they are already there and with Weebly there won't be as much flexibility with layout - template based, where as with the other 2, you can start from scratch and create anything you like - you can also use a template though.

I have used WebAcappella as well as EverWeb and I have to say that as an alternative WebAcappella is good - I have to say that I quite like it. Might have more of a learning curve coming from iWeb, because it is quite different, but I thought it was good.

As EverWeb has been designed to be like iWeb, then it will be more intuitive - the layout is essentially the same as iWeb, but it might take a little getting used to because you can do so many more things from within the application itself rather than having to look outside it. Things such as the creation of drop down menus, a contact form widget that iWeb did not have, PayPal buttons widget, slide show widget and much more. They have also created Master Pages, etc., but we are still waiting for the Blog to arrive - think they are working on it with the beta versions though.

Persevere with it. Rage has good technical support forums where you can get questions answered and I really don't think that they are likely to go out of business. Remember that Rage Software has been around for a longtime in the first place and gave you the iWeb SEO package that we all used to use with iWeb to give it better ranking. They are a software and hosting company primarily, so I think are very unlikely to go out of business.

If you look at Apple, they are primarily a manufacturer of products, so computers, iPods, iPhones etc., and they are not really into web hosting - it is not what they are best at and I think iWeb, along with firstly .Mac and secondly MobileMe, was their attempt, which they found really did not work, which is why they got out and closed MobileMe and then left iWeb behind, because they realised that other more dedicated hosting and software companies were doing it better than they could. As they have not sold, supported or updated iWeb for at least the last 2 years, I really don't think they are going to resurrect it and update it. That is not really likely to happen when other companies around are doing bigger and better things. They are now playing to their strengths, which is not web design or hosting.

As for the alternatives, I would definitely persevere with EverWeb - it might be worth it in the end and I have designed and uploaded a couple of sites using EverWeb that looked good. They have since gone and been replaced with sites created using Drupal, a Content Management System, because I realised that I needed something that could do more than EverWeb could provide, such as Members Access to the site and other things that are easier to do on a CMS rather than EverWeb, but I was pleased with the site I created and it did not take long and with the help of the EverWeb support forums, you should be able to get all your questions answered.

WebAcappella is definitely worth a look and I think is cheaper than EverWeb - it is different though and you can start from scratch or with a template, but it can produce some very good looking sites. As I say, I have tried it and quite liked it.

You could also take a look at Freeway Pro 7, which is the latest version - that is quite good too.

If you don't want this, then you can try and Content Management Systems instead - these would be Drupal, Joomla and WordPress. All you need is a web host and you should be able to install these with one click directly onto a web host. There are no files stored on your computer at all and it is all done online. All the CMS's are free and open source and they all run on a database. It is a good easy way of getting a website up and running quickly and you don't need to know anything about html, css or php if you don't want to.

You can try out all of the above locally on your computer if you want to by installing MAMP - this stands for MySql, Apache and PHP, which is everything that a CMS needs to run and all you then do is go into the PHPMyAdmin section and create your databases and then download whatever you want to work with, so Drupal, Joomla or WordPress and place the installs in the htdocs file.

If you don't want to try this, then go back and try and persevere with EverWeb and also take a look at both WebAcappella and Freeway Pro7 and see what you think and how you get on.

Hi PonyGirrl,

This is Paul from RAGE Software, the developers of EverWeb. Thank you for your questions, I wanted to take the time to answer them in addition to the other responses you got. I won't compare the products just talk about our company.

I was about to buy EverWeb. Before doing so, I google-searched reviews about the company, and came up with very little information on them, other than these comments on these apple discussions, and their own website.

Just a brief background, we have been developing Mac software since 1999. You can Google our first product, Macintosh Explorer and WebDesign. As well, you can Google iWeb SEO Tool which is the SEO software we have developed for iWeb since 2007. Note that we do have a 60 day money back guarantee, but I do understand that it is also a time commitment when using EverWeb so I'd like to help make you feel comfortable with that as well.

However, their customer support seems fantastic.

Thank you! We appreciate that and we work really hard to be able to help people create great websites.

I kept hitting snags on the simplest things. I would ask, and I didn't understand the answers, and when I followed the directions, it didn't fit. I don't want to feel that I need to have an IQ of 180 in computer-tech to run a website

We certainly don't want you to feel that way also! Perhaps you should download the demo now that it is an official release. A beta version is still a test version and may need to have features ironed out. We have over 100 minutes of free video tutorials to build your website and even more to help promote your website in search engines, all free. We also have a free PDF manual (from under the Help menu in EverWeb). This wasn't all ready during the beta period.

We also have a very active user forum and email support. We're working towards phone support too!

If you have any specific questions please free to email us, we're always available to help and we really do try to listen to customer feedback to make EverWeb even better!

PS:

JRIH - I appreciate your honest input and opinions

I do feel that this original comment needs clarification. The issue in this case was a simple misspelling of the URL when entered in the web browser and another spelling mistake in one of the links on the user's web page, leading the user to believe the website was not being published, when it actually was. The hyperlink URLs just had spelling mistakes in them. We spent a lot of time tracking down this issue when we discovered there were spelling mistakes.

We asked the customer to clarify his review here after the problem was solved but he has since not gone ahead and done this. We fully understand mistakes happen, but I also believe clarifying a negative post would have been appropriate here. It's unfair to the hard working people at RAGE Software whose livelihoods rely on word of mouth and in all cases work extremely hard to support each and every user. If we fail a negative review would be appropriate, but we do everything we can to make all experiences positive.

This customer does currently use EverWeb to build their website and last updated their website this month with version 1.6 (note that all iWeb and EverWeb published sites have the last modified date in the meta tag details so this is how I know this).

It is our utmost priority to help our customers build and publish a website as quickly as possible.

PPS:

As the original founder of RAGE Software, and the lead developer of EverWeb it is my personal responsibility that EverWeb is the best it can be and that all our users can create great websites with it. I think you will find our passion for our products just by browsing the user forums. Email us and ask for me if you have any concerns about the company.

Thank you VERY MUCH, Ethmoid... your post was VERY helpful. I have to do something b/c my computer which supports iWeb won't last forever. I bought a spare old 2009 MacBook so if my iMac desktop and my laptop (both which have iWeb) crash, I still have iWeb. I was going to buy 3 old Macs which have iWeb, thinking I'd be set for life, but if my technical knowledge is correct, there may come a day when cyberspace and technology and the stars simply won't allow iWeb to launch.

Due to your post, I have ruled out Weebly. I always use the white blank page to create web pages in iWeb. I prefer to start from scratch rather than use a template. I will look into WebAcappella, but am now leaning more towards EverWeb. I want the least learning curve, and since I'm already familiar with iWeb, EverWeb may be more intuitive than WebAcappella. Also, their customer service is so excellent.

You did a good job explaining why Apple abandoned iWeb. I never understood that before. Apple thought there were better web-builders out there. I disagree, only b/c I don't need all the bells and whistles (although a pull-down menu would have been nice), and iWeb's simplicity was marvelous. I don't remember having to learn iWeb. I just knew it from clicking around. That's so rare and wonderful. Even tho I disagree with Apple due to my own personal web needs, I'm probably a minority and a dying breed.

I will also checkout Freeway Pro 7.

Which is easier to learn (in your opinion)... Freeway or Acappella?

Hi Paul, and thank you for responding. Again, you demonstrate fine customer service.

Your company sounds solid. Can you supply me with URL's that review or comment on EverWeb, that are not connected to your company or this forum? That would be helpful.

About a year ago, I watched numerous of your videos, and they were helpful. I loaded your BETA web-builder (when you were called EasyWeb), thinking it'd be easy, because your videos were very clear. However, I got stuck right away. I'm trying hard to remember what it was... I think, if memory serves, I created a shape (square with rounded corners) and tried to put text over and into the shape, and could not. I spent hours trying to do this. After that, I tried to do something else that was basic, and could not. I asked RAGE on your website, and you responded promptly, which was nice. I tried to follow the directions, and you said something to the effect of "do xxx, and then you'll see yyy". Well, I did "xxx", but I didn't see "yyy", and then I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to be a pest by asking again. I know you have thousands of questions from customers. Then, it was just too hard and I gave up. Perhaps I should have persevered.

Concerning JRIH, I *did* read a post from him stating his frustration that he couldn't launch, but later, he *did* post that he owed Rage an apology, that you guys helped him and he was later able to launch. I suspect that he missed that apology on this specific thread.

I do believe that most people are more quick to criticize than to praise, and both need attention. I make an effort to spread the word when good service is performed. It's clear that your heart is into your product.

I'm about ready to buy EverWeb. Before I do, I have a few questions. If you want, I can email you privately, but I don't want to take too much of your time. Here are my questions:

1. How much memory will EverWeb take on my computer? (I have 8GB) (I used 4.8 of system memory; a little more than half)

2. Where specifically do I ask my questions when I'm transferring all 200+ pages from iWeb into EverWeb?

3. Do you only answer questions from customers who use your host? I am so happy with Bluehost.

4. Will I be a pest if I ask more than 10 questions?

5. I have to look up how much it will cost (I don't remember)... I hope it's a one-time fee instead of a monthly fee.

I am actually rather bright (Honor Roll in High School, Magna *** Laude in College, a published author... I wrote 'Jackel Island'!) but am a dummy with technical knowledge. That's why I loved iWeb. Hopefully, I'll grow to love EverWeb.

~Amy

Glad the post helped.

I would say that learning Freeway Pro 7 and WebAcappella are both about the same, but EverWeb might be easier.

I think putting text into a shape in EverWeb is exactly the same as it was using iWeb - create your shape and you can do it in either of 2 way - firstly, double click the shape and just enter your text directly into the shape, or secondly, create a text box and enter your text into the text box and then just drag and drop the text box into the shape and you have text there.

Your company sounds solid. Can you supply me with URL's that review or comment on EverWeb, that are not connected to your company or this forum? That would be helpful.

Sure! But please remember that it may be best to take this discussion to our support department or forums because this is an iWeb forum and I don't want to use it as a means to promote our software.

Here is one we are most proud of;

http://www.maclife.com/article/reviews/everweb_review

And some others;

http://appledailyreport.com/like-sandvox-everweb-worthy-iweb-replacement/

http://www.mymac.com/2014/06/everweb-review/

I created a shape (square with rounded corners) and tried to put text over and into the shape, and could not. I spent hours trying to do this.

Although I can't be sure, this may be due to the fact that in iWeb you can just start typing and text will go into a shape. In both iWeb and EverWeb you can double click a shape to start typing, but EverWeb required the double click. As of version 1.5 or 1.6 (can't remember exactly), this works the same as it did in iWeb. That may have been the problem, but I'm just guessing. It was a highly requested feature and the cause of some confusion.

Perhaps I should have persevered.

Yes of course! We're here to help. Most of our users who get stuck one something will keep asking and they will get it. Then once over that hurdle they usually become somewhat of an expert themselves and start solving problems for others.

Likely other users had the same issue and the more people who tell us they have problems with it, the better we know that we need to improve the area. Always persevere!

If you want, I can email you privately, but I don't want to take too much of your time.

You can email support, don't worry about taking up too much of our time. We are here to help you! And create an awesome website builder. Let us help you create a great website! We'll have you up and running in no time, and you'll see you will quickly get the hang of everything. We have a large community on our forums to who can help you as well. But we are here to serve you!

1. How much memory will EverWeb take on my computer? (I have 8GB) (I used 4.8 of system memory; a little more than half)

Memory used by software is dynamic, meaning software uses as much as it needs. You don't have 8GB of memory, you have technically as much memory as there is free hard drive space on your computer. OS X will use disk space as memory when needed, and does so constantly without you knowing. But that's a more technical answer. Your system software will adjust the memory used as more applications and resources are being used (it may be 4.8 now but that will change all the time).

Usually one website project will take 50MB to 500MB depending on how many images, text and other objects are on your page. Don't worry about this, it's not something you really need to consider anymore when running software. Back in OS 9 days you did, but OS X doesn't really require you to think about this for everyday software.

2. Where specifically do I ask my questions when I'm transferring all 200+ pages from iWeb into EverWeb?

Our discussion forums are a great place to start or our support email. You can find it under the Support tab on our website.

3. Do you only answer questions from customers who use your host? I am so happy with Bluehost.

We answer questions from anyone and everyone! You don't need to host with us. But keep in mind that we can't fix your server related issues. That's why we offer the EverWeb + Hosting because when we have access to the whole system, we can offer better support.

4. Will I be a pest if I ask more than 10 questions?

I wish I could show you how the types and quantity of questions from people that we get! Don't worry about this. You sound like a smart person who just needs to get going...

5. I have to look up how much it will cost (I don't remember)... I hope it's a one-time fee instead of a monthly fee.

No monthly fee. It is a one time $79.95 USD fee and that gets one year of updates and support. For an additional year, you can purchase that for $49.95 USD but it is not required and you NEVER lose access to the purchased version (and upgrades) that you paid for.

Our view is this. Instead of charging for major releases that are overstuffed with features, we focus on major features all throughout the year. That makes the software less prone to bugs, you get more frequent updates and we aren't motivated to wait to add features in order to sell a major version.