Freeway, Rapidweaver, Sandvox or Flux?

[eclipse]

Hi all,

as I've said in other threads, I'm casting around for a fun WYSIWYG web package kind of like iWeb. Adobe Muse looked awesome, but that is subscription based. We want the security of owning our software outright just in case we want to change something, but don't want to have our website just sitting there for 18 months to discover we've paid for 18 months but not really done anything because we've had too much work on!

We do not intend on devoting ourselves to web development. The wife is a professional graphic designer for print design and knows what she is good at. Indeed, clients often get her to design websites, which others then code up! Learning codes etc just does not interest us, so we're keen to hear what others think of Freeway Pro, Rapidweaver, and other solutions like Sandvox or Flux?

Thanks all!

PS: Here's one comparison to get things started. Let the games begin!
http://www.macworld.com/article/1163...n_the_mac.html

[eclipse]

These are the alternatives to iWeb that tempt me.

Freeway Pro

http://www.softpress.com/products/freeway-pro.html

Rapidweaver

http://www.realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/overview/

Sandvox

http://www.karelia.com/sandvox/

or Flux?

http://www.theescapers.com/flux/

And of course Adobe Muse which looks AWESOME and would be the one I would buy automatically, but for the fact that it is subscription based. That's just rude. It could end up really expensive over the long term. I don't like being charged for software when it might just sit there for a year without being used. I like owning it outright, just in case I need it again in the next 5 years (or when this computer reaches end of life...)

[CultureCodec]

Originally Posted by eclipse

These are the alternatives to iWeb that tempt me.

Freeway Pro

http://www.softpress.com/products/freeway-pro.html

Rapidweaver

http://www.realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/overview/

Sandvox

http://www.karelia.com/sandvox/

or Flux?

http://www.theescapers.com/flux/

I'm interested in the same question, Eclipse. I've used RapidWeaver in the past, and been disappointed with what I felt was limited functionality and rather clunky built-in templates. I eventually purchased third-party templates, but I never felt like the application or template choices were professional enough for me. I've moved to a hosted solution for myself and some of my clients -- SquareSpace 6, and have been very happy with it. But I'm also interested in a better WYSIWYG + CSS/HTML coding solution for a number of sites I administer.

I don't know much about Sandvox. I'm actually today trying to decide between Flux 4 and Freeway Pro.

Flux 4 is on deep sale today at MacUpdate here.

It seems like a good solution from the reviews I've read, and at 55% discount, I may jump on it today.

Freeway Pro is also on discount as well, here. It seems to be a bit more cumbersome an app, and has some disadvantages I've read about in the reviews (only one level of undo, for instance), and a steep learning curve, as well as no importing HTML files from other engines. Seems like it might be a bit too complicated for my needs, but I'm not sure. I really don't have the time today spend demo-ing both of these apps, so I'm going to have make a semi-blind decision I think.

I hope your thread gets some play with developers!
Cheers, Jeremy

[eclipse]

Originally Posted by CultureCodec

I'm interested in the same question, Eclipse. I've used RapidWeaver in the past, and been disappointed with what I felt was limited functionality and rather clunky built-in templates. I eventually purchased third-party templates, but I never felt like the application or template choices were professional enough for me. I've moved to a hosted solution for myself and some of my clients -- SquareSpace 6, and have been very happy with it. But I'm also interested in a better WYSIWYG + CSS/HTML coding solution for a number of sites I administer.

I don't know much about Sandvox. I'm actually today trying to decide between Flux 4 and Freeway Pro.

Flux 4 is on deep sale today at MacUpdate here.

It seems like a good solution from the reviews I've read, and at 55% discount, I may jump on it today.

Freeway Pro is also on discount as well, here. It seems to be a bit more cumbersome an app, and has some disadvantages I've read about in the reviews (only one level of undo, for instance), and a steep learning curve, as well as no importing HTML files from other engines. Seems like it might be a bit too complicated for my needs, but I'm not sure. I really don't have the time today spend demo-ing both of these apps, so I'm going to have make a semi-blind decision I think.

I hope your thread gets some play with developers!
Cheers, Jeremy

My wife has decided she can't stand the thought of me adding web-design to my many other duties. She's the graphic designer who knows everything about everything to do with print design and Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator etc. She was very impressed with the Adobe Muse video, and is just going to use that! I'm out of the equation now. (And glad! )

http://www.adobe.com/products/muse.html

If your clients need CMS's like Joomla or Wordpress that they can update themselves, then there's themes for Wordpress with a lot of backend WYSIWYG customisation. That's another possibility. Then there's Artiseer for Wordpress and Joomla.
http://www.artisteer.com/

But if you are a graphic designer and just need a quick WYSIWYG that whips up brochure sites, then Muse will do all that for you. We'll have a basic brochure site that could remain static for years, and just update our business Facebook page. Solved!

[CultureCodec]

Here are a few reviews/comparisons/discussions:

A quick post on the topic.

Here's a nice round-up of Sandvox, RapidWeaver and Flux.

Apple Discussions on the topic here and here and many others as well.

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Originally Posted by eclipse

My wife has decided she can't stand the thought of me adding web-design to my many other duties. She's the graphic designer who knows everything about everything to do with print design and Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator etc. She was very impressed with the Adobe Muse video, and is just going to use that! I'm out of the equation now. (And glad! )

http://www.adobe.com/products/muse.html

If your clients need CMS's like Joomla or Wordpress that they can update themselves, then there's themes for Wordpress with a lot of backend WYSIWYG customisation. That's another possibility. Then there's Artiseer for Wordpress and Joomla.
http://www.artisteer.com/

But if you are a graphic designer and just need a quick WYSIWYG that whips up brochure sites, then Muse will do all that for you. We'll have a basic brochure site that could remain static for years, and just update our business Facebook page. Solved!

Thanks for these, more options to consider. Glad you situation is sorted!

[eclipse]

One last plug: check out woothemes.
http://www.woothemes.com/product-category/themes/

These are some of the wordpress themes that have extremely customisable backends. Check out the WYSIWYG editor for the Canvas theme: it's almost turning a powerful CMS like Wordpress into iWeb.

But on the other hand, if I were going down the WYSIWYG-a-CMS pathway, I'd learn Artiseer as that would customise Drupal, Wordpress, and Joomla.

[phoenixsan]

based in my knowledge, either Freeway or Rapidweaver. Leaning to Rapidweaver tough.....

But still, Sandvox and Flux I dont know well to recommend or not recommend

Said for anothers posters, Muse is nice

[TonyK]

Only issue I would have with Adobe Muse is the price as it seems to be available ONLY as a subscription at either $15 pm for a year or $25 pm on a month-by-month.