Any blocs users?

[maflynn]

In a different thread, there was a recommendation to use Blocs which I'm trying out. There is a learning curve to be sure, but I am liking what I see from the app. It's a lot different then Rapidweaver, some of that difference is good, and some of it isn't. No one app is perfect, so I understand that I need to discern if what Blocs does well fits my needs.

I'm curious to know if anyone here uses it, and what they think of the app. What you like about it, and what you don't like about it.

As I play with it, I may have some questions depending people here at MR do use the app (read do I get any replies )

 

[elf69]

I am looking for a WYSIWUG webdesign package for my mac.

I have dreamweaver on my windows PC.

Downloaded blocs trial to take a look.
I personally do not like it and do not find it easy to use, but I'm used to adobe DW CS3.

 

[MechaSpanky]

I too am curious to hear some users that have some "real world" experience with blocs. I'd like to hear what they like about it and what they feel is lacking. It looks to me like RapidWeaver but with the "Stacks" plugin actually included. It looks pretty good for basic website construction but that is only my opinion, which comes only from watching their promotional videos.

Mecha

 

[maflynn]

t looks to me like RapidWeaver but with the "Stacks" plugin actually included.

There seems to be less flexibility, since you don't have any plugins or themes. What it does however, it does very well.

I found the company support forum where I was asking a question about the gallery bloc
http://support.blocsapp.com

There is a built with blocs section where people show off their sites, and I think a number of them are very impressive.

 

[MechaSpanky]

maflynn,

I was guessing that it has less flexibility in terms of themes and plugins but it looks (from the information on their site) like it has enough basic features to be more useful (in my opinion) than Rapidweaver (without any plugins). I started off building sites using GoLive and then I moved to Dreamweaver (but I hated it) and then I used RapidWeaver for one super simple website. My problem with RapidWeaver is, you have to spend a lot of money on Plugins in order to be able to actually do some cool things. If I added up the costs of the plugins (plus the initial cost of RapidWeaver) and a decent theme or two, the price wasn't so different from Dreamweaver. I am a graphic designer and while I do make lots of graphics for the web, I am not a web designer so a simple program would work for me. If I were motivated enough, I would just hand code but I just can't bring myself to do it, maybe I should? I don't and won't use anything by Adobe as I refuse to pay to "lease" software.

While Blocs doesn't support "themes" like Rapidweaver, it does seem to support templates because on the link that you posted, I read a post by someone selling "templates". I can't imagine much of a difference between a "theme" and a "template" but maybe there is? Does anyone know? Have you used the "Stacks" plugin for Rapidweaver? I was wondering if the same people are responsible for Blocs? The idea is very similar and they look (kind of) similar in a way.

Mecha

 

[212rikanmofo]

I've been using Blocs since version 1.0 and now 2.0, I think this is the most amazing web design tool out now! I've tried many in the past... from dreamweaver, Adobe Muse, Rapidweaver, etc, and Blocs really stands out. It's extremely simple and elegant but at the same time is very powerful. I am really loving what the developer is doing with it, every update adds more and more features that will make this an essential tool for web designing. I would compare this and say this is what Pixelmator is to Photoshop.

 

[maflynn]

from dreamweaver, Adobe Muse, Rapidweaver, etc, and Blocs really stands out

Yes, it definitely stands out. I've had to put blocs aside and focus on other priorities. I agree, I do like what this does, and where its headed. RW has some nice features, but most of those features expect to have plugins, and themes. I'm pretty happy with what I can produce (as a hobbyist) with blocs. I'll be circling back on some of my projects shortly but.

I will say that the community is smaller and being so, I'm finding answers to my questions a bit harder then RW and they don't seem to update their blog (http://blocsapp.tumblr.com) or twitter much.

 

[Risha Rommi]

If you want to stop someone from contacting you on Google+, you can block them. ... Google+ profile picture, and any questions either of you post to the group

 

[smirking]

I've had to put blocs aside and focus on other priorities.

Did you ever get back to trying out Blocs or did you end up going with RW? I'm leaning toward RW right now. I build sites professionally (like really complex big big sites) but I'm trying to make time to start doing small projects again.

For my small projects, I just want something that makes Web development feel easy again and lets me get a site together fast without having to spend hours figuring out dependencies and libraries. I do enough hand coding for my main projects. I want something that'll allow me to tinker with designs without having to go to code all the time.

Blocs looks promising and easy to learn, but seems to be a bit TOO simple and I want the option of having something that could carry forward into one of my serious projects beyond the WYSIWYG tool if needed. I like that RW has a Foundation Framework plugin which is my framework of choice for serious Web Development.

UPDATE: I think I just found something that I like even better than RW. It's Pinegrow and it seems to be a better fit for my needs. I want something that's easy to use and allows me to leverage what I already know with coding things manually so I have the flexibility to edit things through the UI or I can tweak the code directly.

I was intrigued and also appalled at the same time by all of the plugins available for RW. It just makes it seem like you're always one or two plugins away from having the full feature set you want and the plugins vary in their quality and compatibility. Some of the features provided by paid plugins aren't that hard to deliver in code and Pinegrow has the better interface for someone who wants to switch to the bare metal approach when it's more suitable.

If I wasn't a coder and I wanted the fullest set of easy to use features I could get, I think RW would be the better way to go, but for for coders Pinegrow seems to be a more natural bridge between rapid design and coding.

 

[maflynn]

Did you ever get back to trying out Blocs or did you end up going with RW?

No, I really never got anywhere with blocs, which is too bad. I seemed to like what it offered but it just didn't click with me.

UPDATE: I think I just found something that I like even better than RW. It's Pinegrow

I'll take a look at that myself.

 

[smirking]

I'll take a look at that myself.

Well, I did a simple trial project using Pinegrow and I'm not recommending it if you want something that'll make building a site easy. It's a very strange tool and it's kind of buggy. It has no site template management so you can't really use it to maintain a site. It appears to be a visual companion for coders who want to see output in real time, but yet the way the app is designed will drive power coders crazy.

I do see some potential to use Pinegrow to design templates for a CMS site and indeed it actually has a feature that allows you to export your layouts directly into a WordPress theme. I don't know how well that works. If it worked well it would be a pretty cool tool for WordPress builders who can code.

For everyone else, it's a tool that falls in between too many categories. It has a very complicated personality. I'm probably going to look toward RapidWeaver again as a fun and simpler alternative to my usual straight code approach.

 

[blueisa]

Well, I did a simple trial project using Pinegrow and I'm not recommending it if you want something that'll make building a site easy. It's a very strange tool and it's kind of buggy. It has no site template management so you can't really use it to maintain a site. It appears to be a visual companion for coders who want to see output in real time, but yet the way the app is designed will drive power coders crazy.

I do see some potential to use Pinegrow to design templates for a CMS site and indeed it actually has a feature that allows you to export your layouts directly into a WordPress theme. I don't know how well that works. If it worked well it would be a pretty cool tool for WordPress builders who can code.

For everyone else, it's a tool that falls in between too many categories. It has a very complicated personality. I'm probably going to look toward RapidWeaver again as a fun and simpler alternative to my usual straight code approach.

There is a big update for pinegrow coming which is expected to make it easier to use and iron out any bugs.. The Wordpress feature is great but you need to learn how to use it. Once you do it really speeds the process up. There are also plugins available to expand Pinegrow such as this plugin for rapid prototyping.

 

[les24preludes]

I'm currently using Sandvox for a quick and dirty website builder, but don't like the look of it much. It is fairly easy to use, and I'm not a techie.

I'd like to migrate to a better website builder which is also easy to use and intuitive. A big factor would be support and a forum. Looks like Blocs has a forum which is in use daily and gets at least a few replies to questions.

What other easy-to use builders are there that have good support/communities? How does Bloc compare?

 

[Victrocity747]

In a different thread, there was a recommendation to use Blocs which I'm trying out. There is a learning curve to be sure, but I am liking what I see from the app. It's a lot different then Rapidweaver, some of that difference is good, and some of it isn't. No one app is perfect, so I understand that I need to discern if what Blocs does well fits my needs.

I'm curious to know if anyone here uses it, and what they think of the app. What you like about it, and what you don't like about it.

As I play with it, I may have some questions depending people here at MR do use the app (read do I get any replies )

[doublepost=1503970214][/doublepost]Hi just signed on,
I got the trial version of Blocs 4 days ago - I have 5 days to get my head around it. So far, 5 days doesn't seem enough. I used to build websites with Dreamweaver and then GoLive, but stopped about 10 years ago because web work made me frickin' crazy. I come from a print design background with 30 years experience.

I researched simple web design software and found Blocs, which was 4 out of 5 mice from MacWorld. Seemed like a good place to start. Got the free trial version...

For simple web software, there seems to be a steep learning curve. I watched all the video tutorials, which to me seemed to overly simplify the process, and read some of the documentation. ( what I need is a book so I can sit and absorb it ) But, that's just me.

I can see this is a very good app, once you get used to the way it does things. I needed to bring my website into the 21st century,and to create other sites for my art and my band. This will do the trick.
I'm sure I will purchase when I'm prompted tomorrow (day 5).

In conclusion
I feel Blocs has some powerful features that may or not be useful to me.
Entry level? I think not.
Great value for the price.
I'd like to see more online tutorial information. I got stuck and had a hell of a time trying to get past my block, 'scuse the pun.

 

[maflynn]

For simple web software, there seems to be a steep learning curve

I've given up on using it. My needs are simple, but the learning curve was more then I really wanter to undertake. I also had some issues that seemed like bugs (the details escape me now), but were odd issues of placing objects on the screen.

I went back to trusty old version of RapidWeaver.

 

[Murgatroyd]

I worked with Blocs for over two months, made a fairly good website on the desktop but when attempting to work out the solutions for the mobile and iPad displays the thing went too wonky for too long, and I gave up. I have the site I created with Blocs now on Squarespace which is a ten-times more robust version of what Blocs is now. I imagine five, ten years from now the Blocs app could evolve to ketchup to become what Squarespace is now.

To create and maintain a simple site and Blocs will work, for sure.

Blocs/Squarspace learning curves are similar. Squarespace has evolved over time with so much more for one to discover and learn to utilize confidently. Blocs is still in its infancy compared to Squarespace.

 

[Victrocity747]

I've given up on using it. My needs are simple, but the learning curve was more then I really wanter to undertake. I also had some issues that seemed like bugs (the details escape me now), but were odd issues of placing objects on the screen.

I went back to trusty old version of RapidWeaver.

What I'm noticing so far, is, this ain't wysiwyg. Maybe it's because I've stalled my Mas OS at Yosemite, so I can retain Adobe CS6, without going to the Cloud version. (Don't get me started on that issue... ) I don't know what other current users are seeing. Blocs does say that minimum Yosemite required. What I see in the build screen is a far cry from what the site looks like in "browser" mode. So far so good - my investment in learning time, I think is worth the price for what I want to do with it.
[doublepost=1504058710][/doublepost]

I worked with Blocs for over two months, made a fairly good website on the desktop but when attempting to work out the solutions for the mobile and iPad displays the thing went too wonky for too long, and I gave up. I have the site I created with Blocs now on Squarespace which is a ten-times more robust version of what Blocs is now. I imagine five, ten years from now the Blocs app could evolve to ketchup to become what Squarespace is now.

To create and maintain a simple site and Blocs will work, for sure.

Blocs/Squarspace learning curves are similar. Squarespace has evolved over time with so much more for one to discover and learn to utilize confidently. Blocs is still in its infancy compared to Squarespace.

Hi Murgatroyd,
Appreciate your input. I'm really new to Blocs, so it hasn't really pissed me off yet. Just 5 days in. I'm not going to do web professionally, that boat sailed 10 years ago - just personal a stuff. I don't mind rolling up my sleeves and getting up to my elbows in new software. Until it bites me, that is. Stay tuned. ;-)

 

[olup]

Haven't used blocs, but have used similar wysiwyg stuff and was never really happy with that, too much code bloat and never got to achieve what I wanted(used pingendo, if anyone knows that). Squarespace seems like a better solution, even if it's more expensive than blocs, but is more hassle-free.