RapidWeaver

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RapidWeaver


Latest release:	3.5
OS:	Mac OS X v10.3.9
Use:	WYSIWYG HTML editor
Website:	Realmac Software

RapidWeaver is a WYSIWYG template-based website creation tool exclusive to Mac OS X.

RapidWeaver was one of the first web editors (along with Site Studio) to use user-selectable templates to define a website's complete appearance. This enforces consistency in the web design and makes it easy to create a fine-looking website, although some may see it as too constraining.

There is a thriving market for third-party templates, and technically skilled users can also create their own. There are also plugins, which add new features to the application.

RapidWeaver can generate pages of different kinds, such as styled text, weblog, contact forms, image galleries, Flash slideshows, and podcasts; it also has a built-in FTP uploader, and integration with iPhoto and .Mac.

1 The RapidWeaver workflow
2 Plugins included with RapidWeaver
3 Plugins from third parties
4 Similar website publishers
5 External links

[edit] The RapidWeaver workflow

RapidWeaver is modal, inasmuch as it is either in editing or previewing mode. Every page plugin has its own interface displayed in the Edit mode that allows users to change its content via typical Mac methods, such as drag-and-drop. Changes can be previewed in the Preview tab, which uses Apple's WebKit to render pages (the same rendering engine that Apple's Safari uses.

The pages are organized in an outline in a pane on the left of RapidWeaver UI. The structure of the outline reflects the structure of the web site (including the parent-child relationship for nested navigation). A site's navigation information can be changed by dragging and dropping pages within the outline.

RapidWeaver can also publish entire sites by transferring files from the user's computer to the webserver.

[edit] Plugins included with RapidWeaver

Blog
Contact Form
File Sharing
HTML Code
iFrame
Movie Album
Offsite Page
Photo Album
QuickTime
Styled Text

[edit] Plugins from third parties

Accordion (creates expandable menus)
Blocks (allows the creation of WYSIWYG-pages based on movable blocks and the embedding of other page styles within a Blocks page)
Collage (adds support for a photo album with easily applied links and user defined borders, reflection, etc.)
Columns (adds newspaper-style columns in web pages)
SiteMap (automatically generates a sitemap along with an XML description which can be submitted to search engines)
MapIt (adds Google Maps integration to a web page)
RapidSearch (adds search capability to a site)
RapidFlickr (generates photo albums and slideshows from a Flickr account)
RapidBlog (Allows blogging from anywhere using Blogger (service))
Lockdown (creates password-protected pages)
SimpleViewer (integrates the SimpleViewer Flash slideshow)
PageTOC (generates a styled text page with a table of contents linked to headers)
RapidScript (generates a page from a user-defined AppleScript script)
RapidCal (creates a calendar page integrated with iCal)