RapidWeaver

RapidWeaver is a 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 website's appearance and function, 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.

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.

Plugins included with RapidWeaver

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

Theme developers

One of RapidWeaver’s notable characteristics is its ability to use site themes that simplify the website creation process for the user. There are a large number of third-party theme developers who have creating themes for RapidWeaver. Some of them include:

• Varsis Studio
• Blueball Design
• Elixir Graphics
• RapidWeaver Themes
• MultiThemes
• SeyDesign
• Josh Lockhart
• ADHD Graphics
• Rapid-Ideas
• Dave Cantu Design
• Henk Vrieselaar
• Michel Honold - Free Themes

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)
• Links (allows users to make a static home page dynamic by linking to FileMaker Pro database tables)
• Lockdown (creates password-protected pages)
• MapIt (added Google Maps integration to a web page, but is no longer available, as it is not supported under the current version of RapidWeaver)
• PageTOC (generates a styled text page with a table of contents linked to headers)
• RapidBlog (Allows blogging from anywhere using Blogger (service))
• RapidCal (creates a calendar page integrated with iCal)
• RapidFlickr (generates photo albums and slideshows from a Flickr account)
• RapidMenus (allows users to easily create linked value lists to copy into any links or blocks page)
• RapidScript (generates a page from a user-defined AppleScript script)
• RapidSearch (adds search capability to a site)
• SimpleViewer (integrates the SimpleViewer Flash slideshow)
• SiteMap (automatically generates a sitemap along with an XML description which can be submitted to search engines)

External links

• Official website

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