iWeb FAQ - About iWeb and its alternatives
iWebFAQ.org
About iWeb and similar applications (iWeb compared to RapidWeaver and WordPress)
Was iWeb discontinued?
There are a lot of hints pointing to the fact that iWeb is being phased out/discontinued.
- iWeb wasn't updated in iLife '11
- iWeb is not being sold on the App Store
- iWeb doesn't come pre-installed on new Apple Computers since the release of OS Lion anymore
Can I still use iWeb?
Yes. More info here.
What are possible alternatives to iWeb?
As stated here I would continue to use iWeb for as long as it works. After that I think there are mainly two alternatives to iWeb:
- RapidWeaver
- WordPress
Which is the best application? Each of the applications has its pros and its cons...
Please note that I'm no expert and I'm judging the applications on a totally subjective and emotional bases...
| Comparing the alternatives | iWeb | RapidWeaver | WordPress |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local/Server side | Local No way to edit the website other than thorugh a Mac with the application installed and the necessary source files (no iOS) | Local No way to edit the website other than thorugh a Mac with the application installed and the necessary source files (no iOS) | Server side You can only edit the website online if you have an internet connection (or from an iOS device). There are applications to work on the website on local but I never found one working well |
| Adding HTML | ** Pretty bad. HTML Snippets don't add the code where it's supposed to be and some codes don't work when added with HTML Snippets | ***** I love it | **** Good |
| Theme design and customizability | ***** It's all drag&drop. Customizing the look of your website couldn't be any easier. However this may result in formatting problems once published and some browsers not displaying the site correctly | *** RapidWeaver lacks of an empty blank page. It usually provides only little control on the visual appearance of the site. No Shapes and such. No TextBoxes. Has to be done by coding. | *** The only way to customize the appearance of the website is by editing code. |
| Features and plugins | *** No contact form. Doesn't support plugins. You can work with codes (even if not very well) | **** Features an easy way to build contact forms and download pages. Does support plugins but to me they usually are quite overpriced hence I prefer working with codes. | ***** Does support plugins. Plugins are usually free. There are a lot of plugins which allow you to do almost anything you want. I sometimes find it easier to work with codes instead of using plugins. |
| Keep track of the work/Overview | **** Very good! | **** Very good! | *** While in iWeb and RW media files are added to the page istelf WordPress adds media files to the Media library. For instance when editing a page you don't actually see the image displaying on it. Also with iWeb and RW you get a list of all the pages you added to the site. In WordPress there's no such overview. It lists only 20 pages/entries per page which makes it more difficult to find the one you're looking for. |
| Results | *** Results are certainly graphically beautiful. Unfortunately pages mostly load slow. Which is probably not mainly due to their size but to the number of graphic files they are made out of. Some browsers get kind of confused (IE). Some browsers don't render certain things correctly (reflections, shadows, ...) (IE, FF). Source codes are a bit dirty which at times may cause formatting problems. Since the theme files are not stored in a centralized way but are stored for each page separately loading times increase further. | **** Pages look very clean same as their source code. Loading times are fast not lastly because the theme's files are stored in a centralized way so browsers don't have to load the files over and over again because they are memorized (cached). | **** Pages look very clean same as their source code. Loading times are fast not lastly because the theme's files are stored in a centralized way so browsers don't have to load the files over and over again because they are memorized (cached). |
| Being devolped | ? (Probably not... but... who knows?!) | Yes | Yes |
| Ease of use | Very easy | Very easy | Easy |
| FAQ, Tutorials, Tips&Tricks, Support | iWebFAQ.org iWebFAQ.org E-Book Apple Forums | RapidWeaverFAQ.org RapidWeaverFAQ.org E-Book Realmac Forums | WPFAQ.org WPFAQ.org E-Book WordPress Forums |
Between iWeb and RapidWeaver I think I would choose RapidWeaver. Thanks to the ease of adding HTML codes in RapidWeaver it's easy to compensate missing shapes, wrapping and whatever and it's easier to integrate third party stuff.
However in some cases I would combine RapidWeaver and WordPress. WordPress has some features and capabilities which RapidWeaver doesn't have (like the capability to edit the site from an iOS device and other mobile devices) or which are not that good in RapidWeaver as they are in WordPress.
On the other hand I prefer working on an application which resides on my computer and with RapidWeaver it's easier to keep track of one's work than it is with WordPress.
This said I would like you to know that I'm ready for the future whatever it may bring:
iWebFAQ.org and iWebFAQ.org E-Book
RapidWeaverFAQ.org and RapidWeaverFAQ.org E-Book
WPFAQ.org and WPFAQ.org E-Book
wherever you may decide to go or stay, I'm already there :-)
You can post your thoughts, opinions and reactions about this here...
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