I'm really glad to see all this innovation in WYSIWYG web editing software, and from my experience, Sandvox from Karelia Software is poised to lead the pack. Yes, I've been going on about how excited I am about the iWeb 1.1 update, but after playing with Sandvox's beta editions, I'm going to give this official 1.0 release a good run-through, as it offers quite a bit of power and some nice tricks that other products like RapidWeaver and iWeb can't claim.
The feature that impresses me the most about Sandvox is their innovative "Pagelets" feature. Pagelets are small chunks of rich content that you can simply drag and drop around your site's theme. Don't like where your blogroll is? Just drag its pagelet somewhere else. Pagelets in the pro version can also allow you to insert your own HTML and even PHP code into any portion of your site or sidebar. Speaking of site themes: Sandvox's are stellar, and a bit more creative than iWeb's. Sandvox comes with two dozen themes, with more available.
Sandvox also does a lot of the, dare I say, 'standard' WYSIWYG web design-ish stuff that I've come to expect on the Apple platform. You can drag your audio podcasts into a Sandvox site and get them submitted to the iTMS, as well as drag images from iPhoto, etc.
Overall, despite lightning striking twice for Karelia Software, Sandvox looks like a solid product that presents a strong array of features for the WYSIWYG designer that demands a little more from their web design app.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-17-2006 @ 1:27PM
Andy said...
I love rapidweaver, but it has it's limitations. I'll have to check this out for sure.
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5-17-2006 @ 1:39PM
umijin said...
SandVox beat iWeb hands down for interface and features. The templates alone are much better and varied than anything iWeb has.
I have yet to do much with RapidWeaver, so I can't yet compare it with SV. The pro version of SV has a few more html editing features that may help it stack up better with RW.
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5-17-2006 @ 1:56PM
Nik Fletcher said...
Too bad it's still highly unstable in my usage today. RapidWeaver is still my choice!
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5-17-2006 @ 2:01PM
David said...
Is it just me or is this it a MAJOR problem that you can't change fonts or customize templates? The paglete feature is hardly enough to make up for that. I'm not sure why people have good things to say about this app.
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5-17-2006 @ 2:26PM
JClark said...
You have to have the pro version to enter HTML? And you can't customize the templates?
I think I'll stick with Rapid Weaver then, especially with version 3.5 on the way.
Regardless of what people say, if you know HTML and CSS then RapidWeaver has virtually no limitations. Heck, given that you can create your own themes relatively easily (they're just HTML and CSS with PHP code), and insert HTML or PHP anywhere (not to mention custom CSS and the like), there's nothing RapidWeaver can't do.
RapidWeaver is WordPress for the desktop (it operates in almost exactly the same way, from the user's point of view), Sandvox looks cool but WAY too limiting for serious web designers. RW could stand to borrow a few interface tricks though...
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5-17-2006 @ 2:58PM
Steve Chambers said...
I (somewhat) agree with the comment above. The program COMPLETELY lacks font/styling commands. There is not a justification command in sight (no pun intended). When I submitted that recently as a but I was informed that is something that should appear in an update to Sandvox.
To be honest without the ability to choose my own fonts and change the justification I won't touch it.
Yes I could edit the HTML code but then that defeats the purpose of a WYSIWYG web page editor.
Yes they have better themes and their HTML and site structure are MUCH easier to deal with than iWeb. And I MUCH prefer Sandvox for those reasons alone but leaving out font/style adjustments seems short sighted and, again, makes this an essentially useless app. IMHO....
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5-17-2006 @ 3:41PM
Isaiah said...
If you want WYSIWYG in RapidWeaver you should really try Blocks, a plugin for RapidWeaver: http://www.yourhead.com/blocks/index.html
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5-23-2006 @ 4:31AM
Ben Cunningham said...
well, atleast it's a universal app, rapidweaver has a bit to ask for there, yes, iWeb is from apple, but, rapidweaver still should be universal by now, other than that, rapidweaver is the best easy web creation app.
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7-27-2006 @ 1:02PM
James Aldridge said...
Rapidweaver is so much better WITH the blocks plug in.
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