Filed under: Software, Internet Tools
Sandvox 1.2.8 adds MobileMe Compatibility
Karelia Software announced the availability of Sandvox 1.2.8 this week. If you're unfamiliar, Sandvox is a very nice and lightweight WYSIWYG web editor for Mac OS X (we've written about Sandvox before) that makes publishing easy. With iLife integration, attractive themes and more, you'll be happy to use it for that quick and easy site you want to publish with a minimum of fuss.Karelia has always offered .Mac integration, and version 1.2.8 offers compatibility with MobileMe. Other changes include an updated iMedia Browser which supports iPhoto Events and multiple Aperture libraries.
Sandvox requires Mac OS 10.4 or later, is universal and comes in both pro ($79US) and standard ($49US) versions. Version 1.2.8 is a free upgrade for registered users.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
wdympcf said 4:32PM on 7-22-2008
How exactly does Sandvox differentiate itself from iWeb? It looks to me like iWeb with different templates and a slightly different layout.
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Christina Warren said 6:26PM on 7-22-2008
Pretty much. You have more control over what you can do with your design and there are more themes available (a bunch are included, others are available for pretty minimal cost), but its a very, very similar program.
If you are looking for something substantially better than iWeb, in terms of capability, but still want a nice interface, check out RapidWeaver.
Steven Marx said 10:33AM on 7-23-2008
Actually Sandvox is MUCH more capable than iWeb. It has a free demo that I suggest you download and check out if you're interested. I develop websites for a living, and while I hand code and use Dreamweaver (unfortunately), I have also had great results with Sandvox in the right situation. In the Pro version you can edit/insert Raw HTML, it has a wide variety of pagelets and page types for creating different types of sites. iWeb 2.0 seems to have added some of the features Sandvox has always had, but not nearly all. Oh, and Sandvox sites load fast as opposed to the painful slowness of iWeb.
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SavageSun said 1:20PM on 7-23-2008
Having used and built a website out of iWeb and been pleased with the results, iWeb is an excellent tool. That said I knew my website needed to mature and the growth I wanted could not be met with any version of iWeb and trust me, I attempted.
I discovered Sandvox on the Apple site and decided to try it. It took where I wanted my site to go and the good news is that Sandvox continues to mature along with my desires for my site.
This is no way takes anything away from iWeb. Just like there are more than one word processor or drawing apps they all serve a niche. I feel that Sandvox fills the niche between iWeb and outsourcing your website development.
When I began looking for a app that would provide me with the support I needed to upgrade my website from iWeb I knew I did not need to spend thousands or even hundreds of dollars. I am just a guy who spend a lot of time working on his Jeep and wants to share it with folks. But I also had outgrown iWeb. Sandvox fills the bill.
You also have to understand how Apple does business, I do very well being a software engineer and long time Apple developer. If Apple wanted to build a killer web site app they could and would, but that is rarely the Apple way. For those that remember, MacWrite, MacDraw etc were all good apps and filled the niche. If you needed to go beyond that you used MS Office.
I have had an Apple sitting on my desk since 1985 along with a plethora of other computers and terminals from Mainframe to mid range Sun. I am sure that Apple is quite happy with iWeb and so are the folks that use it.
Apple is smart, VERY SMART!
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Charlie Lockhart said 5:55PM on 7-23-2008
Although at first glance they may appear similar, once you use Sandvox and see what it is actually capable of, you'll find there is a huge difference between the 2 programs.
While iWeb is a decent enough program for what it is - a basic entry level web site development program for beginners, Sandvox can be used for a wide variety of site needs from beginning level sites to full fledged pro sites using php, javascripts, ecommerce, and more. In the pro version, you can literally inject any type of code and function you want into a site page(s) in any area of a site page.
One big thing you will notice right off is that iWeb's published pages have code that is very bloated and not structured cleanly resulting in huge page file sizes with multiple png image files, with the end results that page load times for the most part on iWeb sites are extremely slow. Sandvox on the other hand publishes extremely clean code that validates resulting in much much smaller page file sizes resulting in very fast page load times for a Sandvox created web site.
Sandvox also has something called "pagelets" which are a huge plus for adding in extremely sophisticated functions and features to a Sandvox site page(s) with minimal effort. The amount of items you can easily customize in a Sandvox site are huge when compared to iWeb.
And there's a lot more functions, features and positive advantages that Sandvox has over iWeb. Too many to list them all here. You can do some very professional and advanced sites with Sandvox Pro. You can check out some at www.sandvoxed.com as some examples.
And just to be up front, we develop templates for Rapidweaver AND Sandvox and have for some time but we are not affiliated with or part of Karelia software. We have also used other web programs for the past 10 plus years to create sites with that include Rapidweaver, Sandvox, Freeway Pro, GoLive and Dreamweaver. We've used iWeb as well but have never developed a site for a client using it. With all the others we have.
I would put Sandvox almost on a level with Rapidweaver, but honestly until it picks up a few additional functions and features, more in between iWeb and Rapidweaver while being just behind Rapidweaver. The only items it lacks to move closer to matching Rapidweaver now IMO are built-in sub menu level creation, theme/design variations, and flash slideshow movie creation.
So like a previous post suggested, download Sandvox and give it a spin. I think once you work with it a while, you'll be very pleasantly surprised at what you find you can do with Sandvox compared to the limitations of iWeb.
One last thing to note - the developers are very responsive and listen to their user suggestions and needs coming out with new version releases on a regular basis, something that iWeb sorely lacks.
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