iweb
Latest
iWeb 2.0.3 update
In addition to releasing the iWork update last night, the updated status on MacBook Air and Apple TV today; Apple just now issued an update for iWeb '08. In Apple's normal long-winded explanation of the update, they say "This update addresses compatibility with Mac OS X."The 17.2 MB iWeb 2.0.3 update can be downloaded through Software Update (Apple Menu > Software Update) or by downloading the update package from Apple's support downloads website. Thanks, Adam!
iWeb 2.0.2 is available
The folks at Apple have had a busy day. iWeb 2.0.2 is now available, with the following changes:"This update to iWeb addresses issues with upgrading iWeb 1.x websites, and fixes some common publishing problems, and supports general compatibility issues."I haven't experienced any issues with iWeb. If you have - and if this update provides the fix - let us know.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
iWeb 2.0.1
The new app smell has hardly left iWeb '08 and already Software Update brings a dot rev for it. iWeb 2.0.1 'addresses issues with upgrading and publishing iWeb 1.x websites.' Rather terse, as most of the recent Apple update descriptions have been lately.If you've been having trouble with iWeb 1.x websites in iWeb '08, this update is for you. Download here or through Software Update.Thanks, Robert.
Multisite and iWebSites for iWeb now supports '08 version
For most users, iWeb keeps things simple by creating and managing a single, all-encompassing site file stored in your home directory. The downside for anyone who would like to create more than one site with iWeb, however, is that the app doesn't offer any easy way to do so; users have to drill into ~/Library/Application Support/iWeb/ and either manually move or delete the single site file in that folder, or pick up an app like Multisite for iWeb or iWebSites. Both of these apps allow you to easily create independent iWeb site files that can be published to different local folders and subsequently uploaded with external FTP apps to anywhere you chose. Fortunately, both apps have just been updated to work with the new iWeb '08, though note that iWebSites is at a 2.2 alpha stage, as the developer isn't positive all the kinks have been worked out yet. While I haven't used either of these apps, a quick perusal of their features sets reveals that iWebSites has a unique trick up its sleeve: it can merge two different iWeb site files into one, though it apparently can take a while. Anyone have experience with these apps?Multisite for iWeb is available from Clarkwood Software for $19.95 with a demo available, while iWebSites is offered as donationware from Cocoadrillo Software.
iWeb '08
I need to come right out and say it: I am really, really excited for iWeb and all the new .Mac changes. With the first version of iWeb, Apple didn't seem to quite 'get it' yet; everything you could build into your pages had to more or less come from your Mac desktop. In a web 2.0 world though, that just doesn't cut it for so many aspiring iWeb users. Many of us have Twitter accounts, pictures on Flickr and stuff we create at zillion of other sites that we'd like to integrate into a personal website, and iWeb 2.0 reveals that Apple finally understands this. Web Widgets Finally melding the power and ease iWeb brings to publishing your Mac's media with the rest of the internet is iWeb's arguably biggest new feature: Web Widgets. While this page is a little skimpy on details, we can now embed code snippets from the endless community sites cropping up on the web into our iWeb pages. As an awesome bonus I can't wait to see in action, iWeb also offers a live preview mode that will include these widgets, so you can see your site in action and be sure everything gels before publishing. Publish to a personal domain This feature doesn't get its own page at the new iWeb site, but hopeful iWeb power users will likely appreciate the fact that you can now publish your sites to personal domains. Details are even slimmer for this one, but it sounds like Apple finally shared some of Mac OS X's built-in FTP abilities with iWeb, allowing us to set up our own personal sites for one-click publishing.
Mac.com updates with more storage, new tips on using iLife '08
Attention all those waiting for .Mac to receive some much-needed attention, your wish (or at least some of your wishes) have been granted. Apple's press event is still wrapping up as I write this, but the mac.com site has already updated with the changes Steve Jobs announced today, along with some tips on how to use a few of iLife '08's new features (as of this writing, however, the iLife site has not updated yet). One of the biggest changes to .Mac is a 10x storage increase for individual accounts from 1GB total for .Mac mail, iDisk and websites to a whopping 10GB. While total monthly bandwidth transfer was previously at 250GB, I haven't seen any details on whether that has increased (though I assume - or at least hope - it has). As a nice bonus, the attachment size limit on inbound/outbound .Mac email messages has doubled from 10MB to 20, bringing it up to par with Gmail and other services.[Update: Woops, my bad. Previously, .Mac members had 25GB of monthly transfer, which has now been raised to 100GB.][Update 2: I just signed into my .Mac account online to see the new storage is already available to me. Since I previously paid for extra storage, I now have 20 GB available to split between Mail and my iDisk. At least one commenter has confirmed this as well, but users might still see this get rolled out slowly until the 14th like Apple originally specified.]While iLife '08 is shipping today (though no word yet on availability in brick and mortar stores), .Mac storage will be increased for all users by August 14th. Until then, you can enjoy some of the new tips being published on how to leverage the new iLife and .Mac features, such as publishing iWeb sites to your own personal domain and publishing photos from the new iPhoto to the hot new Web Galleries. You can be sure we're all getting our hands on copies of iLife '08 as soon as possible, and reviews of all the new features will be coming as fast as we can write them.
RapidWeaver 3.6 released
Realmac Software today has released the much-anticipated new version of RapidWeaver, their powerful WYSIWYG software that does a great job of filling the gap between iWeb and Dreamweaver. This new v3.6 ushers in a significant list of new features, such as: Themes Styles - no more digging in HTML and CSS to customize your theme (unless you really want to) 6 completely new themes Snippets - manage chunks of frequently used code instead of copy/pasting or constantly re-typing New Flash Slideshow - completely rewritten and can now pull images from a Flickr feed Improved blog, including tags and inline comment support Easy creation of Lists Detailed Publishing And much, much more Also, due to RapidWeaver's "skyrocketing" popularity, RealMac Software introduced a redesigned website today that includes a full-featured add-ons section where users can browse themes, plug-ins and code snippets, which of course also means 3rd parties nowhave one central RapidWeaver community where the can highlight their products. With everything involved, I can completely understand Realmac Software's decision to make v3.6 a paid upgrade - current users (including MacHeist owners) can purchase a v3.6 license for $25, while a full license costs $49. A demo is of course available, so head over to the shiny new Realmac Software site to see everything RapidWeaver has to offer.
iWebFlinger - the HTML and FTP uploading tool
iWebFlinger is great for those who want to use HTML to customize their iWeb sites, but they neither have nor want a .Mac account with which to publish. On the customization front, this useful tool allows you to insert code into your iWeb sites by wrapping it in a specific tag, as well as customizing the site-wide header and footer with dedicated chunks of code (pictured). As far as getting your recently-created iWeb site to where it's going, iWebFlinger's FTP features are pretty handy. Your password is stored in the system-wide Keychain, and you can even upload a favicon (the neat little custom icons that appear alongside a site's URL in the address bar). iWebFlinger also has the option to be smart about exactly which files it needs to upload and replace, which can save a lot of time when you make additions or changes to your site. iWebFlinger is donationware from Chris J. Shull, and it's available at his site.
Five iWeb Shareware Alternatives
Over at Informit, Ryan Faas posts about five shareware alternatives to iWeb. I spent a bit of time using iWeb when it first shipped but quickly abandoned it when it became clear how slow and clunky it was as a development tool. Although iWeb produces some beautiful pages, it wasn't useful enough for me to make up for its operational difficulties. So it was nice to stumble across this list of alternatives including programs like Sandvox and RapidWeaver and revisit a space that I had more or less already written off.
iLife 06 Hot Tips are actually pretty handy
I saw a del.icio.us/popular bookmark fly past NetNewsWire for the GarageBand 3 Hot Tips section of Apple's site, and wondered if Apple started posting tricks in those pages that might actually be useful. Sure enough - they have. Check out the Hot Tips sections for iWeb, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand. I never knew, for example, that you could simply drag a clip from iMovie's clip bin or even timeline onto the QuickTime icon in the Dock to export and re-encode said clip. How about that musical typing keyboard in GarageBand, or the app's ability to tune your guitar or bass? These Hot Tips pages probably have a little something for all levels of iLife users, but feel free to post your own hidden gems that you've found if you think Apple missed something.
Apple releases iLife video tutorials
The tireless folks on the iLife team at Apple have released a very nice set of video tutorials for each of the suite's applications. You can browse the videos by topic, and move through each step-by-step clip easily. It's a great place to start getting you hands dirty with the iApps. Check it out (and go create something!).[Via Macworld UK]
iWeb 1.1.1
Apple has just released an update for iWeb. iWeb 1.1.1 'resolves issues related to publishing to .Mac.' I'm all for resolving issues, though I do wish Apple was a little more forthcoming with which issues are addressed.Available via Software Update or on Apple's website. It clocks in at 88.8MB on the website, though it is 95MB for me (as you can see above).Thanks, Zack.
iComment 4.1 adds comments, trackbacks, webstats to iWeb sites
iComment, as we've mentioned before, allows you to add trackbacks and detailed webstats to iWeb sites, and even comment systems to iWeb sites hosted somewhere besides .Mac. Implementing some of these features can be a bit clunky, as you have to sign up for external services to help drive some of them, however, if you just gotta have comments and webstats the latest version of iComment (4.1) is probably the best way to get the job done.A demo is available, and a license will cost a mere $9.95.
iWeb 1.1 can handle multiple site databases
I was pretty darn happy with iWeb's update the other day, and good news of feature enhancements is still cropping up. Comments on my review of iWeb's new features pointed out such handy additions as a pop-up calendar when clicking on a blog post's date - great for adjusting its schedule. There are also six new themes that add some much appreciated diversity to iWeb's style.Then today I noticed this Apple Support document that details iWeb 1.1's ability to handle more than one website/database file. Now, you can create multiple database files and work on them separately. In fact, you can keep these files anywhere you want to; not just in your Application Support folder.Check out the Apple Support document for details on how to create a second iWeb database and how to handle working with multiple sites. There are a couple of minor gotcha's, but overall, this should be good news for anyone who wants to use iWeb to create and manage multiple, completely separate websites (publishing to non-.Mac locations, of course).
Review: iWeb's enhancements are exactly what it needed
In the most recent iLife '06 software update that Damien mentioned, iWeb understandably received the largest bump of new features and bug fixes; after all, it is the latest to arrive at the iLife party. Considering that I've been pretty vocal about my gripes with this otherwise fantastic addition to both iLife and .Mac, you can imagine my enthusiasm for Software Update to work its magic asap.After tinkering with the new features in iWeb 1.1 like blog comments and drop-dead simple photo album page creation, I thought I'd post a quick review of what's new, as I think iWeb is finally starting to fit into its role of a strong, WYSIWYG 1.0 application from Apple.
Software Update: iLife 06 Applications
Apple pushed out some updates to iLife 06 this afternoon via Software Update. iMovie, iWeb, iPhoto, and iDVD all recieved updates; the most significant appearing to be iWeb, which is bumped to version 1.1 and "adds comment and search support for blogs and podcasts published to .Mac," and also "addresses a variety of usability and performance issues for all users, including image management fixes to improve site load performance."
iLifeStuff releases additional iWeb templates
A few weeks ago, we pointed to iLifeStuff, a site that creates alternate templates for Apple's iWeb. At the time, they had three templates available and they've since added three more: "Pink," "Light" and "Green." You can buy any individual template for $12.99US, or get all six for $29.99US.You can also find some great templates (and all-new page layouts) for iWeb at 11 Mystics (I really like this one).
iWebSites
Sure, you like iWeb, and why wouldn't you? It is pretty, simple to use, and it gets the job done. However, what if you want to maintain multiple websites with iWeb? You can do it, but iWeb groups them all together, so you only really have one document as far as iWeb is concerned (plus they all have to go to the same place. Bummer). Enter iWebSites. This little application knows just what iWeb wants to see, and it makes sure that happens, however it also allows you to have multiple sites that save to different places. This application is at a .9 release, but it is free so I bet it is worth it to try and give it a go. [via MacDevCenter]
iWeb Optimizer - easily shrink oversized images
iWeb Optimizer is a simple Automator app that allows you to easily compress PNG images inside your iWeb site into JPG files, but it maintains the same file name so it doesn't break any of your links or images. Simply drag and drop the site folder that iWeb creates (be it in your iDisk or an exported directory you specified) onto iWeb Optimizer and let it work its magic. The handy little utility will also parse all your subdirectories, making sure no PNG is safe from a little JPG compression.iWeb Optimizer is free and available from Automator World.
iLifeStuff offers iWeb templates
If you're like me (impatient and easily distracted), you've already grown bored with the default iWeb templates. You should visit iLifeStuff. They've got three original iWeb templates for sale, namely, "Water," "Wood" and "Yellow." You can buy any individual template for $12.99US, or get all three for $29.99US.As for me, I'd love a design that says "kids" without the "cutesy."[Via MacMinute]
