WebPublishing
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Medium brings design and photo improvements to its social publishing platform
Medium is debuting a slew of new look-and-feel tweaks designed to let would-be columnists pretend they're working for a well-designed print publication. The site says that one of its initial goals was to empower writers with "dead simple" tools to present their work without a trip to art school. In addition to spacing and typography improvements, now users can add giant cover images and scalable, dynamic photos for each post. Curious to see how everyone can use these tools? Medium has set up a "Beautiful Stories" collection in the hopes of inspiring you to get a little more visual.
Sandvox for Mac updated with slide shows and more Lion features
With iWeb slowly fading into obscurity, Mac users who want to generate websites without a lot of trouble have been turning to apps such as Sandvox. The app was updated today to version 2.5, which is free for users version 2.0 and up. Prominently featured is a slideshow object that lets users drag a collection of photos to the app, with options for timing, transitions and caption control adjustable in the Object inspector. The traditional Photo Grid now supports displayed captions derived from page contents. The app also has added a reworked publishing engine and better compatibility for .mkv files and Quick Look support. Several Lion-friendly features have been added, including including Resume, Autosave, Versions and Fullscreen mode. Sandvox is not as easy to use as iWeb, but it trades a bit of complexity for far more power and control over the features of your website. It ships with several templates that make site creation fast and easy, or you can modify those templates to fit your needs. Sandvox is available in the app store for US $79.99 or directly from Karelia Software.
Adobe's Edge tool promises Flash-like animation through HTML5
Even as many onlookers declare HTML5 adoption the beginning of the end for Adobe's once-ubiquitous Flash platform, the company has embraced the web standard through properties like its Creative Suite and Wallaby. Adobe will be taking things a step further with Edge, an HTML5 design tool that promises to allow "web designers to bring animation, similar to that created in Flash Professional, to websites." The software is currently in public preview mode, available as a free download for web designers, in hopes of getting some feedback that will help shape its final release.
Apple will discontinue .Mac HomePage viewing Nov. 8
Apple has given final notice to those publishing content through the old .Mac service. A note was sent to MobileMe members today stating that as of November 8th, Web pages published using the obsolete .Mac service will become unavailable. Those publishing via iWeb will not be affected. If you're one of those still going about things this way, fret not. Your content will not be deleted. Instead, you'll find your content stored on iDisk and, should you wish, you can republished your content through MobileMe tools, like Gallery. Apple first warned of shutting down its legacy .Mac services over a year ago. A FAQ page pertaining to this can be found on Apple's support forums here. It's certainly the end of an era, but bigger and better things have arrived. Mark your calenders for November 8th and take a minute to remember just how far things have come. [Via TheLoop]
Mac 101: Publish iWeb '09 sites to FTP
More Mac 101, our series of tips and tricks for novice Mac users. Now that the winter holidays are almost upon us, we're thinking about sharing stories, photos, and movies with far-flung relatives and friends. There's a slew of ways to get this done, and this post focuses on creating a simple site in iWeb '09 and publishing it not to Mobile Me, but to your own host via FTP. If you're unfamiliar with iWeb '09, I'll say this: It does what it does well. If your goal is to share photos, movies and stories with minimal fuss and zero coding, iWeb will work. When I travel, I typically create an iWeb gallery and movie page. Yes, there are many other options, but this one works for me. If you'd rather not publish your iWeb site to MobileMe and have access to FTP, you're in luck. The setup is simple. First, create your site. Next, click the title of your site in the iWeb '09 sidebar (this doesn't work with previous versions of iWeb) to reveal the publishing options. In the first drop-down menu, select "FTP Server." Give your site a name and enter a contact email. Below that, enter your FTP settings. You'll need your server address, username, and password. Next, enter the path to the directory (http://mysite.com/paris, for example). Just make sure the directory already exists on your server or you'll get an error. It won't hurt to test the connection at this point by clicking the button that's available for just that purpose. Finally, enter your site's URL and then click Publish. Off it goes! If you set it up correctly, your iWeb-powered site will be uploaded to the proper place on your site. Subsequent updates require re-publication, so just hit that Publish button again when you're done making changes That's it! Have fun sharing your holiday experiences with iWeb '09.
