I am/was a long time Freeway Pro user, and like most am now looking for an alternative. As a non-coder and hobbyist, who has picked up a few commercial clients along the way, the program fit my needs perfectly. The design freedom it offers was the principal reason I selected Freeway.
Basically I am researching programs/companies that are discussed on this forum. After reading through the threads to get Freeway user opinions I then go searching for reviews on the web. It has been interesting. One of the benefits of researching new programs has been the realization that web page design for responsive layouts is much more involved than just changing settings at breakpoints. There are fundamental principals that should be followed to maximize the functionality.
One contender that was mentioned by only a couple of people very early on, immediately following the Serif announcement, was Responsive Site Designer (RSD) by CoffeeCup. I find this perplexing as RSD (and CoffeeCup) appears to be solid, feature rich and has a longer pedigree than most of the other alternative programs.
From my perspective RSD offers the most design freedom, has a well thought through interface and all reviews claim it produces really good code. There are a lot of layout features, meaning there will be a bit of a learning curve. CoffeeCup also produces a range of responsive programs that compliment RSD which can be purchased as a suite at a very good price. On the negative side the program, while reasonably priced, is the most expensive and may users claim there is little written reference documentation. In any case I believe RSD should be part of the discussion.
I would appreciate hearing from more skilled and experienced web site designers concerning their opinions of RSD.
Thank You,
Vern
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I am sorry for the confusion; I meant to say the Softpress announcement stating that they were closing their doors. I guess I should have read through my post more closely.
Just a note that Coffeecup is introducing FF, based on a Foundation
Framework which offers more flexibility and functionality than RSD with its
Coffeegrinder DDP, which is based on Bootstap if I’m well informed.
Its a solid company with very good support in my experience. Not cheap but
steady.
I own and use RSD and just started using Foundation Framer from Coffee Cup. I also just bought the pro subscription to Pinegrow. Between all of these tools I can pretty much tackle any project. I still have a few sites I maintain in Freeway Pro, but have started creating new projects in either RSD or now FF.
If you were creating inline layouts in Freeway, then RSD (or FF…in beta) are pretty easy to make the transition IMO. Coffee Cup has created a pretty comprehensive doc on FF features here: http://framer.coffeecup.com/tips/index.html
I like Pinegrow and the fact that you can edit the code directly and especially the ability to import any site and edit. I am just a little overwhelmed with the UI at this point and need a little more time with it.
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That’s the same I encountered with PG, all those options which I’m not
familiar with.
2016-08-02 15:16 GMT+02:00 Frank Bridges email@hidden:
I own and use RSD and just started using Foundation Framer from Coffee
Cup. I also just bought the pro subscription to Pinegrow. Between all of
these tools I can pretty much tackle any project. I still have a few sites
I maintain in Freeway Pro, but have started creating new projects in either
RSD or now FF.
If you were creating inline layouts in Freeway, then RSD (or FF…in beta)
are pretty easy to make the transition IMO. Coffee Cup has created a
pretty comprehensive doc on FF features here: http://framer.coffeecup.com/tips/index.html
I like Pinegrow and the fact that you can edit the code directly and
especially the ability to import any site and edit. I am just a little
overwhelmed with the UI at this point and need a little more time with it.
In fairness, Pinegrow has a vast amount of documentation too. I am just so busy that it is hard to find time to delve into all of it. I will at some point, and may even transition more of my time towards Pinegrow, but for “familiar” workflow creation, Coffee Cup has been relatively easy for me to jump right in and quickly create.
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Thank you Andries and Frank for the “heads-up” on Foundation Framer; although I had looked into CoffeeCup I never came across this beta program. I guess I have some more research to do.
It is also good to know the the company is solid, I don’t mind paying a little more to get a quality product. Since I am not interested in doing any coding I depend on the integrity of the software.
Looks like I will be able to find a good alternative to Freeway.
Vern
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If (auto) responsive design is a must and you must build a site quickly,
take also a look at Blocs. http://blocsapp.com/ (=mac only).
For static sites which easlily can be made adaptive you can try out
Sparkle. http://www.sparkle.cx (=also mac only).
Cloudpress can be used to make a Wordpress theme. http://www.cloud-press.net/
Adobe’s Muse has also become a very good alternative with the addition of
adaptive ‘responsiveness’ this year.
Muse has a lot of tuts and a greater community.
Thank you Andries and Frank for the “heads-up” on Foundation Framer;
although I had looked into CoffeeCup I never came across this beta
program. I guess I have some more research to do.
It is also good to know the the company is solid, I don’t mind paying a
little more to get a quality product. Since I am not interested in doing
any coding I depend on the integrity of the software.
Looks like I will be able to find a good alternative to Freeway.
I have looked into Blocs and Sparkle, both very good programs. I could be wrong but they don’t appear to offer the same design freedom as RSD (or Foundation Framer), the is what is most important for me.
Frank: Thank you for pointing me to the CoffeeCup Foundation Framer documentation, it will be very helpful for me in making a decision.
Vern
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Obviously everyone has their own preferences on UI’s and such but, the inline building model that a lot of Freeway contributors here have shared over the years works very well with RSD and/or FF. Also, a lot of the actions and class names and css that I would have inserted under “Extended” for an element in Freeway are options built right into the UI of RSD/FF. Examples: how you want to display the element …block, inline-block, table, table cell, etc. etc. Applying changes to the element type, class or id independently from a dropdown selection. The list goes on.
It could be just me, but it was a very easy transition after years of using Freeway. Of course, there are a still a lot of things I like about the way Freeway did things too. The main thing for me is that if feels like the software’s UI is current with the times (i.e. no cluttered panes all over the place, full screen mode, etc.)
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I have looked into Blocs and Sparkle, both very good programs. I could be wrong but they don’t appear to offer the same design freedom as RSD (or Foundation Framer), the is what is most important for me.
Hey Vern, Sparkle developer here. Sorry for hijacking the topic for a moment, but while I think you are probably right, framing it like that makes it sound like an absolute, whereas the web design needs are extremely varied and arguably a majority of people don’t want to touch code. It seems like most web design tools can’t shake off the code aspect, which granted is a requirement for many. I’d say Sparkle is still the best compromise if you want a visual-only website builder, and we’re super focused on keeping everything accessible visually. Many people are surprised that the sites we feature on sparkle.cx are built entirely visually.
Please post on what you pick. Coffee Cup calls there framework Coffeegrinder.
Blocs is built on Bootstrap 3, To me Coffee Cup gives you more freedom with 21 day trial.
On the other hand Blocs gives you a nice slick and easy look as there program goes. With only 5 day trial.
For the next 60 days Coffee Cup has there software on sale, But you need to call the to get the link on the sale price.
I am a part time Pet Photographer, I am looking to build a site with a nice Photo Galley.
and a slide show or something that shows my work well.
Chris
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You are right, when it comes to comparing programs descriptions that are ambiguous, like more flexible, easier, design freedom, etc…, should be used with caution as interpretation is dependant on the needs of the user.
Thanks for the feedback on Sparkle. I started this thread as there seemed to be plenty of discussion around Sparkle and Blocs, and I wanted to see how RSD fit in the mix.
On 3 Aug 2016, 8:33 am, Duncan Wilcox wrote:
I have looked into Blocs and Sparkle, both very good programs. I could be wrong but they don’t appear to offer the same design freedom as RSD (or Foundation Framer), the is what is most important for me.
Hey Vern, Sparkle developer here. Sorry for hijacking the topic for a moment, but while I think you are probably right, framing it like that makes it sound like an absolute, whereas the web design needs are extremely varied and arguably a majority of people don’t want to touch code. It seems like most web design tools can’t shake off the code aspect, which granted is a requirement for many. I’d say Sparkle is still the best compromise if you want a visual-only website builder, and we’re super focused on keeping everything accessible visually. Many people are surprised that the sites we feature on sparkle.cx are built entirely visually.
It will a while before I make any decision, but I will post when I do.
One of things I like about CoffeeCup is that they offer a suite of complimentary programs. They have one called Responsive Content Slider which is designed to build photo galleries and slideshows. Take a look.
Vern
On 3 Aug 2016, 12:25 pm, Chris Hembree wrote:
Vern
Please post on what you pick. Coffee Cup calls there framework Coffeegrinder.
Blocs is built on Bootstrap 3, To me Coffee Cup gives you more freedom with 21 day trial.
On the other hand Blocs gives you a nice slick and easy look as there program goes. With only 5 day trial.
For the next 60 days Coffee Cup has there software on sale, But you need to call the to get the link on the sale price.
I am a part time Pet Photographer, I am looking to build a site with a nice Photo Galley.
and a slide show or something that shows my work well.
Blocs gives you a nice slick and easy look as there program goes. With only 5 day trial.
Norm has already said somewhere here that he will refund your money if within 30 days you’re not happy with Blocs. He might even show pity on you for being an abandoned Freeway user by way of a sidegrade discount if you ask.
Blocs gives you a nice slick and easy look as there program goes. With
only 5 day trial.
Norm has already said somewhere here that he will refund your money if
within 30 days you’re not happy with Blocs. He might even show pity on you
for being an abandoned Freeway user by way of a sidegrade discount if you
ask.