[Pro] FREEWAY BACK

Freeway
1

I would be interested in receiving a hint of what is happening with FW development. If I were Joe (or whoever) I’d be looking for backers and then invest in a major UI overhaul. Responsive needs to be much more graceful.
I see it as only a matter of time before someone comes up with something offering the right combination of power and ease and will dominate this segment of the market. If FW can find the capitalization and has the will to split the earnings they have as good a chance as any.
I figure it is a game that will be decided within three years or so.

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2

We will have to wait and see happens with Freeway, but as somebody who has looked at other options I think Blocs shows great promise and will be radically improved when version 3 comes out in a few months.

Ashley

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3

I’m familiar with Blocs and have a license. It’s okay for basic stuff but it is not mature enough to handle large, feature-rich sites. If it were not a one-horse outfit and they were willing to do what it takes to build up the development team and really start pounding in the features, it could be a great app somewhere down the road.

I also have a license for Pinegrow, but it is too code-oriented for me to spend the time to really get up to speed.

Until I find something that can compete with FW on the two factors of WYSIWYG design and power, I will be sticking with FW. (The above two apps are among the things that prompt me to urge FW to jump on serious modernization.

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4

In a few months time you may re-evaluate your impression of Blocs, which has some big changes coming with version 3. I agree it has some limitations at the moment.

Ashley

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5

I helped out a bit a few months ago with the Blocs 2.x beta process. I agree it is an exciting product but still not enough for my needs. For example, there is no way to create responsible tables (for tabular data) and there is no way to add a site wide search feature (e.g., using Google Custom search, etc.) Search and tabular data are extremely important to me and are big reasons why I still use Freeway Pro 7.1.4.

Hopefully, Freeway 8 Pro, completely re-written from the ground up in Apple’s SWIFT, will address all our concerns, allowing us to move our existing Freeway sites to a more modern RESPONSIVE site, yet with all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect in Freeway Pro 7.

–James Wages

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6

Version 2.5 of Blocs will open up access to a new developer API, so it won’t be long before various developers are creating extras that can extend the capabilities of Blocs. Version 3 will include Bootstrap 4 and a whole array of new features.

We all want to see what Softpress will come up with, but the work should have started years ago.

Ashley

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7

@Trey Yancy I’m interested to know what freeway features you need for larger sites that you can’t add with Blocs? I know @JDW mentions tables and search, interested to hear what else, it could be somthing I can add in version 3.

As for ramping up the Dev team, it’s somthing we want to get into with some remote devs helping us but we are just starting out, it just takes time. Let’s be fair freeway started out in exactly the same way back in the 90s.

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8

I used Freeway Pro for 8 years and developed well over 150 websites in that time. A year or so ago when FW “vanished” I quickly looked for an alternative. I tried out any possibility that didn’t require any coding knowledge and eventually settled on Blocs.

Since I started with it, Blocs has really developed into a first class product with most of the features I need. OK it’s missings a few bits and pieces, but do I really need them? Like life, sometimes you have to appreciate what you have got, we all have dreams!

I’ve now developed nearly 20 sites in Blocs and my clients are delighted. OK most of them are smaller businesses who just need a professional looking web site to give them credibility. They don’t need all the bells and whistles.

Here is an example of a simple Blocs site I did recently

I’m sure I will have some critics, but the client is happy!

I was really sad to see FW go and I’m pleased someone else has picked up the ball, but for simple, feature rich, intuitive website development Blocs works for me.

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9

@Norm,

For me, I honestly don’t think Blocs needs anything other than (1) Site Search (e.g., easy and response means to implement Google Custom Search) and (2) Responsible Tables (to hold tabular data).

Can we expect those 2 features in Blocs 3.00?

:slight_smile:

–James W.

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10

Been looking at Blocs. Not quite ready for Prime Time as far as I am concerned. PHP can be integrated, but putting code right at the top, before the DocType is a problem. Also, on a similar note, form processing is restricted to sending emails - no apparent way to set up the usual Action a d Method settings. Not all forms are used to send emails out!

The one which really concerns me are the warnings in their forum that if your paste in code supplied by, say, MailChimp, which may bring with it its own JavaScript, you run the risk of corrupting the Blocs file - with dire warnings that you make a backup just in case.

I really like the look of Blocs and how it works, but I’m looking at a few deal breakers which are, I feel, pretty basic errors and omissions.

I hope I am wrong. I’m waiting for replies on their four, though I may bash out an email to their support team tomorrow.

Five day trial period. Gulp.

On 13 Nov 2017, 4:22 am, JDW wrote:

@Norm,

For me, I honestly don’t think Blocs needs anything other than (1) Site Search (e.g., easy and response means to implement Google Custom Search) and (2) Responsible Tables (to hold tabular data).

Can we expect those 2 features in Blocs 3.00?

:slight_smile:

–James W.

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11

David, I really like your kitchen site. I used to work in that field so I appreciate the presentation. I can see why your client is pleased. Great job.

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12

David, what did you use to achieve the drop down and return to show the team descriptions? Nice site.
Thanks

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13

Hi jcichy

Create the “hidden” block as reqired, then under the visability options click on the litttle “eye” icon. This will darken the block and it will not then be normally visible on the webpage.

Set up a trigger button to show the block when clicked. This is a normal button but in the Interactions dropdown select Toggle Visibility. The Target ID is the name (or ID) of the “hidden” block.

Hope this helps.

David

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14

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I’m not much of a coder. Any chance of getting the sample code for this with guidance in what to change given in a way so as it is not taken as code?

Thanks again

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15

Hi jcichy

This is a Blocs website not Freeway and these are just normal setting options, absolutely no code. If you want to do this in Freeway I’m afraid I can’t help as it would need code and I’m not a coder either!

I used Freeway for 8 years but I changed over to Blocs when Softpress closed. If you haven’t tried Blocs I would give it a try. There is a free trial, unfortunately only 7 days, but loads of videos to get you started.

Good luck

David

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16

Thanks again for the input.

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17

@jcichy there is a guy called Eldar Gezalov who has produced a series of video tutorials for Blocs. There is a more advanced set of 43 videos, which I purchased the other day, however there is also a free starter course available here https://store.eldargezalov.com/getting-started-with-blocs

I used Freeway for a number of years and made the switch to Rapidweaver a couple years ago, but going forward I’m hoping to use Blocs for everything when version 3 comes out. At this point there isn’t enough detail on what Softpress are doing to make any plans in that direction.

Ashley

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18

MUSE. I purchased it and it is the answer I have been looking for. Great interface w all the Adobe products I use everyday. Price is a subscription, but you can buy ALL the Adobe CC products for under $50/month. When you figure the aggravation it saves you, it is worth it. No more searching for me. Muse is it. The newest build…2018…is excellent. Also a ton of add-ons available to give a feature-rich, modern site without a lick of code needed.

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19

$50/month is a freaking LOT of money! Not everyone here is “in financial danger if you can’t pay a measly $50/month to Adobe,” either. Not everyone who uses Freeway is in the same boat.

There’s a reason SERIF is doing well with its excellent subscription-free Affinity Photo and Designer software. Publisher is forthcoming too. I doubt Serif would be doing as well if Adobe did not have a subscription model because their competing product would not be needed as much. It will take years for Serif to truly dethrone fat-and-sassy Adobe, but I look forward to that day with the greatest of zeal, as do countless others in the graphic design world.

With a subscription, you could pay that $50 per month religiously for 10 to 15 years, only to find yourself one day unable to pay for some reason, and you’re then left with a bunch of documents and a dysfunctional app.

If MUSE was a one-time buy, I think it would be a rather excellent product. But it’s not so I cannot even ponder it for a second. I ponder the future of Freeway, and I also ponder the future of Blocs, which really is a very promising app that is quite good even now, for people who don’t need site-search and responsive tables (for tabular data).

–James Wages

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20

To be honest… $50 is for more then 20 high class professional Adobe
products like Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Indesign Acobat Pro,
Dimension, After Effects, Premiere, Spark, Muse etc etc. Allways the latest
versions, support and a lot of tuts.
Using just one like Muse you pay around $20,- VAT included. For
professional use its one dollar per day… where are we talking about? A
fresh beer is twice the price.

There’s a growing Muse community and tons of tuts. Yes it has its limits.
But also has Blocs, Sparkle and in comparison is Freeway a fossil. Webydo
is also for non coding designers, is great too but has a steep pricetag!

I’m looking forward to a high standard all new Freeway, but in the meantime
is Muse the one that let you design your site by your own creativity, not
by templates.

Andries

Oh, Blocs is now only $39,- at Mighty Deals

2017-12-06 1:09 GMT+01:00 JDW email@hidden:

$50/month is a freaking LOT of money! Not everyone here is “in financial
danger if you can’t pay a measly $50/month to Adobe,” either. Not everyone
who uses Freeway is in the same boat.

There’s a reason SERIF is doing well with its excellent subscription-free
Affinity Photo and Designer software. Publisher is forthcoming too. I
doubt Serif would be doing as well if Adobe did not have a subscription
model because their competing product would not be needed as much. It will
take years for Serif to truly dethrone fat-and-sassy Adobe, but I look
forward to that day with the greatest of zeal, as do countless others in
the graphic design world.

With a subscription, you could pay that $50 per month religiously for 10
to 15 years, only to find yourself one day unable to pay for some reason,
and you’re then left with a bunch of documents and a dysfunctional app.

If MUSE was a one-time buy, I think it would be a rather excellent
product. But it’s not so I cannot even ponder it for a second. I ponder
the future of Freeway, and I also ponder the future of Blocs, which really
is a very promising app that is quite good even now, for people who don’t
need site-search and responsive tables (for tabular data).

–James Wages

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