Rome wasn't built in a day

Freeway
1

Hi guys,

thought to wrap some things in mind in a pretty small article. It would better fit in “tutorials” however it’s kind of FreewayTalk as well.

By stalking most of the threads here, I recognized a drastically change in nearby everything regarding work with Freeway. While lots taking refuge in templates, others try frameworks (like Backdraft). Especially those staring entirely new to web design do have a hard time cause they’re overwhelmed by nearby everything!

But what Thomas do you want to tell us?

It’s pretty simple. We, having had luck starting a couple of years ago, had the chance to simply build stuff how we wanted to. We haven’t had the need of thinking dynamics and were able to simply do - such as a kid would simply place block on block - building St. Pauls Cathedral (which requires lot of fantasy, does it?).

This was enormous helpful, cause it gave us the possibilities to develop ourselves. We saw what we did - and we were all the same (kind of). Simply drop and drag was the method we all started. And without this experience I wouldn’t be still here. Cause my frustration would have grown and the fun part never started to happen.

And now?

Well, today we judge. We judge the work by inspecting its basic structure. And those trying the same things than we are used to do will quick realize that there is something wrong. I wonder how to get back those times. I know - we can’t. Not in the same manner we did.

Or can we even roll back in time?

Recognizing, that templates are “crap” cause they are rarely enough fit into each single needs - can we motivate people doing their own stuff again. I mean simply drop and drag as if there would be no tomorrow? And then - when they did the first thing slightly move them forward?

Google says no! The interesting part is, that a static page only requires a @media query - and although there is one dummy entrance in - google will swallow this fish. It will change in future - but currently it works.

I mentioned it already in another thread:

“Excellent dynamic comes from outclass static”. Learning this static HTML is challenge enough, and all this isn’t necessarily “code”. Freeway helped me and I always tried to give this back - primary to the App itself, but as well to its users.

Or is web design turning back to what it was? A highly professional beast of thing - called job?

I’m curious what you think, hoping on a lil nice and useful conversation.

Cheers

Thomas

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Hi Thomas,
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this. I’ve been feeling like I’ve suddenly gone stupid ever since I tried to build my own responsive website with FW7
I am one of those new guys who were pretty much forced into building my own responsive web site. I needed to replace my old table based art website and tried to hire someone to do it. Long storey but gave up.
I didn’t like the idea of my site being held hostage with on line, monthly fee site builders so tried at least 6 of the best stand alone WYSIWYG ones then went with FW7 - because of it’s intuitive, easy to use, drag and drop interface and frankly, because it was made in England! Weird but I trust that.

Unfortunately all the good easy stuff apparently is for building old static pages and yes I was overwhelmed by nearly everything!

I’m an artist but I don’t think I’m stupid. I’ve got an industrial electronics degree, an electrical C licence, head of the technology department for a very large cablevision co., wrote a users manual for a digital spectrum analyser, repaired microwave systems and bla bla but I found FW7 too complex!
For me, thank God for Backdraft, the absolutely amazing tech support from the folks at Softpress and you folks on this forum.

Your comment that pre-responsive design you could “simply build stuff how we wanted to” hits home too. I’m an artist and I love it. Give me a pencil or paint brush and I’ll start having fun. The instantaneous connection between imagination, unconscious thought and seeing it happen on the paper is crucial to creativity. Even if it’s just doodling, it’s fun, time stops. I suspect the old days of static FW pages were a bit like that.

Try to create art with programs like Illustrator or Photoshop (particularly older versions) forces you outside that zone and just kills the creative flow. It’s work, not fun, slow, complex left brain analysing and pre-planning.

But to end on the positive, new programs have immerged for artists like Painter, upgrades to Photoshop and tablets which are making computer design fun again. Like the ancient battle between DOS and Apple ways of doing things I suspect this will happen here too with future releases of FW and emerging platforms like Sparkle Scarlett and Blocks etc.

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Amen, Barry. I really relate to your “I’m an artist but I don’t think I’m stupid…but I found FW7 too complex.” I have a Ph.D. in a non-tech field. But I have at times felt technologically overwhelmed in my 11-year progression from Freeway 3.5 Express up to (now) Freeway 7 Pro.

Thankfully, through trial and error (lots of errors!) and tons of input from expert posters on this forum, I found an answer which works for me personally. I finally cobbled together a workable system for changing my ~340 non-mobile pages to mobile, plus creating new mobile pages. Taking all the piece-by-piece input I picked up on this forum and in the manuals and tutorials, I wrote out a two-page CHECKLIST. I don’t understand all the technology behind each item. But they work! So I religiously follow my checklist when creating a new page or “mobilizing” an existing one.

Here’s the great thing. As I use that checklist, I find that slowly the “light is going on” in various areas. I’m starting to understand the “why” of percentages, of max/min/fixed, etc.

In brief, thanks to all the experts here that take so much time to help us low-tech webmasters create a working website. I appreciate it very much.

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Hi guys,

thanks for your input so far.

Basically I wouldn’t be so critical against “hosted and payed per month” solutions, cause in some cases, they could do a really good job. And hosting is a thing you anyway have to pay. On the other hand - I prefer the “hands on things” as well.

The biggest hurdle is often enough the “my page needs to look crazy cool (… similar to my competitor … )”. This is the first devil in detail. It suddenly stops any kind of simplified working so it stops immediately the basic thoughts.

Nobody is dumb per se - but nobody admits, being a bit shorthanded by the flood of challenges.

It wasn’t expecting the “I’m coming from DTP and now doing a bit of web design - just for a friend” Freeway user are rushing in here. But those are the real target for this talk.

You guys doing a hobby or trying to feature your thoughts do anyway have my admiration. You do perhaps the hardest job of us all. You never saw yourself as “Designer” while the above mentioned group often enough do! Both results do look pretty much the same. Template adjusted!

AND most important message for this thread:

I’m joining this community since 2009 (starting FW somewhere in 2007/2008). After playing around with drop’n drag, I pretty quick realized, that this is OK - but not enough at all. So since there, I featured “Inflow-constrcution” with pretty less success - I mean featuring not doing :-).

And to all times, a Freeway user have had another excuse not doing inflow. In 2009, it was clear to me - in 2015 people wonder why everything changed - not being up-to-date? Crazy, isn’t it?

Cheers

Thomas

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