JoshLockhart.com: Weblog

How to add rotating banner images to a RapidWeaver website

2009-10-06T17:38:10+00:00

Many of my customers ask how they can add rotating banner images to their RapidWeaver website. Larry Pollock (known as Sundog on Twitter and the Realmac forums) has answered that question. He has recorded a 22 minute screencast at SupportCasts.com detailing how to add rotating banner images to a RapidWeaver theme using jQuery and the Cycle plugin. Membership is required to view the entire 22 minute screencast. A 4 minute teaser screencast is available for non-members.

Watch the tutorial

Returning to Chapel Hill

2009-09-21T15:28:12+00:00

I will be out of the office this week visiting my work colleagues at New Media Campaigns in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I will respond to any support emails after my return on September 27th. If you require immediate support with my RapidWeaver themes while I am away, post your questions to the Realmac Software support forums. Thanks!

RapidWeaver 4.3 Release Candidate 2

2009-09-09T16:13:10+00:00

Realmac Software has released RapidWeaver 4.3 Release Candidate 2. This update includes many bug fixes and tweaks. I strongly recommend this update to all RapidWeaver 4 users.

Introducing Envision 2.0 for RapidWeaver

2009-09-04T19:07:02+00:00

Envision 2.0 is here! This update includes new theme variations, new color pickers, bug fixes, and IE8 compatibility.

New Features

“Navigation - Height” theme variation
Control the height of the top horizontal navigation menu

“Navigation - Left and Right Padding” theme variation
Control the left and right padding of the top horizontal navigation menu items. A smaller padding will allow you to have more menu items.

“Blog - Colors > Read More Link” color picker
Control the color of the Read More link on blog listing pages

“Blog - Colors > Read More Link (Hover)” color picker
Control the hover-state color of the Read More link on blog listing pages

Added 300px, 350px, 400px options to “Header - Height” theme variation
Now you can use a taller header

Added 50px, 350px, 400px options to “Banner - Height” theme variation
Now you can use a taller banner iamge

Bug Fixes

Many of you experienced rendering issues with Envision in Internet Explorer 8. These issues are fixed, and Envision 2.0 now supports Internet Explorer 8.

I also corrected a rendering issue with the magnifying glass search icon in the navigation menu. If the top horizontal menu items exceeded the available width, the search icon would become displaced. This is fixed.

New RapidWeaver Snippets for Envision

I have included eight (8) RWSnippets for my Envision RapidWeaver theme. These are in the “Extras” folder in the product download. They are:

Footer Alignment
Header Alignment
Page Header 1 Font Size
Page Header 2 Font Size
Page Header 3 Font Size
Page Header 4 Font Size
Remove Content Top Border
Title Font Weight

These RWSnippets provide additional functionality and also replace several theme variations I removed from Envision 2.0. Why did I remove several theme variations? According to my recent tests, Internet Explorer only reads up to 31 external style sheets. Subsequent external style sheets are ignored. This feature/bug partially explains why many of you experienced rendering issues with Envision 1.0 in Internet Explorer. Envision’s theme variations exceeded this threshold and therefore caused Internet Explorer to ignore subsequent style sheets. To resolve this issue, I removed the “Title - Font Weight” and “Page - H1…H4 Font Size” theme variations and replaced their functionality with free RWSnippets included with Envision 2.0. I do apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause, but there is nothing more I can do to resolve this inherent browser limitation.

To install a RWSnippet, double-click the .rwsnippet file. To apply these RWSnippets to your Envision website, drag and drop the snippet from the Snippet window into the Page Inspector > Header > CSS text area.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about Envision 2.0. Enjoy!

Forthcoming Update for my Envision RapidWeaver Theme

2009-08-29T14:19:06+00:00

My Envision RapidWeaver theme continues to be a tremendous success. Many of you have even adopted Envision for your own websites. Many of you have also sent me great constructive feedback and suggestions for improvements to my Envision theme. I hear you. I am currently working on the first update for my Envision theme that fixes several issues with Internet Explorer 8 and third-party plugins. This update should be released within a week.

Introducing my Envision RapidWeaver Theme

2009-08-26T01:52:16+00:00

I am excited to introduce Envision, my newest RapidWeaver theme. Envision provides many theme variations and color pickers to help you customize your RapidWeaver website. Envision also provides built-in support for RapidSearch, jQuery, PrettyPhoto, JS-Kit Echo, and more. I have provided three (3) built-in theme styles to help you get started. Envision works with RapidWeaver 4 and above (although it should still work with version 3.6).

Purchase Envision

My Envision RapidWeaver theme is available today for $19.95 USD. You can also purchase an Envision / RapidSearch bundle for $27.45 to save 50% off the price of RapidSearch.

Purchase Envision

Envision RapidWeaver Theme Features

Envision also provides the following noteworthy features:

Hybrid Navigation Menu

Envision provides a hybrid horizontal menu with vertical dropdowns that provides 1 horizontal menu level with up to 7 vertical dropdowns. You can also control the menu dropdown opacities.

Body Background Images

Use up to 20 JPG and PNG header background images. Customize the background position and specify its repeat direction using Theme Variations in the Page Inspector.

Page Banners

Use up to 20 JPG and PNG page banner images. Banners can be shown or hidden on a per-page basis. You can also customize the banner height using Theme Variations.

Rounded Corners

Apply rounded corners to the layout corners and control the corner radii for using Theme Variations in the Page Inspector.

Built-in RapidSearch Form

Use the built-in RapidSearch form to quickly and easily add site-wide Google search to your Envision website. RapidSearch is sold separately or in a bundle.

Built-in jQuery Javascript Library

The jQuery Javascript library is built-in! Out-of-the-box, you immediately have access to the entire jQuery library, and it uses “No Conflict Mode” to safely avoid conflicts with other Javascript libraries.

Built-in PrettyPhoto jQuery Lightbox Plugin

The PrettyPhoto Lightbox plugin is built-in! Out-of-the-box, you can quickly and easily create galleries and slideshows with photos, videos, Flash movies, and external websites.

JS-Kit Echo Support

Envision supports JS-Kit’s JS-Kit Echo comment system out-of-the-box. Enjoy real-time conversation among various social graphs from your Envision website.

Enjoy!

Flex RapidWeaver Theme Update Released

2009-08-21T02:04:25+00:00

My Flex RapidWeaver theme has received a minor update today that addresses several bugs and introduces several new features. Changes in this update include:

Fixed: Photo album and movie album thumbnail display bug
Fixed: Footer line-height bug
Added: Verdana and trebuchet font family options
Added: Header Height variation
Added: Header Font Weight variation
Added: Header Font Family variation
Added: Layout Base Font Size variation
Added: Footer Alignment variation

To install this upgrade, replace your existing flex1.rwtheme file with the new flex1.rwtheme file included in the upgrade download. You can locate your existing flex1.rwtheme file in the ~/Library/Application Support/RapidWeaver/ directory. Please backup all relevant files before performing this upgrade.

All current Flex RapidWeaver theme users will receive a download link via email within 24 hours. All future Flex RapidWeaver theme users will receive the most recent version of Flex. Please contact me with any questions about this upgrade. Enjoy!

Flex theme receives minor bug-fix

2009-07-28T22:13:16+00:00

I have released a minor bug-fix for my Flex RapidWeaver theme. There was a CSS error with the “Page - Banner Image” variation. This issue is fixed and now works as expected. Current Flex users will receive a free download link via email very soon.

Introducing my new Flex theme for RapidWeaver

2009-07-27T13:50:31+00:00

Say hello to Flex

I am very excited to announce Flex, my new RapidWeaver theme. My Flex theme is available today for USD $19.95. You can also purchase a Flex/RapidSearch bundle to save 50% of the cost of RapidSearch! Simply put, I believe Flex is the most customizable RapidWeaver theme I have ever built. You can read about its features below.

Learn more about Flex

Feature highlights

Hybrid horizontal navigation menu with vertical drop-down submenus (1 top level and up to 7 submenus)
Built-in jQuery 1.3.2 Javascript library
Built-in PrettyPhoto lightbox gallery
Built-in search form with RapidSearch integration
Up to 20 header backgrounds with user-defined background image, position, and repeat (10 JPGs and 10 PNGs)
Up to 20 user-defined banner images (10 JPGs and 10 PNGs)
Rounded corners on various layout elements with user-defined radii
Transparent menu tabs and drop-downs with user-defined transparency
JS-Kit comment support
Color pickers for most layout elements, including a, p, em, i, strong, b, blockquote, cite, code, ins, del, and more
6 Theme Styles to help get you started
Supports RapidWeaver 4

Integrated RapidSearch search form

Flex provides a built-in search form that integrates seamlessly with my RapidSearch plugin for RapidWeaver. Now your website visitors can search your website with minimal setup.

Built-in jQuery 1.3.2 and PrettyPhoto lightbox

Flex provides a built-in minified copy of jQuery 1.3.2 and the PrettyPhoto lightbox. You have access to the complete jQuery library out of the box. And setting up a professional lightbox gallery for images, movies, Flash SWFs, and YouTube videos is a breeze.

Custom header backgrounds

Flex is my first theme to provide customizable header background images. You can use up to 10 JPG images and up to 10 PNG images in your header background. You can even specify the background image position and repeat direction.

Built with web standards in mind

Flex was built with web standards in mind. Flex uses the XHTML 1.0 Strict DTD, and you can use color pickers to style a, p, em, i, strong, b, blockquote, cite, code, ins, del, and more!

Web Browser Support

Safari
Firefox
Chrome
Internet Explorer 8
Internet Explorer 7
Internet Explorer 6

***Rounded corners do not work in Internet Explorer. Transparent PNGs do not work in Internet Explorer 6.

The Seeker: Animated search bar tutorial for RapidWeaver

2009-07-12T20:48:37+00:00

Marten of RapidWeaver Central released a thorough and well-written tutorial that demonstrates how to implement a search bar on your RapidWeaver website.

If you’ve been looking under chairs and tables, trying to find the key to the pop-up searchbar fable… then your search is over. The Seeker is here. And it’ll help you find what you’re after. With style.

Marten also describes how to enhance your Seeker search bar with RapidSearch, my own search plugin for RapidWeaver that easily integrates Google search within your RapidWeaver website.

See the full Seeker tutorial or read the original announcement on the Realmac Software forums.