Windows 2 Apples Episode 7

Windows 2 Apples Episode 7

To prevent confusion and the spread of misinformation, I need to add this quickie update to my last post … episode 6 of Windows 2 Apples.

I was almost ready to throw in the towel today and stop trying to use the iMac as my primary tool for creating media rich web content. I seriously began searching for a Windows replacement for GarageBand and to refocus my time on using the many excellent media development programs that came bundled with my Sony Tower or that I have added over time.

iWeb has been a huge waste of time and I have had to redo my simple .Mac Web 3 times so far. Contrary to my initial impressions of the 08 version there is no simple way to manage multiple Web sites. You still have to move the domain file before booting iWeb in order to force it to ask for a site different from the one you worked on last. I must have assumed the prompt for domain was always present at launch because I had to reinstall iLife 08.

This inability to select the desired project without manually moving files around is so very limiting, prone to error and lame I am hoping that I have missed something and that I am wrong. As it is iWeb seems to be primarily intended for setting up and maintaining one .Mac site. Apple says it is possible to manage other domains but you have to remove the last used domain file to insure iWeb boots with a prompt for the domain you want to work with! This is a huge step backwards! I don’t understand this kind of short-circuited software development.

I do long for FrontPage even though Microsoft sometimes seemed to insist on generating some very peculiar and Explorer dependent html code. I remember the exhilaration I felt the 1st time I used it to complete a relatively complex WEB within a few hours of installing it. I was able to create, upload and maintain several sites with ease. I still use FrontPage for two brochure type sites, leaving the commercial sites to hand coded html. Microsoft has discontinued FrontPage and I am reluctant to use it to create new sites. But iWeb seems to suffer from a lack of flexibility and function that makes it almost unusable as a tool to efficiently create and maintain multiple webs.

I truly hope I am wrong but the iWeb 08 online help suggests that since iWeb 1.1 this is the way users switch between WEB projects. I still can’t believe this is the kind of software design that has gained Apple so many fans and accolades. I will hang in a bit longer and see if I can really begin to get things done as efficiently and as quickly on a Mac as I can in Windows.

I did find one very nasty “I got ya” worth passing on. First save, save, save your work as you create or alter a site using iWeb. I had painfully re-built the 1st two pages on my .Mac account and accidentally dropped my html code on the grey html widget placeholder window instead of the black snippet window and iWeb locked up tighter than a lid on a jar of home made preserves. I finally was able to force quit iWeb but lost all my work prior to the lockup.