Viewing Responsive pages???
Responsive pages???
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User: Paul M. 11 years ago
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Before I purchased EverWeb I talked with someone there who told me that they were working on a responsive version that would be out soon. In this digital world of multiplying format sizes it is becoming more and more important for a site to be responsive. To say that this is difficult with "drag and drop" is NOT a good excuse. It can be done. If EverWeb is to stay relevent responsiveness is essential. I love the ease of visually creating and fine-tuning web pages with EverWeb. Imagine what it would be if it was responsive! |
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User: Roddy 11 years ago
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Creating a responsive website design isn't just a case of using dynamic - instead of fixed - width and you can't just drag a bunch of items onto a page and get them to move around in relation to the viewport width. Most responsive designs use content blocks which are positioned relative to each other and use media queries to rearrange them when the browser/device width is changed. A good responsive design doesn't just allow items to expand and contract and move around. It will also adjust font sizes and allow different versions of media files to be loaded for different devices. For example, a fully responsive website would need at least 8 different versions of each image used - one for each screen width/device type plus a "retina" version of each. To allow users who have no knowledge of positioning and media queries to create a responsive site, a lot of limitations would need to be imposed. If you have ever tried creating pages with Wordpress responsive templates you will see what I mean. I think the average user who likes the freedom of "artistic" expression will find the concept of working from templates very restrictive. Most drag and drop users seem to create pages by randomly dragging stuff onto the design canvas and moving it around to create a visually pleasing layout. This is not possible with responsive designs as the page layout has to be planned with respect to the type of items being used a how they will move in relation to each other before actually adding any content. Responsive designs also require extensive testing at all device/browser widths. This is very time consuming but is OK when you are being paid handsomely for your work. I don't think the average EverWeb user would be prepared to do all this and would have to restrict themselves to a fixed template to have any chance of success. I have been experimenting with what I call Quasi Responsive design. This uses HTML5 building blocks and then adjusts their relative position for different devices. The widgets for creating the blocks are shown on this section of the EverWeb Codebox site… http://everwebcodebox.com/html5/index.html … and the idea of "quasi responsive" is shown on this test page. From the above you can get the idea of how the method of designing a web page has to be far more structured although this has immense benefits in terms of clean, logical layout and search engine optimization. Using these blocks, it is far more realistic to create two versions of a website - one for tablets and computers and another for smart phones using the same building blocks on each for speed of construction. The two versions are shown here… http://everwebcodebox.com/html5/design/ipad.html … and here… http://everwebcodebox.com/html5/design/iphone.html It's the same idea as the quasi responsive design but without the media queries. Nowadays - and more so in the future - we only need one design for tablets and another for smart phones since the number of visitors using computers is falling fast and a growing number of surfers don't even own one. ------------------------------- Roddy Website: http://everwebwidgets.com Contact: http://everwebwidgets.com/ewWidgets-home/contact.html NOTE: I am an EverWeb user and NOT affiliated with EverWeb! Any opinions expressed in this forum are my own. |
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User: Paul M. 11 years ago
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Roddy - Thanks for your reply. Without getting into a discussion of “logical”, “clean”, “eye candy”, or other subjective labels, the real issue here is allowing flexible design and screen size responsiveness. I understand the difficulty. You may be acquainted with the Headway theme for Wordpress. It is a responsive theme that is approaching direct page editing but is only halfway there. It seems that Headway and EverWeb are working from different ends of the spectrum towards the same goal but each has not succeeded for similar reasons: self-imposed restrictions of what can and can’t be done; lack of motivation; and/or absence of creative vision. Perhaps you are old enough to remember Apple’s game-changing innovations. They were faced with a similar situation and responded with brilliant solutions. EverWeb is a great continuation of iWeb, but imagine what Apple would do if it was approaching web design today. EverWeb is a good start and I am delighted by it’s iWeb-like ease of use, but unless it can keep up with new technologies it too will fall into obsolescence. |
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User: Stephane L. 11 years ago
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"EverWeb is a good start and I am delighted by it’s iWeb-like ease of use, but unless it can keep up with new technologies it too will fall into obsolescence." I fully and completely agree with you Paul Unfortunately responsive web software, and there are a few, are far from being able to support all the bells and whistles the average client as been accustomed to. My clients all love the idea of one site fits all, but once they realize that responsive website are very limited they are somewhat turned off. So far most of my clients have decided to go with traditional web site look and feel rather then a limited showcase responsive website. Until the responsive technology allows artist web designers the freedom of widgets and other beneficial tools of the trade responsive site will eventually go away making room for the next web innovation. Best regards S.Lebel Senior Graphic and Web designer |
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User: Paul-RAGESW 11 years ago
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Quote: Until the responsive technology allows artist web designers the freedom of widgets and other beneficial tools of the trade responsive site will eventually go away making room for the next web innovation. There are already many options for this but they have their drawbacks and benefits. Many implementations of responsive websites are done improperly. They are heavy on graphics and media, they don't function properly at all browser sizes and as you said they limit the design freedom. And also, many look the exact same as other websites currently out there. Version 1.8 brings full width objects and other browser background options which puts us in the right direction. But we're still working on this. I always recommend a separate mobile version though that is optimized with the content, and graphics that your mobile users want. A mobile visitor is different than a desktop visitor and want different things from your website. Please do your research when choosing your web development tool and the features you want. A responsive website that doesn't provide the right user experience to your users is not the optimal solution. Check the speed of your websites under slow connections on mobile devices. ------------------------------- Paul EverWeb Developer |
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User: Stephane L. 11 years ago
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"Many implementations of responsive websites are done improperly. They are heavy on graphics and media, they don't function properly at all browser sizes and as you said they limit the design freedom. And also, many look the exact same as other websites currently out there." From what I've seen so far I'm not about to jump ship, neither are my clients. This one template fits all business approach may have worked in the short term but not in the long. My clients want a unique site that expresses their companies passion not some hegemonic site design that just so happens to be the flavor of the day. All be it sometimes frustrating for it's instability, lack of 3rd party widgets and other building process issues that drive me nuts, EverWeb offers designer the flexibility to design custom sites with a hands on application that does what it advertises. Version 1.8? still in beta? if not have you fixed the bugs, plenty of those to go around in 1.8 S.Lebel Senior Graphic Designer Last edit 11 years ago |
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User: Jumbo T. 11 years ago
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You know what happened to the people on the Titanic who didn't jump ship. Unless your clients want to sink with you, they should look for another designer. https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=responsive+webdesign+inspiration |
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User: Paul-RAGESW 11 years ago
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Quote: All be it sometimes frustrating for it's instability, lack of 3rd party widgets and other building process issues that drive me nuts, EverWeb offers designer the flexibility to design custom sites with a hands on application that does what it advertises. What instability? Are you sending us crash reports? We can't fix the issues unless we know about them. Quote: Version 1.8? still in beta? if not have you fixed the bugs, plenty of those to go around in 1.8 What are the bugs you are experiencing in 1.8? If we don't know about them, we can't fix them. ------------------------------- Paul EverWeb Developer |
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User: Stephane L. 11 years ago
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[quote name=Jumbo T. time=09/05/2015 8:40:35]You know what happened to the people on the Titanic who didn't jump ship. Unless your clients want to sink with you, they should look for another designer. Funny I had the same conversation with the owner of the hosting company I regularly send client to, he fully agrees with me, in fact he's been having the exact same issues I've had. Further more I explain to my client all the pros and cons of responsive sites, so far they all agree, responsive web site might look cool but don't offer what they are looking for. So thank you very much but I don't think I'm about to have my clients jump ship to another designer who offers boring WordPress responsive template or the Abode's cloud solution. |
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User: Stephane L. 11 years ago
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What instability? Are you sending us crash reports? We can't fix the issues unless we know about them. Hi Paul, I do, or should I say I did. I've gotten used to the fact that I need to quit Everweb every once in a while if I want to keep on working on jobs and I'm more then willing to overlook the issues I've been having to do what I do best and that's design original web site. Besides I've never gotten anywhere or solved any issues with Everweb support, sorry to say. Cheers S.lebel |
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User: James G. 11 years ago
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| Is it just me, or does it seem like there was a one-sided fight going on in here? | |
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User: wellnl 11 years ago
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| Good comment Jim... has anyone looked at the upcoming 1.8 version? It does have more responsive features in it, such as the background and page background being resizing automatically, fixed width available in many areas always on top to help with layering objects and the ability to lock objects on the x-axis. I'm sure that these features are just the start and there is more to follow... but it's up to us in the EW community to bring what we want to the forums and to test what comes out of the discussion when beta's arrive. There seems a lot of complaining but little support and not much feedback when 1.8 is making inroads to people's suggestions for a more 'responsive design' product - it's a pity it is that way... | |
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User: spyboynola 11 years ago
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I just had to respond to the person that stated that they never got results from EW support, Myself and everyone that I have turned on to EW find that EW support is better or as good as any other software we use. Personally they have responded and solved every one of my sometimes querky problems and this forum is spectacular, absolutely the most informative I use. As far as responsive vs. built for mobile, please, mobile is cut and paste to a different size page, geeze it is almost too easy. just had to say! thanks forum and thanks EW support. |
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User: Paul-RAGESW 11 years ago
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Hi Stephane, Quote: I do, or should I say I did. What are the ticket ID's of the crash reports so I can see. Or what is your email so I can look it up. Quote: I've gotten used to the fact that I need to quit Everweb every once in a while if I want to keep on working on jobs and I'm more then willing to overlook the issues I've been having to do what I do best and that's design original web site. Well you shouldn't have to do this but I can't know why this happens without the crash reports. Otherwise the most common issues are users importing 20, 50, or even 100MB images into their projects. You should never do this as these images will consume A LOT of memory and then crash EverWeb. Fortunately in 1.8 we have a new feature that lets users automatically optimizes images for the web, with little or no affect on the image quality. When you import TIFF or PSD images it can auto convert to JPEG or PNGs and in many cases reduce the size by up to 95%. If you are experiencing crashes I suspect your image size is the problem. In 1.8 you can actually see all the image file size in the assets list. We are even working on a feature to auto optimize images with the click of a button in an upcoming version (though not in version 1.8) Quote: Besides I've never gotten anywhere or solved any issues with Everweb support, sorry to say. Really? This is surprising and something I'd like to look into. Please provide ticket ID's so I can look into your issues. ------------------------------- Paul EverWeb Developer |
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User: Paul-RAGESW 11 years ago
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Quote: thanks forum and thanks EW support. Very happy to hear you are having a positive experience. We're working really hard to continually improve our support and EverWeb. As wellnl mentioned we appreciate all feedback we get for our beta versions and provide them so you guys can see what is coming. Thanks for sharing! ------------------------------- Paul EverWeb Developer |
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