EverWebSoftware

EverWeb 1.2 Full Review; Master Pages/Templates

A big update has been posted for EverWeb. As many of you know, EverWeb is so far the best alternative to iWeb, which was discontinued over 2 years ago. It follows the same interface as iWeb but comes with a lot of new features that iWeb never had.

EverWeb 1.2 Review

EverWeb 1.2 comes with one of the most exciting new features that many users have been asking for, Master Pages.

Master Pages lets you set up a global design for your website. Then you assign your Master Page to whichever pages you want to use this design. When you make a change to your Master Page, every page that uses your Master Page will be updated as well.

For users with large websites, this feature will be a life saver!

Now when you want to make a simple change to your Site’s design, you n0 longer have to go through every single page to make that change. Simply update your Master Page and you’re done.

Typically a Master Page should be used to create a header and footer for your site. Then each individual page will have a unique design within the content area. You can also use Master Pages to specify browser and page background colors/images.

This new feature makes designing and maintaining websites so much easier. If you haven’t switched from iWeb 09 to EverWeb, now is the time to really consider changing your web building tool. You can create your iWeb design as a Master Page in EverWeb and simply assign that to every new page on your site. This will dramatically reduce the time it takes to rebuild your iWeb site in EverWeb.

Multiple Master Pages

EverWeb lets you have as many Master Pages as you like. Typically you will only have 1 or 2, though it is good to know you can create an unlimited amount. One Master Page can be used for your desktop website and one can be used for your Mobile site.

When creating Master Pages, try to think if a group of pages have a lot of common elements. If so, consider creating more Master Pages for that group. That way you will always have less pages to update when you want to make a design change.

The only downside is that you cannot create a Master Page based on other Master Pages, though this limitation does not hinder you too much and for most users it will be a non-issue.

Master Pages in EverWeb

What’s Missing in EverWeb 1.2

A couple of features I was hoping for in EverWeb 1.2 include;

1. FTP Publishing Add in version 1.3

2. Blogging

3. More Widgets

Let us know what you think of the EverWeb update in the comments below.

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20 Comments

  1. I agree master pages are pretty cool…
    But they have some pesky limitations.
    If some of your pages are long and some short, there can be a problem..
    Because you can’t change the content height.

    So far I’m doing it the old fashion iWeb way, duplicate one of your pages, delete the content in the body and fill it in with applicable content, change the content height to what ever you need it to be. I do my nav. bars manually, once created, you just copy and paste them to every page….

    Also: Roddy has created some add on widgets, which you can find here…
    http://everwebcodebox.com/widgets/everweb-widgets.html

    Steve

    1. “Because you can’t change the content height.”

      @Steve: You can adjust the content height. Just put any object in the content area and drag it down. The content area is dynamic so it adjusts to what’s in it. There is no need to actually specify the height.

      1. Ok, I guess I should have said once you create the
        master page, then put it into use you can’t change
        the size…
        When you first build it ofcourse you can make it
        whatever size you like, but when it’s in use the
        size adj controls are grayed out…

        S

      2. That youtube video illustrates my point… Look at the size adjustment go gray at 1:36…

        S

  2. Steve,

    First you create a Master Page. Then you can add any shape or text to the content area of your other pages… Depending on the content your height will adjust. The number you see in the Inspector is just the minimum height…
    Place a shape on the page and drag it down – you will see how the page gets longer….

    1. What if all your pages are different? I’m talking about
      after you create a master page… If you have pages with
      main content bodies that are all different sizes you have to
      make multiple masters, too much trouble…

      S

      1. I am also talking AFTER creating a Master Page… Try and you will see – placing the objects, text on to OTHER pages, not Master Page…Height is flexible on each page.

      2. Of course it is!

        My original post here was talking about
        master pages and the modification of them….

        S

      3. I am sorry Steve, but I think you are confused here….I created a Master Page, I applied it to my other pages and each one of them is of a different height depending on what content I place inside a particular page…. You CAN NOT change the height in the Inspector, it stays the same (whatever minimum is set in the Master) but each page automatically extends as you add content to it…

      4. I’ll check it again, but this morning when I tried it with version 1.2 it wouldn’t work…

        S

      5. I did it after reading your comments to be sure and everything worked without any problem… If it doesn’t then you should let Paul know…

      6. Paul knows about this problem it’s been talked about on the forms before. Conversely if you make a master page that is 3000 pixels tall and then you use it but you only have 1000 pixels of content there’s no way to make it smaller you end up with a lot of extra space at the bottom of your content.

        S

      7. Why not set the height to a minimum – whatever you need – and then simply increase it rather than set it to 3000 and have an empty space???

      8. I checked again… and I see that it does dynamically change size (bigger), which means that you must have something at the bottom of your content to hold the size…

        I think I’ll stick to the way you did it in iWeb and EW pre 1.2 by just duping a page then modifying it. I prefer the control of the inspector.

        All in all Everweb is a nice app.!

        Thx : )
        S

  3. In the initial posting it talks about FTP publishing. Is there a limitation to publish your site to another hosting service?

    1. There is no limitation. Version 1.3, which is going to be released shortly has direct FTP publishing. Otherwise you can use any FTP client now to publish to your current hosting service.

  4. Is everweb now t he only real alternative to iWeb? I ask, because this (WordPress 😉 blog has become allabouteverweb, it seems.

    I am thinking about moving away fro iWeb with my site as I have to rebuild it anyway. I am thinking about WordPress.org of everweb.

    1. Yes, EverWeb is the best alternative to iWeb.

      WordPress is not a website designer, it’s a CMS system that comes with templates you can use. But you need to know HTML/CSS/Javascript to actually make design changes.

    2. Yeah, a bit more of a learning curve with WordPress

      S

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