At the August SEAL meeting we had a lively news discussion and two interesting presentations on web design software. Don’t miss John’s video on the RapidWeaver Stacks plug-in at the end of this report!
Key topics from the news discussion included:
- Apple announcing a take-back programme for third party iPhone, iPad and iPod USB chargers.
- Reports of the easy accessibility of saved passwords in Google’s Chrome web browser.
- The security of user’s data on the Internet following reports of XKeyScore, an NSA tool which was revealed to easily interrogate a huge database of Internet messages and usage data.
The rest of the meeting focused on creating websites with your Mac.
Ben started off with a presentation of iWeb, Apple’s web design application that was included in the iLife suite. Although it’s not currently available with new Macs or on the Mac App Store, iWeb is still a useful program. Ben explained how it can continue to be used on Mountain Lion and with your own hosting even though Apple’s Mobile Me hosting service has been discontinued.
Ben then demonstrated how iWeb can be used to quickly create an attractive web site and how flexible it is to work with the supplied templates or your own design. This amazing YouTube video shows Apple’s home page being recreated in iWeb, a testament to its surprising power.
If you’re interested in iWeb, here are some sites which continue to provide information and advice for iWeb users:
Apple has some support resources available:
Apple Support Communities
Tutorial Videos
Robert then demonstrated RapidWeaver, a template-based web design program from Realmac Software. Robert showed how a site can be built up from different page types to include features such as a blog and photo gallery. Once the site was complete he changed the look and layout of the site by selecting from the included templates.
One of RapidWeaver’s most powerful features is the facility to add new page types and templates through plug-ins. SEAL member John was scheduled to demonstrate the powerful Stacks plug-in at the meeting but unfortunately was unable to attend the meeting. John has very kindly produced the following video about using Stacks: