My most desired feature in RapidWeaver?
05/Oct/09 10:49 AM Filed in: Main Ideas
I get asked this a lot. If you could have any one
feature in RapidWeaver, what would it be? I used to
have one long standing answer; dependencies in
theme development. That was really what I felt
RapidWeaver needed for the longest time because
there are just some things that could not be
overcome with adding more and more css sheets.
Things like having sexy graphic layouts, with
variable sidebar options, with background color
options, with page color options... there is just
no way without being able to make RapidWeaver
understand if and then at the theme level.
But after years of making RapidWeaver themes and years in web design in general I came to a realization; why strap such complexities on the platform to have to know what theme developers may or may not desire from it when all they would really need to do is add one key component to the RapidWeaver environment as a whole, for the benefit of every end user of the platform. I see no reason why RapidWeaver couldn’t adopt some version of MAMP (or XAMPP) in their rendering environment as opposed to just utilizing Webkit.
Think of the possibilities from an end users standpoint. Someone using RapidWeaver to make a website could have RapidWeaver directly interact with MySQL in a local, controlled setting. They could test PHP scripts without having to go live in the wild. They could build entire sites, front and back, without having to leave the speed and comfort of their own backyard sandbox.
But just think of what this would do to developers? Think of the possibilities we could build into our themes alone. Our template index pages could be php by default with all sorts of crazy possibilities built into them before someone even selects a page style. Like, for example, the long since requested ability to select from multiple index templates that would allow for a variety of HTML element layouts within one theme. With php you wouldn’t need more than one template, just the right cues and triggers to have the desired layout rendered.
For example (and I am just thinking out loud here), in your index template you use the RapidWeaver syntax,
So what is my number one feature request of RapidWeaver? A MAMP environment to play in.
But after years of making RapidWeaver themes and years in web design in general I came to a realization; why strap such complexities on the platform to have to know what theme developers may or may not desire from it when all they would really need to do is add one key component to the RapidWeaver environment as a whole, for the benefit of every end user of the platform. I see no reason why RapidWeaver couldn’t adopt some version of MAMP (or XAMPP) in their rendering environment as opposed to just utilizing Webkit.
Think of the possibilities from an end users standpoint. Someone using RapidWeaver to make a website could have RapidWeaver directly interact with MySQL in a local, controlled setting. They could test PHP scripts without having to go live in the wild. They could build entire sites, front and back, without having to leave the speed and comfort of their own backyard sandbox.
But just think of what this would do to developers? Think of the possibilities we could build into our themes alone. Our template index pages could be php by default with all sorts of crazy possibilities built into them before someone even selects a page style. Like, for example, the long since requested ability to select from multiple index templates that would allow for a variety of HTML element layouts within one theme. With php you wouldn’t need more than one template, just the right cues and triggers to have the desired layout rendered.
For example (and I am just thinking out loud here), in your index template you use the RapidWeaver syntax,
%title%, as a class in you
body tag like this: <body
class="%title%"> and by simply
instructing your users that adding a little cue the
the browser title field in the Page Information
panel in RapidWeaver, like adding a specific word,
they could trigger a whole new layout to appear. A
two or three column layout could be called with a
simple keyword. The possibilities are endless.
So what is my number one feature request of RapidWeaver? A MAMP environment to play in.
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