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Welcome to our EverWeb 2016 Review Edition! First of all we want to thank you all for your continued support and for making 2016 a great EverWeb year! Thanks, you’re Awesome!

It’s been an incredibly busy 2016 for EverWeb so without any delay, here’s our 2016 Review!

From EverWeb version 1.9 – 2.0.2

We started the year with EverWeb at version 1.9. Language support for Chinese, Portuguese and Swedish came in February as well as a major update to the Video widget and many other minor enhancements. In September we added support for the new macOS Sierra operating system in EverWeb version 1.9.7 before unveiling EverWeb 2.0 in November.

Undoubtedly EverWeb 2.0’s all new blogging feature was the highlight of 2016. For many it completes a journey from iWeb to EverWeb especially as it’s easy to import blog posts from iWeb into EverWeb. The user interface should also be familiar to iWeb users, with many additions and enhancements to make blogging 2016 friendly! The new inline blog editor, preview window and Master Page like features also allow for more creativity and consistency within your blogging environment.

EverWeb version 2.0 also introduced the all new Contact Form Advanced widget for advanced contact form design, a new RSS Subscribe button and character spacing in the Text Inspector.

We added and enhanced many other features in EverWeb over the year such as an updated Video widget and enhancements to the PayPal E-Commerce, Image Gallery and Heading Tags widgets. EverWeb’s Toolbar was relocated from the bottom of the UI to the top, bringing better compatibility with OS X and macOS Sierra as well as improved workflow. Additional Theme Templates were also added throughout the year.

We also took the time to update and expand the EverWeb User Manual to keep up it to date as new product features arrived and also to streamline content to make it easier to use and find what you want! It’s also now available from the Projects Window when you launch EverWeb.

April 2016 Survey

We have lots of exciting plans for 2017 and your continued support, comments and feedback really helps us make EverWeb better every year! We would like to thank everyone who also took part in our April 2016 Survey. The survey is incredibly valuable as it tells us what you want to see in EverWeb in the future and how we can better help and support the EverWeb community. April’s survey told us that blogging was the top requested feature. This had been a long in the works feature and came to fruition with EverWeb 2.0 in November. Again, we just want to say a big ‘Thank You’ for your patience. The new blogging platform is a great environment which we will be building  upon in 2017!

Your comments and feedback are always welcome so please use the comments section below or use the EverWeb Discussion Forum.

Renewed EverWeb Website!

Our own website had a makeover this year and now sports a modern, clean design aesthetic. The website has been simplified using bold fonts and color choices make things easy to find, including a new blogging section in the menu to keep you updated on everything specifically EverWeb. Naturally, the website is both desktop and mobile friendly!

YouTube Tutorials & EverWeb Blogs

Many of EverWeb’s existing YouTube video have been updated to reflect updates to the product. YouTube flags updated content making it easy to stay up to date when you access video content. To keep up to date with new and updated content just subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Our blogging content has also expanded to keep abreast with all that’s new in addition to hints, tips and how to do’s. If you have anything you would like us to feature in the future, please let us know in the comments below!

Award Winning EverWeb!

In October 2016, EverWeb won best Developer Tool and Best Overall at the 2016 Xojo Design Awards. We’re thrilled that EverWeb continues to shine. We are also thrilled that our Facebook page gets a 4.7/5.0 rating from you all! Again, thanks and if you’re a Facebook user, like and follow us to stay up to date with all that’s new.

EverWeb & Charity Work

Our Black Friday event in 2016 was in aid of the WE Charity which raised a $2500 donation. The WE Charity is ‘an international charity that partners with communities to help lift themselves out of poverty using a holistic, sustainable five-pillar development model.’

Forward to 2017…

We’re really excited about 2017 as we have lots in the works for all of our users. It’s going to be an exciting year! To end, Team EverWeb wishes you all a very happy and prosperous New Year!

Please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or questions in the Comments Section below…

Social Media

We all have a favorite Social Media platform for staying connected! As well as the EverWeb website, you can keep up to date with  all the latest EverWeb news and info on the following social media…

Facebook

Google+

Flipboard

YouTube

Twitter handle @ragesw

If you have a  favorite Social Media platform that we don’t cover we would like to know! Just drop a comment to us below!

For many iWeb users, the introduction of blogging to EverWeb 2.0 makes it a perfect time to finally port legacy iWeb websites over to EverWeb. If you’re planning to convert your website, here are some things to consider before you begin that will help save you time and effort along the way…

1. Use Master Pages: iWeb doesn’t use template pages but EverWeb does with Master Pages. It’s a good idea to think about the common features of your iWeb pages that can be collected together in to one or more Master Pages if your website has more than a few pages. Page dimensions, page and browser backgrounds, navigation menus, header and footer content, social media buttons and the like are ideal to put in to a Master Page. Attach the Master Page to your regular web pages to give your website a consistent design. If you want to change your design at any time, just edit your Master Page and all pages that have it attached will be updated with the changes.
2. Fonts and Color Settings: Your website probably uses different font styles and sizes. Make a note of anything that you want to transfer over. Check your font and color settings in iWeb and make a note of them so that you can use them in EverWeb. If you have difficulties matching colors, try using the Digital Color Meter that comes with your Apple OS to get accurate color values.
3. Widgets: You’ll probably find that some of the iWeb widgets you have been using are included in EverWeb, often with updated features and functionality. There are also a lot of other widgets built in to EverWeb that iWeb does not have. If you cannot find what you want, third party widgets are available either free or paid for. Our EverWeb Third Party page has more information.
4. Update your website: Technology has come a long way since the demise of iWeb over five years ago. Now is a great opportunity to update and modernise your website. If you’re new to EverWeb, check out the features in our YouTubevideos or from our blogs. You may find simpler, modern solutions in EverWeb that iWeb doesn’t have e.g. drop down menus, fixed position, always on top, support for SEO, mobile websites, widgets and so on… Whilst updating may mean adding new features to your website, remember that it’s also an opportunity to streamline your website and update your web page content if you haven’t done so for a while.
5. Include SEO: iWeb does not include any SEO features so this is one area you should be focus on. The best way to start with SEO in EverWeb is by checking out the SEO for EverWeb Course. Remember, as well as keywords for SEO, rename any image files to be SEO friendly if you have not done so already  e.g. if you have an image of a teapot that has a file name of ‘IMG0001.jpg’, rename it to something more meaningful e.g. teapot.jpg
6. Optimize and Rationalize: Whilst on the subject of image files, look at your image files and optimize them if they are large to help page loading times. Use a graphics program to reduce the file size to be more web friendly. There’s also retina display now which iWeb does not support. Our YouTube video has more information on using retina images in EverWeb.
7. Find Your Files: If you can’t locate your original image files, open your website in iWeb and use the File -> Publish to a Folder menu. Once published, your image files will be located in a folder where you can drag and drop the image files from in to EverWeb. iWeb has an unusual file and folder structure so you may find that the original image has been duplicated many times in to different folders. Each iWeb web page has it’s own folder which will contain images, often renamed by iWeb to ‘shapeimage’ followed by a number. Find the best resolution image you can then copy it to another location (e.g. to your desktop) and rename the file to something meaningful. Drag and drop the renamed file in to the Assets List of your  EverWeb project. You can drag and drop the image file from the Assets List as many times as you want on to the web pages you create in EverWeb without having to reimport the image every time.

Moving Your iWeb Website to EverWeb

When you recreate your website in EverWeb, the easiest way to bring text over is to cut and paste it from the iWeb page in to the corresponding EverWeb page. For image files, drag and drop them in from their source wherever possible. Remember if you use an image more than once in your website, you only need to import it once in to EverWeb. Once imported, drag and drop the image from the Assets List on to the pages you want to include the image on.

Importing iWeb Blog Entries

To import your iWeb blog entries:

1. Start by ‘exporting’ your iWeb project from iWeb using File -> Publish to a Folder to a location on your hard disk.
2. Next, go to your EverWeb project file and create a blog if you have not done so already.
3. To create a new blog select the ‘blank’ theme and the ‘blog’ page style.
4. When the blog has been created, you will see it in the Web Page List. Click on the ‘posts’ page.
5. In the Editor Window, click on the ‘Import’ button in the Blog Posts List.
6. The dialog box displays ‘iWeb’ by default as the import format so click ‘Import’ to continue’.
7. Navigate to the location of the iWeb project that you exported earlier. If you have more than one iWeb project, you will see all of them listed. Select the folder of the iWeb website blog that you want to import, then click ‘Open’.
8. Click on the name of the blog in the next dialog box and press ‘Import’ to load the blog entries in to EverWeb.

The blog Create Your First Blog Post in EverWeb 2.0! has more information on formatting blog posts.

When converting your iWeb website to EverWeb, perhaps the most important task is the planning. Getting to know EverWeb and it’s features is also a good idea if you are new to the product. Getting to know EverWeb will help you decide how best to modernize your iWeb website for today’s needs such as for mobile environments.

If you would rather have us convert and update your website for you, please take a look at the Convert your iWeb website to an EverWeb Site post for more information.

As always please let us know if you have any comments and questions. We’re happy to help.

EverWeb on Social Media

You can also find EverWeb on the following social media platforms:

Facebook

Google+

Flipboard

YouTube

Twitter handle @ragesw

Probably one of the first things you’ll want to do once you have downloaded the new EverWeb version 2.0 is to try out the new blogging feature. Here’s a primer to get you started…

Creating Your First Blog

Start your first blog either by opening an existing website project or creating a new one from the Projects Window.

If you opened an existing project, select ‘Add Page’ from the Toolbar at the top of the EverWeb UI in version 2.0.

If you created a new project file, EverWeb will automatically the adding new page process for you.

In both instances you should now see the Theme Template Chooser. Select the ‘Blank’ Template Theme at the top of the left hand column.

EverWeb 2.0’s Theme Template Chooser. Use the Blank theme on the left, then select the ‘blog’ page style on the right.

On the right hand column, select the ‘blog’ page theme and click on the ‘Select’ button to finish.

TIP!: If you want the Theme Template Chooser to display the pages in a row as shown above, you can resize the window. Click and drag the bottom right hand corner of the Theme Template Chooser window until the template pages display how you want them to.

You’ve now created a blog in EverWeb!

The Blog Structure

In the Web Page List you will see the blog as a folder icon. The ‘blog’ directory is always displayed open by default when you create a new blog. For those new to blogging, the blog has a specific structure.

The ‘blog’ directory page is like an ‘index’ page of your most recent blog posts. The first post in the list is the most recent followed by the remainder in reverse date order.

The blog directory contains two pages: ‘posts’ and ‘archive’. ‘Posts’ is a special page in that it contains all of the blog posts you create. It’s the heart of EverWeb’s blogging experience!  The ‘archive’ page is lists older blog posts that you no longer want listed on the ‘blog’ index page.

Creating Your First Blog Post

To create your first blog post, click on the ‘posts’ page in the Web Page List. The Blog Posts Editor Window is displayed in the Editor Window in the center of the screen. This is where you will create, import, edit and delete blog posts.

EverWeb automatically creates the first post as ‘New Blog Post’. Rename the post title by double clicking on ‘New Blog Post’ in the Blog Post List in the top part of the window. Enter the title you want and press enter. All blog posts that you create will be listed in the Blog Posts List Window.

A red or green button to the left of the blog post title indicates if a blog post has been changed since last published (red) or not (green).

To select the blog post you want just click on its title.

EverWeb 2.0’s blogging interface. In the center column, at the top is the blog posts list, in the middle the blog posts editor window and in the bottom section is the blog posts preview window.

Below the Blog Posts List, the words ‘This is a sample blog post’ are displayed in the Blog Posts Editor Window. Select the words and type over them with your own, or paste text in from the clipboard.

Editing Your Blog Posts

The Editor Window is where you enter your blog post text and apply formatting. For example, highlight the text you want and use the Editor Toolbar options to style your text how you would like it. Alternatively, use the Color Picker and Fonts Panel from the Toolbar.

You can also insert images, video and hyperlinks in to the Editor Window. These media apply only to the blog post itself.

TIP: Use the Blog Post Preview Window to see how the blog post will look when published. The final published post may look different than what you see in the Editor Window due to the settings you use in the Blog Post Preview Window.

A splitter bar between the each section of the Blog Posts Editor Window can be clicked and dragged up and down to display more of less content of each section.

TIP: There’s also a vertical splitter between Blog Post and Blog Date in the Blog Posts List.

The Blog Posts Preview Window

The Preview Window in the bottom part of the screen is where you see the formatted results of your work. The text from the Editor Window displays in a widget that you can position where you want in the Preview Window. Adjust the width of the widget using the selection handles. The widget height is set automatically.

The Preview Window works in a similar way to Master Pages so you can add objects such as a company logo to the Preview Window which will then display the logo in all of your blog posts.

Use the Widget Settings tab to set defaults for all the blog posts. At the bottom of the screen is where you add in your Comment Engine, either from Disqus or Facebook. For more information on using Comment Engines please look at the EverWeb User Manual via the Help-> EverWeb Manual menu.

Blog Post Formatting Tips

The Widget Settings also allow you to set the font style and sizing of the blog post title, add and define date format and styling, add Navigation Links and add an image for the post.

In addition, use the Page Settings Tab in the Inspector Window to set the page background color, page dimensions etc. as you would any other page that you create in EverWeb.

You can also use a Master Page for blog posts if you prefer or a combination of Master Page and Preview Window objects depending on what effect you want to achieve.

Once you have finished, preview or publish your results.

More About Blogging in EverWeb 2.0…

There’s lots more to explore with blogging in EverWeb version 2.0. Here are some suggested resources to help:

• Check out the Easy Blog Post Editing and Importing Your iWeb Blog Entries blogs on this website
• The updated EverWeb website which has up to the moment information in it’s new blogging section
• The new EverWeb 2.0 videos on YouTube
• The updated EverWeb User Manual
• The EverWeb Discussion Forum

If you can’t find what you need, or have any other questions, comments or feedback please let us know. We’re happy to help.

You can also find EverWeb on the following social media platforms:

Facebook

Google+

Flipboard

YouTube

Twitter handle @ragesw

We wanted to extend a big Thank You to everyone who purchased or renewed EverWeb this Black Friday!

Because of you, we raised $2500 that has been donated to WE.org.

We hope to continue to use our reach to raise money and resources for those who don’t have the same opportunities that we have.

We believe it is everyone’s personal choice to decide how they want to help and from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for helping us raise money for a great cause and also for being our customers.

So once again, a HUGE Thank You to all of our users!

Sincerely,

The EverWeb Team

In a handful of countries, today is Thanksgiving. A day originally used for celebrating and giving thanks for the benefits of the preceding year.

On Black Friday, consumers are used doplenty of discounts off their favorite products.

This year, we have decided to do something special.

We know EverWeb users are the generous type and this year we want to use our reach to give opportunities to those who really need it.

Today, we want to say Thanks for Giving!

Starting now, until 11:59PM EST Friday, 40% of every EverWeb purchase and renewal, will be given to children around the world who need it the most with the help of WE.org (Formally Free the Children).

Purchase & Give: Get EverWeb & Help the Children

We chose WE.org because they are an organization we have known for a very long time, were established in the same city (Thornhill, Canada) that we are from, and we believe they have a great reputation for doing amazing things to help children around the world.

On Saturday, November 26, we will donate the proceeds raised by you, to WE.org.

Plus, share our facebook post to help bring awareness and we will extend your EverWeb account by 3 months.

We’re thrilled to announce the introduction of our new iWeb to EverWeb website conversion service!

With the all new blogging feature we introduced last week, we have gotten a lot of requests for help in upgrading an iWeb website to EverWeb.

When iWeb was discontinued almost five years ago, EverWeb was created to provide a similar, yet more powerful,  website builder to iWeb users. Now with the new blogging engine, you can do everything in EverWeb, plus a lot more.

We’ve just introduced a service to help you convert your iWeb site to an EverWeb site. We can deliver you the exact same iWeb site, built with EverWeb in under 7 days so you can start taking advantage of EverWeb’s modern features including:

1. Optimized mobile pages
2. Built in Search Engine Optimization features
3. Drop down menus
4. Advanced contact forms
5. Rollover mouse effects
6. Master Pages
7. Popup windows
8. 24/7 customer support
9. Support for the latest version of macOS
10. And so much more…

Fill out our online form and we’ll get a quote to convert your iWeb site to EverWeb as soon as possible!

Always keep up to date with EverWeb on your favorite social media platform!

Facebook

Google+

Flipboard

YouTube

Twitter handle @ragesw

We are thrilled to announce that EverWeb version 2.0 is now available! The new version of EverWeb introduces a brand new blogging engine as it’s marquee feature.

Please read the information in the ‘How to Update to EverWeb 2.0’ section below for updating instructions.

EverWeb 2.0 Features

EverWeb version 2.0 introduces a new, fully integrated blogging  engine (see the ‘EverWeb 2.0 Blogging Features’ list below), relocated Toolbar which is now at the top of the UI, a new Contact Form Advanced widget to fully customize your contact form experience and much more!

The main features of EverWeb version 2.0 are :

1. All New, fully integrated, feature rich blogging environment
2. New RSS Subscribe button
3. Redesigned User Interface with the Toolbar now located at the top of the UI
4. Character Spacing setting in the Text Inspector (OS X 10.7 and later only)
5. New Contact Form Advanced widget for highly customizable contact form creation
6. Publishing optimizations and speed improvements
7. Updated and expanded EverWeb User Manual includes a chapter on blogging
8. The EverWeb User Manual is now available from the Projects Window
9. EverWeb 2.0 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7+ including macOS Sierra
10. Stability and performance enhancements

EverWeb 2.0 Blogging Features

Everweb 2.0’s blogging environment is rich with easy to use features such as:

1. Automatic numbered & bullet lists
2. Image wrapping
3. Justified text
4. Comments using Disqus or Facebook Comments
5. Importing of iWeb & WordPress blog posts
6. Embedded media including video
7. Automatic Google Fonts
8. Automatic RSS feed creation
9. And much more!

How To Update To EverWeb 2.0

You can easily update to EverWeb 2.0  by

1. Launching EverWeb and going to the EverWeb menu at the top of the screen and selecting ‘Check for Update’ or by
2. Downloading EverWeb from the EverWeb website.

Remember, you won’t lose any previous data when updating since your website project files are stored elsewhere on your computer.

EverWeb 2.0 is free for EverWeb + Hosting users and EverWeb Standalone users who are within their 1 year of free upgrades and support period.

You can easily check your EverWeb Standalone free upgrade period from EverWeb’s Preferences window or your client area.

If you are passed your one year of free EverWeb upgrades, you can purchase 1 more year of upgrades and support from your client area.

You can easily re-download earlier versions of EverWeb from your client area if you are not ready to purchase an additional year of upgrades and support.

Login to your client area and go to the ‘Manage Product’ page. On the left of this page, select ‘Downloads’ and choose the version of Everweb that you need, either the OS X 10.6 version,or OS X 10.7 and later, version.

More Information About EverWeb 2.0

If you need more information about EverWeb version 2.0

• Check out the Easy Blog Post Editing  and Importing Your iWeb Blog Entries blogs on this website
• The updated EverWeb website which has up to the moment information in it’s new blogging section
• The new EverWeb 2.0 videos on YouTube
• The updated EverWeb User Manual under EverWeb’s Help menu
• The EverWeb Discussion Forum

If you can’t find what you need, or have any other questions, comments or feedback please let us know. We’re happy to help.

You can also find EverWeb on the following social media platforms:

Facebook

Google+

Flipboard

YouTube

Twitter handle @ragesw

The new, upcoming, EverWeb 2.0 will include a rich blogging environment as it’s marquee feature. The Blog Posts Editor will have all of the features that bloggers expect. For ease of use, the most commonly used features can be found on the Editor Window Toolbar.

EverWeb’s Blog Post Toolbar lets you format text in a number of different ways.

Hover your mouse over any of the buttons in the Toolbar for a description of the button and any keyboard shortcut that it may have. The first button on the Toolbar is for Paragraph Formatting. You can choose one of four levels of paragraph heading, ‘code’ and ‘normal’ paragraph styles. the next buttons are the standard bold, italic and underline buttons which use the standard Cmd+B, I or U shortcut keys if you prefer.

The ‘A’ button lets you quickly select one of six predefined web safe fonts or the Fonts Panel if you need to use a font style that is not listed. Use the ‘T!’ button to specify the font size you want to use. The drop down lists font sizes from 8 point to 96 point. If you need other sizes you can use the Fonts Panel. Next to the ‘T!’ button is the ‘Droplet’ button where you can easily change the text color and text background using a palette of color swatches.

Aligning your text is as easy as you would expect with the ‘Align’ button. Choose either left aligned (default), centered, right aligned and even justified text!

Use the Blog Posts Editor Toolbar to quickly add ordered and unordered lists, change fonts, colors, text alignment and more!

The Quote Levels button lets you quickly indent or outdent quotes with vertical quote bars indicating the level of quotes as you would expect.

Finally, you can add video content to your blog at the touch of a button directly from the video’s source.

In the screenshot above, we formatted the blog post text just using the Toolbar. We then added an image to the post which was then set ‘inline’ and right aligned so that the ordered list to the left of it flowed properly.

The Toolbar and the Editor Window in the above screen shot are where you add text and images to your blog post. Below the line is the Blog Editor Preview Window which shows how the post will look when published. The Preview Window acts like a Master Page so, for example, if you add a background color or social media button in the Preview Window, it will appear on all of your blog posts.

The Toolbar is just one quick and easy way to add format your blog posts. There’s a lot more to the Blog Posts Editor, so stay tuned as we will have more information soon!

To see blogging in action have a look at our ‘Create your first blog with EverWeb‘ video.

EverWeb 2.0 is currently in beta testing so some features may be subject to change. Check back here, or on the Announcements section of our Discussion Forum, for more news and updates about the release!

If you want to see blogging in action, check out our completely redesigned website!

… and we’ve also released a series of EverWeb 2.0 Preview videos. Check out our YouTube channel and subscribe to keep up to date with the latest videos.

If you have a question about anything EverWeb, please let us know in the Comments section below.

You can also find EverWeb on the following social media platforms:

Facebook

Google+

Flipboard

YouTube

Twitter handle @ragesw

We’re currently beta testing EverWeb version 2.0, but in the meantime we’re so excited about it that we wanted to share some things about the upcoming release with you! As you may know, blogging is coming in EverWeb 2.0! This headline feature will be available to EverWeb+Hosting users and for those of you who have your own Hosting provider. There’s also great support for iWeb and WordPress users included. For now, we’d like to tell you some of what iWeb users can expect…

The new blogging environment in EverWeb version 2,0! In this screenshot, an iWeb blog entry has been imported and the original image drag and dropped in to the blog post. The recreated blog post took only a few minutes to do!

Import Your iWeb Blogs in to EverWeb!

EverWeb version 2.0 will easily import iWeb blog entries into EverWeb’s blogging feature. EverWeb 2.0 will make it simple and straightforward to transfer your blog titles and text over with just a couple of mouse clicks.

The screenshot below shows a sample iWeb blog entry imported in to EverWeb version 2.0. The blog title, date, time and main body text are quickly added in to your EverWeb Project file’s blog. We spent only a couple of minutes formatting the EverWeb version to match up with the original just to give you an idea of what’s coming soon.

The original blog post from iWeb which has been recreated in the next screenshot with the forthcoming EverWeb 2.0 release.

In EverWeb 2.0, you will be able to quickly format all blog posts at once by adding Master Page like features directly in the Blog Post Preview Window. You will also be able to easily edit blog posts using a great in-line editor which includes features such bullet lists,  numbered lists, quote levels, paragraph styles and more. There’s also a choice of Disqus and Facebook Comments for your comments engine, so your visitors can join the conversation!

The recreated blog post in EverWeb version 2.0 uses Master Page style features to save you time and effort. There are lots of new and updated features for all iWeb blog developers to enjoy.

In our example screenshot above, once the text was imported from iWeb in to EverWeb version 2.0, the page and background colors, as well as the page dimensions, were changed using the Page Settings tab in the Inspector Widow.

The blog post Widget Settings were used to change the blog post’s fonts to look like how they were in iWeb. The Navigation Links to the previous post, next post and blog index were also changed and a Comments Engine added (not shown) so visitors can comment on the blog post.

A Navigation Menu Widget from EverWeb’s Widgets tab was added at the top of the page to give the blog post the same navigation as it had in iWeb.

Finally, the blog entry’s image file from iWeb was drag and dropped from it’s original location on the hard disk on to the Blog Post Editor Window, centered and given a background frame using a shape.

Recreating blog posts from iWeb is easy and our example only took a few minutes to make. Remember that there will be some differences between the iWeb and EverWeb but it’s a great opportunity to update the look of your blog with EverWeb version 2.0 features that keep your website fresh, up to date, easy to change and easy to mange in the future.

We’ll have another update soon on the upcoming EverWeb 2.0 release!

We’re happy to help if you have any questions, comments or feedback for us!

…and don’t forget that you can also find EverWeb on the following social media platforms:

Facebook

Google+

Flipboard

YouTube

Twitter handle @ragesw

EverWeb includes 13 built in shapes that can be used and customized in a number of different ways to add features and flair to your website. Here are a few tips on getting the best from shapes…

Mouse Over and Mouse Down Effects

Using Color Fill

A good way to draw a visitor’s attention to a particular part of your web page is by changing a shape’s color depending on user behavior. For example, you can change a button shape’s color when it’s ‘moused over’ or ‘moused down’. To create this effect, select the shape you want then go to the ‘Fill’ section of the Shape Options tab. Click on ‘Normal’ and change the setting to either ‘Mouse Over’ or ‘Mouse Down’. Next, change the Fill type from ‘None’ to ‘Color Fill’ and select the color you want. When the user mouses over or mouses down, the button will change color.

Using Image Fill

You can use ‘Image Fill’ as a Fill type to create special mouse over effects. For example, if a visitor mouses over an image, you can use the mouse over effect to highlight certain parts of the image (see the screenshot below). To do this, use an image editor to create an image that contains your text caption. Once you have done this, add an image to your page in EverWeb. Next, add a rectangle shape to your image in EverWeb where you want the text caption to be located. In the Shape Options tab, make the rectangle’s Fill for the Normal state ‘None’. This will make the rectangle invisible. Now change the Fill for the ‘Mouse Over’ state to ‘Image Fill’. Choose your text caption image. Preview or publish the page and mouse over the area where the shape is. The text magically appears!

The top image uses a rectangle shape but cannot be seen as the ‘Fill’ for Normal behavior is set to None. In the bottom image, the ‘Fill’ for Mouse Over for the same shape is set to Image Fill. The image used is a piece of text about the building. When the visitor mouses over the rectangle area, the text appears!

 

Adding Text to Shapes

Remember that you can add text to shapes. This is useful when you want to create a button with a label on it or when using the speech bubble shape! Just double click on the shape and start typing. Use the Fonts Panel to apply font choices and the alignment options in the Text Inspector to center the text vertically and horizontally. Set Before Paragraph, After Paragraph and Insert Margin settings to zero. If using the speech bubble and it’s stem is not in the corner you want it in, use the Flip option in the Rotation section of the Metrics Inspector. This stops your text  rotating when rotating the stem.

 

Creating Special Effects

Create a Pill Shaped Button

Start by adding a rounded rectangle shape to your page. Set the Corner Radius to about 25 in the Widget Settings. Add the text you want and style it using the Fonts Panel. Use the Text Inspector to center and align the text inside the button horizontally and vertically. Set Before Paragraph, After Paragraph and Insert Margin to zero. Use the Line options in the Stroke section of the Shape Options to add a border to the button if desired.

 

Create Picture Frame Buttons

To create a picture frame effect button, choose the shape you want e.g.  a circle. Make the height and width equal and then check ‘Constrain Proportions’ in the Metrics Inspector. Next, go to the Shape Options tab and change Stroke from ‘None’ to ‘Picture Frame’ e.g. in the example screenshot below we used the fourth frame on the first row of picture frames. This produces a circle with a square border. You now have a button which you can use e.g. as a hyperlink to another page.

 

Combine shapes with picture frames to create button effects easily.

 

Combine Shapes for Different Effects

Combining shapes can easily create different effects. For example, create a crescent moon effect by adding an oval shape to a black  background. In the Metrics Inspector check that the oval shape height and width are equal, then click ‘Constrain Proportions’ to keep the shape as a circle. Fill the circle with a white, or yellow, color using the Color Fill option in the Shape Options tab. Next, duplicate the shape. Change the color fill to black to match the background. Move the duplicate as required so that it overlaps the original circle. This will create the crescent moon effect. Finally select both shapes and group them so you can easily move the crescent moon around the page whilst keeping the effect.

 

The presence moon is created using two overlapping circles shapes as shown. The background circle is white, the overlapping shape black, on a black background.

 

Shape Widget Settings

Some shapes have Widget Settings available to them e.g. the Speech Bubble has an option to change the edges to make the bubble more round or square looking. These following shapes have Widget Settings:

Rounded Rectangle

Single Arrowhead

Double Arrowhead

Star

Polygon

Jagged Box

Speech Bubble

 

Some shapes also have a ‘blue dot’ available when you use them. As you move the dot the shape changes in character e.g. the rounded rectangle can become a circle or even a square edged rectangle. The shapes that have feature a blue dot are:

Star

Jagged Box

Rounded Rectangle

Single Arrowhead

Double Arrowhead

 

If you ever select the wrong shape, you can easily change it to the shape you want. In the Shape Options tab go to the Shape section. Click on the drop down menu and select the shape you want. The shape changes but retains any settings you may have applied already.

 

With some thought and imagination, shapes can be extremely useful in your web design. Enjoy!

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