Back in 2004, Realmac software released the first version of its popular RapidWeaver web development software.  Since its initial release, it has won many awards from Mac publications all around the globe, and still continues onward with that trend.  Just a couple months ago RapidWeaver 4 hit the streets, and is already changing the way consumers create websites.  From its more professional iWeb-like templates to its ease of creating pages, RapidWeaver 4 is sure to be an instant hit for people who want a simple way to create professional looking websites.

Make a Site.

It couldn’t be any easier. You simply click file > new project, and a new project will form. Once you complete that, whenever you want to add another page, you simply click the button in the top left hand corner.  It will ask you what kind of page you want - From Blog and Photo pages, to Blank and Contact pages as well. Simple as that. You can now choose from the abundance of themes that RapidWeaver has to offer, or you can download more themes form the Realmac website. Editing your site is also very easy and straightforward. You simply hit the edit button to edit the photos and text on the current page, and if you want to see a preview of your site, just click preview to see a version of your site as it were already online.

Publish a site.

To publish your website you created with RapidWeaver, you press the publish button.  From there you are presented with two methods of publishing. You can ether publish using your own domain name, or using your MobileMe account (previously dot Mac). You then fill out the form, and click publish.  Within a few minutes you have a professional looking website.

Features.

You can adjust almost anything you want about your website, whether it be the font, or coloring a section of a theme.  It’s all at your fingertips. Navigating through RapidWeaver is a breeze. It’s so simple, straightforward, and professional. The buttons are laid out perfectly, and the menus are super easy to use and customize.

Overall.

I love RapidWeaver 4. It’s so simple to use, and it gives me better results than iWeb ever will. With RapidWeaver 4, you can finally make sites with ease, and have them looking as if they were designed by a professional graphic artist. I would definitely recommend giving RapidWeaver a try, and seeing just how well your website comes out. You can try RapidWeaver for free for up to 30 days. My only gripe is that RapidWeaver 4 can only be used on a Mac running OSX 10.5 Leopard. RapidWeaver 4 retails for $79, but can be found on Realmac’s website for $59 for a limited time.

Happy Weaving!

How many sites do you visit regularly?  I bookmark sites constantly and add videos to my favorites on YouTube on a regular basis.  All of these links tend to get very unorganized, and as as you can imagine I now have hundreds of links and videos to keep track of.  In order to make this task as painless as possible, I now use an application called Shelved.

Whenever you have a link you want to keep, just drag and drop it into the shelved window. It then opens the site within the Shelved application.  In the left pane of the application, you can easily add and create new “shelves”.  This provides a simple way to organize links quickly. You can also go into Browse>Browse With, and select a browser to open a given link in. You can choose from any of the browsers you have on your mac, and they are automatically read in Shelved.

As you can see I only have 2 shelves of Technology and News. Although it is easy to create more by clicking on the + symbol in the bottom, left corner.

On the right side of the application there is a preview of the webpage. From the top right corner you can select the shelf you want to organize the webpage on, as seen below.

If you are a common user of Del.Icio.Us, then this is certainly for you. Not only can you keep all your links in the same application, but you can also export the links you want to share to Del.Icio.Us. All you have to do is log in to Del.Icio.Us from within Shelved, and from there you can then choose what to export.

The folks over at ExtraZeal worked hard and made this app one of the best link organizers for the mac. The application is currently in alpha stages, and is available as freeware.  You can download it here.

The Story

I’ve had hundreds upon hundreds of requests for this certain WordPress theme I was using at my personal blog for the past 12 months. The three column theme labeled as “The Red Three” displays content in a very organized manner, providing room in the two sidebars for extra content, advertisements, or notices you wish to provide for your reader-base.

The public release of this theme is my way of saying thanks to the WordPress community, and you - the readers of Desktop Vibes.

The theme which was originally created by Andreas Lengyel, then further customized by myself has had hours upon hours of dedication and hard work put into it. I hope you enjoy using it as much as I have over the past year.

Instructions

Red Three is a three column theme made specifically for WordPress blogs. To edit the title/description of the site in the header, edit these values in the manage settings section of the WordPress back-end.

Please leave all footer links in-tact. These are served as a way for readers of your site to source the original theme download page.

Download & Install

Known to be compatible with WordPress 2.5+. If you are running an older version of WordPress, please, stop what you are doing and upgrade! To install, download and unzip the unstandard directory and upload to wp-content/themes.

Download Red Three Version 1.1

Update: This theme has been updated to version 1.1. Version 1.1 is now compatible with widgets in WordPress.