Add Web Site Templates To iWeb And RapidWeaver.

The easiest way to create your own web site is to start with a Mac. Could web stuff be any easier?

New Macs come with iWeb. iWeb has templates which make web sites point and click, drag and drop easy. What if you want more?

Apple provides a bunch of templates in iWeb, so you can choose a web site style that fits your purpose. Out of millions of Mac users with web sites that come from iWeb, how do you create an original web site?

That takes more time and effort. Or, you could choose one of the colorful and professional templates available for iWeb. One of our favorite vendors for such Mac goodies is Jumsoft.

The Mac developers at Jumsoft bleed Mac. They’re the same folks who publish Money, a Quicken alternative, Operation, a project management app for the Mac, Relationship, a contact management system, and Process, a nifty outlining utility.

All are stellar Mac applications designed in the true Mac-like fashion. So, what else does Jumsoft do?

Their developers seem to have a graphic nature that needs stroking from time to time, hence the wide variety of Keynote and Pages templates. You can never have too many templates.

With that thought in mind, Jumsoft has created a handful of templates for iLife’s iWeb ‘08 and the popular RapidWeaver, web site creation tool. The beauty here is that the templates are unique, substantially different than the templates included in either iWeb ‘08 or the latest version of RapidWeaver.

You gotta love the world of point and click and drag and drop to create attractive web sites. Of course, iWeb doesn’t do online commerce, but is perfect for a family-oriented web site, or even a small business which simply needs to hang out an online shingle. Creating a web site from scratch and with a totally unique design can take weeks and cost thousands.

The template method takes minutes, adding content may take hours, but the end result is an attractive, polished, professional-looking web site to make you proud.

Jumsoft’s template experience has extended to the creation of web site templates that are available for both iWeb and RapidWeaver, all in the same package, all at the same price.

For now, there are three templates from which to choose. The Mental Image template is a more casual, personal look. The Patronage template is perfect for a small business or a site which features many photos. The Rainbow template is, as you would suspect, colorful, playful, bright.

You know when a Mac software developer is in a good groove when their applications and graphics look as if Apple did the work. The templates can be dropped into iWeb ‘08 and the latest version of RapidWeaver. From there, it’s just a matter of point and click, drag and drop, add content and click to publish.

I’ve had good success with iWeb ‘08, and threw together some family photos and albums. It’s truly point and click. Though both iWeb and RapidWeaver have a web log component, it’s a bit cumbersome to use when compared to a dynamic blogging system such as WordPress, Blogger, or ExpressionEngine, which we use to publish Mac360. I use RapidWeaver for a personal web log using a standard template. The Jumsoft templates are more attractive.

Got a favorite web site building tool? Talk Back to Mac360’s readers and share your experience in the Comments section below.

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