Introducing....Source - a FREE 'micro' framework for RW!

Yes - there is another new kid on the block! It’s called ‘Source’ and it is a new lightweight CSS ‘micro’ framework for your RapidWever projects.

Why would you choose Source?

There are already some great frameworks available for RapidWeaver but there are a few reasons / scenarios where I think using Source might well appeal to you:

It’s FREE!

That’s right, it costs you nothing to get access to a framework that you can use to build great sites. Now, on top of having to buy RapidWeaver and the awesome Stacks plugin, you no longer need to also buy a framework before being able to build beautiful free form sites.

It’s lightweight

Source uses only the bare minimum code to set up your sites - e.g. to set up your colours and your fonts etc. (If that is all that you are currently using the likes of Foundry or Foundation to do then you are adding a lot of unnecessary code and bloat to your sites!)

It’s fast

Because it is lightweight, it operates really fast in Edit, Preview and Publish modes.

It’s powerful

Source comes with its own small set of stacks which are enough to build amazing sites. (There is also a completely optional addon pack which lets you make even more amazing sites!)

It doesn’t try to be all things to all people

Source is all about forming a base for your sites. It doesn’t (and never will) include a Slider stack or a Gallery stack or an Accordion stack or a Tabs stack or a Contact Form stack etc etc. Source is there to let you use all of the great (non-framework dependant!) stacks that you no doubt already have in your collections!


So, they are the main reasons why I think Source is awesome (I’ve also written a blog post with a bit more detail if you are interested). Go give it a spin and let me know if you agree!

Download it for FREE.


For the next week you can get 25% off the addon pack and / or the example projects with the code sth-source-launch.

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Congratulations @habitualshaker Stuart!

Thanks also for this example page for Poster: https://posterdemo.instacks.com/source/

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Thanks @Jannis. That does look rather nice doesn’t it? :)

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This is a really significant new set of building blocks for RapidWeaver and finally we can build the layouts that were impossible until now. It’s fast in Edit and Preview modes and creates tiny code that will load quickly on your web sites.

Don’t be put off thinking that it is basic because it is free or is a micro framework, because it is isn’t basic in functionality. In fact it can create layouts that no other system (framework) available today can create. I have been lucky to have been part of the testing and it is rock solid and a joy to use.

Source really benefits from spending some time to learn how the Grid works but the included examples will get most users up and running quickly.

Stuart has done a great job of completing Source and has made a lot of clever decisions and choices along the way that give Source the power that it has.

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Thanks a lot Gary. You were a big help during the beta phase!!

Would really love to see some @Webdeersign Source projects come along at some point!!

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Funny enough, that’s what I’m doing right now. When I saw what Source could do I realised that it would be very difficult to go back to using any other “framework”.

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This sounds really interesting and I’ve just downloaded it. When I tried opening the welcome-to-source.rw file this message popped up. Is there a version that works with Stacks 3.6.8 and RW 7.5.7?

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No one else has flagged this yet. Everyone must have S4 already!!

Let me see if I can fire up S3 and make a compatible version…

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Thank you. I’ve only been using RW when really necessary lately because of page preview speed issues.

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The demo is amazingly fast even on my old 2011 MacBook Pro , so will be interesting to see how it is when used with other stacks.

Hoping to try to convert a few pages I’m working on to Source to see how it compares for usability with preview and a few page speed tools.

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That’s great to hear Paul. That’s one of the big drivers behind Source!

It will depend on the other stacks that you add - some are obviously lighter than others. Will be interested to hear how your experiments go…

OK - just tried it and just hitting ‘Later’ when you get that message opens it fine. No Stacks 4 elements are used on the pages so I think it is fine to do this - for the demo anyway. Everything still seems to work as it should for me.

Also, I will say that I saw a good jump in performance when moving from RW7.5 to RW8.

Let me know how you get on.

I’ve never seen RW pages preview in a couple seconds before. What sort of witchcraft have you used here?

At the moment I’m crazy busy with work, but I’ll definitely look at this closely when things calm down. First impression is impressive.

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Great stuff. Thanks @ashleykaryl

I was lucky enough to get early access to Source, but it was before the menu stack was ready, so I built a few manual menus. I’ve just updated these pages to the release version of Source and made up the same page using the Source Nav.

Then out of curiosity I measure the page size.

NUTS!

This page: http://ci-clientservices.com/clientdev/source/ menu made with Source Button Group and Tavs Popdrop Menu for mobile is 10kb.

This page: http://ci-clientservices.com/clientdev/source/ using the same Button Gorp with the mobile menu using Limelight is 13kb.

This page: http://ci-clientservices.com/clientdev/source/page/ which uses the default Source menu is 7kb.

That’s lightweight.

EDIT: Before I get shot down in flames (it’s already started!), I’m only measuring the code in the source of each page, not everything else.

Sue me.

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That reminds me that I should really thank @tav here for his help with the Source Nav stack. There quite simply wouldn’t have been an included navigation stack without him.

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The navigation is brilliant for those who struggle with other navigation systems. You can control exactly when you want the navigation to collapse to the mobile nav and the nav height and padding are super simple to use. Oh, and did I mention you can use buttons in the navigation too. This is hands down the easiest navigation out there.

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Hi All,

Source has been a great hit so far. Thanks a lot for the support. Just wanted to share a few new videos…

Many more to come!!

Also, please be sure to download the latest version of the demo project file as I have made a few improvements.


If you are enjoying Source please consider leaving a like / review on the RW Community site (free account required). It would be much appreciated. (The listing is not live on the site yet but should still allow you to review.)

Thanks,
Stuart

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I’m curious whether you can use Source with other frameworks like Foundry as it has some nice capabilities?

So I guess the question is whether any of the stacks can be used in other frameworks?

I downloaded it and purchased he Add-on pack to try things out.

My testing shows that you cannot but that might be because I don’t know what I’m doing with Source. The reason I’m asking!

Hi @handshaper

No - all the Source stacks require the main Source stack. I have had quite a few requests about making the 2 grid stacks available for use anywhere, and that may well come at some point, but for now my focus is just on Source.

Thanks for your interest in Source. And let me know if you have any other questions when testing it out :)