Too scared to upgrade ... need to learn all options

Hi
I have been finishing up a couple of sites before looking into upgrading Rapidweaver / Stacks / Foundry

I am using RW8 (8.9.4) Stacks 4 and Foundry 2.

I have several sites (about 20) that will often need updating … so will need to keep RW8 (8.9.4) Stacks 4 and Foundry 2.


I know there has been a great deal written on this but I am quite out of the loop. Can anyone direct me to the best /most up to date place where I can learn what to do.
I have a couple more sites to make … so I guess I should upgrade and build these with the most up to date version of RW Stacks and Foundry … BUT really is crucial that I can make small updates to my existing sites for ever!
Im scared to do anything without confirming Im getting it right!

For ever is a long time.

I would wait until something breaks and then think about upgrading. No need to worry right now.

Just make enough backups of your project files and exports.

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Cool! That makes me feel better !

I have actually bought Foundry 3. So I believe I can use that with the versions of RW and Stacks that I currently have … though if I make a site in Foundry3 … I cannot use any other 3rd party stacks? (Of which I have about
$ 1000000000 worth !
Am just about to look up the benfits of Foundry 3 over Foundry 2


Im happy with what I am using at the moment … I just dont want to get too far behind so that when I do have to update it will be lots to lean

Another question… Im using Mac OS 12.6.1

Can I upgrade to Ventura without messing up Rapidweaver ?

Foundry 3 is great, I’m new to the party with Foundry, I use loads of other Stacks stuff (which too is great), but I’m really impressed with Foundry 3, it is very versatile, and very intuitive to use. Yes it’s the same as all other frameworks and stacks in that you can use all your other stacks with it. I found that people are more and more wanting to be able to edit elements of sites themselves, so I kind of stumbled across it because of looking in to Alloy (which is a separate set of stacks, but will only work with Foundry) anyway, I tried Foundry and I love it. Keep all your old sites on Foundry 2 until there is a need or a reason to rebuild from scratch, but create new sites with your Foundry 3. I know it’s new, but it is good so get past the initial hump of the learning curve and it will be all good for you.

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Brilliant THANKS!

Are you using OS Ventura? Am I ok to upgrade that ?

No still on Big Sur, I’m using 8.9.3 and the latest Stacks version. I would upgrade to Stacks 5 though, it’s well worth it, then you should be fine as your 8.9.4 is claimed to be Ventura ready and Stacks 5 is as far as I’m aware.

Also make use of the sample starter kits you got with the Foundry 3 registration that you can download. It will show you how components are creatively made up from the various different ‘tools’ (as they are called). You can then copy these components to your own project, deconstruct, modify etc. It’s all about combining the different things to make something with Foundry 3.

I would stay where you are. IMHO, because Foundry 2 and Foundry 3 are not compatible, and some functions that existed in F2 with addons pack, don’t exist in F3, that you will introduce new issues that will require a re-think, and a new learning curve just to match what you already have and are used to. On the other hand if you want to complicate your life, go for it.

Upgrading to Stacks 5 will be transparent and is well worth doing.

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@Domino As others have mentioned, Stacks 4 is a no-brainer (i.e. get and use). I’m working with OS 13.4, no problems with RW (or, put differently, no problems caused by the OS but RW still has its quirks).

From a mental perspective I’ve almost consider F2 and F3 different tools. They aren’t of course, but instead of a 90% overlap I’d guess there’s more like a 65% overlap. F3 is more powerful and flexible. But you can use both F2 and F3 on RW and Stacks so there’s no conflict … just like you can use Foundry and Source on one machine. There’s no problem, that I know of, with F3 and other stacks. So that’s not an issue.

@Tophat makes great suggestions. The documentation is very thorough. This also includes great step by step videos … be sure to take advantage of thoses. The biggest changes to me are at the beginning of a project … the basics of setting things up have changed. The more fine-tuned stacks and approaches have changed much less. Blacksmith is wonderful but will take learning the documentation to use well and nimbly.

Scroll down this page and you’ll find a series of 3 videos on Building a Site with F3. Probably the best place to start:

I’m fairly careful when doing these kinds of changes. My old websites built in F2 will stay in F2 (at least for awhile). Think of it as going back to school for F3 … leave yourself a wee bit of breathing space to learn about F3 before diving into a new project with a strict deadline. I’d suggest starting with a relatively small project without a strict timeline. Hope this helps a bit.

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