Sandvox seems to be the perfect web-site creation software for me. Obviously, I am not compatible with html and java script and I-don't-know-what-else that's involved in making actual web pages on the deep side of programming. I can't go to the deep end of programming; I can barely function in the shallow end of computer use!
Dan Wood at Karelia Software, makers of Sandvox, got back to me super fast about my sad, sad loss the other day. No luck on recovering it. I've decided that as I blog, I'll repeatedly "save a copy as" of my Sandvox, using the date and a number after it (7/4/6 1, etc.). I'll stash the versions in my Sandvox folder and then later I can clear the old ones out.
I've been having trouble publishing my site too, but if I run the 'Setup Host' before I try to publish, that usually works on the first or second try. A bit annoying, but Sandvox is working for me. Therefore, I'll give real effort to it before I give up!
Some people ask me why I like Sandvox instead of iWeb. Here's a list:
1. Sandvox has a more 'published web site' feel and look while I'm working in it.
2. I like the designs for the site a lot better than the iWeb designs.
3. Sandvox has fun-looking functions. For instance, if I want to link something in this page to another page in my site, I can drag a little bulls eye ("drag target to a page in the site outline") over to where I want the link. It creates this flying line that connects the bulls eye to the target. The line actually wavers slightly! It's hilarious! I couldn't find a picture of the line connecting the target to the bulls eye, but I found a picture of the bulls eye (in the "link destination" window that Sandvox uses for making links.) Really, though, you have to see it to understand its hilarity.
4. I'm a mac zealot, but that doesn't mean I use every iota of mac software in the world. iWeb is simple, accessible, and empowering. It has a modern, spare appeal -- I don't mean the pages you make, I mean the buttons, functions, names for actions, etc. Overall, it has a somewhat 'neutral' tone, which befits a wide-distribution application. On the other hand, specialty software gets to have specialty flavors, and Sandvox is tangy, funny, and juicy. Sandvox "pagelets" are a great example. Sandvox' insanely detailed, easy-to-read Wikipedia-based user guide explains: "We are all familar with web pages, but Sandvox introduces the concept of pagelets. A pagelet is in effect, a miniature webpage that you place alongside a page's main content to display supplemental information." I dig Wikipedia, I dig the way Karelia has organized their user guide, I dig the concept of pagelets, but above all, I deeply dig the zestiness of the word "pagelet" itself. With such happy flavors available to me, in many of my dealings with Sandvox, I'm quite willing to contend with some underdone areas while it simmers...until it emerges hot off the stove, into its own perfection of being.
5. Finally, the name "Sandvox" whispers, "When you're working on your web site, you're really playing in a cyber sandbox." The icon for the site's home page is a sandbox with a castle in the middle, and a red flag flying from the top. Wave the red flag, Remus! I'm writing a web page on a holiday, writing North America. Wave your flag!