If you are a user of the popular design for Sandvox called "Apogee" then please read carefully …

The Apogee design has now been updated to work with Sandvox 2.8 natively (meaning that you do not need to set the jQuery library to 1.5 in the Inspector).
Please read all of the update notes below carefully as they will explain the changes made to the design.

As you know, Sandvox 2.8 introduced the ability to use the more modern version of the jQuery javascript framework (version 1.9) in your website. This did not create any sort of issue with 99.9% of the designs for Sandvox because they do not use any sort of javascript in their design.
The Apogee design was different though because it included a lot of net features and took advantage of the ability to add javascript to the design.
Initially, these scripts had to be written to work for jQuery 1.5 because that is what Sandvox 2.7 and below used. So with the update to Sandvox 2.8 *and subsequently jQuery 1.9) these scripts had to be re-written to be compatible.

The bad news is that one of the features was unable to be re-written and was therefore removed from the design. The Social icons drawer IS NOT part of the Apogee update.

This update includes the following:

• Removes the Social Meda bar from the design. I could not get this feature to work properly using jQuery 1.9.
• Re-wrote much of the Javascript in the design to function better using the newer jQuery library that Sandvox 2.8 uses
• Re-worked the css that styled the Photo-Grid page to stop distorting the images. You should now just use the Inspector
• Corrected a styling bug that appeared when using un-ordered lists
• Fixed a small navigation bug that would show up on 3rd level navigation items

Updates are being sent out via email to the address used when making your purchase. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the update.

Gary

Tags: Updates

I have just issued an update to the Carte Blanche design for Sandvox.
This update addresses the following:
- An error that would appear when trying to use the Contact Form in the sidebar. This error would prevent site visitors from completing the form after hitting “Send”.
This issue has been resolved.

I have sent update notices to all who have purchased this design with instructions for updating their design. If you purchased this design and did not get an update notice then please feel free to contact me and let me know and I will be happy to help you out.

Or, you can simply use the original download link that was provided in your email receipt when you purchased the design. This link will always download the most recent version of the design.

Thanks,
Gary

Tags: Sandvox, Updates, Carte Blanche

Many of you have been helping to test the beta versions of Sandvox 2.8. This is no doubt a big help to the folks over at Karelia.com.
However, many of you have also pointed out that while using the beta that the Apogee design does not work properly. I would like to take a few minutes to outline ‘why’ and also give instructions to ‘how’ to fix it.

Why
The reason the Apogee design breaks with Sandvox 2.8(beta) is because by default Sandvox will use the new(er) version of jQuery (jQuery 1.9.1).
The Apogee design was created to work with jQuery 1.7.5 and below. While most of the features of the design will function properly going forward with newer version of the jQuery library there are a couple of things that broke in jQuery 1.9 … namely the use of the ‘toggle’ class. jQuery 1.9 removed the ‘toggle’ class (along with some others) from the library. Therefore anything relying on those classes would naturally break.

Because my use of the ‘toggle’ class came early in the DOM structure then subsequent items would also break.

How To Fix
First off, I want to assure you that I have been working on a fix to the Apogee design that will function properly when using jQuery 1.9+. I will release it soon after Sandvox 2.8 comes out of ‘beta’ and is available to the public.

Also, the folks at Karelia.com have already built-in a fallback plan for any designs that may need to be updated but are not quite ready when they release Sandvox 2.8.

You will be able to tell Sandvox to use the newer version of jQuery or the older version (the one found in Sandvox version 2.7). This way everyone will be happy.

So …
If you are using the latest beta of Sandvox and find that the Apogee design is not working for you then you can switch to the older version of jQuery using the Inspector. (Note the images below)

Tags: Sandvox, Apogee

We are well into 2013 and I wanted to take a few moments to let you know whats going on at Kuler Solutions.
It has been quite a while since we have released a new product for either RapidWeaver, stacks, or Sandvox. However, this does not mean that we are not in active development with some new products.

Following are a few things we are working on:

For RapidWeaver
We have a brand new theme currently in development that will be geared toward places of worship. In the 8-9 years I have been involved in theme development for RapidWeaver there have been very little offerings that were designed specifically with places of worship in mind.
The ‘KS Worship’ theme will be a full featured theme that many churches, synagogues, and temples will hopefully find useful.

For Stacks
We have been working on some very exciting news for the Stacks community for quite a while. I won’t give a lot of information out just yet about this project except to say that it will be HUGE!
It is a project that is designed for slightly more advanced RapidWeaver users and ‘power’ Stacks users. Let me put it this way … If you develop websites for others then you will want what we have been working on.

For Sandvox
We are also actively developing a brand new design for the Sandvox community. The Sandvox platform just keeps getting better and better. I am truly excited about where the folks at Karelia Software seem to be headed with Sandvox.

There are a couple of other things that I really want to tell you about but I must refrain for the time being. Soon enough though!

Gary

Tags: new, RapidWeaver, Stacks, Sandvox

I am sure that many of you are already aware that the jQuery team released jQuery 1.9 to the world last night (1-15-13). You may or may not also be aware of some of the problems that this created for users of the Stacks plugin and 3rd party (s)tacks. If you are not aware or simply do not understand how this update from the jQuery team could have possibly effected your site then let me try to explain:

What Is jQuery?

jQuery is a javascript library or framework. It has been used in the RapidWeaver ecosystem for years as a way to allow themes and stacks to do amazing things. Nearly every theme that has been developed for RapidWeaver over the last 4-5 years has included jQuery.

Because the Stacks plugin has created its own ecosystem of developers who have created hundreds of stacks that require jQuery to do all those amazing things, it calls for the latest version of jQuery to be added to the page.

This is actually a good thing otherwise each and every stack would be calling its own copy of the jQuery library to the page and pages would take forever to load up.

Typically, this does not create any sort of problem and the greater RW community clips on along not paying any attention to what is under the hood of the stack they are using.
However, this particular time it was a little different because the jQuery 1.9 update was sort of preparing things for the eventual release of 2.0 a little later in the year. (This is also a good thing)
What wasn’t so good was that several things that had been in jQuery from the first versions have been depreciated and will no longer be included in the framework. Some other things were removed because they were no longer needed or advantageous to the framework.

These changes may have effected your website over the last 24-36 hours (depending on how many stacks you use in your website project).

For example, our Stretch stack that functions like an accordion, stopped working altogether last night. The problem turned out to be that jQuery 1.9 removed the “toggle” class.
So in order for me to fix the stack I have to add a couple of lines of code to the stack and re-package it so I can send it out to customers.

How Does All This Effect Me?

You may find that certain stacks from 3rd party developers have stopped working the way they should. If this is the case then you should follow these instructions:

1. Make sure that you have the latest version of the Stacks plugin. You can visit Yourhead.com and download the latest version or you can check for updates inside of RapidWeaver.


2. After you have downloaded and installed the latest version of the Stacks plugin then you will want to re-publish your website using RapidWeaver.

What About Updates To Stacks?

I will be issuing updates to stacks using an email that will contain a download link. Other developers will have their own system in place and probably have already addressed how they are handling things.

More Information

You can read the post from Isaiah (Yourhead Software) on the Realmac Forums here: http://forums.realmacsoftware.com/discussion/60599/stacks-v2-1-8-released

If you have any questions or need further clarification please feel free to drop me an email at gary@kulersolutions.com

Tags: jQuery, jQuery 1.9

18 months, that is how long it has been since our last site re-design.

I have been wanting to change the color scheme of our site for quite a while but doing anything major was gonna require a lot of time and it seemed that there was always something more pressing that I needed to tend to.

I finally got the point where I was unable to focus on much of anything else because there was this uncontrollable itch that just had to be scratched. So I began working on a new look and feel to the front-end of the website but also spending a lot of time on the back-end of the website.

Not only do we have a brand new look to the folks who will be visiting our site, we also have a brand new database that controls all of our stores. (I’ll be writing about this part in another blog post soon)

You should be able to make your way around the new site with ease. I have even made much of the site to be responsive so that it a pleasure to look at on handheld devices.

Anyway, if you see anything that is out of place or any mis-spelled words please do not hesitate to let me know and I will correct them as quick as I can.

Tags: Company News

==The Problem==

You see that a particular stack has an update and so you try to update it only to get an error message stating that there was a problem trying to update.

So, you try again and achieve the same results … and again, and again.

Eventually, you re-start RapidWeaver and try to update the stack again but sadly you keep getting error messages and you can not update the stack.

==The Reason==

The reason you are seeing these error messages result from you trying to update a stack that has been given a new name.

Lets take the “RWT Tabs” stack for example … many (literally hundreds) people have sent in support requests stating that they can not update the RWT Tabs stack even though it says there is an update.

However, there really isn’t an update to the RWT Tabs stack but rather an update to the “Kuler Tabs” Stack.

Same goes for the Countdown Stack … it has been re-named to “Kuler Countdown”. If you try to update the old “Countdown” stacks then you will get an error message.

==The Solution==

Please keep in mind the following when trying to update stacks from Kuler Solutions:

• The ONLY stacks that you will be able to use the auto update feature for will be located in the “Kuler Solutions” drawer in the Stacks Library. If you are trying to update a stack that is located in the “Other Stacks” drawer of the Stacks library then you WILL receive an error message.

==RWT Tabs … Kuler Tabs==

After you have installed the new “Kuler Tabs” stack then you can delete the old RWT Tabs stacks. The only reason you would want to keep them is if you prefer them over the new one. However, you should keep in mind that they WILL NOT be updated and CAN NOT be updated using the Auto Update feature. So any notices saying that they have an update are only there to remind you that you need to update to the new Kuler Tabs stacks.

You can download the update by using any of the following methods:

• Use the link that I sent you via email
• Use the “Order Lookup” provided here: Order Look-up

• Or you can use the link that I have provided in the “Update Window” that pops up when you try to update the RWT Tabs Stack. (Note the image below)

==Countdown … Kuler Countdown==

The new “Kuler Countdown” stack replaces ALL of the old Countdown stacks. It does not replace the “Countup” stack.

After you have downloaded and installed the new Countdown stack then you can delete the old Countdown stacks.

Just like with the RWT Tabs stacks … if you decide to hold on to the old Countdown stacks then please remember that they will never be issued an update using the auto update feature.

ALL updates will be issued to the “Kuler Countdown” stack via auto update.


If you have any questions or concerns regarding the updates please do not hesitate to let me know via email (Please do not use Twitter as a support means)


Thanks

Gary

Tags: Updates, Stacks

If you try to install your stack and it wont install or if your stack just looks and acts like a folder then you will need to run the StacksInstaller app.

This problem has been around since the early days of the first few beta’s of Stacks 1 and only effects a few people. If you happen to be one of the ones who can’t install a particular stack then you will want to do the following:

1. Make sure you are using Stacks 2
2. Make sure you are using the latest version of RapidWeaver
3. If you have done that then please click on the link below and download the StacksInstaller app and double click on it to run it. You won’t actually see it do anything but it should make it to where you can install the stacks onto your system like everyone else.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/kuler-images/StackInstaller.zip

Tags: install

Ok … here is what you have been waiting for … the official Kuler Solutions Stacks 2 Update Info Thread

Updated

If a stack is listed under the "Updated" list it means that the stacks has been updated AND that emails have been sent to customers who have purchased the stack.
IF you know that you have purchased a stack that is listed then and you have not received an update notice then you should contact me via e-mail and I will be happy to forward you a new download link.

• FAQ Stack - Re-named to “Kuler FAQ”, added some Stacks 2 goodness, Stack 2 ONLY
• Tabs Stack - Re-named to “Kuler Tabs”, several new features, Stack 2 ONLY
• Partitions 2 - lots of new stuff, Stacks 2 ONLY
• Fileshare Stack(s) - Now comes with 2 stacks. One that links to files in your “Resources” folder and another that links to files elsewhere on the web (Dropbox, Amazon S3, etc …). The stacks now include the ability to customize the color scheme yourself (as well as use one of the built-in color schemes)
• Call To Action Buttons - lots of new stuff, Stacks 2 ONLY
• Countdown - lots of new stuff, Stacks 2 ONLY

Stay tuned as more stacks are added to the list …

I am sure that you have probably heard by now that there is a major update coming to the Stacks plugin from Yourhead.com and you may be wondering about updates to current stacks.

In an effort to curtail any questions or concerns about updates I would like to provide for you the following information regarding stacks from Kuler Solutions (and RWT).

• ALL stacks that worked in Stacks 1 should also work in Stacks 2. Kudos to Isaiah at Yourhead.com for working really hard to assure as much backwards compatibility as possible.
• ALL Kuler Solutions stacks will need to be updated to take advantage of the new features built into the Stacks 2 api (Again, the older stacks should still work but they just wont have any of the new features)
• ALL stacks from Kuler Solutions will need to be re-downloaded and installed. I will not (can not) use the Sparkle Auto-updating system to update the old stacks to the new ones. However, going forward, I will be adding the ability to use the auto-update feature.

The following stacks should be ready to be updated on the same day that Stacks 2 is released or soon after

• Countdown Stack - better localization, smaller footprint
• FAQ Stack
• Fileshare Stack - now includes a second stack that can “link” to files anywhere on the web
• Kuler Quote Stack - Stacks 2 will come with its own “Quote Stack” but I think ours is ‘kuler’ ;)
• Partitions Stack - More flexibility, more features, and more useable
• Tabs Stack
• Mooccordion and jQordion Stacks - Will be re-named to “Kuler Accordion” and will ONLY use the jQuery framework.
• Kuler Vimeo Stack

These stacks will be updated not long after Stacks 2 is released

• Designer Tables
• Call To Action
• Inline Buttons
• E-Store Set
• Portfolio
• Services
• Ads

Updates will be sent to the e-mail address you used when purchasing the stack.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding these updates feel free to send me an e-mail.

Gary

Tags: Stacks, Updates