Foundation vs Blocs

My first post !!!

Hello all.

I got recommended to Blocs from a a guy who moved from Joe Workman Foundation over to Blocs and says how easy and quick it is.

I have been very very impressed and just a few quick questions if anyone can help:

  1. Anyone other Foundation users here - if so, how do you compare Blocs to it?

  2. I am planning a very large website. Is Blocs ok to handle large sites?

  3. I got fed up of the complex of the foundation plugins and sometimes took me days if not weeks to get them to do a simple thing. Do Blocs have plug ins etc…if so - is there a dedicated page to peoples offerings?

  4. I want to use a Blog on my site and now know Blocs does not have a Blog. Any advise from people who use Blogs - or want to use one? (maybe do one on another platform and link the page?

  5. Thanks !

Just be clear that blocsapp makes static websites and is not template based ( in the sense that you can update some template and have those changes reflected everywhere ).
Blocsapp publishes complete sites every time.

I would use a link to an external bog. Some blocs users look to using some of blocsapp CMS integration.

There is a trial.

I love blocsapp but for large sites I have reservations. I come from a database-development background and have worked on bespoke CMS systems that are essentially template-based front-ends interacting with a database and that’s essentially wordpress, Joomla etc. So I feel that very large sites should be CMS based.

I have seen people make large sites with other static site builders and so far every one has slowed down as the site gets larger (blocsapp may not suffer this) but the reall killer for me is that a redesign of a large static site would be hell to keep consistent.

Just my opinion and I think blocsapp is great, but perhaps less so for “large” sites. I know some blocsapp users have made quite large sites and may think differently.

All my websites in recent times were made with blocsapp. They are small.

2 Likes

Hi AdieJAM, welcome to the forum.

  1. That Rapidweaver stack you speak of uses Foundation, while Blocs uses Bootstrap, so both use very similar underlying responsive frameworks, for building responsive sites.

  2. The developer of Blocs speaks of it handling sites with hundreds of pages, I have never seen one however. ;—)

  3. Blocs has built in “Brics” that allow you to quickly assemble a page(s) via drag and drop, in conjunction with layout Blocs. You can begin to see that in the Blocs overview video and reviewing the documentation, or simply downloading the trial and taking it for a spin. As far as 3rd party add-ons, Blocs just recently opened up its API for developers to start offering custom 3rd party Brics. So you should see more of those being offered soon.

  4. You can search the forum and find some users speaking of their various approaches to including a Blog or trying to approximate one. Wordpress integration may come in some future version of Blocs. As @pauland mentioned above it does currently integrate with various CMS solutions, as well as Disqus comments.

  5. You’re welcome, again welcome to the forum.

4 Likes

thanks all,

Just playing around with a few things on the demo.

I have been told today a new version of Blocs will be released soon and will be discounted for current users - so im guessing its worth me holding on.

I wish all updated would be free.

Not sure when you have been told Blocs 3 will be released. Only thing I’ve heard was later this year. All the sub releases are free (2.4, 2.5.1, 2.5.2). I would guess if you purchased just before a new major version, that it would be free(@norm).
Since you came from RapidWeaver ($99), running Stacks ($49) with the foundation framework($99), plus other add-ons and stacks ($???), don’t think Blocapp ($79) is that much to invest.

I have both; I think Blocsapp is much more modern. I found it easier to use; you have to be open-minded, some rapidweaver users get set in there ways. It’s not as mature; the API now is open for third-party developers. The first was just released last week (by a RapidWeaver Developer). I’ve had Blocs for about eight months, and have seen more activity, and improvements then RapidWeaver has had in the three years I’ve used it.

If you can do it in RapidWeaver BlocsApp should work. Blocsapp does not have a publisher (FTP) built into it. That’s good in my opinion as seems like the RW developers spend more time fixing and addressing publishing problems then they do working on the base product.

@eldar has some paid training courses; If you want to get up to speed fast on Blocsapp, I would have a look. The getting started are free, and I would recommend the Blocs Core Training for you since you know how to build a website.

Many CMS options covered by above reply. Pulse (also available in RW) is one.
If you have any other questions for me feel free to ask. There are quite a few RW users who have switched, and a few of the Developers are working on Brics.

4 Likes

Yes there has been discussion that Blocs 3 will come later in the year, could be late summer, fall, etc.,

Updates are discounted.

It supports the development of the app and the developer.

Keep in mind only major releases X.xx are charged for, all sub releases within a version are free x.X.X. By buying now you are helping to support its development.

1 Like

thanks all,

My trial period is up - so I will find out a few more things by seeing what people are doing and then give it a go.