What to to when leaving Muse

General Discussion
1

Hi Blocs users, might change to Blocs, from Muse. Looking at Webflow also, but I’m not a fan of subscription, I only update my sites once a month about, sometimes less. I am not a web desinger, I have a website for my business, one for my band, and I’m helping a few friend out with theirs. A total of 5 sites. I liked Muse, really do not like Adobe now, gonna ban them from my computer, looking at Luminar instead of Photoshop also.
I started with my first site in 1997, used an Adobe app, don’t even remember the name, since then I have been using iWeb, Dreamweaver and lately Muse. I don’t know html and CSS just confuses me.

So how is Blocs compared to Muse? Any way of importing sites, or do I have to redo from scratch?
Any other quirks I need to know about? Already found some good info here, looking at some tutorials.
The Blocs video is beautiful, but it dosen’t gimme the info I need to make a decision.
thanks, Ken

2

Hi Ken,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for considering Blocs.

Perhaps someone who was likewise an “Adobe Muse” user will chime in and share their experience with you. But it sounds like a good fit based upon the number of sites and the frequency which you make updates. Blocs may indeed be an “alternative to Adobe Muse” for you and your needs.

You don’t really need to know HTML or CSS to use Blocs for most the things you wish to do or get going with the app. Of course you can dive a bit deeper if need with the Custom Classes, adding additional resources via the Page Settings or the using HTML Bric if and when needed also.

For most things though you will be dropping Blocs, Brics, along with using the Side Bar and Class Editor for designing and styling things visually however you like.

Have a look through the overall documentation also if you have not already:

You can also sign up for @Eldar’s free course “Getting Started with Blocs” or venture into his affordable “Blocs Core Training” when you are ready if you indeed decide upon switching to Blocs.

Those videos will help you get going quickly understanding the app and its features.

What specific information, questions on features are you missing information on or wish to know about? Are there perhaps certain things that you are concerned you have on your sites that you are not sure can be replicated with Blocs, if so please be specific or provide links so we can see them and access.

Again welcome to the Blocs forum. :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
3

HI Ken – Well, buckle up, cause this is gonna be a process to find a replacement for muse for a whole host of reasons. Let me begin by saying I fit your exact profile, I only have my one and only personal website, and I am not a web-designer, and have been using Adobe since GoLive, took a stab at Dreamweaver, then came Muse, and then all my web problems were solved!

The first thing to know about Blocs is that it is a beautifully designed interface that sits on top of a framework called Bootstrap. Bootstrap is a professional grade system for working quickly and efficiently in a responsive environment…it has a lot of pre-made elements that in the hands of a knowledgable person can quickly be used to build a structure of a website and have some interactivity, and CSS styling.

However, it was made for professional web development folks, and is not oriented towards non-professional, and in particular for those who are not competent in coding with CSS or even HTML. To make changes to Bootstrap styling requires knowledge of CSS and coding, and most likely JavaScript/JQuery for interactivity.

Blocs was designed for folks who want to use Bootstrap but do not code. And as you will see by the many accounts on this forum many folks really love it! What you will also see is that many (if not most of these folks) are coders and professionals, and so Blocs supports their buisness needs.

Moving from Muse to Blocs is a significant change. Muse was designed to be free-form process with true drag & drop & tug & pull & styling capabilities. Blocs gives you some of that way of working, but in a significantly different way due to the nature of Boostrap’s grid placement system, and Blocs reliance on ‘Custom Classes’ in order to make styling changes from the out-of-the-box CSS rules. I have found this very tedious and cumbersome because of my years with Muse.

I have searched far and wide for a Muse user experience, and frankly there really isn’t an equivalent. Sparkle is an option that other’s have gravitated towards.

So, frustration may be ahead as you teach your muscle memory how to move the mouse and click and drag in an entirely new way…and train your brain memory to absorb and learn once again!

Most of the options out there are all built upon the Bootstrap framework, too, so what it comes down to is the maturity of each individual app, pricing, online vs. desktop app, what features they have especially ‘widget’ like stuff that you may need to use, in app blogging needs, etc…and your comfort with learning a new interface and way of working – Blocs has yet to introduce Tabs or Accordion widget, though some 3rd party programers have stated they are in the process of creating 3rd party ‘widget’ for Blocs which categorically are called brics which are customizable widgets and other kinds of elements you place within bloc elements.

Hope that’s helpful…

4

@DanielF

" Well, buckle up, cause this is gonna be a process to find a replacement for muse for a whole host of reasons. Let me begin by saying I fit your exact profile, I only have my one and only personal website, and I am not a web-designer, and have been using Adobe since GoLive, took a stab at Dreamweaver, then came Muse, and then all my web problems were solved! "

I came from GoLive and Dreamweaver, Blocs is by far the best/easiest program I ever used. It will out of the box make a great looking website without knowing or using HTML/CSS JAVASCRIPT or JQUERY.

It does have the ability to use those tools but it’s not needed. I get a kick out of the Muse users who seem angry at Blocs when you should be angry at big brother ADOBE!

The biggest frustration with any new software is just that “it’s different”. Blocs is different, but if you give it a chance, spend some time learning it you’ll find it’s a great program.

If you just want a personal website why not just use something like WIX?

Blocs is geared for web designers, but certainly if you were using Golive or Dreamweaver you can easily master blocs.

Casey

5

Yes, GoLive was the name of my first one! I forgot, so long ago. That one was pretty good, I even liked Apples iWeb, Dreamweaver is way to complicated for me, even though I still use it for one of my sites. I guess I could learn it, but my time is consumed by all the audio programs I have to keep up with, working in film and music.

Been watching Eldar’s free tutorial today, it seems pretty good! I don’t need much complicated stuff. If I can get the buttons to work, add pictures and some embedded videos, maybe a blog, contact form, a password protected page… Next step is to test the program, I downloaded it, but I wanna get thru the tutorials firs so I have my 7 days to test it.

Thank you guys, your answers are very helpful, real peoples opinions are what counts!

thanks, Ken

1 Like
6

I don’t really agree @DanielF , as demonstrated below …

@Ken,

To my understanding most of the people using Blocs are not web “development” (coding) folks. Instead they are mostly from the “designer” spectrum side of things. It’s easy to see that Blocs appears to be pretty capable based upon the following small sampling of sites people are making with it.

https://eldargezalov.com/builtwithblocs/

You can also look through the local Built with Blocs section of this forum to find other examples:

For instance: I’m 99.9999% sure that @mackyangeles is a “designer” and not a “coder” and you can see more of what he creates as a “designer” (non-coder) with Blocs on his site.

Or how about Andy @apswoodwork who is a woodworker and custom cabinet maker and made his own site? Or @casey1823 who used Blocs to create a Blog and showcase his photography skills, etc. Or @Ben who is a graphic designer and used Blocs to showcase his Guilloche work. Or @gvchagas who is a 3D artist and made a site to show his creations.

The list goes on, regarding examples of non-web “developers” (coders) or professionals who don’t specifically or solely specialize in web related work, using their design skills and creative ambition to leverage Blocs to create modern responsive websites for themselves or others.

Without seeing your current sites, I strongly feel you can accomplish all you will need. Keep us posted.

2 Likes
7

Very well said @Blocs_User :slight_smile:

8

Just looked at the templates made by Eldar, super nice, all I need right there!

1 Like
9

Happy to be corrected regarding the terms and meaning of ‘designer’ vs ‘developer’…thanks for the clarification.

10

I also found Eldar’s tutorials very useful, generous that he offered the free set, and then I paid for the next set…and would recommend them!

Eldar’s templates are a nice representation of what one can do with blocs, but lets not forget Eldar is an expert in using blocs…I wonder how much coding he knows, however, and how much he used if he does to create his wonderful templates.

Regarding blogging, there isn’t a direct way to blog within Bloc (that I am aware of) but there are CMS systems integrated into blocs worth looking into, and you could simulate a blog, but it’s not quite the same thing as an actual blog.

btw, I’m currently exploring a design tool called SKETCH, which gives the feel of Muse in regards to being in a creative flow. But, what’s created in SKETCH is not a coded website, so it does need to be transferred into something that can generate the code.

From a creative process perspective, I’m finding this more enjoyable then working exclusively in Blocs from start to finish. Once I have a design done in Sketches I have all the CSS styles & fonts & layout to reference (and with some plugins can actually extract CSS code, and animations code too, though I haven’t tried that one yet), which then needs to be transferred into Blocs or another website builder like Pinegrow using either’s tool and approaches.

1 Like
11

Hello @DanielF,

Thanks for your kind words about my videos and templates!

I don’t know coding. I also build all templates without using any coding.

Well, actually, there is one thing I know about coding and use time to time: how to center an element using the <div align='center'> </div> :grin:

I am working on a new template now, and I am going to use couple of lines of code (I googled it :face_with_monocle:). I will post a video about this template today and post on the Forum.

Cheers,
Eldar

3 Likes
12

BRAVO!! All the more impressive…:+1:

13

Been trying it a bit now, feels awkward, I’m used to go in to any program and kinda figure out things but not so much here…got 2 days left on my trial, no time to read manuals and watch all videos though, I guess thats what I need to do. Of course I can get the Blocs and bricks in easy, making a menu or so, but when it comes to exact placement and messing with the settings for the elements I’m lost…
For example if I wanna use a picture in a frame (thats a brick right?) How do I resize the frame to show only a part of the picture, now the picture scales with the frame… can not find a setting for that.
And that the asset manager keeps popping up when I click on pictures…

14

Exact placement of elements is done through custom classes. There you can set dimensions, individual padding and margins. This allows you to position elements anywhere you like within the column in which you placed the bric. Remember, as standard, brics will always occupy the full width of the underlying column, so custom classes will override this behaviour. Furthermore, you can adjust the custom class for each device.

When it comes to images, there is not really an effective way to only have part of a picture displayed. In many respects, it would be difficult to substantiate a reason for doing so. If you only need part of an image displayed, crop it before using it in the project. The reason the asset manager opens is because all images used in your project are included in the project assets. I don’t find the asset manager opening at all distracting. If I really don’t want to see it, I just close it.

For sure, Blocs is different to the way Muse worked, but once you understand the basic principles of adding stuff to a framework environment, it becomes very simple. I made the move from Muse and it took a while to get used to the different way of working. However, I wouldn’t go back to Muse. If anything, Blocs has forced me to keep things simple. Muse had so many options and add-ons, it became very easy to add stuff just because it was available. Since moving to Blocs, I now question the need for some website widgets and gizmos that clients sometimes ask for. So far, the absence of bells and whistles hasn’t been detrimental to my business.

1 Like
15

Totally agree with Hendon. Very well said. Simple is good. The code is much better in Blocs too.

16

Thanks for the info! I still have not bought Blocs, been to busy with work (and I’m not a webdesigner) see that a new version is coming soon, so I’ll wait for that, then I’m diving in to it.