Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know I started a new Blog for Blocs. I’ll be posting general web design articles and behind the scenes stuff on Blocs and the other things I build.
We are also going to open the publication out so members of the Blocs community can also contribute to the Blog.
It’s started with a post on Solis, I hope you enjoy 
Great start, thanks for letting us in to your insights behind the development of Solis.
Casey
Norm, I just now read your Bloc post about the Solis code editor. What does Solis enable me to do that I cannot do through Blocs? Obviously, it allows me to edit code to my hearts content, as would BBEdit, and it seems you are differentiating your code editor from BBEdit and similar code editors in a way that offers features in Solis which aren’t offered in other code editors. But what I find appealing about Blocs is it’s simplicity. It’s like the old promise of SoftPress Freeway which said, “For those who don’t see the world as code.” Hence, I am not necessarily excited over a mere code editor UNLESS such an editor is really required to expand the functionality of Blocs (add functionality to websites created in Blocs), yet in a way that non-coders can handle. For example, in Freeway, there’s something called the “HTML Markup dialog box” which allows Freeway users to add a splattering of code to "Before " or “after </BODY” and so on. I often use this when there is no Freeway Action that empowers me with the functionality I need.
So in summary, I am trying to see how Solis will directly benefit Blocs users who don’t see the world as code. What can non-coders do with Solis?
Thanks.
Solis in the Blocs environment allows you to see what your website will look like on different phones, tablets and desktops. You can view several devices at once. For example you could have a iPhone 5 and the iPhone 8 Plus and a iPad all open in Solis. You could add a class in Blocs and as you adjust properties (maybe padding or margins) it will show what effect it will have on the different devices.
This could be really helpful in getting live feedback on the changes your making in Blocs.
Hope this helps.
Casey
So is Solis a code editor (like the Blog indicates) or a “browser tester”? 
No it’s not a code editor. But it does work with code editors or with Blocs.
Did you see the page for Solis relative to Blocs ?
https://solisapp.com/blocs.html
How to use from Blocs:
https://help.blocsapp.com/using-solis-with-blocs/
Older video working with Blocs:
In a nutshell in regards to Blocs, Blocs + Solis allows you to create more accurate designs across devices. You can see how your designs will look across various device sizes and make adjustments in Blocs as needed or desired.
Solis is actually a pretty diverse app. I designed it so it can work in pretty much any web design scenario. I don’t see it as being tied to any work flow.
It made sense to add support for Blocs users as well as code editor users.
It brings an improved preview method to Blocs users and enables them to see a preview as they work. It’s preview also injects page head attachments into the preview which Blocs does not do and it then enables users to edit these attachments in real-time via a code editor.
But this app is not a replacement for Blocs, it’s something completely different.
But basically you are saying that when you use Solis with Blocs, you basically have something akin to Freeway with its HTML Markup dialog (a dialog which allows Freeway users to inject code into web pages – something they otherwise would NOT be able to do). In other words, Solis allows Blocs users to inject code into pages which Blocs otherwise doesn’t allow them to do, right? If so, it would seem you would still need to create the site in Blocs, export, then import into Solis, then inject the code, then save again – is that right?
I do not want to be rude but did you even read the blog?
Mildly rude, yes, but I can take it. The answer to your question is actually in my earlier post. Just search for “read” on this page, and of course be sure to READ my post.
Consider well that I’m not even a Blocs user yet. I’ve just been beta testing Blocs for a while in hopes of transitioning to it from Freeway, once responsive tables and site-wide search features become available. Thanks.
No, that’s not correct.
Q. Can you preview blocs sites while you create them in Blocs on multiple view ports simultaneously using Blocs on its own?
A. No.
Solution. Solis
Please excuse me if I was rude. I did not even want to be middle rude. 
I am also a former Freeway user looking for an alternative.
I found your interesting postings on this topic in various forums and read them all. That’s why I thought I could get a picture of your understanding of the function of solis. My mistake.
Back to the topic:
Once paired with Blocs or a code editor, Solis shows you live what you do in Blocs or in the code editor. You do not need to save in Blocs or Code Editor first. Solis also shows you which changes you can achieve with an inserted code, for example in the head area. This can not be done, for example, with the built-in Blocs preview. There you would have to make the conventional detour via your browser and it does not show multiple views at once as Solis does.
Again sorry for my rudeness
Cheers
Thank you for the detailed explanation, Carl! And don’t worry about anything you wrote before. I ask stupid questions sometimes when I have limited info and don’t have time to fully think it through. Your reply helped me to think it through, and I appreciate that.
Best wishes!
By the way, I use Blocs since it came out and have already brought several customer sites on the way. I’m very happy with Blocs and I’m just about to rebuild a former freeway site into a blocs site.
Cheers
I appreciate it is a little confusing, given that a lot of the marketing for Solis is about coding. What I tried to do was create a product that had potential to reach new people as well as Blocs users, I think it may bring them to Blocs, or maybe even the Blocs community in general to build extensions and help others.
Anyway I hope you have a better understanding of how it fits in
Hi Norm – This string clarified a lot, thanks!
AND it resolved my earlier confusion when seeking information about the music used for Solis announcement…the video vimeo link form Bloc_User above, is where I heard the music (piano piece) I was hoping to find…but I still have not been able to locate either the composer, song, or album.
This is the piano piece, I LOVE: https://vimeo.com/230143813
If it’s not too much trouble, can you point me in the right direction? Thanks again.
Hello Norm, Is Blocs the app used to create this page and if so what brick was used to make the counter that has the dates, replies, views, etc. that appears under your first announcement on this page. I understand from reading several comments throughout the site that Blocs can’t create blog pages but this page feels very much like it could be used as a blog in a website.
@Norm you mentioned around the beginning of the year that you started a Blog. Does that still exist or has it been put on hold? The link lead to Solis.