Flux Giveaway

Flux IconA few weeks ago I reviewed Flux for MacApper. Flux is a website creation tool that is based on the WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) concept. The developers of Flux (The Escapers) have kindly given 3 licenses of Flux to be given to 3 of you lucky readers.

If you would like to be eligible for 1 of the 3 licenses, all you need to do is comment below with how Flux could be useful to you in creating a website, or what sort of features you would like to see implemented in the future. Flux is still a young application, and your feedback is invaluable to the developers.

Flux retails for $69 from The Escapers.

Comments

69 Responses to “Flux Giveaway”

  1. Jan on June 9th, 2008 7:17 am

    Looks like a promising tool for web-editors, i’ve tested it and the gorgeous interface makes working with CSS a pleasure.

  2. Simon on June 9th, 2008 7:22 am

    I’d like it if there was a blog template included. I haven’t a lick of coding to my name, so making blogs would be impossible.

  3. Ed on June 9th, 2008 7:24 am

    I just switched over to a Mac and any tool that will assist with rails will appreciated.

  4. Maciek on June 9th, 2008 7:29 am

    It’s great to see Ruby on Rails support in recent Flux release. I just wonder is there any chance to do same thing for Django?

    RoR is still cool kid on the block, but well, it’s not the only one at the moment :)

  5. Alan on June 9th, 2008 7:51 am

    I had downloaded this app after the MacApper review. It looked good, and the videos got me rethinking Ruby on Rails. While the app might be worth the $69, it’s not worth that much to me. So I figured I’d wait for some sort of “MacDeal.”

  6. Nasim on June 9th, 2008 8:01 am

    The Ruby on Rails support looks cool! I want django support also. That’d be a killer feature and I can use both RoR and django within a single designer, isn’t it ultra-cool?

  7. ElGrowZone on June 9th, 2008 8:06 am

    Flux looks cool. I really like to automate building any websites - so Automator or AppleScript support would be great!

  8. Calvin on June 9th, 2008 8:32 am

    Does Flux come with forum and blog templates? If so - it would really be helpful. If it’s there, I think I’ll get myself a copy of it. iWeb just isn’t good enough.

  9. paxton on June 9th, 2008 8:36 am

    I am not sure if this is already possible. If not it would be great if you could import an existing website (including CSS) and start modifying it with flux. I.e. you could use a great Lightroom export plugin, create your stunning slideshow and build your site around it.

  10. Wes Rice on June 9th, 2008 8:47 am

    I think Flux is a great visual approach for handling tasks that are not so visual. Not all designers like getting knee-deep in code, much less getting their feet wet. I think this is a great application for them.

    That being said, I think that if Flux had a feature to visually design database/dynamic data, then a lot of designers would go crazy for this.

    For example, Flux could connect to a database (MSSQL, ACCESS, MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc) and import the tables to a stage. From there, the relational database can be queried visually, similar to the Query Designer tool in Microsoft’s Visual Studio Express Edition. A SQL query validation tool would be nice as well, to make sure that everything is running smooth.

  11. dai on June 9th, 2008 9:04 am

    It is a wonderful application.
    However, I think it is better when abundant templates are prepared for the beginner like me. :)

  12. phil on June 9th, 2008 9:06 am

    Let me add another vote for importing existing websites. Also handy would be the ability to import a plain html web page and “CSS-ifiy” it.

  13. Hans Juergen Bauer on June 9th, 2008 9:06 am

    Flus seems to be a good start in Ruby on Rails.

  14. Abubaker Shamlan on June 9th, 2008 9:09 am

    Beautiful App, except for the splash screen, I can’t wait to finish my examination period to get started on this thing

  15. puppy love on June 9th, 2008 9:18 am

    This application is wonderful overall.
    Especially,Ruby on Rails support is so cool!
    I hope that Flux support django too.

  16. nathan miller on June 9th, 2008 9:18 am

    I’ve been playing with the demo of Flux and though I haven’t figured it all out, really like what I’ve seen. I haven’t thought of any major improvements, just to keep slow and steady development.

  17. Abubaker Shamlan on June 9th, 2008 9:19 am

    If there’s CSS editing just like in CSS Edit that would be amazing
    if it’s not possible then TextMate like-css-editing would be nice, not to mention code completion would be awesome.

  18. flitzefisch on June 9th, 2008 9:21 am

    Great App. What I really would like to do with it is creating templates for CMS — so my suggestion is to build an export tool for different CMS. Maybe an apple script with this functionality?

  19. sorethroat on June 9th, 2008 9:40 am

    Very cool application! If an easy processing tool of the image is added, this application is perfect for Web site construction. This is my hope.

  20. Silla on June 9th, 2008 9:56 am

    I have tried the Flux demo, and even though there are a few glitches, I think with time it will be a really great app.

    It’s the perfect mix between WYSIWYG and HTML coding - I like being able to see exactly what I’m doing without having to load a preview, but traditional WYSIWYG editors are way too limited, and I prefer being able to modify the HTML and CSS manually if I need to. I absolutely love the image effects editor - what a timesaver to do all your image editing directly in Flux!

    What I would like to see in Flux is the ability to make image placeholders, so that you can just drag the photos onto the placeholder to replace them (like in iWeb and Pages). It would also be great if Flux could open and edit PHP files, so I could create or edit Wordpress themes.

  21. Jason on June 9th, 2008 10:00 am

    Flux could be useful in building sites for clients who need a WYSIWYG-like web site (i.e. the client that wants creative control)

    Jason

  22. dt on June 9th, 2008 10:07 am

    Great application!!
    I think it is more convenient when it is possible to edit it by opening existing HTML.

  23. Joe Cool on June 9th, 2008 10:17 am

    All of my websites use pure CSS for styling. Having this could really help in quickly building the appropriate CSS.

  24. John Wells on June 9th, 2008 10:46 am

    I use WordPress on my own domain, so Flux would be invaluable in modifying WordPress templates and creating extra pages.

    Flux appears to be a premier tool for editing and customizing CSS pages.

    I would really love to use this tool to improve my site.

  25. Anthony on June 9th, 2008 10:56 am

    I guess that I would want to see a better and more apparent workflow in the interface of the application. The app still doesn’t seem that intuitive to me. I will download the demo again and work with it–maybe it will feel a bit more comfortable this time around.

  26. Tim Madel on June 9th, 2008 11:04 am

    I think this product has great potential. Would be nice if you could integrate a WordPress blog easily.

  27. Michael Bazzoni on June 9th, 2008 11:06 am

    Look like the layout functionality would be really useful.

  28. Adam on June 9th, 2008 11:32 am

    I think the program looks really cool. I like the way you can better customize the look and layout of a site compared to iWeb.

  29. Nick c on June 9th, 2008 12:14 pm

    I love the RoR functionality and would love to use it as a starting point for integrating some RoR goodness into my websites.

    Hopefully more templates will become available for Flux e.g Blog, Photo gallery etc.

  30. David on June 9th, 2008 1:04 pm

    I’m still new at using a mac, so any program that helps me get going is appreciated! Flux seems great… it should really help me put together a nice website. Hope I win!!!

  31. Gimp on June 9th, 2008 1:18 pm

    I tend to have troubles visualizing design as I’m working on things. Being able to move things around and edit things exactly as I see them will be great.

  32. E.T.Cook on June 9th, 2008 2:15 pm

    Being able to contextually search for creative commons pictures off of Flickr or something automatically would be great. It would also be helpful to do it under a keyword system as well.

    For example, you have a website you are building on dolphins. You need some images to spice up your site, so you open up the dialog box, type dolphins, and it searches for CC images on flickr. You can then just drag and drop them into the image placeholder etc.

  33. mike (for mavericks) on June 9th, 2008 2:27 pm

    We are a small, family based media company and I’m (the Dad) trying to teach my kids how to design and how to work with customers. Our accountant told us that last year we lost $29 as a company, but I figure the lessons we learned together was priceless. We make sites for causes and we are learning not only how to design, work with clients, but also about great causes out there.

    We have a hard time affording all the latest software (adobe) but we would love to use Flux to create css based sites. I hope my kids (ages 18, 16 and 14) can learn css, html and php while making great looking sites that have helpful features. Having a WYSIWYG tool like Flux will help us.

  34. Todd Eastman on June 9th, 2008 3:32 pm

    Comparing Flux with Coda is definitely apples to oranges. Coda makes me bang my head on the keyboard, but I am admittedly not much of a coder.

    Flux looks much more promising, though it needs some kind of help function other than email and the user’s forum. I’m glad there is an option to kill the splash screen. It looks amateurish and could use some work if they want people to actually view it.

    I am relatively new with Mac so it may be that I don’t know how to do this, but I found it frustrating that the main application always opens in a small screen. I’d like the option to have it always open to a full screen.

    I think the price is quite competitive, especially compared to some of the alternative apps mentioned above. But a slightly lower price for such a new application might encourage more people to purchase it. I’ll have to work with it longer before I decide if it can be squeezed into my budget.

  35. Jim W on June 9th, 2008 5:13 pm

    I like it and would love to have a copy to help build a couple of site that I have inmind.

  36. Sean Jarvis on June 9th, 2008 6:30 pm

    As someone who is currently trying to get my feet wet with Ruby on Rails, this tool looks like it has everything I need to try to implement those kinds of builds in my websites. When I was first learning CSS, I used CSSEdit as a tool to not only build CSS, but to learn how to hand-write it. Now, as someone who’s always building several experimental sites at once, I think that the site management tools (à la Dreamweaver) would really help me keep my files straight. But mostly, it’ll help me to build RoR apps, and to improve my skills with building interactive web experiences.

  37. daisuke on June 9th, 2008 8:22 pm

    It is a very strong application.
    However, it is a little complex to me.
    When the tutorial mode for and the beginner is added, I am glad.

  38. macaroni on June 9th, 2008 8:31 pm

    I want you to add the following function to flux.
    -Option non-to display splash screen.

  39. am on June 9th, 2008 8:54 pm

    I think that this application becomes better if it be able to customize the setting of the tool and the window by my favor.

  40. Todd Eastman on June 9th, 2008 8:54 pm

    It already has the option to turn off the splash screen. Go to Preferences > General and you will see the option towards the bottom.

  41. t5tr on June 9th, 2008 9:06 pm

    Flux looks very nice, and I would like to see a function/shortcut to try a “massive CSS clean up” that could not only remove empties/unuseds CSS fields but also optimize it (for browsing speed or compatibility) after I’ve done some editing while looking for better ways to organize the page.

  42. perfume on June 9th, 2008 9:18 pm

    I manual coded XHTML/CSS and had constructed the Web site up to now. However, it seems to be able to work efficiently because the development environments of HTML and CSS have been integrated when this application is used.

  43. farrix on June 9th, 2008 9:34 pm

    excellent tool. It does a very well job at creating websites.. very useful tool.

  44. dai1976 on June 9th, 2008 10:18 pm

    This is an wonderful website creation application. If the optimization function of CSS is added, it is likely to become a more wonderful application.

  45. puppet master on June 9th, 2008 10:30 pm

    It is an easy-to-use application.
    I think that it becomes easy to use further if the shortcut key can be set.

  46. mmac on June 9th, 2008 10:56 pm

    What a cool application!!
    I hope for an easy-to-use color picker to Flux to be added.

  47. Brian Polensky on June 9th, 2008 11:52 pm

    This looks pretty slick. Could help make some easy websites for myself and clients. I am REALLY looking forward to checking this out.

  48. sunnyday on June 9th, 2008 11:57 pm

    I think it is wonderful if the following function is added. function that it is possible to work with the person by way of the network.

  49. mord4z on June 10th, 2008 8:27 am

    Well, I´m webdesginer but some times I need to put the hands on the code (rails and php). A tool like Flux can help me in this times. Some video tutorials will be usefull for the newbies!

  50. Edward on June 10th, 2008 10:10 am

    Love this app! I just uninstalled Dreamweaver as I think it is so awesome!

    Would love to see it integrate into my workflow more - CSSEdit and Coda integration would be awesome, or (as has been mentioned) the ability to “CSS-ify” an existing, tables-based layout would be awesome.

    Thanks for this great app!

  51. Joe on June 10th, 2008 10:27 am

    I think the main attraction in Flux is the ability to move elements and get your CSS changed on the fly. Very promising.

  52. Tony Sohn on June 10th, 2008 2:18 pm

    I’m looking for a nice program like Flux for building a website with my own research contents (yes, I’m a scientist).

  53. Keith Sheehan on June 10th, 2008 5:33 pm

    I’m looking for something with a bit more flexibility than iWeb or Sandvox. I like the templates offered by those programs but need to be able to do more customization for my photography work.

  54. John on June 10th, 2008 6:33 pm

    It is pretty neat, but some tutorial, even if it is tutorial/manual. It seems more dedicated to those who have some kind of html background. Having the ability to do tables for a shopping cart or something would be nice.

  55. Daniel on June 10th, 2008 8:46 pm

    When doing websites in Europe (and probably other places as well) you often end up with at least two, often more, language versions of your site. A great feature in Flux would be some way of managing this. You often just change the text and sometimes an image or two between the language versions, so an easy way of switching between page P in language A and language B and the possibility to generate or set up a site structure to match this would be awesome.

  56. Don Niland on June 10th, 2008 9:30 pm

    I’m an old dog always looking to learn some new tricks. Started with iWeb and moved onto Shutterbug (great app) but wanted to take it further. Got myself a book on CSS (Simon Collison) and then CSSEdit. Had been watching Flux as an option to get something up and running while still in the CSS-learning mode. The developer has been active on the forums, has responded to several questions I’ve sent over, and updates have been coming at a pretty good clip. Recently discovered this article (www.it-enquirer.com/main/ite/more/1323/) by someone with a basis for comparison. Enough to convince me that Flux is worth an outlay, especially if it appeared on MacZot or MacUpdate. And here it is. Sold.

  57. Carolyn on June 10th, 2008 9:38 pm

    I’m currently trying to build a website for a nonprofit, and the screenshots I’ve seen have me convinced that this would be an ideal application, though the beta fact does scare me a little.

  58. lawrence goodman on June 11th, 2008 7:29 am

    As a novice web designer, I can say the biggest impediment to my buying this software is the lack of a manual. I understand it’s in beta and that a manual is probably a low priority for the developers as they seek to add new features and fix bugs, but you just can’t say this offers web design for everyone unless there’s a users manual.

    It’s a complicated program with a rich feature set. If you shell out $59 for software, you expect to get robust help support via a manual.

    Thanks.

  59. Philz on June 11th, 2008 3:19 pm

    Would be nice if it worked better with existing sites. Not bad to start in flux for layout though, on a new project. But it fails miserably with my current endeavors that are near completion (but it’s preview renders it perfectly..)

  60. Ken on June 11th, 2008 9:16 pm

    Flux is definitely some kind of awesome. I like the way that the site manager organizes information, the ease with which a site can be quickly put together, and the visual cues that show you how the document’s put together. This + Coda makes a really great team.

    Great first-ish release!

  61. Ed Mullin on June 12th, 2008 8:17 am

    Flux looks to be a very good tool for working on and building sites. The way that you can show relationships will be very helpful in tweaking code to get things just right.

    A nice feature to add would be a syntax checker so that you can easily clean up code from projects that you import into Flux. That would be a big plus in terms on me using Flux regularly.

  62. Nicolas on June 12th, 2008 1:06 pm

    I’m in, I’m sure this app can be an Hit with me on commands!

  63. Infoshrew on June 13th, 2008 2:14 pm

    Looks like Flux is doing some pretty neat stuff. One thing I’d like to see is a more flexible and scalable method of handling a large number of assets. Give me more viewing options and make it friendlier to someone who has to deal with a large number of files.

  64. Jim Krenz on June 13th, 2008 3:15 pm

    I would like to see Flux add an interface for managing multiple sites.

    Since I am getting into Drupal, it would be cool if Flux could open Drupal themes and allow me to adjust/update them with the results shown immediately.

  65. Paul on June 14th, 2008 6:32 pm

    This looks fantastic. I have been using RapidWeaver but find it can be limiting for those that want a but more control inside the program. Yeah I realize you can make your own templates, but sometimes you need to get down and dirty and alter the code of a page. If flux can do this well, then I would tell the world about my experience with it. License? ;-)

  66. Greg on June 14th, 2008 10:13 pm

    Starting points / templates help very much. The UI looks “Pages” like. I am always looking to make developing sites easier yet with css control.

  67. Greg Healy on June 15th, 2008 1:59 pm

    Thanks for all the great comments guys and gals, winners will be announced soon.

  68. Ediane on June 26th, 2008 6:33 pm

    well I hope winner Flux because I’m desesperated web designer creative ,one real artist talent and have brilliant ideas and dislike pain for doing my site be fine ;)
    The life is for be cool ,and with Flux I can do better way .No more pain for sensible person .I do my art and flux help me with hard works .
    Oh now ,today has new FRES UPDATE : 1.3.4 Flux !!!

  69. Daniel on October 30th, 2008 4:57 pm

    Yes! I’d like to second the motion for a visually-driven tool to assist in designing databases to create dynamic web pages.

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