Help Sparkle grow

This is a reminder that we’re a small self funded company, if you love Sparkle we can use all your help! Pick one or two of these, or more! Thanks!

https://sparkleapp.com/how-to-help.html

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Done!
Keep doing good work.
Thanks!

:+1: without doubt the best standalone webbuilder for Mac!

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@Duncan, the methodical professional expertise you have put behind this product is exemplary and for me I do see “sparkles”! :slight_smile: So your Sparkle deserves to be talked about big-time and I’m doing a lot of that! :slight_smile: Here’s to your success! :lion:

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Done the other ways, cannot post in my website else I would tell potential customers what tool I use.

Sorry … but why don’t you want to tell other customers that you use the wonderfully Sparkle software? I think it is no secret. So I want to make… if it is allowed … a Software suggestion on my website. If possible and if it is allowed I will put in the Sparkle Logo and I will write a little report about my own experiences with Sparkle. I have a little and very high specialised website about electrostatics (https://www.elektrostatikhilfe.de). I am working always to bring this site on a higher awareness level … it’s very difficult because it is a very strange side issue of Physics. Not so many people a very interested in Physics.
Now my questions: Is it allowed to show the Sparkle Logo on other websites than the Sparkle websites?
And is it allowed to write some nice little sentences about the own experiences? By the way, my experiences are very good. I’m thrilled about Sparkle :grinning::sparkles:

I understand why @MiWe does not want to “publish” that info.
The main reason (IMO) is that clients want a job done… it doesn’t matter which tool you use; and sometimes if you don’t use specific software, they think that you are using the wrong tools. Sometimes they think because you use an easy to build software (like sparkle) your work is not worth the cost (they believe they could do it too).
But the reality is not what tool you use… Sparkle makes things easier, so we don’t have to spend time in the “how” to do it, but better use that time in what we want to communicate and accomplish.
As a designer, I rather spend more time in “creating” than in coding.
And yes, I also use a combination of other software when I build sites… for some sites that I have created I have used Sparkle, Dreamweaver, Jquery, Muse and javascript to accomplish that. :wink:

Sorry if I got out of topic.

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Oh yes, seen under this aspects I have to give my agreement. I have not thought in this way. I only wanted to make a little bit publicity for Sparkle on my private website. I have to say, that my experiences will be going in the same direction … you may never let your customs believe that it is easy to build and provide a website. Normally, and this is the reality, it is very much work … and this must be paid. (Sorry for I am going out of topic also).

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Thanks Eddypm, that’s exactly why. I couldn’t say this better.
I love using Sparkle, it’s easy and gives you the Freedom to design all what you want.

Michael

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@eddypm, Well said! :slight_smile:
More so websites have become a commodity and for that matter so has logos, sad! :frowning: Clients are not seeing the value in websites anymore, just that they know they need one! So I see no issues (admittingly I did at first for the reasons you mentioned) in using Sparkle as my development framework! :slight_smile:

And in the end a website is only part of the online presence for a business and that is where a “brand strategy” comes into play which then makes a website become a means to an end - far greater value… in other words a valued commodity instead of just a commodity based on price!

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Jumping in late on this, but yeah I don’t think people who make a living building website need to feel threatened by Sparkle. We are totally with you, and are working to support you better. We do also sell Sparkle directly to people who build their own site, and in a way it’s a nicer story to celebrate, but both can coexist.

All you who build sites for customers with Sparkle are seriously underselling yourself if you consider Sparkle to be the only factor in your success. There is so much more than just the technical side, not all websites have the same needs, but you cater to who needs high quality custom graphics, tasteful choice of fonts and colors, a well crafted site architecture, well written copy, an eye to search engine relevange, constant presence… all things that you might even do without thinking about (“you’re a natural”), but that are out of scope for what Sparkle does.

Our goal is to create a platform for you, so that you can trust the technical aspects of building websites to be done for you in a robust way. Our goal is also to give you an incredible amount of expressive freedom, clearly we’re still working on a lot of it, but the foundation is robust.

With all that said, everybody is free to mention Sparkle on their site (thanks!) or to not mention it. I strongly believe in a very focused message, clean of interfering messaging. Not all sites need to be like that, and we understand both use cases.

Thank you all for your support!

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@Duncan, Well said and I totally agree! Sparkle is our “bestest” friend in our online strategy war chest! :slight_smile:

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Sorry, I just realised, I’ve written a long post … :grinning:

Over the last 19 years I have tried and used all kinds of software for building websites, from Adobe GoLive and Dreamweaver to iWeb, and everything else “out there”.

For some clients’ websites I have used iWeb specifically so that later the clients could update their websites easily on their own.

Well, all of those clients came back to me from time to time and asked for my help, even with iWeb!

I’m NOT saying my clients are “stupid”, but in the end it takes so much more to build a good, appealing website than just drag&drop a few images.
You need a concept and a graphic designer to create that.
I think my clients realised this, and every time they messed up their website, they asked me to fix it.
So whenever I let my clients update their websites on their own, I ended up having more work, not less. :grinning:

I agree with @duncan on this.
I do not feel threatened by Sparkle at all. Sparkle will not put me out of business, on the contrary, it will help me to grow business, because now I can finally build websites faster and exactly the way I want.

It’s great that everybody can create a website with Sparkle. Yes. We can coexist.

I have clients who have also built their first website on their own, but then they compared their work with other websites “out there” on the web and they felt unhappy and they wanted something “better” or more “professional”. So then they came to me and asked for help. That is totally okay. So I am not worried at all. There are many people that still need us graphic designers! They need our creativity and knowledge to create a unique website.

I am transferring all of my clients websites to Sparkle now. It’s a long process, but worth it. Some websites were built with iWeb, others with EverWeb, a software that has given me too many headaches!

Some years ago I made the mistake to transfer all of my old clients’ websites from Adobe GoLive to EverWeb. I regret that. It was before I discovered Sparkle. So now I am transferring every website I created to Sparkle.

My own website was built with the now ancient Adobe GoLive as well.
Unfortunately my own website is terribly neglected. :pensive::grinning:
I must change that ASAP and give it some proper attention.

Sparkle is simply the best tool (software) out there to create websites. And with every update that they release, I can see that they (Duncan and his team) are committed in making Sparkle even better. I find it exciting to see what they will come up with next.

I wrote a five star review on the (Swiss) Mac App Store some months ago and I will continue to do so.

And I decided to support them by upgrading my pro license to a subscription. In the beginning, when they announced this new payment option, I was very reluctant to subscribe, because I was really worried that Sparkle would become another “Adobe” now.

But I really want to support Sparkle and the team behind it, because it’s pure joy to work with Sparkle!

Thanks, @duncan and Daniele! You do great work!

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Again, thanks! Humbling and motivating.

@Shadowfax, I totally know where you are coming from and as a web and branding strategist I have come to a point and I’m totally over the convoluted mess the web has become! Good sound basics and Sparkle can have just as good a result or even better than a convoluted hackable WordPress site that clients just don’t understand!

At the moment I’m converting a 15 page vineyard site over from Adobe Muse, and then I have another three to go and all my clients will be sitting on Sparkle!!! :slight_smile:

In the end a website is just a cork bobbing up and down in the ocean… then we come along and build a rudder and give it direction, so I know my clients need my professionalism and I’m so lucky I have Sparkle on my side! :slight_smile:

twitter post - Done!

@FlaminFig
Ah yes, I know how you feel. :grinning:
I was sure that there would be at least one person “out there” who had similar experiences like mine.
Transferring websites to Sparkle is actually fun. You can take the previous design and make it so much better with all the nice features that Sparkle offers.
It’s almost like doing some plastic surgery on a good friend. :grinning:
Well @FlaminFig I wish you a lot of fun converting your websites.
I feel great to have the Sparkle community and creative people to talk to. :+1:
We all swim in the same ocean …

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I would love to support ‘Sparkle’, and I wouldn’t mind paying for a side service. I was just thinking… Have u guys ever thought about a hosting service inside the App? Like… I know u guys believe in the user being able to chose whatever service they like and stuff… I think that’s great but, maybe u guys could offer a hosting service so we could subscribe to it and u could integrate it in the app so whoever wants to use ur option can do it. I think it could be a great option for people that r a little scared of starting to deal with the hosting thing themselves. I know I’d be happy to pay for a service like that, specially knowing that I’m supporting an app that I love. Just some random thoughts. I’m a UX designer and I think it would enrich the experience in the app and could be a nice oportunity to have a subscription service. Sorry, I don’t mean to be annoying.

Thanks @eatlon, that’s definitely a possibility.

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I put the Sparkle Logo and Links to Sparkle into the “impressum” of www.elektrostatikhilfe.de. It is a little bit strange, but I noticed that so many people are looking first to my impressum … think they want to know who is it?