Sandvox User Profile: Jeffrey Grant

Personal websites like portfolios and family sites.

I performed a Google search for "simple mac web authoring" which led me to the Karelia home page as well as several Mac community sites where Sandvox was referenced, discussed and reviewed.

Previously I was using Apple's iWeb 1.1.2 authoring program but it was no longer meeting my needs for embedding Flash videos and other types of slightly more advanced features. While the latest version of iWeb had many of the features I was looking for, it required an OS upgrade which I wasn't willing to do at the time. I downloaded the Sandvox demo and tested a few of the critical features that I was looking for. It was very intuitive and simple so I purchased the full product and completed the migration (and redesign) of my website from iWeb to Sandvox.

I really like the ability to host my own videos in Flash format for increased accessibility while also not having to rely on lower quality hosting services like YouTube. By using another software I purchased, Video2SWF, I am able to convert a Quicktime movie into a self contained SWF file that when dragged and dropped into Sandvox automatically creates a new web page complete with the embedded html code. Then I publish the site and the video automatically plays in multiple browsers without the need for end users to download additional plug-ins (like Quicktime on PC of Flip4Mac for Mac). I also like to be able to use the "Raw HTML" page feature to embed pre-scripted and readily available code from other sites that I participate in like LinkedIn. many of these sites have "developer pages" where they openly share snippets of code that you can use on you own site to add functionality and connectivity.