RW Theme FAQ

• Theme Backup Guide 1

Theme Backup Guide #

How do I update my RapidWeaver theme, and still keep my settings? #

Follow the steps explained below when updating your theme to a new version. Do not skip any steps or sections, unless you understand the consequences and are willing to take the risk.

Preparation

1. Backup your current theme

   • Open your RapidWeaver project file, and display the Theme Drawer
   • In the bottom left corner of the Theme Drawer, click on the button labeled "All Themes" and select "Reveal Third Party Themes in Finder"
   • A Finder window will be displayed listing all your currently installed third party themes.
   • Right-click on your theme, select "Duplicate", then drag and drop the duplicated version into another location on your Mac (like the Desktop, or some other folder).

2. Backup your style settings for a site using that theme

   • Open your RapidWeaver project file, select a page, then open the Page Inspector
   • Select the "Styles" tab in the Page Inspector
   • Click on the gear-icon button in the lower right corner of the Page Inspector window, and select "Save Style As..."
   • Name your style settings, making sure it is unique, and click the Save button
   • Repeat this process for each page in your site, if it uses any unique style settings
   • Repeat this process for each additional site that uses this theme

3. Backup your RapidWeaver project file (the one with the .rwsw file extension).

   • Make a copy of your RW project file, and store it in a separate location from the original.

Installation

1. Download the latest version of your theme.

   • In most cases, your original download link can be used to download the latest version.
   • Use the Order Lookup form to retrieve your order information if you no longer have your download link.
   • NimbleHost Order Lookup Form
   • seyDesign Order Lookup Form

2. Locate the downloaded file, then double-click on it.

   • The file is usually located in your Downloads folder, and in most cases will have a .dmg file extension.
   • When double-clicked, a new Finder window should appear, listing the theme.

3. Double-click on the theme file shown in the Finder window.

   • The theme file will have a .rwtheme file extension, with a RapidWeaver Theme icon.
   • The theme file name will follow the pattern, "seydesign ThemeName.rwtheme" - the "ThemeName" portion will match your theme's name, i.e. "CRE4MY", "Copper", etc.
   • When double-clicked, RapidWeaver will open and display a message stating whether installation was successful.

4. Restart RapidWeaver.

Applying Theme Update to Your Site

1. Open your RapidWeaver project file.

2. Display the Theme Drawer, and make sure the newly installed theme is selected.

3. Preview your site in RapidWeaver.

   • If everything looks the same as before (check all your pages), including colors, page layout options, etc. then skip to Step 7.
   • If colors or page layout options are wrong, you'll need to apply the saved style settings from the Preparation phase, continue to Step 4.

4. To re-apply a saved style open the Page Inspector, and select the Styles tab.

5. Click on the folder-icon button in the lower right portion of the Page Inspector window (to the left of the gear-icon button).

   • You should see your saved style setting listed in this drop down menu. Select it to apply your saved settings to the current page shown in RapidWeaver.
   • If you do not see your saved style setting, then it needs to be manually edited to work with the updated theme. Do NOT continue with the following steps, instead read and perform the steps explained in the Updating Saved Style Files section first (below), then return to this section.

6. After you have applied your saved style setting, preview the page in RapidWeaver. Make sure the color and page layout options are what you expect them to be for that page.

7. Repeat Steps 1-6 above for each page in your site.

8. When complete, and each page in your site appears as you expect it to when previewing in RapidWeaver, save your progress.

9. To apply the changes to your live website, select "Re-Publish All Files" from RapidWeaver's File menu.

Updating Saved Style Files

1. Open your RapidWeaver project file.

2. Open the Page Inspector, and select the Styles tab.

3. Click on the gear-icon button in the lower right corner of the Page Inspector window, and select the "Reveal Styles in Finder..." option.

4. A new Finder window will appear listing your saved style settings as .rwstyle files, with a RapidWeaver Styles icon.

5. Locate the style file that requires editing. You should have given this file a unique name as described in the Preparation section above.

6. Right-click on the style file, and a contextual menu will appear.

7. Hover your mouse over the "Open With" option, and select "Other".

8. From the Choose Application dialog window that appears, select a good text editor such as TextWrangler, Coda, Espresso, Sublime Text, etc.

   • If you do not have a good text editor installed, I recommend downloading and installing TextWrangler, which is free.

9. Your text editor will open and display the contents of the file, which will look like a bunch of meaningless code. Don't be overwhelmed!

10. Scroll all the way down to the very bottom of the file. The last six lines of code should look similar to the following:

             <key>Style Name</key>
             <string>Your Unique Style Name</string>
             <key>Theme Name</key>
             <string>seydesign Aptenon</string>
        </dict>
     </plist>
    

    • Note that the value below "Style Name" (the portion between <string> and </string>) matches the unique name you choose for this saved style
    • Note also that the value below "Theme Name" (the portion between <string> and </string>) should be similar to the theme you were using for your site when you saved this style setting file.

11. Change the name of the theme, listed below "Theme Name" (the portion between <string> and </string>), so that it matches the name of your updated theme.

    • Only change the theme name, that portion of text between <string> and </string>. Do not change or delete any other portion of the file.
    • The name of your updated theme will follow this pattern: "seydesign ThemeName" where "ThemeName" is the name of your theme, i.e. "seydesign Copper", "seydesign Aptenon", etc. Do not include quotes when editing the theme name.

12. When complete, save the file, then restart RapidWeaver. Continue with the steps outlined in the Applying Theme Update to Your Site section.

 

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