Stacks 2 has arrived, and it rocks.

Stacks 2 is the latest incarnation of the Stacks plugin, developed for RapidWeaver by YourHead Software. This latest version delivers a significant update to the editing interface, support for templates, a new media library and a number of technical improvements to the API (developers use to create stacks with). Generated source code is cleaner, image handing is greatly improved and there is a noticeable boost in performance, when working with larger pages. Certainly if you already own Stacks 1.4, you should consider updating to this latest version. It is a great update, very stable, and introduces some really cool new features.

Some of the noteworthy changes Stacks 2
  • Installed stacks are now listed in a drop-down panel, with options to search for stacks and group stacks by developer name.
  • New stack icons and subtitles are shown.
  • Support has been added for templates, which are ready-to-use frameworks and grid systems.
  • A new Media panel has been added, enabling you to access media bundled with stacks (like backgrounds and buttons).
  • The rather claustrophobic HUD has been replaced with a brand new settings panel, shown on the righthand side in edit mode.
  • Options added to view a stacks page in edit mode without outlines showing, or with outlines and stack titles displayed.
  • Easily duplicate stacks by holding down the option (Alt) key and dragging the to-be-cloned stack to the desired place.
  • Stack settings now feature elements like number boxes, popup boxes, link and image controls.
  • Javascript libraries like jQuery are sourced from Google API's now to save bandwidth, and automatically default to the latest versions.
  • Several new keyboard shortcuts and a dedicated developer window have been added.
  • The amount of HTML and CSS code generated by stacks has been reduced somewhat.
  • Brand new image editing interface and lots of new image controls.
RapidWeaver Classroom have today published a set of 5 screencasts which walk you through Stacks 2. These screencasts are all free to watch and cover topics such as an introduction to Stacks 2, the settings panel, content layout and templates. The total running time of these video's is 50 minutes, so they are a great introduction and cover many aspects. The screenscasts can be accessed here: http://www.rapidweaverclassroom.com/stacks2/

If you have previously downloaded or purchased stacks from ThemeFlood, updating your stacks should be pretty easy to do, compared with the hop-skip procedures some other developers are having to implement. It is strongly recommended that you make a complete and tested backup of all your RapidWeaver projects, plugins and stacks before starting the update process. Daily Time Machine backups should be adequate, although there would not be any harm in manually creating a .zip of all your important files and copying these onto a flash drive, DropBox, a camera card, iPod or external hard drive for safe keeping. All stacks are stored in the following location: 

~Library/Application Support/RapidWeaver/Stacks/
Where '~' is the name of your home directory in Finder.

Of course, the Library folder is hidden on Mac OS Lion (10.7) and Mac OS Mountain Lion (10.8) now, but if you go to the Go to folder item under the Go menu in Finder, you will find that you can enter the above file path and access the Stacks library folder nonetheless. Likewise if you are having problems installing new stacks or you want to delete unused stacks, the same method above applies for accessing your Stacks folder. In the new Stacks library window, clicking the cog icon at the bottom brings up a menu with options to view the selected stack in Finder - again that will give you direct access to the folder where stacks are stored.

Automatic Updates

Any stacks you download from this website on or after 9th December 2011 (excluding free demo versions) now include provision for automated updates via the Sparkle framework. This simply means that rather having to manually check version numbers yourself and download updates, the update process can be entirely automated.

Updates AvailableA few minutes after Stacks has been opened inside RapidWeaver, your installed version of a stack will be compared to the version on our appcast server. If an update is found, you're get a notification that updates are available. Notifications are presented in the form of a red exclamation mark next to the stack icon and sometimes accompanied by a short message (there is a picture showing what this notification looks like on the right). Clicking on the Install Update item (presented in a menu under the cog button you see) displays a new window, with a list of changes and any precautions you need to take. From this point onwards, you can download and install updates. No restart is normally required, and existing content and settings applied to a stack remain unchanged. However it would still be strongly recommended that you make a thorough, complete and tested backup of all your RapidWeaver addons and project files, before commencing updates.

Sparkle is totally secure and no personal or identifiable data from your computer gets shared. All that is sent to the appcast server is your IP address and basic details about the version of the Stacks plugin you have installed and the update required (this information ensures you get issued with the correct update). In the event that the appcast server is offline, update checking will get cancelled and tries again the next time you restart RapidWeaver. Again it should be emphasised that only stacks you download from this website on or after 9th December 2011 are Sparkle-enabled (stacks downloaded before this date will still function fine, but no automatic update checks will take place). If you want to ensure all of your Stacks4Stacks stacks are Sparkle-enabled, download them again now from this website (or using your personal download links, in the case of paid stacks).

Update Policy

If you previously purchased the HoverBox, NewsSlider, TopBox or ImageCaption stacks from the ThemeFlood website, then you are entited to free updates, regardless of whenever you purchased the stacks. To obtain the update, you can use your personal download link (emeiled to you at time of purchase). Should your download link have expired or your require it resending again, please get in contact and provide proof of purchase. You can either email me or send a DM (direct message) via Twitter. Typically you would need to forward the following information:

  • The surname of the person who purchased the stack/s
  • The email address used at time of purchase
  • Whether the stack was purchased direct through the ThemeFlood website or via purchase order
  • The date of purchase (if known)
Most of this information should be available in your PayPal, GoogleCheckout or Google Wallet history. If you are unable to provide adequete proof of purchase, you will need to purchase the stacks again. For security reasons, we can only re-issue stacks to the orgional email address provided at time of purchase. It is possible that there may be many hundreds of requests for new download links, so please allow a few days for new links to be generated and emailed to you.

Final Notes

Hopefully the information on this page answers a lot of questions and provides you with a gentle introduction to Stacks 2. Any questions or comments are always much apprecated, and we endeavour to answer these as quickly as possible. Short questions can be be posted via Twitter or you can get in contact via email.