Black & White is largely devoid of any graphics, so pages created with this RapidWeaver theme load very quickly, with minimal bandwidth. Likewise Black & White is suitable for quite large websites of several hundred pages, thanks to three different navigation layouts available (these being a drop-down, split and block navigation layout).
Just about every aspect of the Black & White theme can be customised. Numerous colour settings are provided which can be used to adjust just about every aspect of the page. A slew of other useful theme settings are included, such as title bar positioning, body background, font faces, font styles, logo placement, sidebar width and position, navigation layout and theme width. Useful miscellaneous settings like fade-in allow you to have the page fade into view after loading, and settings like splash screen let you create a effective landing page at the entrance to your website.
Black & White does not have a true header or banner container as such, although ExtraContent4 can double-up as a convenient banner container, within the space above the content container. This ExtraContent container is also FreeStyle enabled, so it can be used with the standard FreeStyle code snippet or the free FreeStyle slideshow stack.
This is a fully responsive RapidWeaver theme, meaning that you can opt for a maximum-width, which then scales down on smaller screens (without horizontal scrollbars appearing). Black & White harnesses the RAFT toolkit to provide excellent tablet and smart phone optimisations. Aspects of content like images and basic video can be set to behave responsively as well. So Black & White is very much a future-proofed RapidWeaver theme.
Unlike some other ThemeFlood RapidWeaver themes with a dedicated 'tagline' container, Black & White instead opts for a more compact social media widget. This is a simple container (again using ExtraContent1) which can be positioned on either the left or right of the page. Into the social widget, you can place icons for various social media and bookmarking services. This in turn provides a great method for people to share or bookmark your website easily.
Black & White is compatible with all major web browsers, including IE7, IE8, IE9, IE10, Safari, Firefox, Chrome and Opera. It is also a theme that plays well with lots of popular RapidWeaver page styles. For people not afraid to delve into HTML code, both the Bootstrap toolkit and Font Awesome icons are supported in the latest versions of Black & White. These give you the ability to include extra functionality and embellishments in your page designs.
A free demo version of the theme is available for you to download using the button at the top right. This lets you install the theme in RapidWeaver and test it against real content, play around with all the different settings, throw the theme against different page styles and demonstrate the theme to clients. In the demo version, links between pages are disabled and some graphics may be watermarked. The theme is backed by expert customer support (you'll normally get an email response within 12 hours) and I can provide assistance with customising the theme, setup of banner containers and testing of your completed website in different web browsers and handheld devices.
Key Features
- Minimalist design, with a choice between a split or block navigation layout
- Includes a professional selection of font face, text size, line height and letter spacing settings
- Fast loading pages making the theme suitable for content-heavy websites
- Brilliant range of theme colour settings covering backgrounds, text and HTML tags
- Change the title bar height and positioning
- Options to have the body content or title bar fade-in on page load
- Splash-page option for creating attractive website landing pages
- Float the sidebar between either a left or right position, in a choice of fixed widths
Updates for the Black & White RapidWeaver theme are free for all existing users. Theme updates are periodically released to introduce new features and maintain compatibility with the latest RapidWeaver addons and and web browsers. You can tell if an update is available for Black & White, by comparing the number shown next to the theme name in RapidWeaver, compared with the version number shown on the right. Generally theme updates are not sent out automatically, because previously it was found many of the emails went missing in junk or spam mail filters. Instead you are invited to check for Black & White updates yourself, and download them at a time convenient to you. Updates also get publicised via the RapidWeaver Addon website, the RapidWeaver Central newsletter and the free iCentral app.
Theme updates can be obtained using the original download link, emailed to you when you purchased Black & White. If you no longer have this download link or you require an expired link to be reactivated, please send a quick email, and include the following information:
- Name of the theme you need an update for (in this case say that you need an update for Black & White)
- The name and email address used when you purchased the theme
- The purchase method used (was it purchased through the website or as a direct order?)
- Any other useful information like the date, or invoice number
Once your purchase details have been located, you will be sent a new download link. Theme updates are recognised in RapidWeaver as new themes, so multiple versions of the same theme can be safely installed alongside each other. This means you can selectively update certain projects to use newer themes, and any customisations you've applied like custom code or images don't get deleted. For more information on updating themes, please see the theme user guide.
You can use this comment form to ask general questions about the theme, put forward ideas, submit feature requests and post links to websites you have created using the theme. Please be aware that comments are moderated. It may take a few days before your comments show on here. If you have an urgent question, it is advisable to contact me directly.
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