A word processor doesn't make you a writer, and RapidWeaver doesn't make you a web designer - but it enables you to make and maintain quite a nice looking webpages quickly and easily. There is quite a strong and inexpensive third-party plug-in and templates market (we are talking about $2-5 for most) so pretty much anything one needs can be found (you can even make a webstore incl checkout with the right plug-in etc). To compare it with an app that costs 10 times as much is insincere at best - it's like complaining that TextEdit isn't as capable as Word - and RapidWeaver with the Stacks plugin, some stacks, and Hype gives DreamWeaver a run for its money.

@xlivelive: The claim that you can't make your own templates is simply wrong. You can (look at all the third party templates), but that does require a deep knowledge of CSS and HTML at the least. The whole point of RapidWeaver is to enable users without knowledge of the "web languages" to create websites too.

@Pxl: WordPress is something very different from RapidWeaver. It was specifically written for blogs, and you CAN do websites with it. But while it is far superior to RapidWeaver when it comes to blogs, it is also far inferior when it comes to a lot of other website types. And you can integrate WordPress into RapidWeaver (see http://www.realmacsoftware.com/addons/rapidweaver/plugins/wp-blog)

Regarding price: I too find it a bit too high, but you can often buy RapidWeaver very cheaply in a bundle (at the moment together with Toast, Disk Drill Pro, etc at macsuperbundle.com for $49).

For me the best WYSIWYG website builder. It is so easy everyone can make a good looking website.
Great value.

I too am an old guy. I found this program in a bundle I bought after I volunteered to be webmaster for the non profit where I have dedicated most of my life. The previous site and my experience at my school was Fromtpage. I found the learning curve relatively short and had presentably rebuilt the old site within a week of starting. Since then I have learned enough about coding to be dangerous. I taught myself how to use enough Dreamweaver just enough to credibly edit and ultimately improve existing handmade pages that did not fit the rather shallow RW mold. I bought a .mac account so that I could make linked pages with current events photos. RW doesn't handle photo pages well IMHO. Over time I have learned to use Dropbox to allow other users to edit. The program allowed me to make a useful resource tool for our organization and have scoffed at those who say it isn't pretty enough. I just upgraded to 5 and don't see much difference. I have read about other alternatives like Sandvox but it aint broke and I don't plan to fix it.

I am amazed that they actually charge to see the how-to tutorial videos. So after I purchase this you are going to charge me AGAIN just to see the videos on how to use this software.
That is simply crazy !!!!
I am interested in purchasing Rapidweaver 5.2.2 but if I can't see for myself the ease of use then I guess I'll pass.

imo still a potential winner among webdesigner tools. It is very simple yet powerfull.
The only thing that should be included by default is 'blocks'.