I am in the same boat as a lot of you are, tried contacting Karelia software but like you, got no response, I agree very unprofessional of them. My reason for posting at this time is to find out what other companies have you settled on for your website building and hosting. I am in limbo right now and will have to rebuild my website from scratch.
This company have essentially drop the product. You can buy it, but you will not get any support. I used it for a few years and it was very good. But I ended up switching to Wordpress.
What an unprofessional lot! All of a sudden everything goes silent. If you guys went belly up than at least have the guts to inform the customers. It was a very good software and migrating to a different tool for two companies will now cost dozens of hours. Thanks for nothing guys.
It was GREAT before Karelia Software became a ghost. Now, their software is still available for purchase on their website and, remarkably, Sandvox is still available for purchase on the App Store but the company is uncontactable; it is even impossible to send bug reports. To migrate to another program is the obvious, although enormously time-consuming choice. But who knows if that choice will survive the move to ARM? Sandvox users remain in limbo and the lack of any announcement from the company is, to put it very mildly, disappointing.
In 2019 I experienced multiple crashes for my website. I emailed Sandvox support about 20 times with only a few automated responses from them and no solution to the problem of my website being down. I canceled my account. Karelia then had the audacity to bill me for the next years domain usage. I finally got that resolved but they only gave me a partial refund for unused services. Now in 2020 with a closed account they have charged my credit card again. Their website does not allow you to turn off auto billing even for closed accounts. Shame on them!
Karelia support is non-existence. I have 11 case numbers regarding the same hosting issues starting June 1, 2020 without resolution. The listed phone number is not working. My advice is to steer clear of Karelia and all their products until they can prove that they are once again a reliable company.
All is good when all goes well. But five weeks ago I ran into difficulty with the hosting, despite being helped by someone who knows. I sent off emails over a 4 weeks, and other than the automatic response, I heard nothing at all from them. This is discourteous and inefficient, plus this time it mattered because it was extremely urgent. I had to go elsewhere. I asked for a refund given there had been no support or help over a whole month, but of course one does not hear from them about that either!
I have used Sandbox for several years. But I cancelled my account because there is absolutely no customer service. I have sent e-mail after e-mail concerning issues (they do not provide phone in customer service. Each time I get an e-mail saying they will get back by the next day. They have never gotten back to me. No customer service...no use of their product or website hosting. Maybe they have fallen on hard times or maybe no one cares...but for whatever reason, I would not recommend buying their product since they do not provide customer service. Even when my account was closed at my request, they renewed a domain without my permission and charged me $144; they did not answer my e-mails about this issue either. Thank goodness for good credit card support. I really hate to write a negative review and have rarely, if ever, done so. I would make this -10 stars if I could.
I just purchased this and am having trouble with it crashing my computer upon save or quit (High Sierra 10.13.4). In one crash, it completely froze/crashed my computer and I had to reinstall the whole operating system to get back up and running. I created a support ticket asking for help, which according to their website should come in 2 business days. Well, here I sit, still waiting after 5 days, soon to be six, and still no response. I would give it ZERO stars if I could...terrible support, or I should say, no support. If you do buy it, good luck and make sure you have a bootable back up at the ready for when it all goes south and completely takes down your computer. You've been warned!
Tried it. Didn't like. Developer says it's Intuitive. Maybe to some degree. Selected a theme, inserted a picture, couldn't move, only up and down. So this is an indication of very first limitation. Tried another template, same thing. Not flexible at all. I tried it about 9 yrs ago, and I can see not much changed. In Quick'n Easy by Pablo this feature of moving objects anywhere you want exists many years, and it is superior to Sandvox. When I try website building software, if I feel not comfortable the first 5-10 minutes, I drop it. Another thing, tried to uninstall it with iTrash, it insists of staying. Tried again, doesn't work. Emptied the trash and used iTrash again. It's still here.
"... professional looking website quickly and easily ..."
Professional looking website may be true but it isn't quickly and easily ! The learning curve is extremely steep and therefore not easy.
Easy apps to create decent and pro looking sites are Rapidweaver and Blocs. I can really advice to look into those two great alternatives.
Switched to Sandvox from Rapidweaver after upgrading to v6.
Not so happy with the RW v6 release.
Sandbox worked great right out of the box, and has a very intuitive interface. Almost ZERO time to learn, started pumping out a test website very quickly.
With all of the good reviews of Sandbox, I thought maybe it's time to change (after 7 years with RW). Tried Sandvox demo for a few hours, and made the purchase the same day...
Very happy customer so far.
THANK YOU!
We love Sandvox & the templates that the user community has built. I'm an iWeb fan so I was bummed when Apple stopped updating it. However Sandvox has been a great tool too- more stable then iWeb. Though I still do my FTP updates manually I find this web editor very easy to use & including social plugins are a snap. Here are my sites if you want to see the capabilities:
http://www.mountainmistkennel.com
http://www.bawshop.com
http://www.laceypearls.com
I love Sandvox. It is incredibly easy to use yet versatile enough to make your website really your own. There are of course limitation but if you are looking for a easy to use feature heavy solution to website creation and editing... this is for you!
Great site, I have used if for a year. Continually updated with no additional charge. I have no gripes. See my site I did with Sandvox www.gregsitay.com
I purchased Sandvox for designing sites with simple code for business, replacing my old (and outdated) Frontpage, and because I am now on Mac anyway. I have tested other software such as RapidWeaver but the choice was Sandvox because of its ease of use (intuitive) and stability, also its speed for uploading sites. It's a well done piece of software. The only thing I would wish was bringing the in-built themes a bit up to date (some are skimpy, some use the outdated fixed width format).
Also as a design-conscious Mac lover I would like to see another icon for the dock than this ugly Sandbox image, which applies also for the favicon. I hope that the people at Sandvox continue the good work and get this piece of software into something long-term, not a blizzard as Apple's iWeb was, and that they get the design up to the level of iWeb or better
If Sandvox would have followed the EverWeb path, they certainly could have come off on top here, but they've fallen on their face with this release.
We need a more free form customization mode for the designs that is modeled after EverWeb / iWeb and yet gives us the fuller content functionality that these developers want to offer. I am a pro web app developer. I develop WordPress, Magento, RoR, Meteor, etc. sites all day long for a living, but to be honest, I FREQUENTLY need to pop out little sites that iWeb absolutely kills. I can make extremely nice looking sites that appear entirely custom this way and make customers very happy as they want something fast and don't mind paying for updates ever once in a while.
I can understand the content centric mode, but honestly design is so critical and Sandvox just seems (from my experience) unable to deliver that kind of experience we need for solid custom designs.
I have been asking the developers this for a very long time (prior to 2.x release), but it seems that this isn't a high priority, which is very sad to me as I think this could be a great package with some TLC in this area.
I wanted a highly featured WYSIWIG web design tool that would allow me to build a website very quickly but which would let me add more complex functionality later with inserted html code and using web host resources, This delivered all of this and I am very happy with the outcome. I think this is value for money.
Sandvox is a well-designed application, but I consider it utterly obsolete and irrelevant at this point.
If I just want to get something up and running fast and easy with minimum fuss, online services such as Squarespace.com, Weebly.com, WordPress.com are far more suitable for such scenario and they still offer CMS and social capability right out of the box, which Sandvox doesn't. And then, if I want more than that, open source CMS platform such as self-hosted WordPress and Concrete5 would give me the power to do all kinds of custom work while also keeping me from reinventing the wheel via plug-ins and premium themes, none of which Sandvox can match.
WYSWYG is one of Sandvox's selling points, but the thing is that web is not WYSWYG. Gone are the days of web design driven by print design mindset. Web is about usefulness, mobile access and social media. The whole thing has become more like a web app development, and Sandvox doesn't address these needs much at all.
Overall, I believe that the era of Mac web site generator such as iWeb, Sandvox and Rapidweaver has come and gone, and these apps will go the way of the dinosaurs in a few years. It’s no reflection on the quality of work fine folks at Karelia Software. But for someone who follows the current trend in web site design practice at all levels, Sandvox just doesn’t make sense any more.
Great program. I'm not an html programmer. Transferred from iWeb. Comparable in ease of use. Plenty of Templates. Easy to transfer from iWeb although transfer program not much use. If you want to author a basic website with a few bells and whistles eg videos and blog then it's great. Apparently you can also add in html code if you want to but that's not for me. Have a look at my site at www.ezypaass.com.au if you want an idea of what a site can look like. Only took probably 3 hours programming time to transfer from iWeb as the content was mostly cut and paste.
This is a good web editor but it could be a GREAT web editor. For those wanting to do a simple templated website with minor tweaks it's perfect but if you want any kind of control look elsewhere. Though, like iWeb there is an inspector, you have almost no control over CSS. Take text for instance...no control over things like line spacing and other text attributes. All you'll see in the text inspector is whether to add a text list. You can't wrap text around videos...in fact if you want a video anywhere else but in the center of the page, forget it. Just basic features other web editors have and control over CSS attributes would make this a great program. I find it quits a lot too, especially when working with videos.
Great software, well worth $80.00 wysiwyg only, no code. Good templates. Well put together package, stable, easy to upload to host server then instantly upload any changes. Add remove pages simply. Very impressed.
This is one of the most maddening non-Microsoft programs I have ever used. I don't know if they keep changing and removing features or what but for casual use one can easily waste 2-3 hours trying to do the most trivial things and then you mostly just give up. It is one of those programs that looks pretty on the surface but is plagued with bugs and weirdly hard-to-use interface concepts. Plus, I just downloaded a slightly new version and it forgot my log-in information!
Das Programm ist leicht und sehr intuitiv zu bedienen. Ich habe mit verschiedenen Programmen gearbeitet und mit keinem ist es mir gelungen, so viele individuelle Designs umzusetzen. Großen Dank an das Karelie Team.
I have used iWeb for years and recently RapidWeaver.
Sandvox and simply better: fast, intuitive, and allows room for your needs.
Rapid Weaver also is not cheap as it sounds, because you have to pay even the advanced instructions.
I didn't know how to build a website. I was able to use Sandvox and found it user friendly. Originally, I had started to use a free website and found it too confusing and technical so I searched for an easy website builder and found Sandvox. I'm still learning all the other stuff that goes with having a website, creating links, getting on search engines...... For a first timer, it can be quite mind boggling!
I'm glad I purchase it and feel that it was well the expense and now I can continue to update and make changes to my website and keep everything current. If you're visual like me and use a mac, it makes the whole experience easier!!!!!!!!!!
I love it! I'm not a programmer and Sandvox is exceptionally intuitive. I'm incredibly particular and was able to fiddle with most features to get them exactly how I wanted them. Best money I've spent this year. I built www.rocknwrap.com with the app and am still expanding it and experimenting with all the features available. I also LOVE the emails that Sandvox sends (honestly, how often do you hear that?) with specifics on how to get your site found etc. The language is understandable for the layman and the tone is friendly. Big thumbs up!
Snow Leopard users beware. This version wouldn't open with OS 10.6.8. I contacted the developer who is aware of the problem. It is to be corrected in version 2.7.1
I'm really glad that I purchased Sandvox. I'm not a programmer, have no idea about html and php and coding but I was ABLE to create a small website (www.effekt.com.pl) for my company. It's really easy to use. My only complaint would be that it doesn't contain a ready objecy for integration with google+ but thanks to function "insert raw html" and G+ help pages I could do it. Although I don't have any idea what I copied and pasted, it just works! :)
I been using iWeb for a while but due to limitations I bought Sandvox and been using for few months and very happy. Me being non technical this app was perfect fit for me. I wish to see one thing that is ability to increase font and color of Menu list of themes as Menu text is very small. Rest all is an excellent value for money. One of the site I am currently working on is www.ivastugyan.com
Sandvox ist ein superklasse Programm!
Ich benutze es regelmäßig, um meine Site auf dem Laufenden zu halten!
Alle Schritte sind schlüssig und einfach zu handhaben.
Danke Karelia Software!!!
Where are the WYSIWYG apps directed at people who know HTML/CSS/JS by heart and inside out?
I use Firebug mainly, but I need a coding envrionment that gives me instant feedback. Where is it?
This is a very good product but I'm not able to build a page protected with a password.
I post my question on the forum few month ago and no answer...
If someone as an idea I really need to make a site with a protected area.
Thank you for your answer.
Isabelle
Working with Sandvox went very smoothly and quickly, absolutely perfect. I have my site ready now, I ran a demo version for some time, and your crew really helped me out well when I had questions or done something stupid;-).
What made me decide to buy Sandvox is that I expect Apple to discontinue iWeb in the near future and the way Sandvox works. It's ever so easy to build a good looking site with Sandvox, just like iWeb that I was used to, for the last 4 years. How I knew about Sandvox was through the Apple forum, iWeb thread. I also downloaded a demo version of another company, but I didn't like it as much as Sandvox. I feel at home with Sandvox, just like I did iWeb.
Thank you all your help, you have a great team ! And thank you for Sandvox.
We began using Sandvox to rebuild our website as a replacement for iWeb. It was important for us to find a program that was intuitive like iWeb, which Sandvox certainly is. Sandvox also offers a lot more up-to-date features and was fairly easy to get the hang of. Sandvox also offers a wide range of designs, both their own and third party designs. We were able to find one and make a few customizations so that it looks like a cleaner, but similar, design to old iWeb template. Publishing is a dream! We publish to a third-party host and no longer have to use a separate FTP utility. Sandvox does everything for us, and quickly. We're very pleased!
Just does what it says!. Very easy to use and setup, good replacement for iWeb and the support folk at Karelia Software are very responsive. I started using this in the trial mode which allows 4 pages to be published for free. This is what I did in a matter of a few hrs. I'd recommend it to anyone.
http://www.sandvoxsites.com/website/nmythsxg
Someone looking for a true WYSIWYG web tool will not find it here. As with Rapidweaver, you cannot construct a web site from a blank canvas and must use the included templates.
You cannot place things wherever you want and must adhere to the construction of the template.
This program has lots of features and value for people that can't visualize their web site from scratch.
If you are looking for an iWeb alternative, you won't find it here.
Using RapidWeaver for a long time and always - and still - enjoy using it.
But this has some nice features and could well take the front position pretty soon.
It is easy to use and still has power left for the pro webbuilders.
The demo crashes often but as soon this gets a little more stable I will buy this.
Very promising.
Sandvox is like a dream!
There are certain programs that I need complete access to. Music programs such as Finale and Digital Performer allow me to tweak down to the smallest detail.
However, when it comes to web design I don't want to be bothered with deep coding and thick manuals. Sandvox allows me to build a site and maintain it easily. It's the BEST web design program I have found that fits my needs perfectly. Highly recommended.
