Blueprint Builder App Reviews
This is a great application. Simply drag out your layout and generate validated html/css with semantic tags in a matter of minutes. Im not a full time developer or designer, but I have responsibility for a number of sites, and this makes creating solid layouts a breeze. Its lightweight with an intuitive interface, and it doesnt pretend to be an all-purpose tool. If you werent a user of the blueprint framework before, this could make you a convert. In addition, the developer is incredibly responsive. I emailed him a couple of desired enhancements, and he was back to me within an hour saying that he would work on these for the next version. Wow.
Im a professional web developer, and I decided to give this a try on a redesign of a client site. It did help me get the design up and working perfectly quickly. However, as weeks have moved along, and Ive needed to work on the site and tweak accessibility, Ive found that the blueprint framework has been nothing but a burden. Ive had to spend time off the clock ripping it out and getting back to square 1. For this site it has been a net loss. I think for a casual site you just wanted to bang out as a design, this would be a five star. For building a professional, flexible, accessible, sustainable site Id only give it 2, just because of the extra cruft of the framework.
Im quite happy with this app. It does one thing, and it does it well. My only problem is I wish it did two things: Generate Wordpress templates. That would kick butt! Id pay for it all over again if it did that.
If youre developing any type of web site, this is a great time saver. I dont use the Blueprint framework with my sites, but it doesnt matter. This app will allow you to export semantic CSS/HTML to use any way you want. You can quickly layout a web page framework and export the result to get a jump on the development of the internals (text/graphics/etc). With any new development, getting the framework setup and correct is the first step to creating a well designed, easy to maintain web site. This tools allows you to do just that. The Add background feature is a great tool. I took a screen shot of my current site (which Im thinking about re-designing) and it allowed me to quickly setup the html/css framework to build within. Working without the visual cues from the background image, I can try different layout options. And when Im done playing, I know Ill get valid HTML/CSS as my starting point. Import the output files into my favorite HTML editor (currently Espresso) and Im off and running.
With work this could be a powerful tool, but as currently offered it is an early beta at best. Examples: Margins exist only on the right side of objects, margins have a minimum width of 5 pixels, the validator insists on nesting multiple objects for no apparent reason. Once a layout box is created it can not be altered, only deleted. Documentation is nonexistent. As currently offered (v1.3) this is not suitable for any but the most rudimentry of layout tasks.
This is exaclty what I was looking for. Lets you layout your site by div and style it later with jq ui etc… you can name the divs by ids and view/modify the source. use this in combination with div builder tool by the same developer for a full wysiwyg tool. The tool is simple(good in this case, almost no learning curve) and solid. It has a great validate feature which will correct your layout if you leave empty space in the page. 2 things that would make this even better: integration with div builder ability to resize divs(now you have to delete them and make a new one, but its not a big drawback)