GOING FORWARD PHOTONIQUE WILL BE ADVERTISMENT FREE
GOING FORWARD PHOTONIQUE WILL BE ADVERTISMENT FREE
Originally Photographed 2005-2026
I USED MANY DIFFERENT CAMERAS AND iPHONES
An update on the infrastructure behind the site, how our publishing workflow is changing, and where our digital galleries stand.
When evaluating the current crop of native Mac site builders, the fundamental philosophical difference comes down to layout structure versus canvas freedom:
RapidWeaver Elements is built around a modern, structured component architecture. It generates standards-compliant code, respects semantic document flow, and scales cleanly for large, multi-page platforms where site-wide styling, templates, and consistent hierarchies matter.
Sitely (the evolution of Sparkle) approaches web building like a freeform graphic design canvas. You place elements wherever you like without worrying about CSS selectors or box models. While that offers immediate visual liberty, managing vast archives of structured editorial content and deep photo essays requires the structural discipline that Elements provides.
When the ecosystem fractured between Realmac (RapidWeaver) and YourHead (Stacks), our initial position was pragmatic: we chose to back both camps, investing meaningful time and money into both roads to avoid backing the wrong horse.
Unfortunately, our experience on the Stacks side soured quickly. Rather than an open, responsive development community, it turned into something of an insular "boys' club." Communication dried up, feedback went nowhere, and we were essentially ignored. We could not even get our hands on working betas until just a few days ago. By then, the train had long left the station; it was far too late to justify further reliance on that platform.
Starting at the end of this month, Elements is introducing a suite of integrated AI tools, following a similar move by Sitely.
To be clear: we do not embrace generative imagery. Every photograph published here is captured in the field with real camera equipment, real optics, and real light. For our workflow, AI functionality is strictly confined to backstage administrative tasks—managing directory structures, code cleanup, and streamlining publishing operations.
Before settling on Elements and jAlbum, we put dozens of web authoring applications through rigorous testing. Virtually none handled large volumes of image assets well, though Sparkle (now Sitely) stood out for assembling clean standalone galleries.
However, during the rollout of the current Urban Cartographer system, those early Sparkle-built galleries were left detached and effectively orphaned. We always intended to rescue and re-integrate that photographic work once time and technical resources allowed. We finally have the bandwidth to do so, and those projects are being brought back into the main fold.
The primary driver behind this site upgrade is bringing our visual delivery up to modern standards by adopting AVIF across the board to replace legacy JPEGs. The file size savings and superior compression fidelity allow for crisp, high-resolution rendering without chewing up visitor bandwidth.
Our jAlbum collections are in the middle of this conversion right now. Re-rendering and verifying several hundred thousand images is a hefty undertaking, so that conversion will remain an ongoing background task running through December.
* Clontarf Railway Station * Docklands Railway Station * Malahide Railway Station