Swift Builder

[jovo]

Hello. Is there any future plans to replace the Swift Builder? I have used the page builders from Enfold, Jupiter, Ellison, Salient, etc. and I’m finding the the Swift Builder to be extremely challenging and frustrating. To the point where I dread having to use it. And I never felt that way about the other builders that I have used. I could go on and on about what makes the builders in the themes above so great and would be happy to provide the difference. I’m still holding out hope that there are future plans to make it more like the awesome Visual Composer or something close to it. Thanks!

[Swift Ideas – Ed]

Hi Jovo,

Would be happy to hear what you think. We always get glowing reviews about how much everyone else enjoys it, so would be interested to hear how you think we can make it better.

We tested out the latest version of Visual Composer the other day, and we honestly think it’s absolutely terrible.

Thanks,

– Ed

[jovo]

Thanks Ed. I would be happy to circle back around to this thread and give you my comments.

At the moment, I do have a question. I’m using a 27″ monitor and when I choose an element to edit, like Parallax, the text box area is so small. I waste so much time trying to scroll up and down and I seem to make so many mistakes because I just can’t see the entire area. Is there anyway to make this pop-up window larger? Thanks!

[Swift Ideas – Ed]

Got some cool things I want to try with the text editor box, such as a light/dark mode (hopefully possible) in case you are using light text, and I’m going to try my best to make the box larger for larger resolutions. Will get this into the next update.

Thanks,

– Ed

[jovo]

Thanks Ed. Allowing for a bigger window or maybe a re-sizable one would be a huge improvement. My workflow has come to a very slow crawl between using the builder itself and the extremely small element window. I’m saying this based on my experience using the builders from Enfold (which is super fast and delightful to use) and Jupiter (customized version of Visual Composer).

I would feel even better if you could continue researching other builder alternatives. I’m not saying visual composer is the best one out there, but I do find the true drag and drop much easier to use. I would also opt for a more friendly interface for short-codes instead of just generating the code. With the Enfold and Jupiter theme, selecting an element simply brings up a window showing the settings instead of just showing the generated short code. Of course, you also have the option to view the code also. I just find myself being way more creative and more efficient with other page builders that I have used. Just my opinion, but improving/replacing the builder would make your framework perfect. Regards!

[arib]

minus visual composer, concur with Jovo

as far glowing reviews go, thats another bucket of worms

[ML]

I will second jovo’s comments. The swift builder or visual composer is much less useful if all you are doing with it is setting up columns, etc. and then generating short codes inside the sections. It doesn’t really save much time over over just generating short codes within the regular WordPress interface.

Take a look at Enfold & Jupiter, as mentioned by Jovo, for a way to do it right. You can put together an entire website in less than an hour and it’s extremely intuitive. If you added this functionality, along with the great design/features Dante currently has, it would surely be an even better seller.

[jovo]

Here is a great example of doing it right… Salient just added a customized version of Visual Composer. I was able to take it for a test drive it’s simply amazing. I was building pages in minutes, not hours. Definitely allows for great creativity and you don’t have to agonize over the code. Truly awesome!

[Melanie – SUPPORT]

Hm, I think it’s a negative way of giving feedback to say “a way to do it right is … something you’re not doing”, implying we’re doing it wrong… Thank you for the suggestions tho.

[jovo]

Hi Melanie. My comments were not meant to be negative. All I was trying to convey is that when visual composer is customized in a different and more effective manner, the results can be outstanding. I’m sure you can’t argue with the success of the Salient theme with 10,400 plus sales. The numbers don’t lie. And the reviews for the latest update using visual composer have been spectacular. I just feel the swift framework would be much better off with a newer and customized version of composer like Salient. As ML noted above, I just don’t see how the current builder is helping with the design process when it just generates the codes and columns. I have had the pleasure of using Salient and I can certainly see why it’s getting so many sales and positive reviews. But that being said, Dante is completely awesome and I think it would be even better, more 5 stars and sales, if it had a better page builder. I love the Dante design and continue to look forward to each update. Thanks!

[kunzi]

I too have used the Enfold theme’s editor and it really is super fast to use.

[Tahir – SUPPORT]

Thank you guys for your feedback, I am sure Ed is going to look into this soon .

Cheers
-Tahir

[peem]

I have to agree with Jovo and the others, I personally find the swift page builder to be much more difficult and less user friendly than visual composer. It’s a shame as I really like the theme and would use it in the future for other client websites but visual composer is much easier for my clients to understand and work with, so I will probably only purchase the theme this one time.

One of my main issues is having to manually enter shortcodes. For example: [sf_iconbox image=”fa-tachometer” type=”standard” color=”standard” title=”Box Title” animation=”fade-in” animation_delay=”200″]Enter your Icon Box content here[/sf_iconbox]

For a client to make updates to their website who does not have much knowledge of web design this looks confusing. Other things that cannot be done with the swift builder (as far as I can tell) is the ability to hide content on certain devices. For example on other themes which use the visual composer, I can edit rows and select whether the rows show on all devices or are hidden on mobiles, tablets etc. This is a very useful feature for making mobile adaptive websites.

Like the others, my personal opinion is that extending the functionality of the visual composer is the way to go with this theme.

Thanks

[Kyle – SUPPORT]

Hi

We have improved the swift page builder massively which you will get to see soon! We are sure you will love it.

– Kyle

[peem]

Im glad to here it and I look forward to seeing the results. If it is not already going to be included in the new update, I would like to suggest a function to hide rows/content on certain devices. This feature is included in a lot of the other most popular wordpress themes and something I have found to be very useful!

Thanks