Realmac Software announced this week that RapidWeaver 6 is set to be released soon. You can view the official announcement here, get details of some of the new features here, and view an FAQ here. No official release date has been publicized, as the Mac App Store team still has to approve this new version, but Realmac notes an estimate of late October / early November. RapidWeaver 6 will be a paid upgrade of $39.99 from any previous version, and those who purchased RapidWeaver 5 on or after August 28th will be receiving a free upgrade.

In case you don't have time to peruse the new feature list, here's a quick run-down of the features that are mentioned on Realmac's website.

Five new themes from 5 different 3rd-party developers

Addons Manager to organize and group addons

Faster FTP publishing

Markdown support

Support for OS X's Autosave and Versions

Site-wide code for adding custom code to all pages

Full-screen support

Responsive Preview with presets for iPhone and iPad widths

Master Styles

Example Sites

This is an exciting update and I have been very busy these past weeks creating brand new training for the upcoming version of RapidWeaver 6. My goal is to have the entire RapidWeaver section of tutorials (about 50 videos) replaced with new videos for RapidWeaver 6, and to launch that updated training when Realmac launches RapidWeaver 6. This is obviously a major undertaking, which is why you haven't seen regular tutorial updates in recent weeks, so I appreciate your patience as I develop this new training.

This will actually be the 4th time that I've produced the core RapidWeaver training since RapidWeaver Classroom began in 2008. I have produced training for RapidWeaver 3, 4, and 5, and now version 6 marks the 4th production of this core training. I have looked for ways to improve on the topics and sequence of training with each iteration, and I feel that this will be the most in-depth and complete core RapidWeaver training I've ever developed. My goal is for those with no previous web design experience to understand how to use RapidWeaver and to love working with it, but also for experienced RapidWeaver users to gain new knowledge that will take their skills to another level.

I am very excited about this upcoming release of the best website development software I've ever used, and I look forward to bringing you brand new training that covers every detail you'll need to know. I will of course let you know as soon as RapidWeaver 6 launches!

Thanks for your support!