Freeway (software)

Freeway

Designing a website with Freeway 7.
Developer(s)	Softpress Systems
Stable release	7.1.1 / August 7, 2015 (2015-08-07)
Operating system	Mac OS X 10.6.8 or higher, Intel only, Yosemite compatible
Type	Internet publishing
License	Proprietary
Website	www.softpress.com

Freeway (originally Uniqorn) is a WYSIWYG web design application for Mac OS X (older versions also run under Mac OS 9), developed by the English company Softpress Systems. Currently there are two flavours of Freeway: Freeway 7 and Freeway 6 Express (with fewer features and is aimed more at the amateur web designer). Due to future plans there no longer will be any development for Express and there will only be just one flavour left. Freeway 6 Pro has been replaced by Freeway 7, and Freeway Express 6 is end-of-life.

Freeway is based on a pre-Mac OS X print publishing application called Uniqorn, also developed by Softpress, but discontinued when Apple stopped supporting QuickDraw GX in Mac OS 8.

The philosophy behind Freeway is that an average user is able to design websites without having to deal with any code, using an interface very similar to that of Desktop publishing applications like QuarkXPress or Adobe InDesign. Advanced procedures (like connecting to a MySQL database using a scripting language like PHP) are done through plug-ins called "Actions". Several Actions can be downloaded for free on several websites, but there are also commercial 3rd Party Actions, like the "Auction Seller Suite" from FreewayActions.com, which allows the creation of Ebay-friendly HTML within the Freeway design interface. Many useful Actions are bundled with Freeway, the latest set from Softpress being a suite of Actions that lets the user create a shopping cart through the popular Mals e-commerce system.

Unlike most other WYSIWYG web design applications, Freeway produces syntactically valid HTML code and Cascading Style Sheets, making it usable in situations where valid HTML code is obligatory. For example, valid code is required by law on the majority of federal and state institutions' web sites in Germany. Versions of Freeway from 4.4 onwards also create HTML and CSS that correct many rendering problems with Internet Explorer 6 on Windows.

External links

• Softpress Systems Homepage
• ActionsForge Action Repository
• FreewayActions.com Action Repository
• actionsworld.com.com Action Repository
• FreewayTalk User Support Community