Another SeaMonkey user here! No Apple Silicon native version in the works, though, as far as I can see, so I will have to keep a Tahoe machine around for the time being.
or run it in a Windows or Linux VM.
In fact, Claris Home Page also ran on Windows. I wonder if it still works on Windows 11.
I’m sure I still have the original media, but that wouldn’t include updates.
macOS 27 should still include Rosetta. Apple is saying that version 28 is the one that will drop it.
1 Like
You could look at Wolf. I have it, but haven’t tried to build a site yet. Supposed to be simple and able to build responsive sites.
I’ll second that, certainly for simple web sites. I have a family web site that I originally hand-coded, and then converted to iWeb. Based on your comment, I thought, “hey, let’s see what Chat-GPT can do?”. I was stunned. I gave it a prompt like “convert this former iWeb site into something simple that I can once again edit by hand”. I was stunned with the results. It was, well, perfect. Not sure this suits the OP’s use case (you do have to be comfortable with creating HTML pages and uploading them to a server–although I bet Chat-GPT, et al, could convert an MS Word file into an HTML page), but if this fits the bill it’s a pretty low threshold of entry.
3 Likes
Oh, that was it. So easy to use. Thank you. I miss those Claris products.
1 Like
The Seamonkey project is still alive so I expect it will cover the post-Tahoe situation (In any case I am sticking with Sequoia for a while for several reasons)
BTW - if you are thinking of raw coding HTML here are my tips from 1998
2 Likes
It’s a bit disheartening. I was an early fan of a few web publishing platforms, eventually landing on WordPress when earlier tools were no longer well-supported. WordPress gradually targeted “professional” customers, to the point where it really isn’t suitable for most non-professional users. A major new version (7.0) is scheduled for release in a few days. While it has some welcome new features, I fear it will just add more complexity to feed today’s insatiable, ad-driven, surveillance-enabled Internet.
I still use WordPress for a few projects, but mainly because it is one of the few platforms that provides easy data exports using open standards. Other platforms (like Wix) may be easier to work with, but data management is more challenging.
Even though I am comfortable hand-coding websites, I definitely miss the days of simple web tools like Claris Home Page. More than that, I miss tools like FileMaker versions 4 through 9, which were powerful enough for truly dynamic, database-driven content while still being within reach (technically and financially) of power-user consumers and hobbyists who wanted to control their own data. It still surprises me that there don’t seem to be good solutions for that sort of user.
“Professionalizing” the web has come at quite a cost.
3 Likes
I still use BBEdit for static HTML pages. It’s worth considering, respecially if you are editing and updating an extant early static HTML site with simple CSS & HTML.
Bear is surprisingly good at exporting to HTML and CSS.
There are still decent HTML and CSS static templates that are free or cheap, if you have an HTML editor.
2 Likes
If you mean the editor there are plug-ins that will install the legacy editor.
1 Like
It’s a good point. Just be careful, since not all features are shared between the Classic Editor and the Gutenberg Editor, which can complicate working with some themes.
Complications, complications.
2 Likes
Aye, there’s the rub. I used self-hosted WordPress for a number of web sites for about six years. Over that time, the platform showed a relentless movement toward supporting commercial developers over end-users. The shift to the Gutenberg editor was the worst. Always, whenever I voiced concerns over changes that made the platform increasingly difficult for small-site end users, the refrain was “there’s a plug-in that mitigates that.”
Use your favorite search engine to look for “wordpress plugin vulnerability” and you’ll see that just installing the plug-in that everyone’s recommending might not be the best idea. I used plug-ins sparingly if at all, but the platform pushed me more and more toward having to install and use them to keep my sites viable. That meant that I had to keep track of potential vulnerabilities for every plug-in I used, and there was always just a hint of anxiety whenever anything updated. As I wrote on twoprops.net…
the software base itself was huge and horribly complex, and uses technologies (PHP, mySQL) that I don’t really like to expose to the net if I don’t have to. Worse was the fact that WordPress seems to be moving inexorably toward supporting more commercial “web designers” instead of small-web proponents who want to quickly and easily maintain simple, independent, ad-free sites. I found, particularly after “improvements” to their editor, I had reached the point where I dreaded adding a post to any of my sites for fear of encountering another new WordPress feature that would make the experience even more frustrating.
I used SiteSucker to create static versions of my legacy sites. The next site I created, QRazy.fun, I cultivated a retro vibe and coded the whole thing in hand-hewn HTML (with a light dash of CSS) using BBEdit. twoprops.net itself, to which I add a page almost every day, is built with a static site generator (Quartz 4) and is lightweight and loads fast without the many complications associated with maintaining a WordPress site. It didn’t help that there was a lot of distasteful drama around WordPress and its creator around the time I had to migrate my sites.
I’ve been very happy with the static-site-generator approach, but then I am filled with disdain for what now constitutes a page on the modern web. Also, not every site’s purpose meshes well with the static-site concept.
4 Likes
100% agreed…There is a very wide range of quality in the WordPress plugin ecosystem. Many plugins have a very cursory acquaintance with cybersecurity. On the sites I’m responsible for, I try to keep installed themes and plugins to an absolute minimum, and I avoid third-party plugins when I can.
It is now hard for me to recommend WordPress (or similar platforms, like Drupal) to casual users. For any but the most basic sites, you really do need to invest the time to understand the platform, including the myriad security issues.
One bit of advice to anyone thinking of running own WordPress website: In 2026, it is absolutely essential to install a reputable security plugin. Personally, I use WordFence, but there are others available. (Disclaimer: I have no relationship to WordFence aside from being a satisfied user.)
3 Likes
Thanks @david_blanchard I vaguely recall at some point being able to choose to use the earlier editor, was not aware there was a plug-in.
Though as @ron points out that does seem weird and clunky and potentially risky.
Having learned with html and later adding on css, all these complications move me further and further from knowing what’s going on with sites I create.
At this point though I have fairly little need for the sites I’ve done so have pretty much abandoned them. Some are related to a self-employed family member so on the rare occasions of needing to update I’ll set aside more time and expect to struggle.
Maybe two of them are done in html + css, synced via Fetch, and are much easier to manage.
Back to OPs point though, those sites I write in TextEdit, which is suitable for the job.
2 Likes
Using BBEdit along with Beyond Better (AI tool) is a great combination. Mum needed a new website for her business and she built one using Beyond Better in a couple of hours.
I used Beyond Better to create https://FutureTogether.Community site which has event registration, member subscriptions, blog system and more “interactive” features. It’s a powerful solution.
2 Likes
Use SeaMonkey. I cannot recommend this WYSIWYG web creation program enough. I used it for 25 years before I retired and after Claris Home Page was discontinued by Apple. It’s free, open source, vigorously supported, and regularly updated for security. For me there is simply no other choice! 
1 Like
I was a fan of Netscape Communicator way back when, but aside from tinkering with the first couple of versions of SeaMonkey, I never quite made the jump. Maybe it’s time to revisit it.
Xway is a great program for non-coders. I used the previous version, called Freeway, building sites for clients for many years. The developers stopped supporting it sometime back for various reasons (mostly because it was 32-bit), but always promised to come back with another, better program, which they did a few years ago. (Freeway is still available on their site for older systems.) https://softpress.com
1 Like
I had not looked at SeaMonkey since…well, probably like @josehill, when it was part of Netscape Communicator. The appearance is certainly, um, rustic by today’s standards, but it looks like it does offer a bare-bones approach to editing simple HTML pages. I was a little surprised to see that it does not understand the <nav> tag. Doesn’t render it properly, and gives it the “?” symbol when you turn on HTML tags in the editor. I think that was added to HTML v5, so I’m wondering up to what version of the HTML spec SeaMonkey does support.
I think Netscape Communicator morphed into NVU then Komposer and now Seamonkey. In any case, I haven’t had to learn a new user interface in order to use them as I moved from one to the other. Somewhere along the way I went from Windows to Mac.