It is time for me to forge a new path

It is with mixed emotions that I share some important news today. After much reflection and consideration, I have made the difficult decision to close down Elixir. This was not a choice made lightly, but rather one born out of careful thought and a deep understanding of the current circumstances regarding all that is, and has gone on in our community over the past couple of years, both publicly and behind the scenes.

Over the years, we as a group have grown together, faced challenges, celebrated successes, and built a community that I am incredibly proud of. Your support has been the cornerstone of Elixir’s existence, and for that, I am profoundly grateful. I’ve grown and learned a lot over the years, and I have seen the same from you all as well. Many of those that once needed help have turned into those lending a hand to others in the community.

I am sincerely sorry, as I know this puts some of you in a tough spot, but I just can’t continue running Elixir when there is little to no income being generated from it. I truly hope you all understand.

As many of you know, Realmac Software will be bundling a framework of their own into their new website building tool later this year. This framework would be in direct competition with Foundry and the other tools I make, which of course is their goal. Realmac has a huge leg up on myself and other developers because they’re currently the only ones who have access to their new app’s API. Whether that is because the API is too rough and unfinished, or that they’re holding it close to the their chest so that they can in fact have this leg up on other developers, it is still the case that they’re the only ones able to develop native addons right now for their upcoming app. So even if I wanted to I cannot compete with them there, which is as they want it. Realmac is a company that survived for a great many years on the shoulders of the 3rd-party developers that grew up around their product, and they’ve simply decided to throw that away.

As for Stacks Pro — I have checked out the first beta release as some of you may have also done. It has promise, but isn’t yet usable in its current state, but there is a lot of room for 3rd-party developers to grow. Unfortunately it did not come along quick enough.

Due to the infighting between Realmac and YourHead a couple of years ago sales of my products, as well as those of other developers in this community, took a major hit. It made it a real struggle for us to survive in this market. I powered through and kept at it, even as sales continued to wane, working on a larger update to Foundry that will likely never see the light of day. But over the last 6-8 months sales have practically dried up altogether. I’ve had to refocus my energy on other projects outside of Elixir to keep the lights on, so-to-speak.

In addition to the fact that I can’t bleed money until StacksPro is released, and hopefully has a good audience, I think I really also feel completely burned. The wind was taken out of my sails when this all of this began a couple of years ago. But at this point I don’t even think my ship has a mast.

So I have come to realize that it is time for me to explore new avenues and challenges outside the realm of Elixir. Please know that this decision was not made due to any lack of love for what I was doing or lack of support and encouragement from you all. On the contrary, it is because of my deep respect for this community that I stuck it out for so long. I’ve worked hard at this business for almost 20 years now, and it pains me every day to think about leaving it, but I think it is for the best.

While this chapter may be coming to a close, I am excited about what lies ahead. The lessons learned, relationships forged, and experiences gained will undoubtedly shape the next phase of my journey. I want to express my deepest thanks to each and every one of you who has been a part of this incredible adventure. Your support has meant more to me than words can adequately convey.

Support for my products will continue, in the form of this support forum, through November 15, 2024. Unfortunately after that time I will have to discontinue the forum as it costs a good deal to run it on a month-to-month basis and with little to no income being generated by Elixir right now I can’t afford to keep it going forever. If there’s anything you want from the shop before I close it down, now would be the time to purchase it, with the understanding that I will not be supporting it further.

Thank you for your trust and patronage over the years. I’ve made a great many friends in this community over the years and I truly treasure that.

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Sad news, but I’m not surprised.

Hello @elixirgraphics These are difficult times and I can only assure you of all my sympathy and all my best wishes for success and joy for your new path. Thank you for this adventure, I arrived late but I do not regret it. Good luck with all my friendship.

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Adam, thank you for your unwavering commitment and invaluable contributions to the RapidWeaver community over the years. Your hard work has not only enriched our community but has also set a high standard in the industry. As you and your wife embark on this new chapter, I wish you both immense success and fulfillment in all your future endeavors.
– Dave

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Dear Adam
I am crestfallen. It sounds like Rapidweaver has gotten too big for its britches. (I would like to know more) I have trouble supporting businesses that treat people like you have been treated.
Your support for your products and service to the customer has been unparalleled and exemplary!

Not sure what Stacks Pro is.

Please let us know where and what you will be doing as your creativity is amazing and if I (we) can continue to benefit from your talents, I (we) will be grateful.

John

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Sad to hear it @elixirgraphics. You make great products. I’m using Foundry 3 daily on multiple projects so thank you for making the best RapidWeaver framework to date!

Super bummed about everything that’s been going on. I hope your new irons in the fire are fruitful! Maybe one day if Stacks Pro gets off the ground we’ll see Elixir return in the distant future :slight_smile:

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Thank you so much for all of your efforts to keep the boat afloat. I appreciate you ! That being said… I am saddened.

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Sorry to hear this news. Quite a while ago I had moved all my new sites over to Foundry because I found it really intuitive to work with.

However disappointing, it is totally understandable. Life is hard enough without having work add to the stress.

Thanks for all you’ve added to the RW community over the years!

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All the best to you for the future.

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I am sure Stacks Pro not being a things could not have helped.
Thank you for all you did for RW… It looks like I have bought 17 of your products over the years.

Best to you in whatever you pursue

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Sad to see Elixir go…best of luck to you! Will you at least keep the YouTube channel up? It is really a great resource to fall back on.

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This is very sad for all of us! I have really enjoyed Foundry for its simplicity and great support from Adam AND the community!

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It’s a sad day for the RW community. You really created the benchmark on how to deilver support and great easy to use products. Other developers should take note. I totally understand your view and sincerely wish you all the best. Thank you for all you have done to progress website development over many years.

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Sad to hear Adam. I hope you’ll be back sometime. All the best for your next adventures :shield:

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This is sad new Adam, your products are excellent, I love your keen eye for design and the way you have managed to relate aesthetic needs in to the technical functionality of your products. I can fully understand your desicion, it must have been a tough couple of years. If you continue on other platforms I would love to follow you over to them or even if you produce the odd plugin as a ‘side hustle’ to a different system that would be something I would follow. It’s a sad day, I’ll start to look to alternatives to Foundry, if we see you invloved with any of those that would be awesome, all the best for the future plans, sincerely.

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1st of October was a sad day!

I can’t thank you enough for the great products and the support you gave over the years. I will miss you! Foundry 2 and especially Foundry 3 enabled me to be a better website creator.

I wish you all the best for the future, maybe we see us again.

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I am so sad that you have been forced to give up something you obviously love…and I have been so grateful for Foundry…has been my one and only framework to use for my friends sites. I still hadn’t got to grips with Foundry 3 (late uptake on that one!) but I hope that you will still keep up the Youtube videos as I still want to learn how to use it as I am sure it will continue to function just wonderfully.
Thank you everything and good luck going forward

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Hi Adam,
Sorry to hear you are closing Elixir Down; I wish you the best of luck for the future.

Please could you clarify a few things?

You are closing this forum down on November 15th this year, is that the same time that your online store closes?

Will the documentation for Foundry and Alloy still be available after this date on your website or is the website closing down as well?

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Well this news sucks. Agreed that the folks at RW have gotten too big for their own good…a classic case of swollen ego. Unfortunately all the third party developers that made RW worth anything thus far have now gotten tossed aside for the new Elements software (which basically ripped off of people like Adam’s hard work). I have zero interest in using Elements and look forward to Stacks Pro. I’ve been hearing great things about the next beta…that it will in fact be a working and functional software.
Adam, thank you for the amazing products and thank you for your support. Best of luck with whatever the future holds for you.

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