Getting Started
Master Your Craft
Learn your way around Foundry – from the basics of installation and setup to building your first site.
The work is mysterious & important
When you start out with anything new it can often be a bit overwhelming. We're here to help lighten that learning curve. Below you'll find some tutorials to help get you started using Foundry.
We start with the basics of installation and starting a new Foundry project and work up from there to building out a simple site from start to finish. In addition to these general purpose tutorials we also offer more targeted, specific videos on the many documentation pages for the individual tools.
Learn More
If you have questions about how one of the Foundry tools works or how to achieve something with your design, you'll likely find the answer in the documentation pages, whether it be in the text or tutorial videos.
Start Here
Installation
Installing Foundry couldn't be easier. Below we walk you through the few simple steps for installing your new tools and the required theme.
When you purchase Foundry you’ll receive a compressed DMG file with a few things inside. For Installation we'll be looking for the following items:
- Foundry Tools
- Foundry Theme
Drag these items onto the app icon in your Mac's Dock and the app will do the rest, installing them in the correct locations. That’s all there is to it. Don't believe us? Give this quick video a watch.
We're constantly adding new features to Foundry and improving on existing ones. Updating within the app is really quick and super easy.
Updates are just as easy as installing Foundry. Maybe even easier.
We deliver updates to the Foundry stacks via the built-in updater that is incorporated into Edit Mode. You’ll be alerted at the bottom of the library anytime there are updates available for Foundry.
Click the Updates icon and follow the instructions provided. We suggest updating Foundry on its own instead of using Update All as Foundry is quite large.
Mind the gap
First Steps
With installation out of the way, the fun can begin. Here we'll look at the first steps of setting up your new project file and discuss some of the essentials for your site design.
Every Foundry-based project will start with a few basic steps. In this video we'll cover these and walk you through setting up your project file. We will discuss the Foundry theme and Control Center as well as briefly touch on a few other topics relating to building and editing your site:
- Foundry Theme
- Control Center
- Toolbox
- Container
- Note
- Group
- IMPORTANT
You must use the Foundry theme for your project. You cannot use Foundry inside of other themes. The Foundry theme includes some of the necessary code for the framework.
Don't Go Alone
Creating Your First Site
Now that we've got some of the basics under our belt, let's set out to build a starter site.
In the videos below we'll follow along with Ryan from RapidWeaver Classroom as he walks us through creating a small site to show just how easy it can be. We encourage you to follow along and build the site with him as he goes. We think you'll learn more by doing it than you will by just watching.
The project that was built in the videos above, that you've been following along with, is included with your purchase of Foundry 3.
You can use this project as reference, or for whatever else you like, but as we stated before we highly encourage you to build the pages out yourself. You'll learn more about using the various Foundry tools this way.
Various tutorials
Learning the ins and outs
With your first small site design under your belt you're well on your way! But there's always more to learn.
Here we've collected some of the most popular tutorial videos from throughout the Foundry documentation pages. While this section contains a good variety of topics, many other videos can be found on the documentation pages, as well as our Elixir YouTube page.
I am certain you will remain with me in spirit, in some deep and yet completely unaccessible corner of my mind.
Control Center
The Control Center is the heart of each Foundry page. Learn how it works and how to configure it for your pages.
Columns / Grid
Create columnized and grid layouts that will look great on both desktop and mobile devices.
Navigation Bar
Highly versatile navigation for your site with very little effort. Packed with features to make your navigation stand out.
List Group
Versatile, stylized grouped listings. Include static, linked or collapsable items to for lists, navigation and more.
Background
Multi-purpose tool for creating banners, call-to-action sections, more. Use images, solid colors, gradients, more.
Support
Connect with Other Foundry Users
Get the help that you need. The Elixir Community forum is a great place to connect with other Foundry user. Share tips and tricks, look for help using Foundry's many tools, or seek the sage advice of other users when building your sites.
Signup for our newsletter
THE FORGE. Stay up to date on future versions of Elixir products, as well as important news, updates and more through our newsletter.