Xara Web Designer 5.0
Within only about five minutes of
installing Xara Web Designer, I had
already opened a sample template
and started typing my review. For
that, I must give it very high ranks for
ease of use. Admittedly I haven’t
explored the depths of the software
just yet. I’m sure some of the
functions will require a bit more work.
For the purposes of this review, I’ve left the default images (above) in the template even though
they really don’t have anything to do with this review. Replacing those images with images of my
own choosing is as simple as right-clicking on the image and choosing Replace
Bitmap from the pop-up menu that appears or simply dragging and dropping a
new photo onto the old one. How did I figure it out? I just right-clicked and the
answer was right in front of me.
The template I chose had the red, black and orange color theme which I liked.
The cool part is that the entire color scheme can be easily updated using the
Color Editor shown at right. Each of the template’s theme colors is listed and
can be changed. This makes it easy to take any of the supplied templates and
customize them to meet your needs. Yes, I even told the picture to repel the
text.
Another really cool feature are the buttons and text panels that expand automatically to fit the text
contained on them. For a button, the width of the button will adjust based on the text entered. The
“Try Xara Web Designer” button at the top of the page is an example of this. Text panels have a
fixed width and will adjust their height based on the amount of text entered. This design uses
three different stretchy text panels for pull quotes. Within each template are several buttons and
text panels designed to match the template. Simply import them to your template and use them
as needed.
Often a button bar is needed. Sample button bars are also included for customization. I didn’t use
one in this design, but one was originally included in the template. The buttons can include drop-
down menus and rollovers.
Many of you are probable aware that Xara is well-known for their vector-editing Xara Xtreme
product. Xara Web Designer includes many of the graphics creation and editing tools so that you
can also create the needed graphics without using another program. If you do need to bring in
graphics from elsewhere, popular file formats are supported.
When it comes time to publish your Web page, it just takes a couple of clicks. You don’t need to
know HTML, JavaScript, CSS or anything else. The entire time I’ve written this review (designed
this page), I have been in a graphical view very similar to working in your favorite vector editing
software. If you don’t want to bother with uploading the page to your server, you can even have it
sent automatically for you via FTP.
If you need to create the occasional Web page and you have no desire to learn anything about
Web technologies, Xara Web Designer is a great choice. It provides truly WYSIWYG visual
editing of the page. Cool effects can be created without all the technical knowledge needed in
other software. And you can’t beat the $49 price! Even for those using other tools, you might find
Xara Web Designer would be a nice addition to your software arsenal.
“If you need to create the occasional Web page and have
no desire to learn about Web technologies, Xara Web
Designer is a great choice.”
“Within only about five
minutes of installing Xara
Web Designer, I had already
opened a sample template
and started typing my
review.”
“The cool part is that the
entire color scheme can be
easily updated using the
Color Editor.”
