This program lets you create a professional-looking website pages in an easy way. You don't need to be an html wizard to create a good webpage. Using the program, you have access a wide variety of templates that you can use "as is" or adapt them to your needs. If you decide to use a template (which you can get from the developer by paying the corresponding fee), it is possible to edit it differently, from simply substituting the text and headers, to changing the color pattern, adding photos, shapes and/or clipart, and so on.
If you decide to start from scratch, you can select the resolution for your project, as well as its size. Again, you can add photos, shapes, clipart, text, and use the color scheme you need. The program has all the tools you need to perform these and many more functions.
Maybe the only drawback of the program is its cost, which is not very affordable. Nevertheless, you can try the program before deciding whether you want to buy it or not. To download the trial version, you need to register during the installation process by typing your e-mail address and choosing your country. The trial version can be used for 7 days. You can extend the trial period to 30 days by registering your copy at the developer's website.
v11.2 [Aug 22, 2015]
Page Design
Sticky Objects
These are objects that you can 'stick' in place as the page scrolls underneath. A good example is the NavBar which you can stick to the top of the page as viewers scroll down, so they can still easily navigate to other pages without having to scroll back up to the top. In v11 any object can be stuck to any position on the page, or the left of right edge of the browser window.
Example site (with NavBar and logo stuck to the top, social buttons stuck to the left and a footer stuck to the bottom. Based on the new Hipster theme)
You can now 'stick' objects such as social networking buttons, NavBars or footers, so they remain in view as the page is scrolled up and down
New Animation Possibilities
A new Web Animation dialog introduces powerful and easy to use new animation capabilities. You can now set up objects to:
Animate on mouseover
Animate on reveal ie when the object first comes into view or a trigger object comes into view. So for example you can set objects to slide or fade into view as you scroll down a page
Animate on click (or tap on a touch device)
What's more there are some eye catching new animation types for mouseover and click such as wobble and bounce.
Example site (on reveal - buttons on photo heading slide in from right and left, circular photos fade in, and Headlines slide in from right and left. Based on the new Ultimate theme.)
Also Gary Priester has had loads of fun trying out all the new animation types in his First Look at v11 on the Xara Xone.
Some of the new animation styles that can now be triggered by click (or tap), mouseover or 'on reveal'
Stretchy Backgrounds
Website designs with no obvious page boundary are now very popular, and in this sort of design you'll commonly see a page background that covers the entire browser window and stretches to fill the browser width. In Web Designer 11 you can make any rectangle or image stretch to fill the browser window, either horizontally or vertically.
Example site (the top photo stretches across the whole width. Based on the new John James theme)
Add a 'stretching' background image across the full width of the page
Text Handling Enhancements
Auto-correct / abbreviation expansion. Create your own list of abbreviations that will be automatically expanded as you type, so for example XWD could be expanded to Xara Web Designer as you type. It's great for symbols too - for example you might set up yen to render ¥
Auto-creation of links when you type a URL so for example typing xara.com will automatically create a link to the Xara site
A text background color option so you can easily highlight words
An easy way to replace one font with another throughout a document (especially useful for replacing missing fonts in imported PDFs)
'Update style to match' option (useful for copying styles from another document or applying styles to unstyled documents, particularly imported PDFs)
More detailed information on font permissions in Document Information
Accurate export of text with manual kerns
Update of the Font Awesome Symbols (a quick & easy way to insert symbols from the large and growing Font Awesome selection. The full set is displayed via the Insert menu)
Google fonts updated
Fonts will look correct in exported documents where fonts are missing if outlines are embedded (for example from imported PDFs, most of which include embedded character outlines).
Create your own list of abbreviations that will be automatically expanded as you type
Online Editing
Document Sync With Dropbox or GDrive
Web Designer can now sync files via Dropbox and Google Drive. So if you have the same file open on multiple computers, and you make an edit and save the file on one computer, it will be updated in Web Designer on the other computers.
And there's another bonus: Dropbox and Google Drive maintain older versions of your files, and provide easy ways of viewing and reverting back to earlier versions (in Dropbox simply right click on a file and select 'View previous versions'). This is a safe, easy and storage-saving way of maintaining multiple versions of your website files.
Easily sync your documents via Dropbox or Google Drive
Online Editing With Xara Online Designer (beta)
An ultra-simple way to view, edit and update the content of your Xara website using a web browser on any computer or tablet (yes even a Mac or Android tablet!), from anywhere in the world, and to re-publish the website.
For commercial designers:
Give controlled editing rights to your clients, namely allow them to edit text and replace images
Brainstorming a new design with your client over the phone? Now you can update the cloud version in real time so you client can see the changes as you talk
And for everyone:
Update the text (blogs, news, prices for example) or replace images and re-publish your own website from anywhere
Work with colleagues on the same website at the same time.
Dreamweaver helps you to create custom web pages and custom web applications
