Questions to Xara Ltd ... please reply

[Clements]

I think there is something to what Sean has proposed above.

Perhaps a temporary new forum administrated by Xara. in it, each thread could be a pop3 poll where each person could have one vote.

The forum could be kind of a hybrid .... a cross between a "Vote for a feature" and a "marketing poll".

[Sean Sedwards]

I envisaged a two stage system: An open forum (Wishlist... thread) followed by a vote based on the all the suggestions. The problem with a wishlist on its own is that some important suggestions only get mentioned once and there's no accurate indication of popularity. If you then give the list to a programmer, rather than a graphics creator familiar with Xara, he / she may make a choice based on code efficiency etc. As Kate pointed out, some of the potential of the new features was discovered by the users: Artists think differently to programmers (FYI, I consider myself a programmer in this context).

An example of this is XX's many dialog box drop down lists, which some people think should be replaced with radio buttons and icons. We programmers argue that drop-downs are the most screen space and memory efficient way of making a selection, whereas artists point out that a graphical interface is easier and more intuitive to use.

Regards - Sean

[Sheff]

Sean,

That's a good suggestion for X3d to import 3d objects. I just don't know where X3d is going. I'm disappointed that X3d won't read native XX files and that the plugin isn't being followed up anymore. It would be nice if X3d had better animation and could export flash and quicktime in addition to avi and gif.

I don't know if you can really consider X3d a genuine 3d application. The results are beautiful, but the program itself seems to be languishing for lack of attention. I would like to know what features are lined up for X3d or even if its on Xara's list of priorities.

I think that the way X3d is set up seems to lend itself to being more of a dialogue box within Xara rather than a standalone program.

Actually adding genuine 3d capabilities (lighting, texturing, animation etc) seems to me to be a huge programming task. I don't know much about programming mind you, but that request for 3d capabilities within Xara was more wishful thinking than a practical expectation. As much as I would like that feature, I really don't expect it to happen.

I honestly don't know if Xara is headed more towards page layout, 3d visualization, flash animation or what.

I would like to see a Xara application hub between Xara and X3d. In Lightwave, the hub acts as a bridge between Layout and Modeller, so that you can see changes instantly. If you could see a native X3d file within a Xara file that was linked and dynamically updated when both applications are running, that would be really cool.

There is a great program from X dimension called 3d Exploration. It lets you browse 3d Models. It can also convert them. If they sell a program that can browse, view and render for $50, I'm sure Xara can create something similar or at least establish a licensing agreement so that the 3d object can be converted into a Xara vector.

Right now I use 3d Exploration to create a DXF file which I bring into Corel 10 and save as Illustrator to get it into Xara.

I would also like to have the option of linking or embedding bitmaps and fonts. When I deliver a Xara file, I also give the client every single font that I have burned on a CD so that if they don't have it they can find it.

A method to classify and organize fonts would also be appreciated.

I would like to know what some of the planned future features are for Xara.

Sheffield Abella
sheff@sheff.com
www.sheff.com

[Thatch]

I have to echo what Dmagician said... As a the head of many a development project features can't be simply voted on to see which get added. All features aren't equal when it comes to development time, effort and stability. There are the "low hanging fruit" features that can be easily added and then there are the ones that cause complete reengineering of significant sections of code. Voting for a top 5 and expecting them to get done will be a frustrating exercise for all concerned.

However, it can be done if you take it in the right veing. Typically when I get feature requests for the projects I head One of the main way I get outside input is from a Marketing Requirements Document. This is a doc that Marketing puts together to let me know what features they want. I look at it, asses the programming effort involved and kick it back with a time frame and adjustments to things that aren't possible. They see certain features will throw the time line off quite a bit and those might be adjusted or dropped until we find a date and feature set everyone likes.

Now, I DO NOT expect Xara to enter into that kind of relationship with thier users simply because an effort like that with the number of people we are talking about would be too difficult to manage, but, if this group looks at it as simply a users requirements document and those 5 voted on features are the most important for the users, while keeping in mind the other forces at work on application development, then Xara can take those and react to them in a responsible manner. This will serve both Xara and its users base.

Sorry for the tangent off into development land. It just kind of takes over some times....


Joe

[gwpriester]

Perhaps on a more practical note, Xara could prepare a list and let us vote on which features we think we would like to see included.

One feature I would definitely vote against is bloat.

Keep in mind what happens when you try to be all things to all people. You wind up a jack of all trades and master of none.

But improving the existing features and adding a few new killer features that would not cause the size of the file to sky rocket would be cool.

I had to laugh when I read a review of Quack, er, QuarkXPress 5 which has, get this, context-sensitive menus! Wow, these guys wait years before offering a new version and this and table editing are the top two features, along with the wimpiest attempt at Web publishing you can imagine. Seems Quark thinks Web publishing is what their users want. (Anybody tell them about this product called Dreamweaver).

Sorry for the off topic comments. Just makes me appreciate all we have right now with Xara X.

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

<a href="http://home.earthlink.net/~garypriester">
Be it ever so humble...</a>

[Sheff]

I would like to see what other features people have requested from Xara in a single comprehensive list where we could vote on which features we wanted, (i.e. pick your top 10).

I honestly don't need to know what features Xara will choose to implement, but I would like to see who wants what and how many.

A while ago I suggested separating Xara into 2 programs, one for animation, the other for page layout. I don't know if that's a good idea or not. I do know that I like swiss army knifes, but they're not always the best tool for the job.

I don't want bloat, and I realize that some features that I have requested may not be wanted or needed by others. Maybe some features and functionality can be implemented as optional Xara specific plugins so Xara users can pick and choose what they want without the core program becoming huge with unused or unneeded features.

I would be willing to pay for plugins for specialized features, but I don't know if that's a feasible solution.

How does everyone else feel about Xara plugins? It seems to me that's one area that hasn't really been exploited.

Sheffield Abella
sheff@sheff.com
www.sheff.com

[roman]

Would be great to have bitmap editing plugin (with smudge, clone tool (zoom) and such simple and similar useful stuff.) If it was able to edit bitmpap directly on Xara work-space would be absolutely perfect. (but it wouldn't be plugin then eh?)

[Klaus Nordby]

Gary: "One feature I would definitely vote against is bloat."

Agree! And the solution is called "plugins." Open architecture. Buy-what-you-need features. Why are the programmers of the world so disinclined to embrace this great approach? It keeps downloads managable, and we don't have to pay for features we don't want. Some want XX be a print-app, some want it to be a web-app. With a plugin-extensible approach people can have what they want, download sizes can be kept, well, down, and Xara can get extra revenues by developing extra features - which users pay for in addition to the main app.

Kate, Mark, Xara: What do you have against such an approach???

K

[Clements]

What better way to truely vote for a feature that to "buy" plugins. Profits are distributed to those who hit the mark on useability, practicality, and general market support.

PLUS it would broaden the creative juices.

I would have NOT HAVE A PROBLEM in paying for something that would leverage or make easy my daily tasks.

Besides that, it would make me even more dependant upon Xara products and isn't that where the money is .... return customers? [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[d-sine]

Yeah, plug-ins are a great idea, it also helps prolong the life of a product in my experience (even though I'm only young - honest! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] ), just look at things like Photoshop, and even Quark with its Xtensions. Even the likes of dear old Artworks (a la riscos) has managed to survive well with the plug-ins facility. I think it's a must.

Just my two penneth..