Using Web Designer Premium 7 To Build Great Real Estate Websites. Is It Possible ??

Good Sunday Evening All,

I am hoping this is the right place to post this request. I want to build a real estate website for my wife who is a real estate broker. Is there anyone on this forum doing this? I am intending to update my present web designer 7 to Web Designer MX Premium and hope that will give me a little more power regarding tools for website building.

I have done a search of this forum but could not find anything specific to real estate website building. I want to go a great job for my wife and build a website that will help her demonstrate various homes and other properties she will list. I want to use Xara Web Designer to do as good a job as if we had hired a website designer. I am hoping this is possible.

Finally, I also have CyberLink PowerDirector 11 which will help me import videos from my computer to PowerDirector and then to a website program. I am prepared software wise but need assistance regarding building the website. Thanks so much for all comments and assistance.

bob

Welcome to TalkGraphics Bob

I designed and maintain a website for a local realtor www.LaurenHerman.com All of the graphics were done in Xara but the site itself was done in NetObjects Fusion. If I were to do the site today, I would do it in Xara. Not doubt about it.

I created a mobile version of Lauren's website which is www.LaurenHerman.com/mobile This was done in Xara as are all the individual listings. Each listing is a separate sub-site from the main site which makes it easier to maintain.

You can probably find a suitable template in the Designs Gallery > Page Elements folder and then modify it to suit your needs.

Hello to you GWPriester,

I was so pleased to hear from you. Thank you for taking the time to respond. It's great to know that the Xara software I have is capable of building a good looking website. Thank you for the links provided. I took a look and noted you did an excellent job. May I ask why you did not use Xara initially to build the website rather than "NetObjects Fusion"?

I've visited a number of realtor websites and not how great many of them look plus all the great information they offer. Please take a look at www.uphamrealestate.com and tell me if you think I could build a website like that? I love the way this website looks and its professional presence. Note how it spreads from one side of the browser to the other. In other words it spans (left to right) the entire browser. I note the Xara websites appear to be narrower. Is there any reason for this? Sir, I look to get feedback from you and others. Thank you so much.

bob

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Note how it spreads from one side of the browser to the other. In other words it spans (left to right) the entire browser. I note the Xara websites appear to be narrower. Is there any reason for this?

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Xara Web Designer produces fixed-width WYSIWYG web pages which do not and cannot expand to fill browser windows.
However, the site you link to does not either, it's a fixed width page content site as well.
What you are see is the illusion of stretching due to the background tiling of a bitmap image.

This can be done in Xara Web Designer and Designer Pro.

Here's an older video which shows one way to create this effect in Designer Pro 6.

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I note the Xara websites appear to be narrower. Is there any reason for this? Sir, I look to get feedback from you and others. Thank you so much.

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Yes. The narrow web site is designed for mobile phones. I do not try to create a one-size-fits-all website because a person who is driving around a neighborhood looking at websites on her mobile phone needs quick, simple information. At home or in the office, she can visit the actual website and get more photos, and detailed information at her leisure.

My sites are simple and not filled with a lot of movement because this is how I design. My basic philosophy is to make it as easy as possible for the visitor to find the information/content. Visitors to LaurenHerman.com are shopping for homes in Placitas, New Mexico USA. If the visitor can get the basic information, and view a few photos for each of Lauren's listings, then she can get an idea of what homes she wants to visit.

A professional photographer photographs each home and posts a 30-50 photo slide show on another site which I link to if the visitor wants to see more than the basic 6 photos I post. The photographer's slide show links back to Lauren's site.

Good Monday Afternoon Sledger,

You have provided me with another great piece of information that will serve me well. Thank you so much for responding. Being able to provide a contrasing or background of a similar color with give my webpages a wider appearance and that's good. I will wait to see if there are others using Xara Web Designer Premium 7 web site toe build real estate pages. I need all the help I can get.

Does anyone know what the real difference is between what I already have and upgrading to Web Designer MX Premium 8. Is there that much of a difference. I still don't understand why Xara don't put example of 1 or 2 real estate web sites instead of several examples that may not be used at all. Thanks again.

Bob:)

I'm not sure if now is a great time to be upgrading - I think Xara's software upgrade cycle might be kicking in in the next couple of months or so. I may be mistaken.

Pauland, thanks much. I am mostly leery of upgrades unless I hear from others who are actually using the upgrade and see the benefits.

Bob