Hosting your own Web Server

BACKGROUND
Xara has failed to replace the moribund MSIE instance that holds it Desktop application back.
When you Preview a website, you render all your lovely work into a MSIEv11 instance and immediately find things don't work.

You can click through to a different locally installed browser and if you look at the address bar, you will see you are being served back your website through Xara-built in web server.This too sadly is so old and unsupported, it is truly worrying.

It is possible to install a web server on your local machine but i have found these to be quite complex to manage.

I recently found this clever nugget: http://fenixwebserver.com.

INTERIM SOLUTION

1. Download https://github.com/coreybutler/fenix...dows-2.0.0.zip from https://github.com/coreybutler/fenix...ses/tag/v2.0.0.
2. Install.
3. For any of your Xara designs, Export website to a local folder, note the folder.
4. Run Fenix > Web Server > New, browse to the Folder > Create.
5. That's it.

You can Start/Stop/Modify Server and Launch into your default web browser.
You can have almost unlimited servers running at the same time.
The web server just handles HTML, JS and CSS, exactly what Xara delivers.
A fruitful union.

THE CLEVER BIT
You can enable a Public View and you get an SSH local tunnel from your machine to the Internet with a secure connection that can be shared with anyone (your client).
Changing things on the fly is a breeze and as you are at the top level, you can see all your published assets.

I have just completed a job that took 2 and a half days, made all the easier with this simple tool.
If I tried with Xara Cloud, i would still be there.

It is not a publishing solution but it is ideal for collaboration.
For TG, a member could set up a local folder publish to it and add the design file, all the work of seconds.
There are so many useful workflows I can realise with this.

Acorn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Acorn

It is not a publishing solution but it is ideal for collaboration.

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Reading your post I had the impression you'd consider it a viable solution to self-host. What are the drawbacks?

No, I don't suggest that. I was indicating where there were problems with Xara's Preview using MSIE.

I suggest using Fenix for a better development experience.

The public access part allows you to demo your site without having to set up a service provider and suffer caching issues with incremental changes. Xara Cloud offers similar without the ability to control the environment.

If you switch off your machine, no site. You can't do that with Xara Cloud.
Also the public pipe is a freebie and not for commercial purposes.

Acorn

to be fair to xara... if I open an email in MS Office 365 Outlook and I click on the option to view in a browser, it opens it in IE :rolleyes:

this despite MS's own exhortations never to use IE but use Edge; surely they at least could do better

I use Firefox as default... Edge as default browser does not apper to fix this IE issue with Outlook 365, not that I would want Edge as default...

The legacy of IE ia all around us unfortunately...

Downloaded and tried it - Wow, it's fast - pages load instantly.
Set up 2 servers - both good. All these years I've been keeping 2 extra websites for testing - don't have to pay for domain reg and hosting anymore!

Not sure about sharing with clients though - clicked the enable public view, then copy and paste link and get this dodgy looking page with a warning - click continue and get a 404 error?

How is this different from using Xara.Hosting

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Acorn

No, I don't suggest that. I was indicating where there were problems with Xara's Preview using MSIE.

I suggest using Fenix for a better development experience.

The public access part allows you to demo your site without having to set up a service provider and suffer caching issues with incremental changes. Xara Cloud offers similar without the ability to control the environment.

If you switch off your machine, no site. You can't do that with Xara Cloud.
Also the public pipe is a freebie and not for commercial purposes.

Acorn

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Thanks for clarifying.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by handrawn

to be fair to xara... if I open an email in MS Office 365 Outlook and I click on the option to view in a browser, it opens it in IE :rolleyes:
this despite MS's own exhortations never to use IE but use Edge; surely they at least could do better
I use Firefox as default... Edge as default browser does not apper to fix this IE issue with Outlook 365, not that I would want Edge as default...
The legacy of IE ia all around us unfortunately...

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i am fair to Xara. It offers a WYSIWYG experience that fails with MSIE. IE is buggy for CSS and rife with security holes.

The number of Third Parties that are blocking MSIE access is growing; this impacts Xara Widgets.
The version MiniWeb HTTP server Xara uses is somewhat stale too: https://sourceforge.net/projects/min...s/miniweb/0.8/ suggests v0.8.19 is 2007.

MS Outlook was a MS hijack rewrapped, just like MS Excel (and probably everything else). MS's codebase is somewhat legacy-bound and vast; Xara has no such excuse.

All recent changes the the Desktop applications have been fudges around the edges as I think Camelot is now a Black Box to Xara's developers. The move to Xara Cloud, using newer technologies, is acting in the same fashion but at least the Preview is no longer bound to MSIE as you have a click link to your rendered site that is actually being presented through a full web service.

What I can use Fenix for:

• Local viewing in any browser to http://127.0.1:Port so it is very fast with no upload time. No SSH as it is all local.
• One-clicking for a tunnel website with link like https://colored-pandabear-99.loca.lt (P.S. if you click through it should just 404). A secure site you can share with a client. Delete or switch local content or simply switch off.
• Using same tunnel website to access non-web content. Can be used to up/download anything.
• Using as a Markdown server.
• Collaborating with other developers.
• Showcasing work to others.
• Using for ad-hoc personal cloud storage when travelling.
• Digging deeper into development issues with the FENIX Request Browser.

Other products are available.

I chose Fenix for its deftness and my need for a Markdown server.

Acorn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by letsgofishing

Downloaded and tried it - Wow, it's fast - pages load instantly.
Set up 2 servers - both good. All these years I've been keeping 2 extra websites for testing - don't have to pay for domain reg and hosting anymore!

Not sure about sharing with clients though - clicked the enable public view, then copy and paste link and get this dodgy looking page with a warning - click continue and get a 404 error?

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@Acorn - how do I share with a client?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Acorn

i am fair to Xara

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sorry I used a figure of speech, maybe not clear - just meant to say that xara are not the only ones who have legacy issues with IE - even MS have not quite got it together yet...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by letsgofishing

@Acorn - how do I share with a client?

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You click the Share link and advise the address.

Try https://proud-mule-38.loca.lt .

I will leave it up for a couple of hours. It is my test-bed area with a clutch of nothing important.

Acorn

Hi Acorn,
I'm struggling with the sharing bit and sending the link.
I copied the link and send it to 1 of my other email addresses. Received the mail, clicked on the link which goes to the tunnel website warning - this is really a no-no for clients.
When I click on the proceed button I get 404.
Tried copying the link and pasting in a new browser tab - goes straight to a 404.
Such a pity as is is such a quick way to view changed to site - no more cache clearing.

Hosting your own web server as a way to demo to clients is just an awful idea.

You can buy non-Xara hosting very cheaply.

I use my own website with a client directory not linked into the main website.

Every time I want to demo a website I just upload it to a client directory and supply the link.

You can easily avoid caching issues by using a different directory every time if you wish - for example http://www.mysite.com/clients/bills-restaurant/v201026/, ..v201027/, v201027b etc. and you can easily refer back to old versions for comparison.

I've done this for years.

Do you really want to have a computer running 24/7 in case a client wants to check your design?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pauland

Hosting your own web server as a way to demo to clients is just an awful idea.

You can buy non-Xara hosting very cheaply.

I use my own website with a client directory not linked into the main website.

Every time I want to demo a website I just upload it to a client directory and supply the link.

You can easily avoid caching issues by using a different directory every time if you wish - for example http://www.mysite.com/clients/bills-restaurant/v201026/, ..v201027/, v201027b etc. and you can easily refer back to old versions for comparison.

I've done this for years.

Do you really want to have a computer running 24/7 in case a client wants to check your design?

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I hear you Pauland - I was just so impressed with the speed with which the site loaded after changes - the no ctrl+f5 :(
Never thought of the updated folder names....

^^^ that's exactly how I do it too, Paul.

Again, for emphasis, it is a local web server for test and development.
It has the advantage, during development, for sharing a live SSH site with a client without having to set up something through your service provider.
Consider it a pop-up test bed service for a client with no overhead. Use and discard.

I was extolling what it can be used for locally.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Acorn

It is not a publishing solution but it is ideal for collaboration.

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Acorn