What I'd like to see in Web Designer

[steve.ledger]

Hi KWard,

To edit the object colour, please try this instead.
This loads the colour editor with the current object colour as required.

[henk_kok]

Though Webdesigner is the only program I know that allows the user to build a webpage really WYSIWYG ...
I find it truly annoying that it does not allow me to define the webpage directory structure myself.

When exporting the webpage, Xara re-compresses the images while storing them in a single directory. (Huh Photoshop? What's that?!)

Why not work like dreamweaver?

Have the image gallery "import" a directory with images. When these images are used, Xara simply has to tag them in the code, without having to "export" them to a single directory. Images will be addressed to with relative paths. Et voila.

This way I can define the directory names, file names and paths where those files can be found and copied from.
There is no need to export and upload entire webpages after an adjustment. Simply the index.htm (and maybe some new images) must be uploaded.

For example:
1. when building a gallery of PDF leaflets, I'd like to have thumbnail and PDF file listed in the same directory, with the same name.
2. more control during compression of images in photoshop/photopaint/netpaint/whatever

[covoxer]

When exporting the webpage, Xara re-compresses the images while storing them in a single directory.

Not necessary. You can always use external images (Web properties dialog / Placeholder tab / "Replace with graphic file" option).

Why not work like dreamweaver?

Maybe because there is a Dreamweaver already?
Unlike Dreamweaver or any other authoring tool for that matter, WD is designed to create all the graphics within the program. You can import ofcourse, but there's no need to import graphics created with other software becuse you can create it within the WD. If you talk about photographs, these has to be scaled down and recompressed for the web use. And you don't need to do it manually, just drop image to WD, place it where you want, and it will do all the dirty work of resizing image automatically.

Have the image gallery "import" a directory with images.

No. But you can do it easily - open the folder in explorer, select all files and drag&drop them into WD. Then you can press Delete to remove the stack from the project, and all the images will be present in the Images gallery.
Besides, there is a "Fill gallery" which has this option.

When these images are used, Xara simply has to tag them in the code, without having to "export" them to a single directory. Images will be addressed to with relative paths. Et voila.

All I've said before, plus - you don't need to care about paths, because if you select external image for placeholder, it will be automatically copied and published with WD. You don't even have to know where is it.

There is no need to export and upload entire webpages after an adjustment. Simply the index.htm (and maybe some new images) must be uploaded.

Possibility to update only separate pages is on the whish list so it may have it's way into WD in a future.

2. more control during compression of images in photoshop/photopaint/netpaint/whatever

The idea is that you don't need "photoshop/photopaint/netpaint/whatever".

[Markku]

My wish for future WD is that instead of piling pages only vertically, one could also have horizontal strips of pages.

Reason being that when you have ten or more pages you (I atleast) start to loose track of them when you scroll up and down.

With the possibility of horizontal page stacks the user could arrange pages into meaningful page "groups" like "these pages deal with products, these are for services, and these are for maintenance" etc.

Additionally these horizontal strips could be used to handle state changes of one coherent view. I haven't developed any further vision about this, but I just have a gut feeling that it could be intuitive solution for such.

One can wish, right?

[jclements]

Markku, what about also having a Zoom All Pages included in the Zoom Info Bar?

[cursor]

Ctrl+mouse-scroll allows a pretty fast zoom out (or in).

I too would like to see the option for a more hierarchal page structure (a real Project Manager, if you will) -- allowing for nesting whole sets of pages under category/sub-index pages. The ability to [+] expand or [–] collapse sections would be wonderful.

[cursor]

Consider showing positioning the assigned page names adjacent to the page layout. It could help when zoomed out, when thumbnail sized page images are small. See the graphic below.

The text should probably be properly scaled for readability.

[steve911]

er...not on my copy it doesn't LOL.

There is something odd going on here which I haven't managed to pin down as yet but my web sites were originally created on Xtreme and then when WD was released I used that from then on. Maybe its something to do with setting page length manually via the dialogue box....

Here's a 1 page example. Load it and then extend the bottom of the page downwards with the cursor - the extra space appears at the top so you have to select ALL and manually move it up.

[steve.ledger]

Yep - it appears to be the Xtreme to WD import as the problem.
A minor bug which I'm sure John will sort out once he reads these posts

Just copy and paste to a new WD document and that fixes it.

See attached

[Teedee]

Added 5 Apr 2009
* Drop down menus (AGAIN) I have now demonstrated WD to six users; they love it but the first question ALWAYS: "What about nav bars?" You show them the layer approach and they just laugh.
* Quickkey to set/reset margins in text