button alignment

[stuart1980]

So I gave up on the tabbed browsing thingy, and instead plumped for the easy option of the pre-designed buttons.

The thing is I copy them to produce my set, but need them all lined up correctly with exact spacing between each. Is there an easy way to do this without trying to move them with the cursor and produce the desired result by eye?

[Soquili]

Hi Stuart,

You can select the buttons and use the Alignment dialog (Shift+Ctrl+L) to align top, left, etc.

You can also distribute centers.

Play around to see how the various options work. After some practice it is easy to align your buttons to your requirements.

[cursor]

Is there an easy way to do this without trying to move them with the cursor.

Sometimes, using the cursor keys can be the easiest for precise alignment. Of course, the fact that I (cursor) am making this recommendation isn't at all biased.

Drag in and position your first button from the Design gallery. With button selected, simply clone it (in place) by hitting Ctrl+K. Tap the appropriate cursor key (depending on the navbar direction ... horiz/vert) until the second button is precisely where you want it. (Note that by doing Ctrl as you move the button with the cursor will move you to your target location faster.) Once there, simply clone this second button, then move it into position using the same proceedure.

With all buttons in place, redefine the text on the buttons (keeping in mind that all Design gallery buttons are already soft-grouped, meaning that changing one button layer will automatically change the other), then set the links in 'Web Properties > Links'.

Don't forget to name them as repeating elements!

[stuart1980]

What is 'naming as repeating elements' and what does this do?

[cursor]

In Xara Web Designer Help, look for 'Repeating Objects'.

Personally, I found it helpful to examine the navbar (button sets) that are included in the Design gallery. Pay attention to how the individual buttons are grouped, soft-grouped, and named. Basically,

• All buttons have two components
  • MouseOff (static) graphic+text <grouped
  • MouseOver (dynamic) graphic+text <grouped
• These two components are soft-grouped together.
• This sum is then given a repeating:name.
• A link is assigned to the sum button.
• Buttons are duplicated, as required

Since all buttons have the same name, they can be batch selected by double-clicking any single element.

Since the buttons have a repeating:name, they can easily be duplicated on multiple pages (in the same, precise position), by simply doing an 'Arrange > Update repeating objects'. Note that you must first duplicate the repeating objects by using the 'Arrange > Repeat on all pages' option.