Text Repelling

[googlebay]

I have struggled to make a text flow around objects in Xara for couple of hours.
When you click Text Tool and a single click on a canvas a Text Line is created. But Text Area can flow around an object not a Text Line. Text Line looks the same as Text Area but it won't repel. I see no way of converting Text Line to Text Area.
To create a Text Area with Text Tool you have to click and drag pointer to make a window of Text Area.

The trick is not obvious for people used to MS Word and other text / graphic processors (%95 of world population ?) . This is not documented anywhere in Xara Help, movies or support.
In fact, Xara full of undocumented surprises.

[zaphodeist]

It's documented in my help menu Just drag diagonally

[steve.ledger]

Same help appears in Xara Web Designer too.

[googlebay]

It's documented in my help menu ..

Help needed on Repel Xara function. This is what Xara help returns on repel keyword.

[steve.ledger]

Correct, and you will notice on that page the line near the end which says:

Note that single lines of text do not respond to repelling objects, only text areas and text columns do.

[googlebay]

Correct, and you will notice on that page the line near the end which says:

Yes. But how would I know that my text is a single line ?

[steve.ledger]

Xara Xtreme is not a word processor but a drawing program with text and font handling..
Selecting the text tool and clicking once then typing on the page without dragging a text area or column always creates a single text line which extends across the page until you either stop or hit return.
Text areas are commonly used for linking/flowing more than one text area while text columns are often used for a simple column of a defined (dragged) width which wraps as you type.

[covoxer]

Yes. But how would I know that my text is a single line ?

When you select a text object with a text tool you'll see the difference.
- text line - only red blinking text cursor will appear;
- text column - there will be also a red horisontal line for column width setting;
- text area - you'll see a red dashed rectangle that specifies the area.

See screenshots.

BTW This all is described in the help main topic "Text Handling", including the screenshots and detailed description of the way these objects look and behave.

[googlebay]

When you select a text object with a text tool you'll see the difference.
.....
See screenshots.
...

Of cause I am not argue that it is possible to learn how to use Xara. Everyone can learn even how to fly a space shuttle with a manual, help of professionals and some spare time on hands.
Back to Earth and the Web the time difference of loading a web page 0.1 and 3 sec makes difference between top ranked pages and visited once. With a programm, 3 seconds or few minutes on solving a usability problem makes the difference between world bestseller and a weird tool for very persistent retired enthusiasts

[Egg Bramhill]

Which begs the question why not create your web pages in your much loved Microsoft Word, after all it has an html export