Remove Xara from Head

**Jimmy399** · 21 January 2012, 04:07 AM

I proudly display "this website designed using Xara Web Designer 7 Premium" on all my websites with a link back to Xara. Most clients are not interested in designing their own websites, even with great software like Xara. They are (or should be) focused on operating their business. That is why they hire you.

The info is for other designers so they, too, can discover this wonderful design tool.

**pauland** · 21 January 2012, 09:19 AM

I'm sure Xara are very pleased that you do!

Do you ask your clients if you can advertise product on their website?

**Jimmy399** · 04 February 2012, 03:59 AM

1. They have never complained.
2. I do not put my "author" link on their websites (which is also "advertising" that many web designers parctice).
3. If you are a Xara user, why would you NOT want to promote this exceptional product?

**jinker** · 04 February 2012, 06:55 AM

Hi. I've just dropped by for to see what's going on these days with XWD after Xara made me an upgrade offer I can't refuse. I've used plenty of other web design programmes that also have the name of the company in the source code and whilst it can be edited out by opening up the code and deleting any reference, every time you make a revision it will re-appear, however, I can't see any reason to be concerned. Stephen King apparently uses a pencil to write his books long hand, probably cost him a few pence. I don't think anyone worries too much about that though? The tool is just the tool, the magic comes from the designer/writer/producer....insert whatever you like, but I can't see any business that needed you in the first place worrying about what programme/software you use.

**steve.ledger** · 04 February 2012, 07:25 AM

Plausible reasoning for wanting to strip such data from the source of xara's exported html is to pass it off as hand coded. I expect a 'webmaster' could increase their asking rates in such a cases

**pauland** · 04 February 2012, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by Jimmy399

1. They have never complained.
2. I do not put my "author" link on their websites (which is also "advertising" that many web designers parctice).
3. If you are a Xara user, why would you NOT want to promote this exceptional product?

I don't have a problem with anyone promoting Xara, but I would never do it on a client site. I don't see why I should use someone else's site for advertising the tool made to make it.

I've never felt the need to put "Made with Xara","Made with Adobe Flash" or "Made with Dreamweaver", or the equivalent onto clients sites. I have sometimes put a backlink on websites I've built, but that's a bit like the car dealer putting a sticker on the back window.

If it helps, I'm equally baffled by people putting the specification of their computer as a footnote to their forum posts, too.

**steve.ledger** · 04 February 2012, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by pauland

I'm equally baffled by people putting the specification of their computer as a footnote to their forum posts, too.

This helps with technical support Paul. Useful both to technically minded members and the Xara developers.

**pauland** · 04 February 2012, 09:54 AM

I think it's more about people showing off what hardware they can afford.

**handrawn** · 04 February 2012, 10:01 AM

both valid points

mind you it is an assumption to take the machine listed in the sig as the machine in use during whatever is described in the post - even though many who feel the need to describe their computer thus probably only have the one - always best to get confirmation if its not explicit...

**andymack** · 04 February 2012, 03:38 PM

This thread is deviating away from my own original concern regarding the Xara reference in the heading code. I think most of us who design websites 'check out' the competition, especially if we are asked to create a new design for an existing site. The first thing we all do is look at the 'page source' for a quick look to see how it starts. We all immediately notice the Dreamweaver templates and the Wix driven ones and other third party design tool references.
My OWN problem with the Xara reference is that it is easily leveraged against us by SEO salesmen. They can quickly show the Xara tag to prospective clients and deride the designer (me) as unknowledgeable enough to not know how to code sites 'properly'. And that they can re-code and optimize a new design for only a thousand dollars or so and guarantee top search rankings. I actually have one such case for real, and I can supply my original site link and the new 'optimized' site link if anyone is interested enough, a before-and-after if you will.
I don't mind too much that I lost this client, (she was really pleasant about it all) as I was paid for the design anyway. It is just a shame that people are so easily duped out of hard earned cash by these 'snake-oil salesmen'. ( In fact, I ran both the old and new sites through an online SEO tester and my original came out much higher. I do not want to publish on the forum the actual URL, but I will share this info individually to anyone interested enough.)
The analogy with the pen is not accurate at all, most of us can write and design, but some of us cannot create cross platform XHTML, CSS code that is created by placing text and objects within a program. The writer with the pen might have created the story and words, but did not necessarily know how it eventually got printed, bound and sold afterwards.