Speed of widget

[Artyboots]

Hello,

Is there any way to slow down the transition speed of the widgets. I am finding most turn the pages so quickly that it is difficult to read the caption text in time.

Thanks in advance.

A

[covoxer]

Which widget are you talking about?

[GerryI]

I assume you mean the automatic cycling that happens. I believe this should stop happening if you click to select one of the items manually.

If there is nothing mentoned in the instructions when you edit the widget then there isn't an easy way of changing the speed. It could be changed manually by modifying the .js file containing the widget code that gets exported but you would have to do the modifications again after each time you exported the site (though you could keep a copy of the modified .js file so you could easily replace it). This sort of modification would require you to have quite a good understanding of JavaScript and the JQuery library and would also need to be tested in all browsers as it is quite easy to break things (though changing the speed of animation aspects is usually fairly safe as long as you keep within reasonable limits).

It is also possible to modify a copy of the widget .xar file to include the JavaScript changes though the process is quite technical. We intend to publish a guide of how to create and edit your own widgets but this probably wont happen for at least a couple of weeks.

If you would like certain of the widgets to have an easy to configure speed setting then by all means post to the Dear Xara forum asking for this. I believe it is already on the list for future enhancements to some of them but real users asking tends to increase the priority of things...

Gerry

[Artyboots]

Hi John and Gerry,

Thanks so much for responding. Although I have used one of the Eyecatcher tile widgets, in general I find that they all scroll a bit too quickly to enable easy reading of the caption text. However, as you say, mousing over stops the image - although it doesn't get rid of the slightly vertiginous feel of the fast scrolling. My present solution is to write short captions - hey! why have the ease of Xara and go make things difficult for yourself!

I no longer have the knowledge to change java or javascript files. Used to, but am out of touch on the coding side. But I would be really interested to have a tutorial to show how to do it, so I can learn something new. I love to express my inner geek from time to time, and will always push the boat out for a special client. I may well need to know.

I want to say something while I've got you. In the past I have normally used Xara for graphics, and even then not for all graphics. Web-wise I didn't settle very well into previous versions - not even version 6 (although I buy all the upgrades. Loyal!) But when I bought DP7 on Friday, everything changed. Suddenly everything I want to do is doable, and how. Don't ever think that pros take their interfaces for granted, because we - well I - absolutely don't. I appreciate smooth, organised, pleasant interfaces more than almost anything. I love the changes that you have made. I have never dared risk making a moderately sized site in Xara before, because it wasn't always straightforward to recover from mistakes or customer changes of mind re the design, but with the improved repeating objects, and the ability to copy and paste pages - including their settings - it is all wonderfully easy now.

Although I've mainly been designing a web since I got it, I also have to mention the graphics witchcraft that has appeared in the new version. I have no idea how you managed to invent the magic erase, but it is quite incredible. When I think of all the hours I normally spend clearing junk out of photographs. I set it an horrific task - to remove a long string of Christmas lights (with faint glow) out of the foreground of a picture of London landmarks that I needed. It would have taken me about two days in a bitmap editor, if I could even be bothered. I probably wouldn't have attempted it, and bought a different photo. It took Designer Pro 7 SIX SECONDS. Witchcraft. How very clever that you can just keep clicking until you get the result you want. (Discovered that in Xhris's movie - thanks Xhris).

Can't wait to get the manual and see what else I have to look forward to.

I will go and post feature requests. Very small tweaks, and a couple of new tools would have this program wipe the floor with all the others. For arty pros who don't need to collaborate or produce a big back end, it's become the best choice.

Thanks again.

Ali

PS forgot to mention this version, so far, MUCH more stable. I have done some very evil things to the program, as I explored, and haven't managed to hurt it much.

[superjediman]

I agree, the speed of the Eeyecatcher Tile Effect Slideshow is annoying.

It just looks like a jumbled mess, not allowing the viewer to see the text and the image correctly.

That is if you are an IE user, but load up the page via Chrome and is works perfectly, stopping on each image for a small amount of time before progressing to the next one.

Because of this issue I cannot implement this widget on on my web site, which is a shame as I thought it looked great.

Will there be a fix for the widget? If not, does anyone know another widget that gives a similar effect with text on each image?

[superjediman]

The widget is called 'Coinslider'. Google it and you will find the original, which has parameters.
I just need to sit down and see if I can get it working with Xara.

[superjediman]

Umm, it seems that the issue with the Eyecatcher Tile Effect Slideshow is related to IE8.
Using IE7 and it works perfectly, so I'm not sure whether user using the original 'Coin Slider' will help (unless someone can prove otherwise).