My back up files don't reproduce my website in Web Designer 7 Premium

**Ken Gaskell** · 24 June 2011, 10:10 AM

My new computer has gone back three times and is now being replaced. I have decided to have Designer on my replacement Desktop, when it comes, and Webdesigner on my laptop so I can update my site on the go.

I backed up my files from the computer I have sent back. I copied the whole directory of them to my laptop but Xara Web Designer 7 Premium won't open them as a finished website. The W logo isn't present in the files I have transfered from my previous computer. If I click on index, it just dumps the content into Xara in an unusable manner.

How can I make use of my back up files? There must be a solution otherwise what it the point of backing them up.

Can anyone help?

Ken

**ShapeShifter** · 24 June 2011, 10:29 AM

Web Designer backup files will have a *.web extension.
HTML files is your exported website file (index.htm) which cannot be opened in Web Designer (because Web Designer is a html generator, not an editor).

mwenz pointed out recently that you can load Xara created .html files using Kompozer html editor -- this might help you out for simple changes?

**Ken Gaskell** · 24 June 2011, 04:20 PM

So what we are saying then is that back up files aren't back up files at all. If you change your computer or have a hard drive fail, you can go whistle, you have to start all over again. If this is the case, it is time Xara found a way round this. They ought to have a directory for uploading html files up to the internet and a separate directory containing editable Xara files. The latter would be the ones you could transfer between computers. For instance, I would like to be able to work on my site on my desktop PC using Designer and when I am away from home, take a copy of the files with me so I could keep it updated when I am on the road using Web Designer on my lap top. I would then be able to copy my latest files back on to my desktop PC when I returned home. How easy would that be, or am I asking for the moon? As it is, I have to decide which machine I am going to use, my desktop or my laptop, I can't work from both. Not good.

Ken Gaskell

**Soquili** · 24 June 2011, 04:52 PM

All that was said is you made a backup of your website files and not your project (source) files.

I am always amazed that people do not seem to comprehind what files are actually needed to update their web projects.

Xara Web Designer and Xara Designer native files are .web and .xar these are the file you must keep in order to make future updates or changes to your projects whether web or design.

Your exported website with it's html, javascript, css, and image files are simply an export type, a composite of your efforts not the updatable project.

**Ken Gaskell** · 24 June 2011, 05:02 PM

I have looked elsewhere on my back up drive. I found the files in a directory I had no idea I was using. Anyway, all is well and I have recovered my website. Thanks

Ken Gaskell

**TrishS** · 26 June 2011, 04:38 AM

Maybe this explains my problem. I just downloaded the trial version of Web Designer 7. Then I opened an html page I created in another program. All I got was the pictures that were on the page. Web Designer did not open any of my text or the JavaScript I have on that page. Does this mean I cannot open my html files in Web Designer? That I have to start over from scratch? It seems to have good features, but I also want to open my existing files and see every element on my pages.

**Soquili** · 26 June 2011, 04:42 AM

Hi Trish welcome to Talkgraphics.

Web Designer is not an html editor so you cannot open html, javascript, or css files and edit them as you would with notepad, wordpad, or Dreamweaver, etc.

Xara Web Designer is a vector graphics drawing application that can make what would be a mockup in another graphics application into a fully functioning web page or site when exported. Only during the Export function is there html, javascript, and css code created.

**ShapeShifter** · 26 June 2011, 05:03 AM

In spite of Web Designer not being a HTML editor, it's a very powerful Web Site designer and creator with an ease of use second to none.
Give it some time -- make full use of 30 day free trial period and follow some of the tips and demos found on both Xara user forums and at the xaraxone.
I'm sure you'll come to see how much fun web design has become.