Bouton's Features Wish List for version 9

[dcahall]

I like Gary's list a lot.

I would like to have the Shape Builder tool in XPGD because I do not use any of the web features and therefore have no reason to step up to XDP.

Our discussion about Animation in Xara has pointed out some weakness and I think Gary's request to add additional control points to the Mould Tool would be a big step forward in some areas we have been addressing.

[Gare]

Again (again, again), I know code about as well as I know skydiving (hence I practice neither), and we certainly can wish, but I think to make a Mould that has more than 4 control points means tearing up a lot of existing code. The Mould tool seems to be built on a different "model" than, say, CorelDRAW's Envelope feature.

If we all ever see a Xara engineer on this thread, I'd love it if we were in agreement in which priority our wishes were granted. Drawing and production features I'd like to top the list.

As the story goes, if Xara grants us three wishes, the third would be to have a dozen more wishes.

-g

[Big Frank]

It would, in fact, be highly desirable to have a Xara engineer pop his/her head in here from time to time to talk about the technical feasibility, or lack of, of certain wish-list items. The lack of any response from Xara towers to the hundreds of Dear Xara posts over the years could give the cynics amongst us the impression that they do not read it and, if they do, they frankly don't care.

Come on Xara, for Pete's sake, get involved a bit. You have no idea the positive impact that could have on this type of discussion. You don't have to give away any state secrets, but simply turning up would be a flippin' novelty.

[dcahall]

Having been in their position before, it is not always as simple as it sounds. Comments they make (positive or negative) can easily be (and most generally are) taken the wrong way by customers unless they have made a commitment one way or another. I have responded to customer suggestions before just to try to carify what they were suggesting/asking for and it was interpeted that I was working on a solutions when in fact, I was not.

However, it would be nice once in a while to get some acknowledgement that they are listinging (again, taking my previous statement into account). It can be a fine line...........

[handrawn]

oh they listen

and the proof is in the sketch mode function, the eraser tool, the shape builder tool ...they just follow JC [that's Julius Caesar] 's rather laconic advice about never announcing you are going to do somethiing until you've already done it - a wise maxim for a military general, and the market place is not that different...

[Gare]

Frank...David has a very legit point.

It would be worse for a programmer to stick their neck in here and even faintly promise something they later discover can't or won't be delivered.

How about this?

Dear Xara Programmers:

If you're reading this, can you just post here that these posts are indeed being read? You don't have to commit to anything; we'd just like reassurance that the posts are being read and possibly considered.

Move the bell or the candlestick on the table while we are holding hands during this seance to let us mortals know that our message is heard from the Great Beyond.

Or at least outside the castle.

-g

[mwenz]

Even so, Gary, if an Xara person even writes, "Yeah, we read these posts," at some point they have to not respond because of the engagement it will produce--the follow-up questions and or direct responses to their responses.

So in my opinion, if they respond to the affirmative that they read these posts and then disappear again, it will have zero positive effect. Maybe. Been wrong lot's o' times.

Take care, Mike

[angelize]

Yes it would be nice to know that the suggestions and bug reports made in this forum were actually being read, however I do think that we could perhaps try to make it easy for them to quickly scan through the posts and see: a) what is being requested in order of importance to the person posting and b) how many others are also wanting the same features.

[Gare]

Frances, is this you volunteering to make a short list for us here, so we can yay and nay the items?

Seriously? We seem to be in agreement with most of the requests I made in post #1. Add to that what you will. Gary's P.'s requests get my vote, as well, because many members need professional production features (to keep them from buying the Creative Suite), and secondarily to reinforce the reality that this ain't anyone's "toy program."




-g

[angelize]

Here are some DTP additions for the list

1) Auto Hyphenation. We have full justification of text columns but with out auto hyphenation fully justification in Xara is often a mess!

2) Page numbering which goes in hand with number 3 on my list

3) Booklet creation feature that automatically sets up your pages in folios

And another vector feature I've long been asking for

Convert to Greyscale which would be a button on the info bar that would convert all colours in whatever is selected into percentages of black.