Why did you release Web Designer 10 when it clearly isn't ready for release?

[Rixar]

I can enlarge the pages that she submitted (by right-clicking on them and going to "page options"), but the images contained therein do not get bigger...just the backgrounds. Ah well. It was good of her to try.

[zaphodeist]

In the spirit of tovarishch-ship may I suggest you run through the basic videos from Xara and the many provided here? Xara has a shallower learning curve than other programs.

For the publishing, download and run De-Bug [before you open WD] while trying - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896647.aspx - then send the log to Xara ... and/or Pair

[mwenz]

You really need to back up and learn to communicate what it is you are wanting to accomplish. You, at the same time, need to learn web development especially as regards whatever application you are using.

You are putting the cart before the horse and setting yourself up for a far more difficult time than it needs to be.

I think you indicated you already have something designed in the application. Have you bothered to download and installed FileZilla? Have you published to disk what you have made? Have you tried to configured FZ to upload the site?

Work on the design after you see if you can even upload.

Frances and others can help you design-wise. But if you still are having issues uploading, it will be all for naught.

[Rixar]

Thanks for the video suggestion, Zaphodeist. I took up viewing, weeks ago, the Xara-hosted versions (often repeatedly).

Your screenshot did the trick, elegantly enough. Thanks for that as well. Success breeds success. Newcomers to Xara's Web Designer software have the potential to engage in elaborative rehearsal, moreso when initial success makes it feasible to obtain the additional experience. I'm glad that you had enough success (and / or training) with Xara's products for that to happen.

MWenz, et al:
Is the Word Press web design software's learning curve more steep than the one with Xara's Web Designer? If so, by approximately how much please?

[angelize]

To zoom in on the document click the maginfying glass on the left or on the top toolbar or you can go to utilities> options and click the mouse tab and set the scroll wheel behaviour to zoom in and out.

Edit: I missed John's screenshot but hey you can never have too many

[Rixar]

Thanks Angelize. Are you guys depriving yourself of sleep over in the U.K., or are you in North America? I suspect the former. Please don't lose sleep for me. At any rate, your dedication is astonishing. Perhaps Xara's worthy of your loyalty?

By the way, I've been experimenting with FileZilla (FTP software). In what format should the Web Designer-generated template be saved in, please? It presently appears in the .web format. But at least in the Web Designer 10 software, the "Save As" feature doesn't seem to provide one with the option to save it into whatever format might be necessary. Perhaps .gif? Feedback would be much appreciated, please.

[angelize]

I'm in Canada, on the west coast, so no I'm not sleep deprived, at least not yet

You don't want to save it. Export it. File> export> choose website(HTML) from the list. Then in Filezilla you need to navigate to the file on your computer on the left side of the screen and drag and drop it to the correct location on your web server which will show up in the right side once you have entered in your ftp log in details and connected.

[Rixar]

I've had some awesome apartment mates down in Mexico City, Mexico from Canada, right as NAFTA was going into effect and we were exploring our Southern neighbor (while I tried my best to help it reach its democracy potential through campaign finance reform, which worked swimmingly well I'm delighted to see). Those were the days! :-) If only the drug cartels hadn't managed to set up shop after being successfully run out of Colombia. I maintain hope. Anyhow, great to meet you Angelize! :-)

Do you believe Web Designer 10 can actually function? Earlier today I canceled my purchase of it (but that hasn't been processed by Xara yet). But if it can actually work, then I'm all for using it because of you folks and our spirited & meaningful interactions. I don't seek freebies though but it would be a shame to see the dozens and dozens of hours that I've spent trying to learn this software go down the drain. I'm actually a terrific customer when I'm not feeling substantially cheated. Right now I've got a legal client that really needs for me to get the website going (as I can easily prove). It's sad that I've thus far not succeeded. They're really nice folks. Maybe because they know I work late hours when needed, 7 days a week, so that folks won't feel abandoned. Xara is soooo lucky to have you loyalists out there. I'm amazed. Perhaps Xara software isn't the ripoff that I'd feared. Their 3D logo designer has worked well for me over the years. Your sincere feedback would be much appreciated, although I sense that I know what the answer is or you'd not be volunteering here... Hmm...

[mwenz]

...Is the Word Press web design software's learning curve more steep than the one with Xara's Web Designer? If so, by approximately how much please?

In a word? Magnitudes.

Imagine this. I am not a lawyer. And I don't play one on TV. Please don't take this the wrong way, but from reading your latest posts concerning Web Designer, I suspect your being able to learn WordPress would be akin to me arguing a case before the Supreme Court. OK. Maybe that is over the top, but it is closer to that than me preparing a brief.

In order to make any customizations, one really needs to work on the site on the local computer. Because you cannot actually see the effects of what you are working on (it's code), you need to review the alterations inside a web browser.

In order to view the files and the changes you are doing in a web browser, you need to set up a web server on your computer using a technology such as XAMPP or WAMPP. This is so you can even view the thousands of files WordPress (or Joomla, etc) is comprised of on your local computer. The last Joomla installation I did a while back, post installation (bare-bones installation) has 4,598 files in 882 folders. Now, one is not going to edit all of those files, but that should give an idea of the scope of what such a site really is.

The XAMPP/WAMPP server is also needed in order to install and use MySQL, the database technology where the data of such a site resides. Depnding upon what one does with a site, you may well need to alter that database--I have needed to on every single installation of WordPress, ExpressionEngine, Joomla, Drupal, etc.

Now, using the installation your host's c-panel likely has is an almost turn-key matter. Until you need to customize it. That's when all the above, and more, comes into play.

This is why WYSIWYG applications abound. They have limitations. Those limitations are the trade-offs for being able to see what you are building in a print-centric sort of way. What I mean by "print-centric" is that using a WYSIWYG application is akin to using a graphic design package to lay out a letterhead for your office. What you see is what you get. Indeed, most all the popular WYSIWYG web designer applications have some sort of roots in print design as regards to how one goes about the designing of a web site.

While I too am on the left coast, I am beginning to turn into a pumpkin...

You are in good hands and will get good advice from the people in this thread and others here who use web designer to build sites. If I could make one suggestion it is this:

Less metaphor and off-topic stuff and more honest questions. One question/topic per thread will also aid those coming after you or who are just reading the forums to find specific solutions to specific needs.

[Rixar]

Thank you for the feedback. I am astonished at the loyalty that Xara has won from several of you here at these forums. It would seem that they deserve more of the benefit of the doubt than I had previously thought. Xara is blessed to have your loyalty. I just swam a mile to unwind from a long day, and have since sent a polite e-mail to Xara inviting them to live up to the expectations that they have sought to create in potential clients like we used to be. I have reversed our cancellation (for now, anyway) and let them know that they have good reason to appreciate you folks. To be continued... (and by the way, I can easily prove everything I've reported in these forums in case anyone suspects fabrications of any sort on my part).