Lack of participation in Xara Web Gallery

[behzad]

Just wondering why there are hardly any posts in the xara web gallery? I go there often and there is hardly any quality work or any work at all month after month.
I am sold on web designer and done a few sites but what about new comers who want to see what the community has achieved with the software?

[Rik]

I think there's a lack of participation in most of the forums.

[ss-kalm]

I'm not sure about that.

I belong to a number of different forums, and the Talkgraphics forum seems to be the most active of them. Most forums seem to be only used when people have issues. The Talkgraphics forum seems to have more members just hanging about and chatting etc.

[Rik]

It's nice to see a positive view as well, Keith.

But, everything is relative.
If you compare yourself to the bad, then you may well look good.

I just remember what a vibrant place TG was, when I joined.
So, compared to how it was, I'd say the participation is just a small percentage of what it used to be.

However, TG is still a place where you can ask a question and many member will help you.
Whereas, I happened to ask a question on the Affinity forum last year, and I was met with (what seemed to me to be) hostility.
I was told to read the help section before asking questions. So, I never went back to that forum. They don't need me, and I certainly don't need them.

[Jonopen]

I suspect there are many different reasons for the lack of activity. I did a five minute, one-man brain storm (or thought shower, if you prefer) why I think people are not posting or engaging with the forum in general. I personally don’t post in the website gallery because I don’t make websites!

Obviously you have to appreciate behind each thought, further thinking is required, but perhaps if every member did a similar thing it would make a potentially interesting read for administrators and maybe help revitalise all the TalkGraphics fora.

[Egg Bramhill]

I think there's a lack of participation in most of the forums.

I couldn't agree more Rik. Over the years I've been a TG member the volume of posts has slowed to a trickle from that of the past.

In the early days TG was far more vibrant, not least to do with it's lightening speed compared to Illy & CD. However over the years Xara's speed advantage has disappeared, Xara has moved away from it's vector drawing program roots towards web design functionality.

This can be seen by the swing from the previous lead forum 'Xara Graphics Chat' to the newer lead forum 'Xara Web Design Chat'.

The decline within the Graphics Chat is down to the lack of development in vector tools. Similarly the increase in the interest in the Web Design Chat over the past 18 months is not so much to do with Xara's web features but new members joining due to the abandonment of Serif for their WebPlus software. But this is just a temporary bubble which is now coming to an end.

So I agree the TG forum is becoming a backwater and Jono's diagram highlight this.

[wizard509]

I personally don’t post in the website gallery because I don’t make websites!.

Me either Jono!

[Ron Duke]

Just wondering why there are hardly any posts in the xara web gallery? I go there often and there is hardly any quality work or any work at all month after month.
I am sold on web designer and done a few sites but what about new comers who want to see what the community has achieved with the software?

Hi behzad,

I don't think a number of responses you've received so far on this thread are answering your question directly. I think they are either assuming you're making a comparison to other website forums, or making a comparison that because there are the same number or more participants here at TG than there are at other forums, that your question is invalid.

To answer your question directly:

I believe there are far more people attending this TG forum who are interested in graphics than there are who are interested in web design. (Do the numbers of views/responses for each forum reflect that?)

I also believe there are many who come to the forum to read and learn/get answers to their questions without committing to direct communication with members. (for whatever reason)

So, why is that? There will be a lot of speculation by loyal members here as to why that is.

One reason I would put that question, as to why there is more attendants to graphics, is that there are fewer users who build web sites for a business or as a service to others. There are more graphics users that are using it as a tool in their ongoing goal of creativity.

I hope that all who read this, read it very carefully to fully grasp what I'm presenting.

[handrawn]

I would imagine web designers, like artists, tend to show off work in places where it is likely to get them more work or at least recognition

so I guess that begs the question is this such a place?

For me no, not least beacause a lot of my work is just too darn controversial for this a politically no-go site; for webdesign I have no idea of course

and does it actually matter to the average client what the work is produced with; do the webdesigners who make sites with xara care about promoting the software?

[behzad]

Thank you all, specially Ron for clarifying my issue. I just feel alone in the gallery when I see no other web designers work. Hopefully this will change. Adobe Muse had its glory days and I wonder where all those WYSIWYG designers are now. @Cloud I encourage you to come back and show us what Xara can do. Wordpress is great but nothing beats xara's ease of use. All we need now is a plugin to convert our xara websites (art work) to wordpress templates