After SO MANY negative reviews of XWD anyone here have anything positive to say?

[TDolce]

@pauland I do not shoot down the messenger, he started to shoot down the program. Regardless, His post sounded a bit spammy to me and troll like, hey I was wrong but his wording specially his last sentence (He has enough programs) etc.. concluded his whole post to me.

I have been a member of this fine forum for 17 years. I'm not about to be "spammy" or "troll like" just to start something. C'mon now! As for my statement about having so many programs already on my drive....what's wrong with that? I didn't want to install another program that would most likely have limitations as a trial and might have some functionality blocked (as so often programs do).

Funny,..nobody else took this as confusing.

How is mentioning the FACT that many reviews for the program have been negative "shooting down the program?" Seriously??? I suspect that Pauland is correct that some of the bad reviews may be coming from web developers expecting too much from the program; won't know for sure though.

[TDolce]

Thanks jaydear for your comments and response.
I'm kind of middle of the road when it comes to html. I know perhaps enough to be dangerous but not nearly enough to be considered proficient. I too am not code saavy enough but wondered perhaps if this latest version has added some flexibility for those that might want to tweak a few things under the hood.

[TDolce]

I think Web Designer is capable of producing a fairly complex site. But as true with any software, good design comes first and requires a lot of work until you get everything working just right.

Thanks Gary! I'm a graphic designer by trade and do agree with you whole heatedly regarding the design aspect!

[Acorn]

TL;DR - I laud Xara Desktop application focus on static content delivery that can be tweaked.

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I have been vocal (in a Forum on-line way) about the handling by Xara of new capabilities, functions and features into the Xara Desktop applications and the delivery, product fragmentation and promotions by Magix and of both over the Update Service.
Combined, all conspire to negate the absolute joy, charm and power of the products: I work mainly with XDPX but design down to XWDP as I object to the User Interface (UI) being mangled just to allow MagiXara to convince potential customers that Product X,Y or Z is just right for them while in reality XDPX should be allowed to stand on its own as a powerful, fully integrated product. This fragmentation has product managers, designers and developers spending time carving up the UI for no functional gain.

I have used XDPX for professional use for well over a decade and I believe I understand its limitations and the mindset of developers in other commercial environments who are constrained with having to align to other web interfaces. Xara's approach is a WYSIWYG, positional static web delivery that can be presented through a filestore export as well as over the Internet. This alone is very powerful. By far the most influential aspect I rely on is the setting up of interactive Layers; I know of no other product that achieve this so fluidly and I have used and designed for many.

Code-wise some aspects of the Xara HTML Filter are clunky but others are supreme in their construction. Again, I have experience of many template-generators whose code is unfathomable. Xara has chosen unwieldly large blocks of CSS/JavaScript as immutable drop-in files over coders shaving off milliseconds through the use of kludges and other ephemeral and undocumented mechanisms. The Xara HTML Filter has its own development lifecycle and it improves with every release.

Regarding dynamic content, if you have the skills in implementing tiered system design you can add Xara Widgets, Placeholders, bespoke applications (c.f. Xtom's CMS) or handcraft server-based applications in support of Xara's static deliveries. Xara Desktop applications are for designers and not necessarily developers; I am lucky in straddling both camps. I tell myself I want Feature X and then I go about implementing it or simply integrating Feature Y and taking a hit. I realise, however, that adding new capability comes at a cost and I much prefer simplicity over whizz-bangs. Because of this, I am rather vocal to Xara to implement their offerings to as exacting a level as possible as it save me the effort!

I look forward to a potential adaptive website delivery in v17. i look forward to better HTML code around text blocks. I look forward to a price drop in the Update Service to reflect actual delivered benefit. I look forward to reduced product fragmentation. I look forward to fuller Xara (and Magix) engagement with its loyal customer base.

Acorn

[behzad]

My apologies TDolce. I guess I can become defensive about something that have given me a great tool to develop my business and skills. Also I got defensive because in the past there were many who just criticized the program and never delve deep into it or used it to its full capacity. Again I am not saying this directed to you, but overall Xara gets shit on all the time and I too do admit a few times I get mad when updates and features are left ignored. So once again my apologies.

[mcspade]

I have been a member of this fine forum for 17 years. I'm not about to be "spammy" or "troll like" just to start something. C'mon now! As for my statement about having so many programs already on my drive....what's wrong with that? I didn't want to install another program that would most likely have limitations as a trial and might have some functionality blocked (as so often programs do).

Funny,..nobody else took this as confusing.

How is mentioning the FACT that many reviews for the program have been negative "shooting down the program?" Seriously??? I suspect that Pauland is correct that some of the bad reviews may be coming from web developers expecting too much from the program; won't know for sure though.

This is my Xara website: www.mheinc.com. I used Web Designer 5 to build it. Using Xara has saved me thousands of dollars because I can do this website by myself instead of hiring a designer.

Also, I supervise our service department as well. Humans are always more likely to complain than compliment. There are hundreds of "complaint" forums but not many "at a boy" forums.

mcspade

[pauland]

Using Xara has saved me thousands of dollars because I can do this website by myself instead of hiring a designer.

You'll never know if that is actually true!

[Egg Bramhill]

Here's a scan from Computer Active, a UK based computer magazine. I didn't see the original review but it won the magazines 'Buy It' award and has remained in their top software in this category for over 100+ (two weekly) editions.

I'm crap at html although I have built sites using various pieces of software from Adobe, Macromedia etc, & some of which I can no longer remember their names. Also used Joomla for CMS sites, but by far and wide my favourite is Xara. Probably biased here but I've been a Xara user way back before it was even Xara, for drawings etc so when they introduced web capabilities there was no contest.

[pauland]

Here's a scan from Computer Active, a UK based computer magazine.

It's a pity the plug on Computer Active is misleading - the software doesn't build responsive sites, they're adaptive.

[Egg Bramhill]

Indeed Paul, but getting there slowly. The 'Scale to Fit Width' is quite neat but I'm not sure I like the page loading then resizing to the Browser width ....