sharing a hard lesson lesson learned - FYI

[TheeeDragon]

had a widget in the site
(5 photos that slid in the x-direction
worked fined through doesn't of updates to the website
then stopped
without boring everyone about all the work I did to try to discern the problem
I will just share the solution in case anyone else has a similar issue in the future

the widget was GROUPED with several photos and text box to make it easier to "PUSH"
all elements down to make room for a new section of text

seems the widget would not animate if in a group
ie =click near widget and rt click UNGROUP

hope this saves someone else the grief I went through

[Acorn]

The trick is to Soft-Group or place the objects in their own layer and go Solo.

Acorn

[TheeeDragon]

The trick is to Soft-Group or place the objects in their own layer and go Solo.

Acorn

thanks !
*still trying to learn just what soft group does vs regular group

[Boy]

sharing a hard lesson lesson learned - FYI

hope this saves someone else the grief I went through

So, the real lesson is to ask for help here before an issue turns into an exercise in misery!

[Boy]

*still trying to learn just what soft group does vs regular group

From the help file:

Soft Groups
Ordinary Groups as described in Grouping and un-grouping objects sit on a single layer, they cannot span layers. Soft Groups are an alternative way of linking objects together where the objects can be across several different layers.

Selecting one member of a Soft Group also selects all other members of the same Soft Group – even members that are on invisible or locked layers. This means when you delete, move, rotate or otherwise transform one member of a Soft Group, all the other members are similarly modified.

The status line indicates when a Soft Group is selected.

Soft Groups are useful for keeping closely related objects together. For example the MouseOff and MouseOver states of a web button are Soft Grouped together, so that if one state is moved or transformed, so is the other state.

Creating Soft Groups
To create a Soft Group, select all the objects that are to be included in it and then choose "Arrange > Apply soft group" (or press "Ctrl+Alt+G"). Note that if the Soft Group is to include members on invisible or locked layers, you'll need to make those layers temporarily visible and editable using the Page & Layer Gallery in order to select the objects and Soft Group them.

An object cannot be a member of more than one Soft Group and Soft Groups cannot be nested (soft groups as members of soft groups).

Removing Soft Groups
To disband a Soft Group, select it and choose "Arrange" > "Remove soft group" (or press "Ctrl + Alt +U"). The objects don't get deleted, they are just no longer linked together by a Soft Group.

[Acorn]

The "better" way is to work out what Autofit to page is for and how it effectively creates a soft-group of items that move with the page size.
Really powerful and I am sure that the Xara developer will be pleased that someone is promoting it.

Acorn

[TheeeDragon]

The "better" way is to work out what Autofit to page is for and how it effectively creates a soft-group of items that move with the page size.
Really powerful and I am sure that the Xara developer will be pleased that someone is promoting it.

Acorn

i will examine = BUT ==
I often want exact positioning of my elements
(for the look and feel that I want to achieve)
thanks for suggestion

[TheeeDragon]

So, the real lesson is to ask for help here before an issue turns into an exercise in misery!

sure
come here often
BUT
I also learn best by trying to 'learn' a solution for odd issues
which is why I shared in the OP

I think another solution is the PUSH
BUT even with top lever I7 and 16 gb ram
'pushing' took forever
maybe now with I9 and 32 gb ram = might be worth a try again
at least my export to html is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay faster now

[Acorn]

I am grateful you shared, as many will have had your experience.
The best way is to learn by oneself but a nudge in a different direction can also be enlightening.

I achieve my exact fit with many Guidelines and soft-grouping.

Acorn