Direction of Xara

[cbl]

Hi All!

After a hiatus, I'm back in business and might be in the market for website development software.
In that regard, I was wondering what current uses of Xara think of the current state of things.
Thanks in advance.

[bwood]

Depending upon your needs you may purchase the most recent iterations. Just check the application page, and check the forums. I always suggest Pro+ .. annual sub.
If your wondering if Xara answers your web needs again check some of the showcases. Some of us are also using Affinity suite for image and design.
Depends upon your needs. Perhaps specify what your using now.

[cbl]

Thank you for your reply.

I was using Xara in the past, but, now that I'm back, I have been looking at the current state of affairs: Nicepage, for example.

I put together a trial balloon using the Xara supersite template sample as a basis, and found that some things/changes didn't flow through to the three different display formats, and then Google comes along and complains about the font size, which I would have thought would have been covered off in the supersite template. Further, I don't see much new over the three or four years I've been gone.

So what I think I'm seeing is a good idea that has lost its legs.

[Acorn]

Thank you for your reply.
I was using Xara in the past, but, now that I'm back, I have been looking at the current state of affairs: Nicepage, for example.
I put together a trial balloon using the Xara supersite template sample as a basis, and found that some things/changes didn't flow through to the three different display formats, and then Google comes along and complains about the font size, which I would have thought would have been covered off in the supersite template. Further, I don't see much new over the three or four years I've been gone.
So what I think I'm seeing is a good idea that has lost its legs.

cbl, I do not think you have made a fair assessment based on a very limited poke. The XDA will never be a Nicepage but equally Nicepage will never be an XDA.

You need to have a trawl through all of https://www.xara.com/us/designer-pro/whats-new/ and the Release Notes to then decide if these changes merit anything in you designing.
Also if you are just playing with Templates look into https://xaratemplates.com as Michel's designs are generally far better.

Acorn

[bwood]

Thank you for your reply.

I was using Xara in the past, but, now that I'm back, I have been looking at the current state of affairs: Nicepage, for example.

I put together a trial balloon using the Xara supersite template sample as a basis, and found that some things/changes didn't flow through to the three different display formats, and then Google comes along and complains about the font size, which I would have thought would have been covered off in the supersite template. Further, I don't see much new over the three or four years I've been gone.

So what I think I'm seeing is a good idea that has lost its legs.

Just a quick look at your software compared to Xara
- full width and stretching of images, sticky images at will.
- drawing tools, and picture tools (all advanced) within the program module
- pro + offering cloud and brand management
- rulers
- support updates and an excellent forum for users
- placeholders offering advanced HTML editing
- simple one year term for Pro+
- profiles for different websites.

I guess it all begins with the program you started with, but I can’t think of using anything but Xara.