Just Released: A New Version of Web Designer

[pauland]

Many of my other software products do continuous updates, adding features between major releases. Even Adobe used to do it before their subscription model - they released .5 versions that were free for the full update purchaser (if my memory serves me right though, their release cycle was longer than a year though - 2 years perhaps).

Last year I purchased some software at version 3.0. There have been steady releases, we are now at 3.7. and all purchasers had the opportunity to download betas.

[katemoir]

Kate, I have never held back from upgrading but this time is a poser.

I am trying to look at the benefits of this year's offer and not belabour the faults with the subscription model itself. It is a subscription model as you remove services on expiry.

Can you confirm that you are giving Web Designer 365 Premium purchasers $2,500-worth of Business Templates for free?
Xara Online Designer is included free for one year with Web Designer 365 Premium? Can my clients access this for free?
Will my On-line Content Catalogue for Xara Web Designer 11 Premium continue in perpetuity? Why will I not get ongoing Web Designer 365 Premium access for free?
Can you confirm you are giving Web Designer 365 Premium purchasers an upgrade to ‘Website M’ hosting, worth $23.76, for free? Can this be continued separately?
The On-line Designer now allows the creation of Xara design pages? From templates or just a blank start?
Do I lose the Font Awesome collection and a collection of Google Material Design Icons if I end my Web Designer 365 Premium subscription?

Last shout. You state "We know that many of you find it frustrating to have to wait a whole year for our next update". No, many of us are not. What we want are all the things we have cried out for over years and years: grown up fonts and colour management, actual DTP capabilities, real tables, dynamic connectors, ...
Provide an insight into your development priorities, in advance, and you will get meaningful engagement to features and capabilities that work for real users. Don't keep us guessing.

Finally, on reviewing all available information, the cost of my v11 upgrade is only $45. Combine that with 12 proposed upgrades in a year ("typically once per month") it really is value for money. Pity the positives have been swamped by poor PR.

Acorn

P.S. I have decided to upgrade for Premium and also Pro, when available, but I will stop Premium on first renewal so you have lost one licence stream.
[I kept both going as I can develop 95% of my sites and other work with Premium and prefer to use Premium if I have savvy clients who want to maintain their own sites. Now I will just use Pro and not advise my clients to purchase anything - more lost licences, I'm afraid as I will work out how to incorporate On-line Designer instead.]

Yes, the bizz templates are all included.
Yes, Xara Online Designer is included free for one year.
Yes, client access is free, see http://www.xara.com/cloud-xara/access/ - note the client version is limited, they can edit text, change photos and republish only.
No, the Online Content Catalog ends after one year but you can download all the content into the Local Designs Gallery, which continues to function. New content is delivered into the Content Catalog, that's why it ends.
Yes, M hosting is included for a year, then it falls back to the free hosting offer which is just 500 MB and doesn't include the custom domain. In fact this has been the case for the last few years / versions. You can continue it separately but it has been our practice to include another year's upgrade to M with each upgrade of Premium or Pro.
Yes, Online Designer does now allow the creation of pages, well spotted. Primarily blank pages at the moment, but the first templates have just been added and there will be more.
No you don't lose Font Awesome / Material Design icons.

[katemoir]

For some of the other 365 questions, I'd just mention again that we have more information at http://www.xara.com/update-guarantee/

[yjs]

No, the Online Content Catalog ends after one year but you can download all the content into the Local Designs Gallery, which continues to function.

Previous versions included a right-clicking option to download all of the items in a particular category. Is this still possible and/or is there an easy way to download the entire current content gallery into the local designs gallery?

I do like the facility to search the content gallery, even if it's a bit buggy, and also the ability to see what's actually been downloaded locally, but I'd like an easier way to tag content in both places.

[Acorn]

Yes, the bizz templates are all included.
Yes, Xara Online Designer is included free for one year.
Yes, client access is free, see http://www.xara.com/cloud-xara/access/ - note the client version is limited, they can edit text, change photos and republish only.
No, the Online Content Catalog ends after one year but you can download all the content into the Local Designs Gallery, which continues to function. New content is delivered into the Content Catalog, that's why it ends.
Yes, M hosting is included for a year, then it falls back to the free hosting offer which is just 500 MB and doesn't include the custom domain. In fact this has been the case for the last few years / versions. You can continue it separately but it has been our practice to include another year's upgrade to M with each upgrade of Premium or Pro.
Yes, Online Designer does now allow the creation of pages, well spotted. Primarily blank pages at the moment, but the first templates have just been added and there will be more.
No you don't lose Font Awesome / Material Design icons.

Kate, on the strength of your clarifications, I can genuinely endorse the upgrade to XWD365P for those with XWD11P as good value for money.

The next question is "Will the renewal of the 365 Day Update Guarantee be seen as an upgrade pricing by MAGIX / Xara?"

Effectively, will we pay 50% of the new application price at each renewal?
This has been Xara's practice up to now.

Acorn

[Acorn]

Previous versions included a right-clicking option to download all of the items in a particular category. Is this still possible and/or is there an easy way to download the entire current content gallery into the local designs gallery?
I do like the facility to search the content gallery, even if it's a bit buggy, and also the ability to see what's actually been downloaded locally, but I'd like an easier way to tag content in both places.

Yes, the right-click still has a download all that works for any selected Folder (and its contents).

More detail:http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...128#post551128 & http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...136#post551136.

Acorn

[Acorn]

Perhaps the OPs to http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...h-List-for-V12 can update whether any of their wishes were fulfilled.

acorn

[mwenz]

...The next question is "Will the renewal of the 365 Day Update Guarantee be seen as an upgrade pricing by MAGIX / Xara?"

Effectively, will we pay 50% of the new application price at each renewal?
This has been Xara's practice up to now.

I think when it comes time to release XDP Xara/Magix think through the pricing. This introduction to a new model is a good time to price it more competitively.

Mike

[browj2]

I'm still stuck on the point about losing the upgrades/new features if one does not renew.

"The copy(s) that you have installed at the time of expiry will continue to run indefinitely, BUT if you re-install on a new machine after the Guarantee has expired then the new installation will fall back to the version you originally purchased."

Previously, one got the newest edition and then nothing was available until the next version was released. The new method gives one the new version and any new features for the coming year. This is a bit of a bonus over the previous system. If one does not renew after the first year and then has to re-install, I can understand losing any upgrades that came out during the subscription period - we didn't have them before; this is a way to entice one to continue with the subscription.

Q: However, what if one decides to not renew after 3 years, does one then lose 3 years (or rather 2) of upgrades, or only the upgrades since the last renewal date?

If the former, then this is what would be highly unfair. Imagine this happening after 5 or 6 years of renewals! A clarification to this is required. In my opinion, the version originally purchased should be what was available the last time one renewed the subscription.

Q: My understanding is that "M" hosting is only valid for the first subscription and that from the second year onwards, one would have to pay extra, over and above the renewal price, to maintain the "M" hosting. Is this correct?

John

[jacobitejake]

I'm still stuck on the point about losing the upgrades/new features if one does not renew.

"The copy(s) that you have installed at the time of expiry will continue to run indefinitely, BUT if you re-install on a new machine after the Guarantee has expired then the new installation will fall back to the version you originally purchased."

Previously, one got the newest edition and then nothing was available until the next version was released. The new method gives one the new version and any new features for the coming year. This is a bit of a bonus over the previous system. If one does not renew after the first year and then has to re-install, I can understand losing any upgrades that came out during the subscription period - we didn't have them before; this is a way to entice one to continue with the subscription.

Q: However, what if one decides to not renew after 3 years, does one then lose 3 years (or rather 2) of upgrades, or only the upgrades since the last renewal date?

If the former, then this is what would be highly unfair. Imagine this happening after 5 or 6 years of renewals! A clarification to this is required. In my opinion, the version originally purchased should be what was available the last time one renewed the subscription.

Q: My understanding is that "M" hosting is only valid for the first subscription and that from the second year onwards, one would have to pay extra, over and above the renewal price, to maintain the "M" hosting. Is this correct?

John

Hi John

I realise I'm not Xara but I strongly suspect, like many other companies, that it will only go back to the time you last purchased a subscription, so only one year. My concern is that your 'Design Gallery' is also emptied if you don't renew and you have to re-install. So what you end up with is the bones of the programme and no content, navbars, widgets etc. and as Acorn has now experienced, no purchased resources either , hopefully, that may just be a bug though

(Edit) Come to think of it, if Magix/Xara provided a basic Content pack in your Design Gallery, so that you at least had the content that came with say V11, then yes, I'd probably not hesitate to upgrade to 365, as should I choose not to renew one year and then reinstall, at least then I'd have the base pack so I could still access what I had in v11's Design Gallery. Does that not seem sensible? Maybe not, because that would take the pressure off me upgrading one year and skipping until I feel the need, and that's exactly what Magix/Xara is trying to stop, it's all about money in the end.