Xara Web Designer 5.0.1

raditionally, constructing and hosting a website involved working with various web technologies

and web standards. Technically speaking, since HTML and CSS are the backbone of any website, having some knowledge about them is a prerequisite. However, applications such as the Xara Web Designer, make construction of websites super-easy and very quick.
This software is designed primarily for people who want to make websites without having any knowledge of web technologies. The three most striking points of this application are the presence of ready-to-use web templates, being able to edit elements from within the application and most importantly, the price tag is impressive. In a little over Rs. 2000, you can make good websites quickly and seamlessly. Also, the various templates are quite intuitive and easy to use. Just shift through the ‘templates’ section, make your choice and get started in a matter of minutes.
Basically, this application manipulates the CSS at the backend and allows the user to make changes in the front end. Each element in the templates is replaceable and can also be manipulated or edited. Adding and replacing images, text and other elements is a piece of cake. Just drag and drop. You don’t need to worry about the code being prepared in the background—which doesn’t show itself in the forefront while you’re working. Although the intention was to perhaps have a solely GUI (graphical user interface) environment, an option to edit the code would add tremendous value—especially for advanced users. The absence of this option deprives a user of making fine tweaks to the code. Nonetheless this software will be highly appreciated by novice users and by people who want good results quickly.

The functionality of Web Designer is similar to that of both, an image-editing and page layout software such as Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. Changes to design elements and images can be made on-the-fly, so you won’t need to swap between different applications. Some of the features include, resizing and rescaling images, cloning elements, creating hyperlinks for images and text and so on. Basically it has most of the standard features that are required to design a website. You can preview the functioning of the ready website or webpage in the built-in browser interface. Once you’re satisfied, Web Designer—like other similar applications—lets you upload your website via FTP. Finally, it’s worth mentioning that if you need assistance, their website has many tutorial videos. Some of them are ‘beginner’s guide to Web Designer’, ‘resizing pages’, ‘photo rollover effects’, ‘flow text around’ and so on. All-in-all, at this modest price, Web Designer is a great application to have.




If you aren’t very keen on the HTML coding and CSS, but you want to make stunning websites the quick way, this software is definitely for you.


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