Xara Web Designer 9

web browsers (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

After ranting about copyrights and the evils on websites, I figured I would post on something more useful, this time on another WYSIWYG editor. Unlike the ones I've reviewed in the past, this one happens to not be free. The good news, it's affordable for most people and it's great for those who have very little time to learn any coding as coding is not required.

It was much easier to learn than I thought. It looks a bit more complex than it really is. I was able to get a page started with only opening the help file once.

The only problem is that I use a content management system for my websites called "Modx". After converting the webpage, I still have to hand-code the navigation bar if I want to use the built in Menu system of the cms. So I gave up on using it for one site and instead made a demo page, which can be viewed here. I only did this in about 15 minutes, but if I were to include the learning curve that I had with the previous page, I'd say my first page took about 45 minutes.

In the end, if you don't want to use the freebies I suggested, which does require some HTML knowledge, then you might want to consider spending some money. Xara does have a 30-day trial, so you can always download it, then try first before you buy.

Xara Webdesigner Demo Page

Related articles

• Xara Designer Pro X9 (linkkingsource.wordpress.com)
• Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 adds photo healing brush, background eraser and other major tools to new release (pcauthority.com.au)
• Home (xaraxtreme.org)

More Web Design Tutorials

Still hadn’t decided on what site to use to learn about Web design? Well, I have one more to throw at you: HTML Goodies.

I used this site a long time ago, to teach myself web design. For those who want to learn as they need it, it has “primers” to get you started.

It's not for those who like to learn systematically. W3Schools is great for that. However, if you like a progress report, or some sort of checklist, Code Academy is for you.

Now that I've rediscovered it, I plan on using HTML Goodies for when I need to do specific tasks.

Related articles

• Web Design (webdesigncrawley22.wordpress.com)
• How to become aWeb Designer (reed.co.uk)
• Web Design For The Do-it-yourselfer (wordsarticle.wordpress.com)
• The Best List of HTML5 & CSS3 Web Designs of 2013 (designzum.com)
• Responsive Web Design vs Adaptive Web Design - What's the Difference? (despreneur.com)
• Tips to Help You Become a Skilled Web Designer (digitalwebagency.wordpress.com)

Free! From... Microsoft?

Microsoft has changed.  When I was growing up, getting anything free from Microsoft was as fictitious as Santa bringing in free gifts. Well, almost. One of them is real (explain that to your kids).

Recently, I had downloaded free "Live Essentials" and I was impressed by the quality of the programs.  The old adage "you get what you paid for" is no longer true. I've already blogged about Windows Live Writer which I switch back and forth with Scribefire - depending on my mood. Live Writer is pretty decent as it supports many blog formats including Blogger and Wordpress, two of the most popular blogging sites. Unfortunately, (and this is the real reason why I switch), Live Writer does not support Tumbr or Posterous.

Recently, as I was hunting for a better free, web design software, I came across this gem from microsoft: Visual Web Developer It's a bit over the top for just making templates (as in templates for modx) but if you are interested in starting a whole new website from scratch, this would be an excellent product for you to try it. So far, I'm impressed. It has so many features that I haven't discovered yet. I don't think I will be using it much, yet, as it's a bit over the top for what I need.

As a matter of fact, I'll probably stick to Kompozer - which, by the way, was aquired by Mozilla.  How much do you want a bet that we will finally start seeing some improvements?  They've already improved their website.

Another little know WYSIWYG editor is Amaya. Amaya is made by w3.org which sets the standards for website design. If you are within their standards, then the majority of your audience can view your website the way you intend them to view it.

The problem with Amaya and Kompozer is that it's difficult to be "cutting edge" Both don't support HTML5 tags, but you can always put the tags in anyway. It just won't show up in the preview.
I have a page with some freebies for you to check out.  These are all programs that I have used and like.  It's here: http://mometek.blogspot.com/p/free-software.html.

Free Stuff: Google

Image via CrunchBaseOkay, before you say "Well, DUH! Everyone knows of Google!  It's like, the best search engine ever!" continue reading first.  I'm about to talk about Google's other features, like Gmail, Calendar, Blogger, and Google Desktop - all which are free.
I've had my account on blogger since before Google owned it, but it has improved a lot since I first signed up.  One main thing, is that at one time, only geeks with a lot of knowledge of at least HTML and some CSS could have unique templates.  Everyone else was stuck with the few basic templates they had.
Now, there are so many templates, you finally can have a blog that is pretty unique.  If you think it's not unique enough, you can very easily upload your own background and change the colors and modify the layout by adding and removing widgets.
Calendar is also a decent feature. I use it to keep my blackberry calendar up do date and I'm planning on using it so that Mike and I don't get conflicting schedules.  I just need to convince my husband of the awesome power of the shared calendar.
There are many other google applications that you can use, but there's one item that ties it all together: Google Desktop. This program, you download and install on your computer.  I use it in place of Windows Gadgets and it lets me see my calendar and the weather in one glance.  I also have a too do list and a little notepad to take quick notes without having to run notepad.
The Google Sync for the blackberry automatically syncs with your calendar, so that whatever you or someone else puts on the online calendar shows up on your blackberry calendar.  Using Google Mobile App, you can check your gmail and the news.
If you already use any Google account (including Youtube), you can use your email and password to tie all of your Google accounts together.  So you can use just one email address and password.  This works even if you don't have a Gmail account.