Page 528 - Xara Designer Pro X17

528 Web Graphics and Websites

to that placeholder is the HTML code and files (e.g., Flash, Javascript, photos, etc.) that
make the widget function in the exported page.

A placeholder is normally an image that looks like a static snapshot of the widget itself,
but it can be a simple rectangle or any other object. The placeholder usually has the
same dimensions as the widget, so that you can sensibly position it with respect to other
content on your page.

The good news is that placeholder images are normally rendered automatically for you
by Designer Pro.

Types of Widget

There are basically three types of widget, which differ in the way that you customize and
configure them in Xara Designer Pro X. A brief description of each type follows, but more
detail about each type is provided later in this chapter. However for all three types of
widget you can simply double click on the placeholder image to edit them.
Web Editable Widgets

When you customize these widgets, a web browser window opens up onto the remote
website that provides the widget and you configure and customize the widget using that
web interface.

Locally Editable Widgets
These widgets are edited in Designer Pro itself, but typically in a separate multi-page
document that makes the whole set of content for the widget easily editable. For
example, for a slide show widget that cycles through 10 photos, all 10 photos would be
easily visible and editable within the widget’s multi-page document that’s used to edit it.
Again, usually you’ll insert these widgets from the ONLINE CONTENT CATALOG.
Manually Editable Widgets

These are widgets that you add manually by either pasting the HTML code for the widget
directly into Designer Pro or by using the "UTILITIES" > "WEB PROPERTIES" >
"PLACEHOLDER" tab to insert the code. Or you create them by importing a file such as an
animation file or movie file onto your page.

No other interface is provided by Designer Pro for editing the widget, other than the
PLACEHOLDER tab that allows you to change the file or code that defines the widget.

Important: A few of the version 10 gallery widgets are incompatible with the new sticky
and animation features, if used on the same page or in the same supersite, and so may
need to be replaced with updated versions from the Online Content Catalog. Click here
http://support.xara.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/816/ for details on the
support site.