Web Authoring Web Publishing Content Other Minor Enhancements

Web Authoring

Improved web page background handling

Backgrounds behind your web page that fill the whole of the browser window (regardless of how wide the window is or how big your monitor) are all the fashion, whether they are graduated fills or textures or simply headings that stretch across the whole window.  So we’ve added some significant improvements to background handling in v9:

  • A selection of quality background designs in the Designs Gallery (see below in Content)
  • A new right click menu allows you to easily set pasteboard and page background
  • You can draw anything on the website backdrop
  • Supports the new drag ‘n’ drop re-coloring methods for easy re-coloring
  • Efficient tiling texture backgrounds
  • Fixed backgrounds (stay fixed as the page scrolls over the top)

An easy way of re-coloring elements in complex grouped objects & web backgrounds

There’s a new and much faster way of changing the individual colors in grouped objects such as clipart, NavBars, buttons and web page backgrounds.  When you drag & drop a color onto the group, you’ll see a list of all the colors in the group, simply pick the one you want to change (changing a theme color converts it to a local color).

A new 'pull' option extends the automatic page resizing and object positioning feature

Automatic object positioning and smart page resizing was one of the big hits of v8, because it’s such a great time saver. Now we’ve extended the feature so that it works in reverse, automatically adjusting the position of objects and shortening the page when you delete text or objects on the page.

Drag & drop NavBar replacement

A new and really easy way of replacing NavBars in your document with a new NavBar design. Simply drag and drop the new design from the Designs Gallery onto the current NavBar in your document.  All features of the existing NavBar such as menus and links are automatically copied.

Web Publishing

Simpler publishing to MAGIX Online World

To make publishing your website as easy as possible, Web Designer includes a free hosting offer from MAGIX Online World (includes 500MB for Web Designer, or 2000MB for Web Designer Premium).  We’ve made this popular option beautifully simple to use.

Usage Note: Previous versions of Web Designer required you to export the HTML to your local disc before publishing. This is no longer necessary in v9.

Improved HTML5 compatibility

Web Designer 9 automatically makes use of HTML5 whenever it can, so you get a state of the art website without having to do anything or understand anything about HTML!  In v9 we ensure that your graphics are exported in the best format for current browsers  (shapes such as rectangles, rounded rectangles with grad fills and transparency, shadows, text with shadows and page backgrounds, are displayed using native HTML not memory hungry PNGs) . It’s more efficient, and that means your site will be faster.

Your site will of course still work with older browsers.

Content

New collection of backgrounds

To complement the improved background handling in v9, we've added a collection of top quality web page backgrounds to the Designs Gallery, including graduated fills, tiling textures and repeating bar designs, all color editable. Simply drag and drop them onto your page background.

Check out our examples on demo page 1 and demo page 2.

New Google+ Widgets

Web Designer 9 includes new Widgets making it easy to add Google+ buttons and badges. You’ll find them in the Designs Gallery > Social Networking Widgets.

3 new general web theme template designs

3 new web themes (normally sold for \$10 each), with up to 15 page layouts each, increasing the choice of web pages, websites and web graphics to every user of Web Designer.

See the templates.

Other Minor Enhancements

Fly-out toolbars easier to use

Version 9 release makes it easier to traverse the fly-out menu without it closing.

Improved speed and quality for JPEG / PNG

A new and improved JPEG / PNG converter means significantly improved import / export times, and a subtle quality improvement.

New ‘Link to top’ option

A new ‘top of page’ option is available in the Link dialog that allows you to add a text link or button that scrolls to the top of the web page.

More efficient tile bitmap export

Rectangles that contain a tiling bitmap fill or a simple axis aligned graduated fill are now exported more efficiently as a single tile, set to repeating (rather than having the whole object rendered as a single large bitmap).

Useful right-click menu options on document tabs

We've added some useful right-click menu options on document tabs: save as, close all but this, discard, close all, discard all.

Larger thumbnails

In v9 .web files are saved with extra large thumbnails so you can take advantage of the ‘extra large icon’ view option in Windows File Explorer (Windows 7 & 8)

Windows 8 touch compatibility

Web Designer 9 is now compatible with Windows 8 touch devices.

Tileicons & Favicons

v9 improves Favicon support for Internet Explorer producing anti-aliased alpha-channel favicon images.  In addition if you apply the name ‘tileicon’ to the same graphic it will export a much larger (144px square) version of the favicon that both Windows 8 Internet Explorer 10 and iOS devices will use when you add or ‘pin’ the website to the home screen.