Welcome to the Widget Guide for Xara Web Designer and Designer Pro

This Widget Guide applies to the current versions of Web Designer+ and Designer Pro+ only.

'Widgets' is a collective term used to describe a third party service which can be inserted into your web page. Widgets are now easier to use than ever before, allowing you to choose from hundreds of useful, fun, entertaining and informative widgets which you can add to your site by simply dragging them on to your web page within Web Designer or Designer Pro.

Where to find the Widgets

All the widgets in the Online Content Catalog are in theComponents category except for the Social Media widgets, which have their own category at the top level. Within Components you can find the widgets in the following folders:

Photo Slideshows - Components > Image Resources > Photo Slideshows & Galleries - including a wide range of animated photo and content slideshows
Photo Hovers - Components > Image Resources > Photo Hovers - including a wide range of hover effects and pop-ups
Charts - Components > Print & Web Components > Charts - interactive chart and graph widgets
Forms - Components > Print & Web Components > Forms - ready-made and customizable forms including JotForm and Wufoo
E-commerce - Components > Print & Web Components > eCommerce - including PayPal
Video - - Components > Print & Web Components > Audio / Video - including YouTube videos
Social Media - including Facebook, Twitter, Instragram and Pinterest
Other Widgets  - Components > Print & Web Components > Other Components - a range of indispensable widgets ranging from Embed a website widget, QR Code widget, Google maps and Google AdSense Widgets

And you're not just limited to the huge selection of widgets in the Content Catalog - we support many more widget types available on the Internet. Just copy the widget's code and paste it on to your web page.

Note: Many widgets won't work properly if they are used on pop-up layers or layers that appear with an animated transition effect. Some simple widgets will work fine in these circumstances, but many of the more complex widgets, like the slideshow widgets, will not. Results will vary with different widgets and even with different browsers.

How to Add a Widget to Your Web Page

It's a simple process to add a widget to your web page, just follow these 4 steps:

    1. Open the Content Catalog (in the Insert menu or shortcut Shift+Alt+I)
    2. Find the widget category folder you want and click to open it (all except the Social Media widgets are in Components)
    3. Click on the widget and select Import. One of two things will happen:
      • For some widgets, such as the slideshow widgets, the program displays a placeholder on the page, just double click on the placeholder to start editing your widget. A new document opens. Make your changes in this new document then save and close it to return to the original widget document. Then you can preview your widget by clicking the Preview button in the toolbar.
      • Other widgets display a Create New Widget window when you drag them on to a page. You can customize and preview your widget in this window. When you're done, click Insert and the program displays a placeholder for the widget. Click the Preview button to see it in action.

Editing Widgets

To edit the widget double-click the widget placeholder at any time from within the program. Alternatively, single click on the widget to open the link dialog box and then click Edit. One of two things will happen:

Resizing Widgets

To resize a widget, click on it to display its selection handles. Click and hold down your left mouse button on one of the selection handles and drag to resize the widget as required.

The widget preview will automatically regenerate displaying the resized widget.

Note: not all widgets are resizeable.


It's that easy!