Hi - I wanted to make my menu a little smaller and neater and as I use Xara X I thought I would try out their Menu Maker product - Its very neat BUT I'm having some problems integrating on to my Site spinner site

Xara offer a demo version (not all menu types are "live") if anyone tries it and can get it to work I would be grateful if they could enlighten me

The link to Menumaker is
http://www.xara.com/products/menumaker/

PS does Web Engine allow the creation (directly) of DHTML cascading type menus?

PPS - My new site is coming along you can see it at www.procolprint.co.uk - please let me have your comments this is my first attempt at a large site and Site Spinner has been a godsend!

Best Regards

Geoff

Well Geoff, you site looks good from here! I too am intrested in making Xara work in Spinner. Spinner will spoil you won't it? I have had no sucess inporting the HTML from Xara. However, If you make a menu in Xara, save the file you want. It will save in the "default" folder (which you can find in program files) If you save it as a .GIF, it will create a HTML file, and each independant .GIF. you can inport the .GIF's into Spinner using "inport picture". Stack them on top of each other and use "Mouse Effect" to make the top dissapear, and only show the bottom. When previewed, it appears to work like the original HTML would. The real trick is choosing the right one to associate the link to.You may need to play around with it and see which effect will allow the link. I think I use "hide then show" but you may want to use another effect. Hope this helps!! If anyone else has a better plan, I'd like to know it too!!

Good luck, Lefty

I use Xara menu maker with site spinner all of the time. "Lefty" suggested that you import each graphic (created by xara) and then use the mouse effects. Although that will work, it is easier to just create a code object in Site Spinner and place the necessary xara HTML code into the object. For example, if you look at the HTML file(s) created by Xara, you will see some scripting code such as "<script menumaker src="nav/nav.js"></script>". Note: If you use a drop down menu, the xara code is slightly different, but the concept is the same. Make sure that the path to the menu elements is set. For example, in my case I created a "nav" folder to hold the GIFs and nav.js created by xara menumaker.

That is all you need to do to make a xara menu work in Site Spinner. Take a look at http://www.fitnessfactory.org

This uses a horizontal menu (without dropdowns) made with xara.

One of the things to watch out for: Remember to copy the navigation elements (GIFs and .JS) files to the Site Spinner preview folder location. Otherwise, you will not see your menu appear when you preview the page. Also make sure that you include the xara elements to the location you publish the site to.

Thanks to Lefty & Mitch,

This instant feedback when you have a problem is just brilliant!

I am so pleased that I can use Xara - its one of my favourites in my mixed bag of graphic tools (I used Xara X to create the main logo which took all of 5 mins to create!)- I will give your suggestions a try - One question when saving in memu maker you get a choice as to the format I chose png (no particular reason) is there any advantage to using anything else?

Cheers

Geoff

Hi Geoff,
The graphics format does not really matter. Either one should work fine for you.

I recently started using PNG for my web graphics. I believe that the real issue of PNG versus GIF is that older browsers do not support PNG. I am not sure how far back you need to go to find a browser that does not support PNG.

Before deploying PNG you should ensure that it will be usable by the browsers which access your site.
--Mitch

Thanks Mitch, I knew there had to be an easier way to do that! I was just missing the step on moving the files to the "preview" folder. There I am overlooking the obvious agian. I tried it and it worked great
Now maybe I can try my other menu maker and see if it will work too. I also have Flashation menu builder. I have an idea, it wasn't working for the same reason. I'll try it and let everyone know, in case someone else has the same question.

Thanks again, Lefty

Xara also has animations, you can find them on http://www.xaraonline.com/
My question is if you can integrate these animation as a background on your site, which means you must be able to write text over the java application?

Hello Zapper,

Some objects, depending on their format, allow you to place other objects over top of them. Give it a try!

Hi, I have tried to understand the instructions given here - which seem to work brilliantly for those who asked before me - how to insert a xara menu.

I made a drop down menu, saved it in a file, wnet to the file and opened the html page, copied the code there, opened site spinner and went to a page to insert it, chose insert code, pasted the code, previewed and VOILA! - NOTHING!

In reading above I see make sure the path is set... maybe I am missing this key information.

WARNING! I am such a newbie at this it's ridiculous. I am still learning SiteSpinner but so far have had no problem inserting anything such as animated gifs, music and everything I have tried so far --- but this --- what am I missing? If anyone has the patience and kindness to answer, please type real slow - so my helmit won't fall off while I'm reading!

Looking at Mitch's first post, he refers to this code:

<script menumaker src="nav/nav.js"></script> 

Add that code (or your equivalent) to your project as a 'Code Object' -- button on the left toolbar. The other code, the file nav.js, should remain as a separate file -- don't paste from there into SiteSpinner.

To preview, create a folder "/nav" in your preview folder and put nav.js there -- this mirrors the structure you will eventually have on your site (and matches Mitch's code line).

Caution: I know nothing about Xara, so don't assume otherwise

OK - I tried that and zilcho - I will keep trying - I must be missing something. I just reread the instructions above and see to save the files on your web site up there. Hmmmm - do I haven't done that yet. Any particular place i wonder? Thanks for the reply - :-)I need a hand holder on this one. LOL ...and some training wheels...

If you search on "Xara" you will find other threads -- they may help.

Also the code line above assumes that you make a folder called "nav" and the menu file is "nav.js". If you deviate from that, you will need to modify the code line.

There is a Step-by-Step guide for importing Xara menus posted by another user here.