Xara Designer Pro X 15.1.1.54376 - catalogue of woes

vfrvulcan wrote on 1/3/2019, 9:36 AM

Where do I start? The help system only vaguely resembles the product - as if the help was produced for an older version but nobody ever got round to updating for newer versions.

1st issue - the online catalogue no longer works, simply a dialog box stating "The Designs Gallery must be enabled to import content. You can switch it on from the 'Utilities' > 'Galleries' menu.

Two problems with that. 1) If I don't have a .xar file open, only the File and Edit menus are available, not the Utilities menu and 2) If I do have a .xar file open, I go to Utilities and click on Galleries it shows a check-mark against Design Gallery suggesting it should be active. Nothing happens if clicked, not even un-checking. Shift-F10, the keyboard shortcut depicted for it does nothing either.

So, I tried going through support on MyMagix, filled in the above details, followed the suggestions, none helped so I proceeded to try to email support, at which point it said my product was too old and I should buy a support voucher! WTF? I only bought the product in September. Deactivating, uninstalling and re-installing the product makes no difference.

OK, let's try this on another machine, so I installed on another Windows 10 machine and this time the online catalogue works to import a theme (not the same sequence as in the help file course).

So now I try to insert a Google Adsense widget, manage to get to the catalogue, find the widget, located elsewhere to what it says in the help file naturally, sign in to Google only to get a message saying "This browser is unsupported". No option but to cancel.

Is it me or is this software so fundamentally broken and Magix can't be bothered to support or fix it? Is that why just after I buy it V16 comes out?

Oh, and this bit is a lie:

"As a registered customer you are able to take advantage of the free Premium Email Support" - that link simply reloads the same page - https://support2.magix.com/customer/premiumsupport inviting you to purchase a support voucher.

So if anyone knows how to get the online catalogue working again, and the Google Adsense linking working I'd like to hear from you.

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 1/3/2019, 11:15 AM

@vfrvulcan

. . . . the online catalogue no longer works, . . . .

Was it working and suddenly stopped? If it suddenly stopped, what changed on the computer?
Did you download the PDF Manual? IIRC there should be a link under Help.
Is your firewall blocking Web Designers access to the Internet.
Check the program is still activated on the PC it is installed on by:

- browsing to magix.com
- click the My Account icon top right of the home page and login.

- select My Products

- In the page that opens you should see your registered product(s) and subscription status, click on Show more details if you still have the program install on the 2nd computer.

HTH

John EB

vfrvulcan wrote on 1/3/2019, 11:36 AM

Hi John,

Thanks for the quick reply.

1) Yes, it suddenly stopped working. Nothing changed on PC

2) Yes. Again inconsistent with the actual program

3) No. Explicitly adding DesignerPro.exe makes no difference either

4) As I said, I deactivated, uninstalled, reinstalled, reactivated. All shows correct under my account.

I have subsequently created a plain rectangle and used the placeholder to hold my Google Adsense Ad Unit but this doesn't work either. If I simply take this Adsense code and hand-craft a basic HTML file containing only a <HEAD></HEAD><BODY><adsense script></BODY> it works fine so I know the script is correct - in fact that same snippet has been in use for the last nine years.

browj2 wrote on 1/7/2019, 11:48 AM

@vfrvulcan

You get the 1 year Update Service when you purchase Xara DPX. Read the details on the Magix web site.

Why don't you simply download, install and activate version 16? Use the same serial number. This is part of the Update Service. Then, from within the program, under Help, select Check for Updates and update to the latest patch. The current patch is 16.0.0.55162.

1. You have access to the online gallery for 1 year unless you renew. Read the details. If the tab for Loca Design Gallery does not show up, and I've had this problem in the past, in the top menu, Utilities, turn of the fly-out bar, then turn it back on.

Yes, you have to have a project open to do anything - not a XAR file. Top menu, File, New, select something from the pop-down list. Now you can work.

If you want to get almost everything that is in the on-line gallery onto your computer, in the Local Gallery, right click on something, like Components, and select Download all. This will take quite a while. Do each of them if you want. You will not get the Pixabay images, of course, as there are far too many.

2. The manual has a lot of information, you just have to look in the right places. Maybe you can point out some inconsistencies in the manual. Make sure that you have the latest version.

Other points:

You have provided a link that takes me to telephone support, but your text says "free Premium Email Support." Telephone support is not email support. Go to the correct support page and log in. Try accessing this through the Magix.com web site by clicking on Support and following the instructions through to getting support and logging in. There you can create a ticket for commercial or technical support.

This page may help you (available under Help, More Xara Designer Pro X):

https://help.xara.com/

The program is not broken, so it must be you. Otherwise, there would be a terrible hue and cry of the members of the dedicated Xara forum - Talk Graphics. They are quite vocal. You should sign up there. You'll find plenty of help. There are also many tutorials on XaraXone.

Last point:

With XDPX you get additional contents and Pan Studio. See under Help, Download content installer and Pan Studio. You should at least get the Content Installer. Not having this may be a source of some of your problems.

John CB

vfrvulcan wrote on 1/7/2019, 4:35 PM

John,

Thanks for the comprehensive reply.

I tried upgrading to V16 but although it accepts my serial # it fails activation with invalid serial. The only way I could find to download it was via getting the 30 day trial. If I enter my serial on my support page it says no downloads are available for it.

1) Thanks for the fly-out bar tip - that's got the local gallery an online catalogue working again.

2) Page 412, the first page I looked at to try to get to the online catalogue. It says 'File - New from designs gallery' in the program it's 'File - New from online catalogue' it then says 'Web theme' folder in the manual, in the program it's 'Websites'. They're easy enough for me to figure out but it's still inconsistent.

Other point. You misunderstand, trying to select free email support from the telephone support page self links to the same page instead of taking you somewhere to actually get email support.

Thanks for the suggestion of TalkGraphics, I'll have a look there to see if I can find out why my Google Adsense Units don't work in a Xara-created page.

Cheers

Aaron

browj2 wrote on 1/7/2019, 5:24 PM

@vfrvulcan

Here is the download page. Yes, you install the trial version and unlock it with your code.

http://www.xara.com/us/designer-pro/download/

If you purchased online from Magix/Xara and registered within the last 365 days your serial number should work. Be careful about typing it in. Don't repeat the P or the 3 if there by default.

There are two locations to log in to. One is for your account, by clicking on the icon as shown by John EB above. Once in your account, you should find Xara 365 under My Products and when you open it (See more details), you should see your two computers. Do you? Check that the date for Update service Until XXXXXXXX is correct.

Remember that any major change on a computer can cause it to not be recognized as one of these. In this case, deactivate the duplicate in your account and then you should be able to activate.

XaraDPX version 16 is 64 bit only. Are both of your computers 64 bit?

Support is not in the same location as your account. Go to the bottom of this page

https://www.magix.com/ca/support/technical-support/#c70984

and click on where it says "Visit personal service area" or try the following link and log in:

https://support2.magix.com

There you have access to the FAQ as well.

I think that there has been one user recently who had trouble getting his serial number to work with the upgrade to 16, and he was within the 365 day limit.

EDIT:

Here is a link to a thread about AdSense on the TG forum:

https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?77493-Adsense-code-placeholder-problem&highlight=adsense

There are many more.

John CB

vfrvulcan wrote on 1/7/2019, 6:00 PM

Thanks John,

I've downloaded from link but same result, invalid serial. I'm copying/pasting from from my service centre page and it auto-drops the leading P and shows a tick(check) mark next to it before I hit activate. Then it fails as invalid. No mention of update service - see attached

I've uninstalled on second machine as you can see but both are 64 bit i7's

Just seen your edit, thanks, will look there shortly

Cheers

Aaron