THE XARA XONE | XARA.COM | THE XARA CONFERENCES

One of the really excellent new features is the new Extrude Tool. We can add some pizzazz to the symbols by adding some 3D depth. It is easy. Honest!

Select all five symbols. Select the Extrude Tool (E). Drag to the left a short distance. As long as all five symbols are selected, the extrusion will be applied equally to all. This goes for editing the lights, changing the bevel, and all other functions. For our website this is all we need. But if you have not played with the Extrude Tool , do take some time. It is very intuitive and can create some really cool effects.

Select the HOME layer in the Layer Gallery (F10). Make sure the Make Layer Visible (under the eye icon) and Enable Editing (under the pointer icon) boxes are checked.

Add a white, 348 pixel circle with no outline. Center the white circle over the website title circle.

Center the purple house symbol over the white circle and group both.

NOTE: It will look better if you visually center the house symbol as opposed to using the Alignment menu.

You may remember that I said you cannot have a mouse over button and a pop up button at the same time. While that is technically true, there is a very simple workaround for this.

Also, I should point out, buttons do not have to look like buttons. What's important is that they provide user feedback when the user mouses over the buttons. And if the mouse over effect is a bit unexpected, all the better. For our website, the buttons will appear to be plain gray text until the visitor mouses over the buttons at which time they will glow.

And remember the buttons have no outline. I have added a dashed outline only to help you see the position of the buttons.

Copy the HOME button and paste it onto the HOME layer using Edit > Paste in Place. Make sure the HOME layer is selected first and that it is visible and editable.

Hold down the Ctrl key and click on the white rectangle to select just the rectangle in the group.

Switch to the Fill Tool (F5 or G) and from the drop down list of Fill Types on the left side of the Infobar, select Elliptical.

Click the small square where the two fill path arrows come together and edit the color in the Color Editor (Ctrl e) to the same purple used for the home symbol.

When your visitor mouses over the HOME button, it will trigger the purple house symbol as well as the glow button. The effect will be a mouse over button but it reality it is a pop up effect masquerading as a mouse over effect.

Save your website so far and take a short break and let this sink in.