I’ve posted a Fireworks to XAML Exporter update on the Infragistics Visual Design Group site. This is a pretty significant update that really fills in a lot of missing pieces, you can almost call the first release a “teaser”. Linear, Radial and Elliptical gradients now export and opacity stops are now merged with color stops in the #AARRGGB syntax. Fireworks groups are now exported as Grids, a feature I’m really excited about. The list of exported filters has also grown: Gaussian Blur, Drop Shadow, Glow and Bevel. The complete list of updates is on the VDG site — check it out!

The download link for the Alignment Manager is currently incorrect on the design page referenced below. Here’s a direct link: Infragistics Alignment Manager

I’ve posted the Infragistics Alignment Manager to the Flash Exchange and have it online at http://www.infragistics.com/design. This component arose out of my own needs while creating resizable forms. Instead of having to handle the Stage.onResize event manually, I now have a component that does everything for me! It’s really great, and I think it’s going to be useful for a lot of Flashers out there. Check out the video walk-through on the site then download the component and give it a whirl. Send feedback to design AT infragistics dot com.

The last two releases of Dreamweaver have left out a feature of Dreamweaver MX that I have found very useful — the Code Navigation button. When in code view, this button allows you to jump directly to any function defined within the current document. It’s a definite time saver, preventing lots of scrolling and searching in long documents.

Enabling this feature just requires uncommenting a few lines of code in the following configuration file:

{Dreamweaver Installation Directory}/Configuration/Toolbars/toolbars.xml

Find the following section and move it outside the html <!– –> comment tags.

<menubutton id="DW_CodeNav"
image="Toolbars/images/MM/codenav.png"
disabledImage="Toolbars/images/MM/codenav_dis.png"
imageMac="dwres:18067"
disabledImageMac="dwres:18080"
tooltip="Code navigation"
enabled="dw.getFocus() == 'textView' || dw.getFocus() == 'html'"
menuID="DWCodeNavPopup"
update="onViewChange"/>

That’s all there is to it – just restart Dreamweaver and enjoy the benefits of this *old* feature.

With Macromedia’s Studio 8 release I find myself once again thinking about backing up current application settings. What if the new apps don’t import or convert correctly? What if I want to revert to previous versions? All of those questions run through my head. Thank goodness for MM-Exporter. Over the past couple of years it has proven to be an indispensible tool. Whether using it for peace of mind when upgrading from one version of the Macromedia Suite to another or migrating application settings from one machine to another, this application has removed all the pains. Did I mention it has a password recovery utility for Dreamweaver sites? That’s come in handy several times as well! If you haven’t used it, give it a shot…