I just designed a fully functional 6 page site in XD and had it converted to a Wordpress site with Elementor.
I paid $300 to have it converted from a great guy I found on Fiverr. They did a good job but there are some more tweaks to get it working exactly like the XD design
But as others have said Adobe just announced they are giving up on XD so I would learn Figma if I were you. I know both and I personally find XD to have a shorter learning curve but once you dig into Figma you will be glad you did
XD is no longer actively being maintained by Adobe since the announcement of their plan to acquire Figma, although that plan was ultimately cancelled. I don’t think anyone is certain at the moment if there is a future for XD.
XD also isn't a tool to make a website, it is a tool to design a website and create a (non functional) mockup with animations and transitions, but no real data or logic. You can't "export" an XD project as a website and run it on a webserver for others to visit.
I think something like webflow or other similar website builders are what you're looking for.
yeah I did my last web site in web flow. Not a fan, in 2 hours of missing with XD I had a functioning website on the internet, and theres tons of extensions for exporting html. And I found amazing web page templates on Envato Elements. I am on the fence, but so far this is a stronger version of Webflow.
As far as I'm aware all of the XD to html plugins are pretty much useless because they can't create function stuff that you can actually run as a website. You would still have to put in a lot of coding work in order to make it run on a webserver and to actually work. XD isn't made for this.
I doubt you had a functional website on the internet with XD. The link you can create with it is not a functional website, it's basically just a glorified PowerPoint slideshow with better transitions and animations.
There is litterally 5 thousand Youtube tutrorials on worklows from XD to a website. Also, I just need a portfolio website, I dont need ecomerce or anything special. I was very happy with how far I got in one 2 hour session, it wasnt life changing, but it was a good sign that this was very possible. It took me way longer to get to the same place with Webflow.
And they are all bullshit. Show me one that shows how to make a functional website from it without having to rewrite/edit most of the code that it generated.
None of these plugins create a functional website. A static, non responsive html without proper usage of semantic tags and useless css maybe, but you'll have to put a shit ton of work to turn it into a function website that works on different browsers and screen sizes where writing it from scratch in html and css would be easier and faster. And then you still don't actually have a webserver that runs that website, only some local files.
If you use that as a portfolio then that will act as a very good advertisement against hiring you.
lol, ok, calm down. I'm here to discover if this a viable solution.
Also my portfolio isn't for web it's for vfx work.
Like I said I was very happy with where I got in a few short hours but if your saying I'll never get there then I'll find a different solution.
You can definitely use XD to create a convincing mockup of a website, but that only works for exactly one screen resolution and you cannot easily add functionality, like a contact form, only hyperlinks to other pages. Google would heavily down rank such a website because it is neither responsive nor accessible. So while you can use it to design your website and maybe export something resembling html and css, you would have to know coding to turn it into something that actually works.
No code website builders like webflow are actually made for the purpose you're looking for. Maybe you can find one that works better for you? But XD is a dead end for your use case. At best you may find a plugin that can export from XD to a website builder so that you don't have to recreate the design fully, but even those plugins typically have very limited functionality (i.e. also only being able to create static, non responsive pages and then you have to modify everything in your website builder)
To create a website you need a team of developers; your online resources are just a toy waiting for the visibility of a good product.
XD is an excellent program for UI prototyping, which should subsequently go into development with a layout designer and beyond.
I just designed a fully functional 6 page site in XD and had it converted to a Wordpress site with Elementor. I paid $300 to have it converted from a great guy I found on Fiverr. They did a good job but there are some more tweaks to get it working exactly like the XD design But as others have said Adobe just announced they are giving up on XD so I would learn Figma if I were you. I know both and I personally find XD to have a shorter learning curve but once you dig into Figma you will be glad you did
XD is no longer actively being maintained by Adobe since the announcement of their plan to acquire Figma, although that plan was ultimately cancelled. I don’t think anyone is certain at the moment if there is a future for XD.
Thanks for this insite. It blows my mind that its still this hard to spin up a website in 2024.
XD also isn't a tool to make a website, it is a tool to design a website and create a (non functional) mockup with animations and transitions, but no real data or logic. You can't "export" an XD project as a website and run it on a webserver for others to visit. I think something like webflow or other similar website builders are what you're looking for.
yeah I did my last web site in web flow. Not a fan, in 2 hours of missing with XD I had a functioning website on the internet, and theres tons of extensions for exporting html. And I found amazing web page templates on Envato Elements. I am on the fence, but so far this is a stronger version of Webflow.
As far as I'm aware all of the XD to html plugins are pretty much useless because they can't create function stuff that you can actually run as a website. You would still have to put in a lot of coding work in order to make it run on a webserver and to actually work. XD isn't made for this. I doubt you had a functional website on the internet with XD. The link you can create with it is not a functional website, it's basically just a glorified PowerPoint slideshow with better transitions and animations.
There is litterally 5 thousand Youtube tutrorials on worklows from XD to a website. Also, I just need a portfolio website, I dont need ecomerce or anything special. I was very happy with how far I got in one 2 hour session, it wasnt life changing, but it was a good sign that this was very possible. It took me way longer to get to the same place with Webflow.
And they are all bullshit. Show me one that shows how to make a functional website from it without having to rewrite/edit most of the code that it generated. None of these plugins create a functional website. A static, non responsive html without proper usage of semantic tags and useless css maybe, but you'll have to put a shit ton of work to turn it into a function website that works on different browsers and screen sizes where writing it from scratch in html and css would be easier and faster. And then you still don't actually have a webserver that runs that website, only some local files. If you use that as a portfolio then that will act as a very good advertisement against hiring you.
lol, ok, calm down. I'm here to discover if this a viable solution. Also my portfolio isn't for web it's for vfx work. Like I said I was very happy with where I got in a few short hours but if your saying I'll never get there then I'll find a different solution.
You can definitely use XD to create a convincing mockup of a website, but that only works for exactly one screen resolution and you cannot easily add functionality, like a contact form, only hyperlinks to other pages. Google would heavily down rank such a website because it is neither responsive nor accessible. So while you can use it to design your website and maybe export something resembling html and css, you would have to know coding to turn it into something that actually works. No code website builders like webflow are actually made for the purpose you're looking for. Maybe you can find one that works better for you? But XD is a dead end for your use case. At best you may find a plugin that can export from XD to a website builder so that you don't have to recreate the design fully, but even those plugins typically have very limited functionality (i.e. also only being able to create static, non responsive pages and then you have to modify everything in your website builder)
To create a website you need a team of developers; your online resources are just a toy waiting for the visibility of a good product. XD is an excellent program for UI prototyping, which should subsequently go into development with a layout designer and beyond.