<p>I thought the web page designer screen in 2005 was mediocre until I used the one in 2008 which I think is bad.  There is an interesting  white paper here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.west-wind.com/weblog/posts/484172.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.west-wind.com/weblog/posts/484172.aspx</a></p>

<p>I've gotten very used to these WYSIWYG designers over the years, but I am looking now for a new way.  </p>

<p>I make business web apps which call for data entry forms.  I don't need anything particularly artistic, but I do need to be able to line up text boxes etc on input forms so that they lkook orderly and are convenient for the user.  I use Telerik controls, and my skills with CSS are approaching passable.</p>

<p>People often mention that they don't use the designer, but they rarely state what approach they DO use.</p>

<p>What are some of the alternatives to using the VS designer?  </p>

Is the string valid XML? Do you mean how can you convert an XML string into an XML document? If so, do this:
```
```
XmlDocument xml = new XmlDocument();

xml.LoadXml( YourString );
```
```