Foundations of Microsoft Expression Web: The Basics and Beyond

By Cheryl D. Wise

Book Overview

Microsoft's Expression Suite promises new levels of power in creating rich dynamic user experiences on the web, and Expression Web Designer is but one program within that suite. This is one of the first books available on this exciting new technology. The author -- expert MS trainer and MVP Cheryl D Wise -- starts with the very basics, and then takes the reader up to advanced level through a series of practical real world exercises. Although no knowledge is assumed, the book is carefully written to not be patronizing, and be of use to more advanced web developers and designers wishing to make use of the software, as well as complete beginners.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590598059
• ISBN13: 9781590598054
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Apress
• Length: 392 Pages
• Weight: 1.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Exemplary content and presentation!

It's true that the tech editting was a bit below expectations (as mentioned in other reviews), but this is a bleeding edge book and I've come to exect that. What you get here, however, is not watered-down or rushed content: this book has exhaustive coverage of Expression Web. Cheryl is extremely good at presenting complex material in an easy-to-understand manner.

Foundation of Expression Web hits the mark for beginners

This is a fantastic book for anyone looking at creating their own website using Microsoft's latest web design application called Expression Web. Expression Web is setting itself up to rival the biggest players in the web design business (like Dreamweaver) and having this book will bring you up to speed in a short period of time. The reason I like this book is its not the typical 'this is how you use this application' type of book. This book teaches you the proper way to create a website using current and established technologies. What this means for a beginner is not only to you learn Expression Web but you are also getting a strong foundation on building websites. This is important as you grow and gives you knowledge that can be carried to other design applications. This is the book that I will be recommending to my clients who want a better understanding of their website's workings and how they can get involved with their design (which I often get requests for as they want to avoid a CMS solution).

Excellent

This book is not only helpful in improving my facility in using Expression Web, but it is a great refresher on the basics of how a web site SHOULD be designed. I'm finding nuggets of USEFUL information on every page. I recommend it highly.

Truly, the basics and beyond of Expression Web

Do you want to be organised? Do you want your web to work right from the get go? Then put yourself safely in the hands of Cheryl Wise and let her guide you through the mire of making a website. The author starts off her book by gently explaining how to get to grips with making a start, for anyone who has ever attempted for the first time to make a site they will appreciate the firm guidance the author gives throughout this book. Weather you have a personal or a business site, this book holds your hand and teaches you step by step how to go about making the site, building it up and maintaining it, all with logical calm steps. There is nothing worse in a book than not understanding how to proceed to the next step and this Expression Web book sweeps all the worry away. I usually ignore the first part of a book that explains how to get started (you have too, don't deny it :) as boring, but this book gives you an exciting hold on your dreams of creating exactly what you want, and the intro should not be missed. I can be unorganised as the next person and this book keeps one in step so that the site builds logically and helps one understand what one should be doing next, you can't build a house from the roof down, and the same applies to a site. Cheryl gives you little insights and tips that only someone who knows her product inside out can give you, well worth the price for that alone. Other reviews here have covered what chapters are available so I won't go over that again, but suffice to say, setting up expression web is the most important chapter and one not to be missed. Anyone can write a book about USING Expression Web but because Cheryl understands how html and CSS work and how it works together, she gives insights into using EW in the best way possible, and you find yourself learning html and css by default as you work, which is the best possible start for any would be web creator. This book actually covers questions that one has to go ask in a list or forum, Cheryl is used to answering questions and covers a lot of the type she normally is asked here within the book, how's that for saving time? How much time? Years... I would have given my eye teeth to have got my hands on a book like this when I first started out with my little homepage sites about nothing in particular, learning bit by bit is a slow and painful process, but by the end of this book you have had an education handed to you on a plate, the price of the book is nothing compared to the information in it which is priceless. Having gone through the slow process and having had the experiance of answering questions myself I see how this book works for the people new to web design and new to Expression, while holding the hand of a FrontPage to Expression Web refugee if all they have known are FrontPage Bots. [...]

If you need a practical guide to using Expression Web look no further

I strongly recommend this book for these reasons: - it is practical, it covers what you need to know to implement an effective personal or business web site - it emphasizes standards like CSS and cross browser support while letting you know about gotchas with some browser implementations - it covers important topics like accessibility and legal issues - there are real world examples and exercises - lots of screenshots - the writing is clear and concise - it covers how to design an engaging web site, not just how to use the tools that EW offers - there is an accompanying course by the author to complement the book at starttoweb.com - the author has extensive real world experience implementing web sites - the author is a Microsoft MVP for Expression (see microsoft.com/mvp) and has helped for many years in the FrontPage and Expression communities; this means that she knows the common issues that people face designing web sites and many of the more obscure ones too It is not a comprehensive reference book. It is a practical book for those who want to get started with EW quickly but not end up with a poorly designed web site that is not cross browser friendly nor standards compliant. Here is an overview of the chapters: 1 Before You Begin: Objectives / Attracting visitors / Choosing domain names and hosting / Installing EW 2 Taking Your First Steps: Create a local web site / EW menus 3 Starting Off Right: Configuring EW, Using the Tools General / Reports/ Optimze HTML / Management / Preferences /Site Menu / Remote Web site reports / Recalculate Hyperlinks/ Site Settings 4 Using Semantic, Structured HTML to Create Web Pages / Required Elements Structuring Your Web Page / Lists / Tables / Other HTML Elements from the Drop-Down List / Hyperlinks / The Importance of Hidden Elements 5 Essential CSS: What You Need to Know / What Is CSS? / Why Use Stylesheets? / Details of of essential CSS are covered 6 Using Expression Web to Create Basic CSS / Creating New Styles / Using the Block Category / Setting the Background / Creating a Border / Creating a Box / Creating Tables 7 CSS Positioning Using Expression Web Style Tools / Creating the Initial Page / Working with the Positioning Category / Working with the Layout Category / Lists / Building a Page Layout 8 Branding Your Website: Choosing a Color Scheme / Complementary Color Schemes / Analogous Color Schemes / Monochromatic Color Schemes / Choosing Images for Your Site Graphics / Photos / Stock Photos / Image Formats / Adding Images to Your Web Pages / Establishing Your Look and Feel / Maintaining Your Branding Throughout Your Site 9 Dynamic Web Templates: DWT Overview / What Does a DWT Do? / Creating the DWT / Adding Editable Regions / Attaching DWTs to Your Web Pages / Attaching a DWT to an Existing Page / Preparing an Existing Page for a DWT / Applying a DWT to a Page with Content / Moving Content Between Editable Regions After the Template Has Been Applied / Editing a DWT / Detachi