Customer Reviews

Microsoft® FrontPage® Version 2002 Step by Step (Step by Step (Microsoft))

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

In the world of web design it is very important to make sure that you use a application that will enhance the overall outlook of the web page, my personal choice is FrontPage and along with that comes the idea of learning the application. This book is my choice for that job.

In just over 325 pages I found a wealth of information that not only shows me how to use the program but also prepares me for the MOUS exam for Front Page 2002. The easy to follow along guidelines make learning a breeze and for those who can't afford formal classroom training this may be the answer.

Within the 12 chapters you'll cover topics like creating the web site, lists, tables, graphics, building a web site from the ground up, web layouts and links. Also there is coverage of auto updating the web site, working with databases, management and publishing of the web site.

Use of color photos enhanced the learning process because you can see the actual finished product before you get started. Along with tips and tricks the step by step instructions make building and creating web pages very easy.

Built for the beginner this book is an excellent tool for web designer in all of us. The author has also included HTML coding examples to show the underlying world of web design. Overall this book is well worth the price.

Step by Step Frontpage 2002 does a good of teaching static page web publishing in the first eight chapters. However, the last four chapters require access to a web hosted server with appropriate Microsoft extensions (usually with minimal contracts and ongoing costs), or having Windows 2000 Professional or NT (or soon XP Pro) installed locally. No mention is made of this in the forward to the book. There are no simulations of these functions, so unless you meet the above criteria, the last four chapters covering dynamic web publishing, database access and web site management are not useful to the reader.

There are also several instances where the book descriptions and examples do not match the results from the shipping Frontpage 2002 product I received - and the results you get for an exercise may be somewhat different than shown in the book. Likely, at least part of the book was written using a pre-release of Frontpage 2002.

I would have preferred at least a simulation for the exercises in the last four chapters to make this book truly valuable to me to understand the full capabilities of Frontpage 2002. To achieve this, I will have to either sign up for the web services with a contract, or buy and install Windows XP Pro to finish the last four chapters of the book. Buyer Beware!

The Step by Step series is colorful, straightforward and friendly. I'll admit, I've had fits with FrontPage 98. I've just never caught on. But, hearing good things about the 2002 edition, I upgraded. Know that the book that comes with the software from Micorsoft is *brief* so I knew I needed more help. I checked out a couple of other FP books but was suspect that their too-technical, no-illustrations content was not what I needed to get up and running. The SbS series is a good hand-holder and gave me the bigger picture perspective. I got my site up and am pleased. I did buy one more book for the more technical issues but I credit this pub for getting me going. As I upgrade to the XP versions, I will continue buying the Step by Step series.

My goal was to build web sites with Frontpage-2002, so I bought this book.
Now (after 5 weeks) I have 2 sites.
The uniqueness of the book com's from the built-in drils (easy to follow) that take you step by step and lead you to the goal off creating web sites. This uniqueness is a must for beginers.

As the name indicated, this book is very good if you are just learning how to create or edit web pages. But leave it alone if you have already passed that elementary stage. It has little to offer a non-beginner. Looking for a more detailed text will be of greater benefit to moderate/advanced learners. However, if you are new to FrontPage, give it a try. It will provide that kind of painless initiation every newcomer craves for.

I'm giving this book a one because I'm in a bad mood right at the moment.

First let me say that I am a web designer, and have been building sites for several years. I've used Frontpage before, but have been using Dreamweaver for the past 3 years.

Anyway, I'm teaching a class on Frontpage, and was looking for a book to use for the class. This isn't it.

Chapter 11 on publishing your site covers everything except publishing to a remote server from your local machine (which is the most common way to publish). It finally covers publishing on the next chapter entitled "Managing Your Site", but unfortunately the instructions aren't even close to what is available in FrontPage 2002. Evidently they were using a pre-release version of the software. Try going through the instructions on p.279 ????? "Views Bar" "ServerAdmin" "Web Folders" icon?????? I had to glance at the cover of the book to make sure I hadn't accidently picked up a book on FP 2000 by mistake.

I haven't really explored the book very thoroughly, so it might be a decent book, but just from looking at a few different topics I'm ready to toss it already.

Step by Step Frontpage 2002 does a good of teaching static page web publishing in the first eight chapters. However, the last four chapters require access to a web hosted server with appropriate Microsoft extensions (usually with minimal contracts and ongoing costs), or having Windows 2000 Professional or NT (or soon XP Pro) installed locally. No mention is made of this in the forward to the book. There are no simulations of these functions, so unless you meet the above criteria, the last four chapters covering dynamic web publishing, database access and web site management are not useful to the reader.

There are also several instances where the book descriptions and examples do not match the results from the shipping Frontpage 2002 product I received - and the results you get for an exercise may be somewhat different than shown in the book. Likely, at least part of the book was written using a pre-release of Frontpage 2002.

I would have preferred at least a simulation for the exercises in the last four chapters to make this book truly valuable to me to understand the full capabilities of Frontpage 2002. To achieve this, I will have to either sign up for the web services with a contract, or buy and install Windows XP Pro to finish the last four chapters of the book. Buyer Beware!

I find the Frontpage 2002 SBS failing in many categories. I am surprised to find MS generating such a poor piece of expository writing. The material is all there, but not that easy to follow if your intent is to learn Frontpage from scratch. Fundamentally, the problems arise from omission of those little items that create unanswered questions for an inquiring mind, and leave you there. For example, references are made by name to informational icons that are not summarized in a graphic table. Look elsehere? Look at the Index. MS puts a header on each page telling me that I'm in the Index instead of an alphabetic key to "where am I in the Index?". This is equivalent to having the page headers of my 1700 page English language dictionary labelled with the word "Dictionary" so that I will know I am have a dictionary in front of me. Also, a big deal is made of assisting you in qualifying for the Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) exam. MS offers another Frontpage tome in their InsideOUT series much better suited to this level of learning. Granted, it costs a little more, but the included CD gives you a completely searchable, digital version of the book that is of priceless value to learning and understanding Frontpage 2002. And make no mistake about it, Frontpage 2002 itself is an interesting and fantastically capable application worthy of your dedicted study.

I bought this book to help me learn FrontPage, and I cannot recommend it. The step-by-step instructions have errors, which makes it frustrating for a beginner to complete the exercises (the book is structured around practicing with files that come on an enclosed CD-ROM). Moreover, the explanations of how the program works are woefully inadequate. Whether you want to learn by practicing or learn by understanding principles of web design, you will be thwarted.

A positive outcome of using this tutorial is that I was forced to figure out how to get around the mistakes in the exercises, so I did learn some things. I accomplished this by bugging people who know about computers for help. If I hadn't had anyone to ask, I might have been stuck on the page layout chapter forever.

I'm trying to learn FrontPage quickly, and this book has wasted hours of my time. BEWARE!

Many of the practice files contained in this book and it's companion CD ROM do not match. I found it very disturbing to work in. I shall return the book for refund. This Combo does not deserve a star at all.

Dan Oproiu
[...]