Customer Reviews

Microsoft Expression Web On Demand

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this book to try and get a handle on the new features in the product. I found some of the information to be inaccurate (not sure if it was based on a version prior to the version that Microsoft released or if the author was just careless) and some of the information that was included is confusing and hard to follow. I do like the quality of the graphics, but that hardly makes up for the other shortcomings.

There are much better choices available. I also bought Jim Cheshire Using Expression Web 2 and I found it to be much better.

One more thing. I'm not sure why the 5-star review that I see on this book appears here. It appears to be a review for the first Expression Web book from this author. It doesn't seem right for that to be used for this book. Strange.

This book was shipped to me on June 23, 2008. I picked it up a couple of days later to start learning Expression Web 2. I have been using FrontPage in a simple fashion for ten years. I was reminded in the Introduction to download the example files and workshop files from the Publishers web site.

I found the example files, but there was a note that the workshop files would be available 5/25/08. Bear in mind this was the last week in June that I was reading the note. I purchased this book thinking that these files would teach me how to post a reasonably simple CSS EW2 web site. I emailed Perspection and got a prompt response on 7/16 from the Author, Steve Johnson. Steve said there had been a server crash and they were redoing the files. I thanked him and have continued to check the Perspection site frequently. The note is still there on 9/9/08 indicating they would be available 5/25/08. Maybe they meant 2009.

So I gave up and contacted Amazon's instant call back service. This is a great service, and I commend Amazon. I got a lady whose primary language is obviously not English, and she informed me that since I was past the 30 return period, I would have to pay the return postage and a return charge. So I have written a letter to Jeff Bezos, the President of Amazon protesting. I trusted the Publisher and I don't think I should have to eat this book. I have spent several thousand dollars with Amazon this year, and I expect they will do the "right thing", but it sure is a hassle to have to go through this because of the Publisher's ineptude. This is an esthetically pleaseing book as mentioned, but it is not going to teach you Expression Web 2 even if you have a working knowledge of FrontPage. I have not been able to find a book yet that will do that. Too bad that someone does not seem to be able to write a book like David Plotkin's FrontPage 2002, which taught me how to revise my web site to include Frames and some other simple features in an easy step by step fashion. I am now studying some free Expression Web video tutorial sites, a couple of which are quite good, in an effort to grasp EW2 such that I can put up a simple web site in place of my current FrontPage site. Caveat Emptor on this book.

I'm trying to catch up with the times after being a 9-year user of FrontPage. I was hoping this manual could help me make the transition but it is just absolutely useless. I know how to open a page and edit text--I need to understand what CSS, ASP.NET, etc. is and how to use them. I have never been so disappointed with a computer manual. Do not waste your money.

PROS: The illustration and instructions are great. Finding what you want is very easy.

CONS: The book print type and pictures are too small. I have good eye sight, had to borrow my wife's glasses to read. Average Joe would have problems with the print size! Besides that its a good book if you still have Microsoft Expression Web and not the newer MEW2 or MEW3.

[..]

I started my web publishing "hobby" with FrontPage and PhotoDraw (remember that?). Just a vanity site, but the set up was simple and worked well.

I have to confess that I am a user of Visual Studio 2008. So I am used to the complexities of development environments. I always wondered where the Web designer package was with VS2008 and hoped Expression Web 2 was it.

Expression Web 2 is sophisticated, but if I had not used the experience gained with Visual Studio, I would have been lost.

What is missing here is an overview of the structure of a web site and how the various components fit together to make it work. But what concerned me more is that the technical requirements for the web server are not discussed. I am hosting on Yahoo! which is not .NET compliant. People new to the business could make the mistake of getting their site to work locally (on the PC) but have hosting issues on deployment. Those ASP controls are fabulous, but they do require a Windows Server.

It looks like a beginner's book - but does not seem to make allowances for beginners. Expression Web 2.0 is a lot less intimdating than Visual Studio but not simple like FrontPage was. Either the book or the product should make designing web sites simple again - like FrontPage.

Do not buy this book if you want to learn step by step how to design a web site or web page. This is not what this book is about. The only thing this book will do for you is show you color images of screenshots on how to perform specific tasks. These steps collectivley will not begin to explain even the basics of using the software.

If you are only interested in finding the features of Expression Web 2 and not at all concerned with learning what they are or the benefits of using them; this book is OK. I am very new to web design and I have a technical background, but this book did not move me one step closer to being productive. I gave it 2 stars, because it is in color and you can benefit from the screen shots and step-by-step clicks for accessing feature.

I really like this book. I don't write reviews very often, but I was really impressed with this book. It is full color and very clearly written. I wish more technology books were this nice. It is asthetically enjoyable to work with.