Customer Reviews

Microsoft FrontPage 2002 for Dummies (With CD-ROM)

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

 

 

It is a waste of money. This book did not help us at all. It is not a standard "Dummies" book. It is poorly organized and poorly written. After much frustration, we ended up spending more money to buy Microsoft's Step-by-Step to finally learn everything we needed to know about FrontPage. Spend a little more for Step-by-Step and you won't regret it. If you still want to buy this Asha Dornfest's FrontPage for Dummies, please email me because I have a copy I can't use.

I've got to agree with a previous review by Jeff, this is a dull book, with no spark, wit or charm. More importantly, it does a rather poor job of introducing the overall concepts of how the software operates and visually composes the website, before it gets into details. Sure, it's important to let people get their feet wet, but the order in which concepts are presented very much matter. Several times during my read, I didn't understand why something I did in chapter 2 worked until I was well into chapter 7. This is like being thrown into playing a game, but not being told the rules until 2/3 of the way through. I'm a big fan of most Dummies books, but not this one.

I am using FrontPage 2002 to create a business website and found this book to be a great resource. It is clear and simplified - all the answers to your questions are easy to find and well explained. I disagree with the other reviewer who said this was a dull read - it's probably as interesting as anything written about this topic could possibly be. I bought this book because I needed to know how to use this program and I didn't want to wade through any thick manuals. I highly recommend it to anyone struggling to use FrontPage 2002.

If there were one book that you are buying for FP2002...it would be this book. I have NEVER even thought about building a website...but was asked to by my boss. I know absolutely nothing about web pages.... this book takes you from the 1st step to the end...in basic terms so that anyone can understand. The only reason I gave it 4 out 5 stars vs. 5 out of 5.... every once in a while, when I had to troubleshoot the program, I would have a hard time finding a way to deal with it in the book. Then I would go to the actual Microsoft support page to find any information that I needed.

When I was looking for a beginners book on Frontpage, this seemed like a good buy. I was WRONG. This is truly a book for dummies. I hate the way the Dummy Series seem to be written like you are in a classroom with one of those instructors that love to make cute comments and crack dumb jokes. I will never buy another Dummy Series book. This book is a waste of money. The built-in help with Frontpage is better...

I looked at this book in the library only after spending much time with other books. For me it hit the major points and also pointed out the significance of these points in language I could understand.

For example, I tried to insert text in a variety of formats, and FrontPage always inserted an extra line space between the heading and the body of the text. This is the only book that explained the significance of line breaks in a way that I could figure out how to avoid the insertion of the extra line space.

The figures in this book are in black and white, and they're sufficient to help clarify the text. One of the other reviewers is correct when he says this book isn't funny - since it makes otherwise confusing matters clear, I'll gladly go along with the lack of humor. (I enjoy the humor in most of this series, but what is essential for me is a lucid, succinct treatment of the subject.)

One weakness in the Dummies series is the lack of examples one can complete while reading the text. Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Step by Step has such practice examples and appears to be a clearly written book; however, there are two problems with the book. It was apparently written based on a beta version of the software, and some of the instructions don't work. Also, one has to change the compatibility settings if Windows XP is the OS on the PC. (I found it worked somewhat better when I changed the settings to Windows 98.)

Good luck whatever book you pick!

Something has gone wrong. This book is not for dummies. It looks like a Dummy book. It feels like a Dummy book. But it reads like a sleeping pill. Whoa. This once great series has lapsed-- with this title, at least -- into the dull realm of documentation. If you think you're a dummy, and you think that software books are minefields of ugly prounouns, then steer clear of this one. This book lacks any of the charm and enthusiasm that made this series (Dummy Books) great.

FOr a used book it was received in great shape and has come in very handy. Can't beat the price either