Customer Reviews

Microsoft Frontpage 98 (Laura Lemay's Web Workshop)

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

 

 

This is a good references for how-to instructions on basic FP 98 functions. The quality of step-by-step instructions varies throughout, but this book is a good step up from the sparse documentation the comes with the software. Not a book for advanced users or developers, but this is a good first book for beginners.

Some readers have knocked this book because it doesn't give ALL the answers. But if you install FP98 and follow only Microsoft's directions and documentation, you'll end up with an ugly, not to mention badly dysfunctional, piece of work. Miss LeMay's work isn't perfect, but I have to compare it to the competition, most of which is far worse. I'm not totally satisfied with this one, but I find I consult it regularly as a guide to fill-in on FP98's awful, disorganized Help utility.

This is is a good start-up for newbies (including myself). On that basis, by the time you work your way through this fairly easy-to-manage material, you'll have a good start with FP98 and similar authoring tools. Most of the recommended info links to Internet sources are out of date now, but they're still a decent start at finding more material on the 'Net, which changes daily.

I do agree with many of the negative comments found in other reviews, but for beginners this book was helpful in finding more information about the product. If you're a power developer you'll already know the limitations of guides like this and you wouldn't buy it in the first place. The book isn't perfect, but after looking at the competition I have to stick with my 4-star rating. If you want to learn HTML, Java, Perl, C++ and ActiveX controls, etc., find other sources designed for that purpose.

A major omission is detailed technical info about FP98's internal workings. If you're worried about that, be aware that no guide covers the problems that Micrososft built into the product. In my case, I didn't realize that FP98's CDROM had much useful info until I found references to it in LeMay's book. The examples and help on the book's CD were a good starting-point, and the author had the good sense to realize that readers who want to get more sophisticated info about this user-unfriendly product can find it in more updated form on the Web.

At last my chance to bash this book. Some of the examples are fine. The easy stuff I can figure out myself. Try creating a custom FP Theme with the info and example in this book. NOT EVEN CLOSE!!! After spending my hard earned money to buy this book I am very disappointed. Obviously the material in this book was not reviewed for accuracy. I'm an instructor in a computer learning center and it is my duty to insure that the info I give to me students is 100% accurate. My reputation is on the line. Need I say more? Buy a FP98 certification book. You will have made a better choice....

I'm an experienced web developer, studying for the new Microsoft certification on Frontpage. This book was great for me - I like that it's not just force feeding you the skills, it actually has tasks for you to do - a learn it by doing it approach. It also covers everything that FP98 can do quite nicely. This ISN'T an "introduction to HTML" book, NOR is it a guide on developing the perfect web site. What it is, is an intro to Frontpage, and it does that very well.

Only knock against it is that it must have been written using FrontPage 98 Beta, because there are some inconsistencies with the book and the retail FP98. But not enough to make the book any less useful.

If you have any experience with HTML and the Internet, and are looking for a general tech support book on FP 98, this is definitely not it. It only walks you through doing tasks in FP, with no technical documentation at all. Worst book I've ever purchased.

If you don't find this book useful you probably can't read. It covers every aspect of Front Page 98 and more. The references contained in the appendix are outstanding. I especially recommend this book to the novice just starting out.

This book was no help whatsoever, I'm still a novice with FrontPage98...thanks a lot Laura.

I am a beginning web page designer so FrontPage 98 in itself is a great advantage for me. This book was a tremendous help and a great reference book to have in addition to Microsoft's generally poor documentation that comes with their software. The only reason for this book not getting a "10" from me is the fact the book could have been laid out a little differently and a little more streamlined. The first part of the book does not deal with hands-on web page design and instruction but premarily on the general features of the program. The second part does an admirable job of hands on web design with good explinations of software features integrated with the tutorials. In my opinion a very good book!

This is the second FrontPage book that I bought based on Amazon editor recommedations. I hated it! From now on I only rely on reader recommendations. I think the graphics editor is lost. How could such a book be useful to anyone? You tell me. I want to know.

Poorly written as I've come to expect from Lemay Web Workshop books. But what I can't stand is the inaccuracies and the horrible coverage of the main features of FrontPage 98. I don't recommend the book to anyone.

You'll be much better off with a different book. A good Frontpage 98 books is FrontPage 98 Unleashed. The book is featured as Amazon's #1 recommended book on FrontPage. FrontPage 98 Unleashed covers all the features of FrontPage 98 thoroughly. There's lots of emphasis on design! You'll find 8 chapters on graphics, image composer and the GIF animator.