Professional Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) [Paperback]

Woodrow W. Windischman (Author), Bryan Phillips (Author), Asif Rehmani (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470287616 | ISBN-13: 978-0470287613 | Publication Date: January 9, 2009 | Edition: 1

With Professional Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, you can master all aspects of using Share Point Designer in an Enterprise environment to enhance Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies. Review key integration points, how to use CSS editing tools to create and modify SharePoint themes, how to supplement SharePoint Designer functionality by using Microsoft Visual Studio, and how to create a rich interactive experience. If you need to connect SharePoint with other enterprise resources or create components to integrate into the SharePoint framework, this book will show you how to accomplish these tasks.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Professional Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 is a versatile application that provides all the necessary tools to modify nearly every aspect of a SharePoint web site's look and feel. Yet, SharePoint Designer can do far more than just customize SharePoint sites and this book shows you how to maximize the potential of this fully featured web design tool.

Packed with step-by-step examples, sample code, and helpful screen shots, this resource begins with an overview of SharePoint Designer and SharePoint technology and then quickly moves on to teach you how to use SharePoint Designer to customize various aspects of your sites. The team of experienced authors demonstrates how SharePoint Designer is able to create powerful applications that would have normally required considerable programming effort, and they take you past the built-in features of SharePoint Designer with extensions, add-ins, migration, and conversion tools. With this book, you'll be able to perfectly match a SharePoint site to an enterprise's standards, connect SharePoint with other enterprise resources, or create something entirely new.

What you will learn from this book

• Ways to create extensions to SharePoint and SharePoint Designer, with examples in both C# and Visual Basic .NET

• Techniques for customizing lists, libraries, and more

• How to maximize your use of SharePoint Site Components

• The anatomy of SharePoint master pages and themes

• Methods for working with CSS editing tools in SharePoint Designer

• How to use Visual Studio and other tools to extend the capabilities of SharePoint and SharePoint Designer

• Things to consider when building SharePoint Designer workflows

• Considerations for governing the use of SharePoint Designer in your enterprise

Who this book is for
This book is for web designers and developers who are looking to modify or enhance SharePoint products and technologies or anyone upgrading from Microsoft FrontPage to SharePoint Designer. A basic knowledge of JavaScript and HTML tags is assumed.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

About the Author

Woodrow (Woody) Windischman is a technology trainer and consultant with more than 20 years’ experience in a variety of roles, allowing him to see problems holistically and come up with appropriate solutions. His SharePoint experience started even before SharePoint became a product, with predecessors such as Site Server, the Digital Dashboard Resource Kit, and the earliest versions of Microsoft FrontPage. Since then Woody ’ s been deeply involved in the SharePoint community — first having been awarded Microsoft SharePoint MVP from October 2005 through September 2007, and then working directly for the SharePoint product team. He ’ s active in several online SharePoint communities, including the TechNet forums.

Bryan Phillips is a software architect and senior partner with Composable Systems, LLC, specializing in service - oriented business solutions using the latest Microsoft technology. Bryan has worked professionally with Microsoft development technology since 1997 and holds the Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD), Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA), and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certifications. Bryan contributes regularly to the Microsoft development community by speaking on topics such as Smart Client, ASP.NET, SharePoint, SQL Server, and Mobile development; presenting DevCares courses; and blogging on topics of interest to developers. Bryan is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) in Client Application Development.

Asif Rehmani has been a Trainer and a Consultant working out of the Chicago office of SharePoint Solutions ( http://sharepointsolutions.com/chicago ) since early 2005. He is a SharePoint Server MVP and MCT.

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Wrox; 1 edition (January 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470287616
• ISBN-13: 978-0470287613
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #519,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helps even a developer..., February 15, 2009

By 

David Mann (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Professional Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

As you can tell from the title of this review, I am a developer at heart, and as well all know, most developers generally look down upon SPD. However, SPD is a tool, and for certain things, a useful tool. It belongs in the toolbox of every SP professional. If you don't use SPD for the things it is good for, then you are missing out. That said, if you need to get to know SPD and what it can do, then this is the book you want.

I like the way the beginning of the book is organized (SharePoint - from the perspective of different user types) because it breaks the basics down in a way that keeps things segmented nicely. I can skip the whole "from a user's perspective" parts as I don't need that stuff. It also helps me see things "from the other side" - that is, not a developer's point of view.
From there, it starts to get into functionality of SPD. It starts with Look and Feel - the bane of every developer's existence - and moves into applications without programming and probably the best coverage I have seen anywhere of programming SharePoint from the client-side (with Javascript and WPSC). I do find it interesting that a book on SPD covers some Visual Studio topics - creating workflow elements and webparts. While I don't think the coverage of either topic is going to make someone an expert at either task, it at least will get them comfortable with what is involved. My only concern is that people will feel like this coverage is sufficient and attempt to move into these more traditional developer roles insufficiently prepared. There is a LOT more to learn before you get there and can play in that speace effectively.

If I had to pick one negative about the book, I would have to say it would be in its coverage of SPD workflows. I fully realize that I have a very strong bias *against* SPD workflows, but it is because I have seen too many problems caused by misuse. I wish that the book spent more than a page and a half cautioning people against using SPD workflows and building Rube Goldberg contraptions just to get around limitations of the product. In some ways it seems like the book encourages this risky behavior and I think that is dangerous. In any event, there are a lot of pitfalls and a brief coverage of them is insufficient.

All in all, a great book for learning SPD - even for a dumb developer like me :-). It's on the shelf right next to my desk alongside my other SharePoint books. I use it often for help with learning this tool (SPD) and how to use it more effectively.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Information, February 15, 2009

By 

Brian Gough "Brian Gough - Windows SharePoint... (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Professional Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

Whether you are just getting into SharePoint Designer or have been using it for a little while, this is an excellent book to have on your shelf. It is well written and easy to follow, so you get a better grip on Designer faster. A couple of things that stand out for me are 1)the extras that point you to other resources to help augment Designer and make things easier for you, and 2) the depth that they go into especially around Web part Page Services Component ( WPSC ) and creating add-ins for Designer. This really helps the reader to see and understand that there is more to Designer than just the out-of-the-box UI. So for those of us that want to get into the real nuts and bolts of designer and what it can do, this is a nice introduction. The fact that they include a section covering the use of Visual Studio to help enhance Designer is also a nice touch. With this one book, you will get a solid understanding of what you can do with Designer and how you can use Visual Studio to make it even better.
Well done guys!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, March 18, 2011

By 

MGMcd (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

This book has opened up a new world of SharePoint site configuration. I use it constantly. I have several years experience working with SharePoint at the site administration level, and this book has really shown me the power of the platform. I have recommended it to many colleagues, who have also gotten a lot of mileage out of it. As the title indicates, this is one of WROX PROFESSIONAL level tomes. See the back cover for the curriculum path to this book. (I think that back cover features is one of the more handy references from WROX.)

My favorite chapters include The Anatomy of a SharePoint Page, The Anatomy of a SharePoint Theme, Working with SharePoint Data (indispensable) and the section on Programming on the Client Side.