Customer Reviews

Professional Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

I heard about Woody's book several months ago, and expected to see yet another 'create pretty pictures' book. I should probably mention that I am a hard-core developer and think anything that doesn't involve manually writing MSIL code is 'creating pretty pictures'.

However, Woody, Asif, and Bryan have done a marvelous job of making me regret those expectations. Not only have the managed to create an extremely good overview of many of the aspects of SharePoint Designer, but they have managed to do so in a way that is interesting and sparks a genuine desire to learn more.

I thoroughly enjoyed part III on creating applications without programming and especially the chapter on SharePoint Designer workflows. Even for someone who enjoys programming with a nail, two wires, and a battery, efficiency is still an issue. In addition and as mentioned, perhaps the biggest benefit I gain from the book is a desire to keep learning and exploring these topics.

And then I found the juicy stuff, the part that really made me fall in love with this book: Part V with three chapters full of real programming material. I especially enjoy that the chapter on web part development walks through all the steps of setting up and deploying the web part, without using any of the third-party tools available.

I'm no big fan of the masterpages and css material, but that's just me and I am certain that it is invaluable to those more interested in design than I am.

If I should point out one negative thing I would point out that the book tries to cover too much ground and isn't detailed enough. This may be a deliberate decision by the authors, and I can certainly understand that from a desire to appeal to as broad a user group as possible, but the sacrifice may be that of depth.

Overall, however, this is now officially one of my favorite books, and I will highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn both SharePoint and SharePoint Designer.

I got this book as soon as I could, and it did not disappoint. As I was already familiar with SPD I started somewhere in the middle of the book. It helped me right away, particularly in the area of parameters and string queries. But I found a lot of value and insight into apects that I "thought" I had already understood when I went to the beginning and began reading from Chapter One. This book is rich and absolutely indespensible for someone like me (not a developer....yet) looking to further leverage no-code MOSS customization.

My thanks to the authors for providing this great resource.

LpCross

Maybe it was my expectation, but I thought this was a terrible book to learn from. (I'm new to SharePoint, and have no prior knowledge of SPD). My issue with the book is there are no activites(NONE), and it reads like technical or reference manual not a programming book.

I figured by chapter 5 or 6 I would have added my corporate logo, changed colors, tables, components, saved and backed out changes created my own "Theme" etc....Nope, I haven't even opened SharePoint Designer yet, and the branding related chapters are over.

I got this book to quickly learn how to brand our site using SharePoint Designer. What it seems like I got was a very wordy description of seemingly every component, and line of code on the site without actually USING the SPD tool. It's possible that after I learn SharePoint Designer I can go back to this book for further reference, but right now I need a "hand's on" book with specific learning activities.

In a marketplace where any book on SharePoint Designer 2007 is hard to find even a "mediocre" book would stand out. It's a good thing that Asif, Bryan, and Woody decided not to settle for a mediocre book. I was particularly impressed with Chapter 15 on "Creating Workflow Elements in Visual Studio". I've wrestled in the past with how to create custom actions to extend SharePoint Designer workflows. The book provides clear and concise coverage on exactly how to create your own custom actions. I just wish the book had been published before I had to build my first custom action. "Professional Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007" provides excellent coverage of an essential topic for any SharePoint Designer or Developer.

I have a lot of familiarity with SharePoint building sites in a browser. I bought this book to learn more about site structure and SP Designer. It seems pretty good actually.

BUT! there's no excuse to sell a book with tables and illustrations as blurry as these are. Some are impossible to read whether on the small kindle, the big kindle, or your PC! Not too small (although there's really no effective way to get them much bigger) but too few pixels to be readable blurry. Did anyone actually test this at the publishers before dumping it out here? If you're contemplating getting this, be sure and get the sample and see if it's workable for you before you buy. I understand that there may be limits on file size and therefore for dpi but broken is broken.

I've been programming for over 25 years, and this is the worst book ever. I'm new to SharePoint Designer. I've started reading, I'm into chapter 5; I've read over 100 pages; and I've yet to create any kind of web page. There is NO activity...just background, with filenames and extensions described. This is useless. I've got to find a better book!