Customer Reviews

Running Microsoft FrontPage 2000

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

 

 

I read Buyens'earlier FP-98 cover-to-cover to learn FP-98, and then got the FP-2000 version at that product's introduction. The books are quite similar with 2000 containing all the new features of the FP-2000 product, plus some additional development in a few areas. I have been very happy with both books. I used the first to learn FrontPage, and now the second as a good reference. Few texts can be used for such cross purposes like this one can.

The material has a good layout and pleasing presentation, although it is not a "slick-page" book. It is neither a "for Dummies" book, as it is written in an intelligent and engaging style. It has a well-developed Table of Contents and extensive index for finding what you want.

"Tables" are arguably the most important aspect of a Web page and the chapter on tables is particularly good. When I was finished, I really understood tables and now I use FP to just create the outline of complex multi-table tables, but then use HTML mode to go in and put them together. RUNNING showed me how to do that, by several examples in the book.

The CD is good in that a lot of what was covered in the book is available without re-typing it in. I thought that more could have been made of this resource. Small complaint, and Buyens' book is still the best of the lot.

This book didn't meet my expectations. As another reader mentioned, the author spent a great deal of time talking about colors and style-sheets. Although they are important topics, I bought the book to learn about frontpage 2000. I fumbled around in FrontPage for about 2 weeks prior to purchasing this book. This book didn't tell me anything more than what I had already learned from using the program. So my recommendation is if you are new to frontpage and web design, this might be a good book for you. If you want to take frontpage to the next level , buy "FrontPage 2000 Developer's Guide".

I purchased this book in the hope of learning how to use FrontPage 2000 - this was a mistake. Running Microsoft FrontPage 2000 is a reference book and not a learning tool. It is concise and comprehensive but not a starting point for beginners. When you understand FrontPage 2000 this book is an excellent reference vehicle for further exploration.

I have been using FrontPage since version 97. This new 2000 version is a huge improvement over the past versions. It is robust and versatile. That is, if you know how to use it. This book will teach you how, if you read and re-read it, cover to cover.

What is so deceiving about the marketing of this program is how Microsoft promotes it's simplicity and how it caters to the beginner and do-it-yourselfer. Yes, FrontPage can easily create your website through the use of Themes, shared borders, navigation and the like. But it is so much more powerful than that. "Running Front Page 2000" will educate you on how to utilize that power.

I am a professional website developer. It's what I do for a living and have now for almost 3 years. I use FrontPage 2000 as my tool to create my work (along with Image Composer). But I do not use many of the tools that people buy FP2K for; you can make use of the "training wheels" or you can take them off and create some serious work.

FP2K can actually write HTML code the way you would write it by hand. This book will show you how to do that. FP2K is also sophisticated enough to write code for a specific browser, or write code for a broader audience. And the database connection tools within FP2K are very powerful! "Running FrontPage 2000" goes into detail about maximizing the use of database connections.

I especially appreciated the depth the author reviewed the use of color when creating websites. From the looks of many websites out there, many, many web developers could use a real education on the use of color! Presentation matters! Of course, so does content. But I don't care if you have the best content on the planet, pink text on a black background with multiple spinning GIF files is going to make your content very difficult to tolerate.

In all, I feel that the author has presented a well rounded reference book about this most powerful program. No, this book will not please everybody; but then, what book ever does? But if you desire to gain the maximum benefit of FrontPage 2000, you cannot go wrong by having this book in your library. Considering the education you will gain versus the price you pay, it's a steal!

Micro$oft is indeed a bunch of smart business people. I have used FrontPage since version 1 and have always found the user's guide ("Getting Started...") of little use beyond the basics. The online help is extensive, but purely and simply mechanical.

This book is a good book (although the accompanying CD-ROM is rather useless, at least for me), as it details almost every aspect of using the great program. I don't think it's a good first-time user's guide (for that check out the "official FrontPage 2000 book" from Micro$oft), but it can serve as a good reference to FP 2000. What I like about it is the accuracy of the information contained therein. If you get a third-party book (like "Mastering M$ FP 2000"), you get a lot of inaccurate information.

What we still need is a good FP 2000 resource book, like how to integrate e-commerce, how to create *good* themes, etc. Using FP 2000 is easy enough, but creating a good web site is a totally different, and very difficult, matter.

Cheers.

I have been pleased with Jim Buyens work and this perfect refrence book is no execption. It is definely not for everyone. It is a refrence book, and is definetly not for beginners. Get FrontPage 2000 Step-by-Step for that. But it serves as a great refrence source. Keep up the good work!

Well, it DOES state on the cover "the complete reference" and that's what it is, a reference work: don't buy only this book if you are the average person who just wants to get started and actually use Frontpage. As far as how good of a reference it is, I have to go back to the bookstore and learn from another book before I can grade it in that way!

This book contains pages of useless palaver about the "Web moving from obscurity to the mainstream", "anything involving two or more persons involves politics", "good page layout involves balance: use of the left margin as well as the right...", "real life offers-as does Web page design- a countless variety of potential contrasts", and so on, and so on. No topic deserves less than a long paragraph of zero content. The book also is really annoying in the way it pushes the product, talking about "rich" features, "making things easier than ever","the force of FrontPage themes".

When push comes to shove, features simply are cataloged. With little attempt to link features to a complete project, or to answer natural questions that pop up as one goes through a project, the book forces one to flip back and forth trying to answer this or that.

Bottom line: much blather, little direction

I keep reading these negative reviews on this book and I am astounded to hear so many complaints. I have three 800+ page books on FrontPage and this is by far the best. Several times I have needed to look for help on specifc matters and it never fails...the best and most comprehensive information is in this book. Now, let me say that if you are new to FrontPage, do not waste your time with this book. You will hate it. It will truly make your head spin. It is not written to help you understand FP, rather is is written in a way that assumes that you are an experienced user. That said, there are a few things that this book chooses to leave out but for 99% of you out there using FP, this book is a reference to all your ever need. Notice I said reference. After you've worked with FP for a few months or a few years, you are going to want to be able to get at the nuts and bolts of what it can do. You aren't going to want someone explaining what a table is as though you are in first grade. If that sounds like you then this is the book for you. I love this book so much that my other FP books never get used. This is my reference material and it does the job every time.

Frontpage users need to understand that this latest version of FP has totally jumped into the realm of web serving. This book assumes that most FP users allready know or has some experience or knowledge of the admin part of web serving - give me a break! And what's the deal with devoting an entire chapter talking about colors! Wuz up with that! The section on PWS and FP2K Server Extensions are worthless. And that's the most important part of FP if you want to get into the advance component features. Need to rewrite this book in laymen terms.