Microsoft's SharePoint Designer

Microsoft's next generation of Web Design Tools are Expression Web, and Sharepoint Designer. I have already talked about Expression Web, so this article will discuss Sharepoint Designer.

Both products are evolving from the same code base but Microsoft introduced differentiation between them to make them uniquely positioned. To keep things simple, both products are outstanding web authoring tools but SharePoint Designer was provided with unique SharePoint features.

In short, SharePoint Designer is a superset of Expression Web really focused on SharePoint. In other words, if you have any plans on investing in SharePoint or have already Windows SharePoint Services or Micrososoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, SharePoint Designer is your tool.

Here at Chattanooga State, I was informed by the Business & Info. Systems Division, that we would be using SharePoint Designer. This is mainly due to the fact that our campus-wide licence is for SharePoint, (according to my understanding), and there seems to be very little difference between the two products anyway. As far as D2L is concerned, the built in HTML editor seems to be the Tool of choice, as it is easier to use.

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Microsoft's Expression Web

Expression Web is a new site-development tool, recently released by Microsoft as a replacement for its FrontPage 2003. Expression Web is part of Expression Studio (Suite) which also includes Expression Blend, Expression Design, and Expression Media.

• Expression Web is a professional design tool to create modern standards - based sites (XHTML, CSS, Microsoft.Net, ASP.Net, RSS) which deliver superior quality on the web.
• Expression Blend is the professional design tool to create engaging Web connected user experiences for windows (Microsoft's answer to Flash?)
• Expression Design is a professional illustration and graphic design tool that let's you build compelling elements for both web and desktop applications user interface.
• Expression Media is a professional asset management tool to visually catalog and organize all your digital assets for effortless retrieval and presentation.

Please click on Expression Studio to watch an Overview video on it.

Why is Microsoft discontinuing FrontPage 2003? Why doesn't it simply call its new program something like FrontPage 2007? Expression Web's senior program manager, Wayne Smith, explained that his team's new HTML tool was "rewritten from the ground up" and is not merely a refresh of the old FrontPage 2003 code.

Expression Web does, in fact, share much of the FP03 look and feel. Some of the dialog boxes in Expression Web, for example, are indistinguishable from those that perform the same functions in Microsoft's older HTML editor.

Expression Web is being positioned as a tool for serious, professional Web developers, especially those who are already versed in the ways of ASP.NET 2.0. These developers will find task panes that facilitate ASP.NET usage and excellent round-trip compatibility for code that is edited in Microsoft's Visual Studio by programmers and in Expression Web by graphic designers.

For more details click on Expression Web