jp sousa said
The examples were very well organized and taught in detail. I would have liked more Silverlight examples since that is the way new web sites will get much more interactive content.
onlinejourno said
The book was exactly what I needed. The only problem was that it took a week and a half for item to come in. I could have easily bought this book in a bookstore.
Martin Newmark said
I returned this book and kept: Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Expression Web 2 in 24 Hours.
Snake_Eye said
I bought this book along with the Expression Web 2 software. Before this, I knew almost nothing about making a website, and I had never even heard of EW2. A few weeks earlier, I had purchased a few domains with visions of .... I'm not really sure. Was I going to create a business, a blog, or just play on the internet? If you're in a similar situation, I cannot recommend this book (and software) enough.
Step by Step is arranged like a workbook. A companion CD includes practice files for almost every chapter. The exercises are nearly idiot proof, although I managed a few stumbles along the way. Despite that, the novice should have very few problems creating and publishing a web site with nothing other than EW2 and this book. The teaching style is "click this," "enter this text," "after entering this text, an options menu appears, select option....," "the result is displayed in Figure...." If you manage to destroy a project, you can just reload it from the CD. The book is loaded with figures, hints, and problem solving tips.
Initially, I tried skipping things that I didn't think were relevant to me. For example, why would I ever need to read the chapter "Building a Web Site from Scratch?" Even a fool knows that there are terabytes of free templates out there. However, I soon realized the error of my thinking. My problem was that I didn't know what I didn't know. Within each chapter are loads of tidbits I immediately incorporated into my template based website. No part of this book should be skipped if you are a novice.
This book is not a study book or a book to be read in front of the TV. It's a book that you sit down in front of the computer with and go through page by page. Before you get half way through, you'll have a website up and running.
I also want to emphasize that this is a book aimed at the novice. If the only thing you want to do is design a blog, advertise a business, or something similarly simple, this book is all you need. However, if you really jump into web design like I did, you'll soon be looking for a book to take you too the next level. For that I recommend Jim Cheshire's Special Edition Using Microsoft Expression Web 2 from Que Publishing.
Terrence Carling said
After purchasing Expression Web 2 several months ago, I set about learning how to use it. My goal was practical: become proficient enough to be productive with the application. I found several tutorials online, but after awhile I found most of them either too basic or too advanced.
In previous years I taught myself various software applications such as FrameMaker, Illustrator and Photoshop mostly through the printed word and decided to travel that route again. I bought three books in quick succession: 'Expression Web 2 On Demand' by Steve Johnson; 'Special Edition, Using Microsoft Expression Web 2'by Jim Cheshire,and 'Expression Web 2 Step by Step' by Chris Leeds.
There's a wealth of information in all three books, and I was impressed with all three authors' depth of knowledge. However, I found myself spending more and more time with 'Step by Step' than the others. Why? Expression Web 2 is an industrial strength web editor with a substantial learning curve, and doing the exercises in subsequent chapters of Leeds' book gave me an overview and a confidence that I could not get from the other books. The CD is invaluable because you can always go back and redo an exercise that you messed up on before.
'Expression Web 2: Step by Step' follows a proven pedagogical approach: introduce a concept, practise it, and then keep adding to the foundation. This is an excellent book and I am well on my way towards achieving my goal of proficiency.
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