Datasheet

Figure 1-2: Customizing the development environment
While you may be surprised to learn that development of Web pages within Expression Web flows
through just these five components, it’s true! The menu bar, the Development window, the myriad of
Task Panes and toolbars, and the context-sensitive menus represent 100 percent of the Expression Web
development environment. The catch (yes, there’s a catch) is that these five components trickle down
other forms of functionality — for example, the component toolbars. However, there are 17 different
toolbars that you may decide to use to work with anything from page formatting using CSS to page
structuring using tables. Task Panes are another example. While I mentioned that Task Panes represent
core functionality within Expression Web, I have yet to mention that there are 18 Task Panes that you
can utilize based on the task at hand.
While I’ll certainly cover the myriad of Task Panes, toolbars, and so on, as the book unfolds, this chapter
is meant as a gentle introduction to the many components that make up the Expression Web development
environment. This chapter should help you identify the Folder List or Tag Properties Task Pane, identify
the Tools menu item, recognize the Document window, and even recognize what the Common toolbar is
so that, in later chapters, when you read about opening a particular toolbar, accessing a particular menu
item, or even opening a Task Pane, it will come as naturally as blinking.
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