Datasheet

Exploring SharePoint
Designer
Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 are large
and sophisticated web applications. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the tool meant to
customize them — Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 — is a large, sophisticated desktop
application. This chapter explores:
How SharePoint Designer fits in Microsoft ’ s toolset .
SharePoint Designer ’ s basic editing features .
SharePoint navigation .
It also provides an overview of site administration tools.
SharePoint Designer as a Web Editor
SharePoint Designer is a descendant of Microsoft FrontPage, and a close relative of Expression
Web, Microsoft ’ s dedicated Web design tool. In fact, SharePoint Designer provides a true superset
of Expression Web functionality, and therefore makes an excellent all - around tool for Web design.
In addition to the SharePoint - related features, SharePoint Designer includes more features for
backward compatibility with existing FrontPage - based sites than are a part of Expression Web 1.0.
For the 2007 Microsoft Office System, Microsoft has replaced many of the traditional user interface
elements in several client applications, such as Microsoft Word, with what it calls the fluent user
interface, the most noticeable feature of which is a tabbed mega - toolbar called the Ribbon.
Microsoft has not done this in SharePoint Designer 2007, which sports menus, toolbars, and so on
in all of their historical profusion. See Figure 1 - 1 .
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