FrontPage 2002: The Complete Reference [With CDROM]

I liked this book despite (or maybe because of) its size. It is one of those huge books, with 982 pages presented in 25 chapters and four appendices plus a companion CD and an Index which runs 20 pages and has over 1700 entries. Obviously, I have not read the whole book, but as I continue to use FrontPage I believe I will use more and more of it. The best way to learn a program, and to use this book, is to create a web site, and I have done that, as explained in the sidebar.FrontPage is one of many desktop, web-authoring programs. Several companies have their suite of publishing programs. Microsoft's publishing programs, in order of increasing complexity, include Word 2003, Publisher and FrontPage. It appears that after FrontPage, MS users would get into the even more complex Developers' programs. FrontPage 2002 is a full-featured program and it is well-coordinated with MS Office 2002, sharing many of the same toolbars, procedures and terminology.I have used Publisher to create some personal web pages and have found it useful and user-friendly. Reviewing this book I see that FrontPage is very much more powerful and capable, allowing features I had not known are available to those doing home-based desktop publishing. FrontPage is a WYSIWYG web editor. One does not need to know HTML or other web programming language. FrontPage makes all the conversions. And FrontPage has many special capabilities, which are well explained in this book. Personally, I like to ability to create Message Boards, to get Comments from site visitors and to get info on those visitors. FrontPage makes it easy to establish and modify the navigation links between pages on the web site and keeps track of all images and other special features so they can be properly placed on the web server. FrontPage is a complex program constructed in a way that serves both novice and advanced web page authors. But, because of the complexity, it requires some instruction for effective use. It deserves a book that is equally encompassing and easy to use. This is that book.The book describes itself as " The Most Authoritative Volume Available On FrontPage 2002". Having gone through a good deal of it I would not doubt that claim at all. And it is an easy read. The writing is almost conversational and there is an illustrative Figure or Table on almost every page. It starts with an overview and then gets into details.The first chapter generally discusses the Internet and web pages and their contents. It gives some general advice as to what a good web page and web sites should contain and look like. The second chapter, titled "Exploring FrontPage", is really a general introduction to FrontPage and can serve as a basic instruction for creating a web site.Chapters 3 and 4 cover using the Wizards and Templates, two powerful aids. Chapter 5 explains how to create a web site without the Wizards and Templates. Chapter 6 discusses Hyperlinks, including Bookmarks, and Hotspots.

Don't miss the boat by not buying this book. It offers you priceless advice and good introductions into XML, DHTML, ASP and advanced Web scripting. Goes pretty deep into using FP 2002 to add Multimedia, Security and doing E-Commerce. Excellent references on FREE online schools that teach you well beyond the scope of this any other book. It was truly an enjoyable read and simple book to work with. Martin Matthews has done us all a great service by publishing this book.

This is the best FrontPage book you could put on your shelf. The author's comprehensive treatment of each subject is unequalled. The book works well as a reference, but it is also good as a tutorial for people that are new to the FrontPage environment. I have been using FrontPage 2000 for some time, and the predecessor of this book was my only go-to resource. Thankfully, FrontPage 2002: The Complete Reference improves upon that excellence with additional information on all of FrontPage 2002's new functionality. If you use FrontPage 2002 and you don't own this book, you have missed the boat.