| •Install and open Expression Web 3 • The menu and toolbars • The Status Bar • The Folder List panel • | |
Expression Web 3 is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editor and powerful site manager. Among its tools are powerful ways to control the layout and design of both a web page and a complete web site. Information on purchasing Expression Web 3 is available at http://www.microsoft.com |
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Install Expression Web as you would any other new software. If you have downloaded the software, double-click on the file to start the installation process. If you have purchased a CD-ROM, the Installation Wizard will usually start as soon as you place the program in your CD-ROM drive. Follow the directions on the screen. The installation process will generally put a shortcut button on your desktop. To open the software, simply click on this button. Now take a look around the work area. |
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| The menu and toolbars | |
At the very top of the screen the title bar indicates the title you have given the current document and its location on your computer. Just below the title bar is a basic menu bar. Beneath it is the Common toolbar; it runs the width of the screen. If you prefer, you can split the common toolbar into the Standard toolbar and the Formatting toolbar; you can adjust your workspace by clicking on View, Toolbars from the Main Menu and choosing which toolbar(s) to display. Here is a view of the screen in which I have deleted the Common toolbar, but placed its two components--the Standard and Formatting toolbars--beneath each other:
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Below these toobars is the basic work space; the left column and right columns contain panels with a variety of tools to help you work; the center column is the main work area. When you first open Expression Web, the screen will show panels to both the left and the right of the main work area. To the left is the Folder List panel; underneath is is a panel with two tabs, Tag Properties and CSS Properties. To the right is the Toolbox panel. You can close the panels to create more workspace; simply click on the X in the upper right hand corner of each panel. To restore the panels, choose Panels from the main menu and click on the panels that you want to display. |
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Now take a look around the main document window. |
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At the top of the screen is a tab with the name of the file; the file shown here has not yet been saved and titled. Below the title is the HTML tag that is currently operational, in this case the <body> tag. Next is the blank workspace. At the bottom of the workspace are tabs for the Design (WYSIWYG) view, a Split view, showing the Code view on top and the Design view on the bottom, and the Code view. |
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The Status Bar at the very bottom of your screen displays very useful information about your page as it develops.
The status bar notes information such as code errors, the window size and the current file size. |
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| The Folder List panel | |
The Folder List panel provides you easy access to the files in your web site. When you have opened a site in Expression Web, the main work space shows two tabs, the Site View tab and the tab for the new page you are working on. From the Site View you can click on one of your existing files and it will display in the work area. Thus if you want a larger work space, you can close the Folder List panel but still quickly access the files in your site by choosing the Site View tab on the main work space.
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As you get comfortable using Expression Web, you will want to arrange your toolbars and panels to suit the way you work. |
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| • Overview • Tour Expression Web 3 • Create a local web site • | |
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Web Design Center |