Is Front Page Frustrating as H%^*?????

[Guest]

So ya open the box and start using this product and you know it does make nice professional looking pages. But do you have to allready be an expert from the get go? It seems like there is no real laymen help for understanding how things work. I have used Front Page 98 and 2000 and realize it takes time to learn stuff but why is it so darn troublesome to find good explanations for the features that are available? Am I the only one that feels this way? I guess that is why we love to compute and torture ourselves using MICROSOFT products. OK it is only the second day I have had the box open but geeeeeze louise I should have my website completed by now!

 

[E. T. Culling]

Sorry, but your expectations aren't very realistic. First... get Jim Buyen's
FrontPage Inside/Out book. After doing a lot of studying and trying out
various ideas of how to present you material you might be ready to have a
site up in a month. Nothing that will look very well etc. can't be done very
quickly by a beginner.
Have patience. There is a 'learning curve'!
Eleanor

So ya open the box and start using this product and you know it does make

nice professional looking pages. But do you have to allready be an expert
from the get go? It seems like there is no real laymen help for
understanding how things work. I have used Front Page 98 and 2000 and
realize it takes time to learn stuff but why is it so darn troublesome to
find good explanations for the features that are available? Am I the only
one that feels this way? I guess that is why we love to compute and torture
ourselves using MICROSOFT products. OK it is only the second day I have had
the box open but geeeeeze louise I should have my website completed by now!

 

[Sparky Polastri]

So ya open the box and start using this product and you know it does make

nice professional looking pages. But do you have to allready be an expert
from the get go? It seems like there is no real laymen help for
understanding how things work. I have used Front Page 98 and 2000 and
realize it takes time to learn stuff but why is it so darn troublesome to
find good explanations for the features that are available? Am I the only
one that feels this way? I guess that is why we love to compute and torture
ourselves using MICROSOFT products. OK it is only the second day I have had
the box open but geeeeeze louise I should have my website completed by now!

Ping Pong,

- Please do not post in HTML, not everybody can read it nicely and it makes
the file bigger for no good reason.

- No program makes professional looking pages. Designers do. Programs can
only help or hinder the process.

- FrontPage is used by many good designers who work within it's limitations
or figure ways to over come them.

- You do not need to be an expert, however if you expect a computer to have
a sense of good taste, you will always be disabpointed.

- I think you simply have not found the right web sites, there are dozens of
them that cover many aspects of using FrontPage. (Also, as the other poster
said, most good designers have read several books on the programs they use;
inaddition to knowing a lot about web pages and design in general.)

- There are millions of beginners out there just like you. And everybody
who is not a beginner once was.

- This newsgroup (and books and a little experience) is about the best
resource there is for ANY program.

- If you think using a Microsoft product is hard, try making a web page in
VI or DreamWeaver once.

- What makes you think you can just whiz bang through anything? Take your
car engine apart and put it back together recently? Do you bitch that you
don't know how to do that?

Give it time. FrontPage is a great tool to do good work if you don't care
about ALL of the little details. Note that you will still have to learn the
BIG details anyway. (Or pay someone else to do it.)

 

[chris leeds]

if you're like most people it's going to take quite a few more days than
two.
I didn't have a professional looking site for about the first six months.
you may want to look for "FrontPage templates", there are a number of places
selling them.
with one of these you'll get good looking results without very much
learning/ work on your part.
HTH

So ya open the box and start using this product and you know it does make

nice professional looking pages. But do you have to allready be an expert
from the get go? It seems like there is no real laymen help for
understanding how things work. I have used Front Page 98 and 2000 and
realize it takes time to learn stuff but why is it so darn troublesome to
find good explanations for the features that are available? Am I the only
one that feels this way? I guess that is why we love to compute and torture
ourselves using MICROSOFT products. OK it is only the second day I have had
the box open but geeeeeze louise I should have my website completed by now!

 

[Jim Cheshire]

The Step-by-Step series is probably a better choice for a new FrontPage
user.

--
Jim Cheshire
Jimco Add-ins
http://www.jimcoaddins.com
===================================
Co-author of Special Edition
Using Microsoft FrontPage 2003
Order it today!
http://sefp2003.frontpagelink.com

 

[Jim Buyens]

-----Original Message-----

So ya open the box and start using this product and you
know it does make nice professional looking pages. But do
you have to allready be an expert from the get go? It
seems like there is no real laymen help for understanding
how things work.

Buying Microsoft Word doesn't make you a writer.
Buying Adobe PhotoShop doesn't make you a artist.
Buying Microsoft FrontPage doesn't make you a Web designer.

I have used Front Page 98 and 2000 and realize it takes
time to learn stuff but why is it so darn troublesome to
find good explanations for the features that are
available?

Have you looked at, say, Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
Inside Out?

Am I the only one that feels this way?

No. Many new Web designers share your pain.

I guess that is why we love to compute and torture
ourselves using MICROSOFT products.

I don't think products from Adobe, Macromedia, Ulead,
Symantec, or anyone are any better in this respect. You
have to understand the nature of the work, and you have to
understand the toolset. There are always learning curves.

OK it is only the second day I have had the box open but
geeeeeze louise I should have my website completed by now!

Even the most experienced Web designers would have great
difficulty completing a site - even a trivial one - in
only two days.

Jim Buyens
Microsoft FrontPage MVP
http://www.interlacken.com
Author of:
*------------------------------------------------------*
|\----------------------------------------------------/|
|| Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out ||
|| Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out ||
|| Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition ||
|| Troubleshooting Microsoft FrontPage 2002 ||
|| Faster Smarter Beginning Programming ||
|| (All from Microsoft Press) ||
|/----------------------------------------------------\|
*------------------------------------------------------*

 

[chris leeds]

what worked for me:
the "big book" MS FPISO in conjunction with one of those "visually" books.
something like "learn FrontPage visually". I used them simultaneously and
one counterbalanced the other.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the book suggestions! My post included lots of sarcasm! Yes I like The product but to have to buy additional material to learn the product is my gripe. To go to Microsofts site to find helpful tutorials and get referred to additional products is like allowing microsoft to drop the ball. I just wanted to suggest to Microsoft to provide "dumb" answers or brief explanations of the goodies in the package. I know the info is all out there and I will dig for it but I am dumb and want better simple explanations as an end user to help me out! My lame web page is a mess! I really only have a website to learn how to do this stuff and do it on my own. It will get better in time. Guess having the tools is the important part. Then the Content and a real reason to really have a web page at all comes next. Sorry to critisize a product I haven't spent time with yet. But if I get too frustrated I will go do other things and I would like to have a half a chance at keeping interested!! What I was saying about the help screens is they do not explain the purpose of the items well enough to understand their usefulness.

 

[E. T. Culling]

We all have libraries of hundreds of $$$ worth of books. Don't forget F1
HELP files and a google search will help you find tons of free tutorials.
Here's a few from me:
http://www.eleanorstravels.com/suggestedresources.htm
Eleanor

Thanks for the book suggestions! My post included lots of sarcasm! Yes I

like The product but to have to buy additional material to learn the product
is my gripe. To go to Microsofts site to find helpful tutorials and get
referred to additional products is like allowing microsoft to drop the ball.
I just wanted to suggest to Microsoft to provide "dumb" answers or brief
explanations of the goodies in the package. I know the info is all out there
and I will dig for it but I am dumb and want better simple explanations as
an end user to help me out! My lame web page is a mess! I really only have
a website to learn how to do this stuff and do it on my own. It will get
better in time. Guess having the tools is the important part. Then the
Content and a real reason to really have a web page at all comes next. Sorry
to critisize a product I haven't spent time with yet. But if I get too
frustrated I will go do other things and I would like to have a half a
chance at keeping interested!! What I was saying about the help screens is
they do not explain the purpose of the items well enough to understand their
usefulness.

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

Not true for everyone.

I do have a library of books, which are basically in brand new condition, as
I found that what I wanted to do or learn was never covered, so personally,
I have found buying books to be a waste of money, so I own no books on FP
(past FP98) or ASP, etc.

Everything that I have needed to do/learn is available from the various
resource sites on the internet and easily found using the ? in the IE
address bar (MSN) or visiting one or more of the various search engines.

--

==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, Forums, WebCircle,
MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================

 

[chris leeds]

my books weigh more and are more valuable than all my computer stuff, except
my cameras.

 

[Kathleen Anderson [MVP - FP]]

Ping Pong,

- Please do not post in HTML, not everybody can read it nicely and
it makes the file bigger for no good reason.

Ping Pong is posting at
http://communities2.microsoft.com/c...page.client&cat=en-us-frontpage&lang=en&cr=US ,
which is currently defaulting to Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Utf-8"

 

[chris leeds]

what does that mean?

 

[E. T. Culling]

I think this is a big spoof because Ping Pong is really
<[email protected]> whose been around here for quite a
while. I think he's putting us on!

So ya open the box and start using this product and you know it does make

nice professional looking pages. But do you have to allready be an expert
from the get go? It seems like there is no real laymen help for
understanding how things work. I have used Front Page 98 and 2000 and
realize it takes time to learn stuff but why is it so darn troublesome to
find good explanations for the features that are available? Am I the only
one that feels this way? I guess that is why we love to compute and torture
ourselves using MICROSOFT products. OK it is only the second day I have had
the box open but geeeeeze louise I should have my website completed by now!

 

[Stefan B Rusynko]

Actually (e-mail address removed) is anyone who posts thru the web newsgroup interface and does not supply an email
address - so it's lots of people

--




| I think this is a big spoof because Ping Pong is really
| <[email protected]> whose been around here for quite a
| while. I think he's putting us on!
|
| | > So ya open the box and start using this product and you know it does make
| nice professional looking pages. But do you have to allready be an expert
| from the get go? It seems like there is no real laymen help for
| understanding how things work. I have used Front Page 98 and 2000 and
| realize it takes time to learn stuff but why is it so darn troublesome to
| find good explanations for the features that are available? Am I the only
| one that feels this way? I guess that is why we love to compute and torture
| ourselves using MICROSOFT products. OK it is only the second day I have had
| the box open but geeeeeze louise I should have my website completed by now!
|
|

 

[Kevin Spencer]

I'm pretty much with you, Tom. I do buy a book occasionally, particularly
with a new technology, just to familiarize myself with the territory, and
rely on online and electronic resources, such as the Microsoft MSDN Library,
and of course Google, for continuing reference.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
..Net Developer
http://www.takempis.com
Big Things are made up of
Lots of Little Things.

 

[E. T. Culling]

Interesting!

Actually (e-mail address removed) is anyone who posts thru the

web newsgroup interface and does not supply an email

 

[Kathleen Anderson \(MVP - FrontPage\)]

chris:
Are you talking to me? Check the link - there's other ways to read and post
to these groups besides Outlook Express.

--

~ Kathleen Anderson
Microsoft FrontPage MVP
Spider Web Woman Designs
http://www.spiderwebwoman.com/resources/

 

[chris leeds]

I was. I didn't understand your post.

chris:
Are you talking to me? Check the link - there's other ways to read and post
to these groups besides Outlook Express.

--

~ Kathleen Anderson
Microsoft FrontPage MVP
Spider Web Woman Designs
http://www.spiderwebwoman.com/resources/