Professional Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer),   ISBN:9780470287613

Customer Rating: 

Maybe it was my expectation, but I thought this was a terrible book to learn from. (I'm new to SharePoint, and have no prior knowledge of SPD). My issue with the book is there are no activites(NONE), and it reads like technical or reference manual not a programming book.

I figured by chapter 5 or 6 I would have added my corporate logo, changed colors, tables, components, saved and backed out changes created my own "Theme" etc....Nope, I haven't even opened SharePoint Designer yet, and the branding related chapters are over.

I got this book to quickly learn how to brand our site using SharePoint Designer. What it seems like I got was a very wordy description of seemingly every component, and line of code on the site without actually USING the SPD tool. It's possible that after I learn SharePoint Designer I can go back to this book for further reference, but right now I need a "hand's on" book with specific learning activities.

Customer Rating: 

I heard about Woody's book several months ago, and expected to see yet another 'create pretty pictures' book. I should probably mention that I am a hard-core developer and think anything that doesn't involve manually writing MSIL code is 'creating pretty pictures'.

However, Woody, Asif, and Bryan have done a marvelous job of making me regret those expectations. Not only have the managed to create an extremely good overview of many of the aspects of SharePoint Designer, but they have managed to do so in a way that is interesting and sparks a genuine desire to learn more.

I thoroughly enjoyed part III on creating applications without programming and especially the chapter on SharePoint Designer workflows. Even for someone who enjoys programming with a nail, two wires, and a battery, efficiency is still an issue. In addition and as mentioned, perhaps the biggest benefit I gain from the book is a desire to keep learning and exploring these topics.

And then I found the juicy stuff, the part that really made me fall in love with this book: Part V with three chapters full of real programming material. I especially enjoy that the chapter on web part development walks through all the steps of setting up and deploying the web part, without using any of the third-party tools available.

I'm no big fan of the masterpages and css material, but that's just me and I am certain that it is invaluable to those more interested in design than I am.

If I should point out one negative thing I would point out that the book tries to cover too much ground and isn't detailed enough. This may be a deliberate decision by the authors, and I can certainly understand that from a desire to appeal to as broad a user group as possible, but the sacrifice may be that of depth.

Overall, however, this is now officially one of my favorite books, and I will highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn both SharePoint and SharePoint Designer.

Customer Rating: 

I've been programming for over 25 years, and this is the worst book ever. I'm new to SharePoint Designer. I've started reading, I'm into chapter 5; I've read over 100 pages; and I've yet to create any kind of web page. There is NO activity...just background, with filenames and extensions described. This is useless. I've got to find a better book!

Customer Rating: 

I got this book as soon as I could, and it did not disappoint. As I was already familiar with SPD I started somewhere in the middle of the book. It helped me right away, particularly in the area of parameters and string queries. But I found a lot of value and insight into apects that I "thought" I had already understood when I went to the beginning and began reading from Chapter One. This book is rich and absolutely indespensible for someone like me (not a developer....yet) looking to further leverage no-code MOSS customization.

My thanks to the authors for providing this great resource.

LpCross

Customer Rating: 

In a marketplace where any book on SharePoint Designer 2007 is hard to find even a "mediocre" book would stand out. It's a good thing that Asif, Bryan, and Woody decided not to settle for a mediocre book. I was particularly impressed with Chapter 15 on "Creating Workflow Elements in Visual Studio". I've wrestled in the past with how to create custom actions to extend SharePoint Designer workflows. The book provides clear and concise coverage on exactly how to create your own custom actions. I just wish the book had been published before I had to build my first custom action. "Professional Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007" provides excellent coverage of an essential topic for any SharePoint Designer or Developer.