Corrie Haffly - Expression Web Interview

Name: Corrie Haffly
Country: USA
WebSite: http://PixelMill.com
Focus: Expression Web and FrontPage

Expression Web Interview with Corrie Haffly

Q 1. Do you own and maintain your own FrontPage/Expression Web resource(s)?

A. I'm the main writer for http://PixelMill.com FrontPage and Expression Web support resources, including our ongoing newsletter which usually has a FrontPage or Expression Web article included.

Q 2. Do you have a special tip for Expression Web you can share with our readers?

A . Change your perspective. Expression Web is simply a different tool than FrontPage, although many things are similar. Once I was able to accept that Expression Web was different than FrontPage, I was able to learn to work with Expression Web instead of trying to do things I was used to doing in FrontPage.

Q 3. What feature would you most like to see available within the next version of Expression Web and why?

A . Bring back include pages! I also think a standards-compliant version of former FrontPage link bars (that could be adjusted through a Navigation View) would be very useful to many people. Even having a "link bar" that is generated through a Navigation View, but that creates basic HTML links in a bulleted list that could then be styled by CSS would be hugely useful. And I have to agree with others who have mentioned improving the FTP interface.

Q 4. What Expression Web Add-on would you most like to see available and why?

A. I'd like to see new ways to preview a page -- without the style sheet
applied, with just a print or other media style sheets. Expression Web took a huge step forward with the many useful visual aids that are included, and I think there could be more along those lines.

Q 5. As a staff writer you write many articles on FrontPage/Expression Web. What started you down this road and why?

A. I started out designing themes and templates for FrontPage, but
eventually also got involved with customer support and realized that there were a lot of people who wanted to learn more about using FrontPage (and eventually, Expression Web). Now, I'm involved not only in writing support articles as they are needed, but also writing for the PixelMill newsletter and providing training webinars to help people transition from FrontPage to Expression Web, from WYSIWYG to really comprehending CSS and HTML.

Q 6. What Expression Web or Web design good practices do you recommend our readers follow?

A. Expression Web is more of a developer's tool, so it's really best to
start learning some HTML and CSS so that you can really use it to work efficiently. Without really understanding HTML or CSS, you miss out on a lot of the powerful features that come with Expression Web and could end up with a pretty clunky, overloaded web site.

Q 7. What five sites do you recommend should be in our readers web design arsenal?

A .
a/ https://www.w3schools.com/ for some quick HTML and CSS guided lessons.
b/ https://www.smashingmagazine.com/ always has wonderful, useful resource articles.
c/ http://cssremix.com/ (site closed) is a great place for design inspiration Site Closed
d/ https://www.sitepoint.com/ has books, forums, articles, and other resources for beginners and beyond.
e/ https://alistapart.com/ has thought-provoking articles if you're looking for more "meat" about web standards and design.

Q 8. Do you have any luminaries within Expression Web and the Web Design industry in general and who do you model your practices after?

A. I recently read Transcending CSS by Andy Clarke and found it a very illuminating book.

Q 9. What advice would you give to readers who are used to using the wizards and bots of FrontPage and want to move to Expression Web and a more user friendly site?

A. Read the Microsoft White Paper:
Microsoft Expression Web White Paper

Q 10. Can you tell our readers of any upcoming Expression Web activities or just launched projects you have planned?

A. PixelMill has a webinar series in the works to start in September about transitioning from FrontPage to Expression Web. We'll be announcing it very soon from our home page, http://pixelmill.com/