Quite often as you are working on your website, you need a quick way to comment and uncommnent your code as you test various code combinations. Expression Web 4 with SP2 gives you a new feature – Universal comment/uncomment. Highlight the line or lines of code you wish to comment or uncomment and use Ctrl + J to add the correct commenting syntax for the language you are currently working with be it PHP, JS, CSS, HTML. To uncomment the code, use Ctrl + Shift + J.
The add-in model in Expression Web SP2 has changed slightly and Ian Haynes has released revisions for three of his Free add-ins for Expression Web 4. They may be downloaded from the Expression Gallery. If you have been using these add-ins and have installed Service Pack 2, you will need to remove them and install the newest version.
Ian has also uploaded two collections of snippets for SP2
He has also updated his tutorial on using SP2 snippets. Check out all of Ian’s add-ins offered in the Expression Gallery.
Service Pack 2 for Expression Web 4 has been released. You can download it from http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=26699. Expression Web 4 SP2 applies significant fixes and improvements to publishing, SuperPreview, file management, extensibility, and other areas of the programs.
You can watch a video on Expression Web 4 SP2 Workspaces Demo as well as Expression Web 4 SP2 Code Editing Demo.
You can get a more complete description of Expression Web 4 SP2, including a list of issues that are fixed, in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article entitled “Description of the Microsoft Expression Web 4 Service Pack 2.” (This link appears not to be live as yet.)
Some of the improvements include:
- jQuery IntelliSense
- Thumbnails in Folder View (Vista & Win7 only) – The preview area is resizeable. Just above the top folder you will see 5 tiny gray dots that you can grab and drag down.
- New Snippets Panel
- Universal comment/uncomment
- Workspaces
- Custom toolbars
- Interactive Snapshot
Steven Guttman. who is the Director of Product Management for Expression Web, has written about the newest features of Expression Web 4 SP2.
How to Determine if Expression Web 4 SP2 is Installed
In Expression Web 4, click the Help menu, then click About Microsoft Expression Web. If Expression Web 4 SP2 is installed, the following version number appears:
Microsoft Expression Web 4 Version 4.0.1303.0 SP2
Ian Haynes, the creator of a number of Expression Add-ins that have been mentioned here previously has just published a new one, WinPop add-in for Expression Web V4. WinPop creates ‘accessible pop-up windows’. Accessible means that they can be read by screen readers and continue to work if a user has JavaScript turned off. It has all the usual browser options for the pop-up windows and can create the pop-up link from text, existing links or images.
Once you have installed the add-in following these instructions How to Install Add-ins, you will see a new entry on the Insert menu which launches the add-in and there are brief help notes in the main Help menu.
 Screnshot Insert Popup Window Menu Item. How to use the WinPop add-in
- From the Insert menu > select PopUp Window
 Screenshot WinPop Dialog Screen
- Fill in the Main Parameters which are mandatory:
- Select the Options you wish to include with the popup window.
- Click Insert.
You can then preview your page in your favorite browser, click the hyperlink and you will see the pop-up window you just created. The code you entered will contain the following target="xPopUp" which will NOT validate if you are using a Strict doctype statement but the pop-up window works perfectly. You can view a working example of the WinPop add-in in action on my genealogy site. Click on family history in the first paragraph, and a pop-up window will open to a Wikipedia article.
You can download WinPop from the Expression Web Gallery or directly from Ian’s site, EW Resources. Thanks Ian for another great ad-in for Expression Web 4.
You can download all of Ian’s Expression Web Add-ins from the Expression Web Gallery.
Expression Web 4 Service Pack 1 (SP1) has just been released and applies significant fixes and improvements to publishing, SuperPreview, file management, extensibility, and other areas of the programs. This service pack provides support for HTML 5, CSS3, and PHP 5.3 as well as the ability to visually diagnose user authenticated pages with SuperPreview.
What’s new in Expression Studio Web 4 SP1
You can read all about what is covered in What’s new in Expression Studio Web 4 SP1.
Knowledge Base article on Description of Expression Web 4 Service Pack 1
- Expression Web 4 SP1 provides complete support for HTML 5 in the Code Editor and significant support in Design View. IntelliSense in the code editor makes it easy to insert the new HTML5 tags into your markup. Block and inline elements are easily selectable in Design View, where they can be styled and adjusted.
- Expression Web 4 SP1 provides support for hundreds of new properties from the draft CSS3 specification. In addition to IntelliSense support, CSS3 is supported in the CSS Properties pane, as well as the New Style and Modify Style dialog boxes.
- Expression Web’s expanded PHP support now incorporates IntelliSense for the latest functions from PHP 5.3, as well as providing support for over 130 additional PHP modules (including many PEAR-related libraries). Function tooltips now offer information about the version in which a given function became supported by PHP. The Open As PHP feature allows any file (regardless of extension) to be treated as a PHP document by the program.
- It’s now easier to find and type extended HTML characters with Expression Web’s IntelliSense Character Entities. As soon as you type a “&,” you’ll get a list of the HTML character entities that filters as you continue to type.
- The Expression SuperPreview online service is a beta service that extends the capability of SuperPreview to include support for additional browsers and operating systems. Remote browsers include Chrome, IE8, IE9 and Safari 4 and 5 on Windows and Mac.
- Expression SuperPreview allows you to preview web content that requires user authentication. For example, if you want to preview an administration page for a blog site, you typically have to log on with administrative credentials. You can now enter logon credentials, browse to the page of interest and preview that page in multiple browsers through Expression SuperPreview.
- Internet Explorer 9 is now supported as a local browser for both SuperPreview and the Expression Web Snapshot feature, and Internet Explorer 8 is now built into these preview tools. If you have Internet Explorer 9 installed, you can view page renderings in Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, and Internet Explorer 9. Additionally, Expression Web 4 Service Pack 1 detects more browsers installed on your system (including Chrome, Safari and Opera) and automatically populates the Preview in Browser menu.
System Requirements
- Supported Operating Systems:Windows 7;Windows Vista;Windows XP Service Pack 3
- PC with 1 GHz or faster processor
- 1 GB of RAM or more
- 2 GB or more of available hard-disk space
- .NET Framework 4.0
- Silverlight 4.0
- Support for Microsoft DirectX® 9.0 graphics with Windows Vista Display Driver Model (WDDM) Driver, 128 MB of graphics RAM or more, Pixel Shader 3.0 in hardware, 32-bits per pixel
- DVD compatible drive
- 1024 x 768 or higher resolution monitor with 24-bit color
- Internet functionality requires Internet access (additional fees may apply)
- Some product features require FireFox 3.0 or later, Internet Explorer 8
Instructions
To install this update, do one of the following:
- Visit Microsoft Update (recommended). Microsoft Update consolidates updates provided by Windows Update and Office Update into one location and enables you to choose automatic delivery and installation of high-priority updates.
- Download Service Pack 1. In the Install dialog box, click Run.
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Expression Web Tips Expression Web Tips is the sister site of Expression Web Tutorials & Templates.
Here you will find short tips, links to longer tips and tutorials, and other information that will help you in working with Expression Web.
Look for special announcements on classes that can help you learn, video tutorials, free templates. We'll post links to addons, both free and commercial that can help extend the capabilities of Expression Web.
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