As many of you know, I have been a fan of WebAssist since they first released Eric Meyer’s CSS Sculptor for Expression Web quite some time ago. As Microsoft made changes to the program and dropped the ability to customize Expression Web with the release of version 3.0, WebAssist stopped selling CSS Sculptor while still supporting its current users. Well, WebAssist is BACK and will again be supporting Expression Web users with the release of Version 4. Expression Studio 4.0 was launched this morning at Internet Week in NYC. You can download a trial version of Expression Web 4
The announcement on the WebAssist site says:
Welcome Expression Web Users.
Experience Matters! For over ten years, WebAssist has been creating the leading design and development extensions on the market that help Dreamweaver users build better websites, faster. We are now excited to take the tools that have helped tens of thousands of developers and make them available for the Expression Web community.
WebAssist has a lot in store for Expression Web and we look forward to providing you the tools you need to help you achieve your goals!
What is an Expression Web Add-in?
An Expression Web Add-in is an external software package that provides additional or enhanced functionality within Expression Web 4.
The first offering is a add-in to help you add PayPal buttons to your site and it is offered FREE! Payment Buttons for PayPal quickly and easily add eCommerce to your websites without any coding knowledge.
Future Offerings for Expression Web Users
Watch for the next add-ins which will be coming soon CSS Site Building Tools which will include:
- CSS Page Generator
- CSS Forms
- CSS Menu Navigation
- Additional Commerce Ad-ons
Additional Solutions for EW Users
WebAssist also offers a a variety of complete pre-built PHP solutions to help users overcome common obstacles encountered with PHP web development. They include:
- Solution Suite includes all five of the php solutions listed below.
- PowerStore a complete pre-built online store.
- PowerCMS is an easy to use content management system.
- PowerGallery displays images with a photo gallery.
- Contact Form which will make it easy to add a contact form to your site.
- User Registration adds a pre-built user registration to your site.
So head on over to WebAssist and check out what they have to say about their commitment to Expression Web users.
SUMMER SALE
With the launch of Expression Web 4.0 scheduled for June 7th at Internet Week in New York, what better time to think about migrating your website from Frontpage to Expression Web. To celebrate the summer season, the Migrating from FrontPage to Expression Web Ebook is now on sale. Usually priced at $29 you can now obtain it for $22. The book’s authors, Tina Clarke and Pat Geary are both Microsoft MVP’s for Expression Web.
If you are thinking about updating your site or moving from FrontPage to Expression Web this is the ebook to help you figure out just how to do that with the least work possible.
Obtain your ebook at http://frontpage-to-expression.com/ and save some credit crunch monies just in time for the summer holidays.Your purchase also gives you access to additional lessons and templates in the owners/students section of the site.
You can obtain other f ree ebooks and f ree templates at the following sites
http://any-expression.com/
http://expression-web-tutorials.com/
http://www.frontpage-to-expression.com/site-templates/
http://www.genealogy-web-creations.com/
Remember that if you are a licensed owner of Expression Web 3.0, you will be entitled to a FREE upgrade to Expression Web 4.0 once it is released. So get a head start on getting your site up to current web standards. Buy the Migrating from FrontPage to Expression Web, save some money, and start the migration process.
Happy Summer Holidays!!
Expression Studio 4.0, of which Expression Web 4.0 is a part, is due to be launched at Internet Week New York which is held June 7th thru June 14th. The actual launch is on June 7th from 11:00am to 1:00pm. If you are going to be in New York and would like to attend the launch, you can register at Microsoft Expression Studio 4 Launch. RSVP’s ARE REQUIRED.
Internet Week is a festival celebrating New York City’s Internet industry and community. Bill Buxton will be the featured guest speaker, he is the Principal Researcher at Microsoft and author of the book “Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design.“ The worldwide launch of Microsoft Expression Studio 4, design tools for the Web, the desktop, mobile devices, and Silverlight is just one part of this festival.
Remember, if you are a current owner of Expression Studio 3.0 OR Expression Web 3.0 you are entitled to a FREE upgrade to Expression Studio 4 or Expression Web 4.0 once it is available. Expression Studio 3.0 is available from the Microsoft Store at 40% off.
If you are still using Expression 1.0 or 2.0 NOW rather than later may be the perfect time to upgrade. You can also enter Tina Clarke’s 404 Design Page for a chance to win a fully licensed version of Expression Web 3.0.
Fellow MVP, Tina Clarke, is offering a full Expression Web 3.0 product key for the winner of the best design for a 404 error page. If you are the lucky winner, you will also be able to upgrade to Expression Web 4.0 for FREE when it is released. She is also offering a 2nd Prize of her Expression Web Tips Vol l and Vol ll Ebooks and a 3rd Prize of her Expression Web Tips Vol l Ebook.
What you have to do to enter the contest.
Design a 404 error page that uses a play on words or a play on a specific photo, or introduces a double meaning or even a pun. You can enter as many times as you wish BUT the entry has to be your own original work either for your site or a client’s site.
Once you have designed your page, and published it to your server, head on over to Tina’s Expression Web Blog, click on the Contact page on the menu and enter the following:
- Name
- Email
- link to the page or 404 page design
- Indicate Expression Web Contest
You can read all the details on Win Expression Web 3.0 by creating a custom 404 page. Remember, you must use the Contact Page on Tina’s Blog to post your entry.
Implementing 404 error pages.
Check with your hosts help files to find out how to implement the error pages for your server. I have tutorials on both BlueHost and 1and1 and have found links for three others.
What if I can’t implement a 404 page?
Not to worry. If your host does not allow custom 404 pages for whatever reason just upload the page as a page and enter it as the design.
Have fun with a chance to win a great prize AND learn more about using custom error pages. The contest runs until May 31, 2010
Morten Rand-Hendriksen is a fellow Expression Web MVP and the author of Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Expression Web 3 in 24 Hours and is a guest poster for the Expression Web Team Blog with his timely article Rule over the true powers of Find. If you have not used the Find feature in Expression Web, you are missing out on a great tool. Morten writes:
If you use Expression Web or most any text editing and reading software, you likely already use the Find feature to search for text. But if you’re one of the few who is not using the Find feature in Expression Web, you are likely wasting time doing repetitive tasks the program can do for you far more efficiently. I don’t know about you but for me time = money and I like to spend as little of the former to get as much of the latter as possible. And to that end Find is an important tool in my toolbox. In this post, I’ll breeze over the basic Find features everyone should already be using, and then dive deeper into a few scenarios for using more advanced Find options called HTML Rules.
Read Rule over the true powers of Find and find out for yourself how YOU can use this great feature to help with your own work flow.
