In my last few posts I've been discussing how to build Composite Applications using the out of the box functionality included in both Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. It is amazing to me how much you can do with the OOB functionality, especially given that WSS is "Free!" Inevitably at some point while you are building your Composite Application you will want to do something that you just can't do using the out of the box functionality. Enter Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer.
What is SharePoint Designer?
SharePoint Designer is half of the evolution of FrontPage, used in conjunction with Windows SharePoint Services or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. Expression Web is considered the other half of FrontPage's evolution and is used in non-SharePoint web design/development.
What can SharePoint Designer do?
- Rich Client for Web Content Management - Using SPD you can build pages, customize page layouts, create SharePoint Webs and Lists and lots, lots more.
- Branding Tool - You can use SPD to create and customize Master Pages for use in your SharePoint sites. It also supports rich CSS editing and WYSIWIG page editing.
- Workflow Designer - When connected to a SharePoint 2007 site you can use SPD to associate Workflows with lists.
- Composite Application Development Environment - The reason SPD is near and dear to my heart, SPD has a number of features that support the development of Composite Applications.
Where can I learn more?
The next few posts will focus on what you can do with SharePoint Designer. Once we're familiar with the basics, we'll introduce the Data View / Data Form Web Part and really, REALLY have some fun!