Expression® Web Design
Task Panes
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Expression Web has a few menus at the top. You probably see them and might not ever use any of them. They are called File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Tables, Site, Data View, Task Panes, Window, and Help. These menus will help you do quite a bit with your website, like saving pages, find / replace (text / code), insert hyperlink, check for spelling errors, and of course help you with using Expression Web.You can close some of these task panes by clicking on the X that is in the upper right hand corner of that particular task pane. There are a few task panes that you can be shown while working in your Expression Web website. These task panes can help you easily manage different elements, form controls, CSS properties, etc.
When you click on Task Panes, some might have a checkmark beside them. These
are task panes that are shown in Expression Web. For example, you can see
that I have the Folder List, CSS Properties, Manage Styles, Toolbox, and Find 1
task panes opened. You can close the ones you do not need to have more
room possibly for editing your website.
- Folder List: This helps to show the pages and folders in your website.
- Tag Properties: This task pane allows you to see all of the attributes set for that particular element and gives you the ability to modify or add new attributes.
- CSS Properties: You can easily see all the styles for the element that is highlighted at the time and all the values of those styles.
- Layout Tables: Allows you the tools needed to create and modify tables.
- Apply Styles: This task panes lists the styles that are defined in that page - internal or external. It enables you to apply, remove, rename, delete, and modify styles. You can also attach (or detach) external style sheets. You can also select all instances of a style.
- Manage Styles: You can modify, rename, apply, and delete styles. You can also attach or detach style sheets with this task pane.
- Behaviors: You can add behaviors to elements and manage behaviors that have been added to those elements.
- Layers: This task pane will help you see all the divides that are set absolute or relative in that web page. You can also add or delete divides and modify these divides.
- Toolbox: This pane will allow you to drag HTML elements, form controls, and .NET controls to your web page.
- Data Source Library: If you are using any data connections (like XML or databases), you can add, edit, or delete these connections.
- Data Source Details: This task pane helps to display the hierarchy and contents of your XML file.
- Conditional Formatting: This task pane helps you to customize the formatting of the XML data in a Data View. You can also choose whether or not the data is displayed and how it is displayed.
- Find 1: This task pane helps you to search multiple pages in the website.
- Find 2: This task pane allows you to search the multiple pages in the website without losing the information from the first search (Find 1 Task Pane).
- Accessibility: This task pane helps to create accessibility reports for pages in your website.
- Compatibility: This task pane helps to check HTML / CSS pages for possible code errors and incompatible code based on the DOCTYPE.
- Hyperlinks: This task pane will help list the status of the hyperlinks and paths to let you know if they are broken, ok, or unknown.
- CSS Reports: This task pane will help you display a report of possible style errors or the type of styles that are being used.
- Reset Workspace Layout: When you first start Expression Web, the Folder List, Tag Properties, Apply Styles, and Toolbox task panes are shown on either side of the editing window. They are usually "docked" but can be moved or closed. If you accidentally move a task pane to an area that you cannot see or resize, you can use this menu item to reset the workspace.
Reset Workspace Layout
This menu item can become your best friend if you accidentally move a task pane behind another task pane, making it inaccessible. Choosing this option will reset the workspace of Expression Web back to the Folder List, Tag Properties, Apply & Manage Styles, and Toolbox task panes.
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