Microsoft SharePoint Designer
Encyclopedia
Microsoft SharePoint Designer (formerly known as Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer) is a specialized HTML editor
and web design
freeware
for creating or modifying Microsoft SharePoint
sites and web pages. It is a part of Microsoft SharePoint family of products. It was formerly a part of Microsoft Office 2007
families of products, but was not included in any of the Microsoft Office suites.
SharePoint Designer and its sister product, Microsoft Expression Web
are successors of Microsoft FrontPage
. While Expression Web serves as the full-featured successor to FrontPage, SharePoint Designer features focuses on designing and customizing Microsoft SharePoint websites. For instance, it only includes SharePoint-specific site templates. It retains more FrontPage features than Expression Web, such as web components, database, marquee, hit counter, navigation bars, map insert, etc. Although SharePoint Designer 2007 (the first version of this product) could be used as a generic HTML editor, SharePoint Designer 2010 (the subsequent version) may no longer operate in absence of Microsoft SharePoint Server or Microsoft SharePoint Foundation.
SharePoint Designer shares its codebase, UI and HTML rendering engine with Expression Web, and does not rely on Internet Explorer
's Trident
engine.
The first version of this product, SharePoint Designer 2007, was a commercial software
product. On March 31, 2009 however, SharePoint Designer 2007 was made available as a freeware. On April 24, 2009, Microsoft released SharePoint Designer Service Pack
2. On April 21, 2010, SharePoint Designer 2010 was released and made available for download. On October 24, 2011, Microsoft released SharePoint Designer Service Pack 3.
HTML editor
An HTML editor is a software application for creating web pages. Although the HTML markup of a web page can be written with any text editor, specialized HTML editors can offer convenience and added functionality. For example, many HTML editors work not only with HTML, but also with related...
and web design
Web design
Web design is the process of planning and creating a website. Text, images, digital media and interactive elements are used by web designers to produce the page seen on the web browser...
freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
for creating or modifying Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint is a web application platform developed by Microsoft. First launched in 2001, SharePoint is typically associated with web content management and document management systems, but it is actually a much broader platform of web technologies, capable of being configured into a wide...
sites and web pages. It is a part of Microsoft SharePoint family of products. It was formerly a part of Microsoft Office 2007
Microsoft Office 2007
Microsoft Office 2007 is a Windows version of the Microsoft Office System, Microsoft's productivity suite. Formerly known as Office 12 in the initial stages of its beta cycle, it was released to volume license customers on November 30, 2006 and made available to retail customers on January 30, 2007...
families of products, but was not included in any of the Microsoft Office suites.
SharePoint Designer and its sister product, Microsoft Expression Web
Microsoft Expression Web
Microsoft Expression Web, code-named Quartz, is an HTML editor and general web design software product by Microsoft. It is part of the Expression Studio suite....
are successors of Microsoft FrontPage
Microsoft FrontPage
Microsoft FrontPage was a WYSIWYG HTML editor and web site administration tool from Microsoft for the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. It was branded as part of the Microsoft Office suite from 1997 to 2003...
. While Expression Web serves as the full-featured successor to FrontPage, SharePoint Designer features focuses on designing and customizing Microsoft SharePoint websites. For instance, it only includes SharePoint-specific site templates. It retains more FrontPage features than Expression Web, such as web components, database, marquee, hit counter, navigation bars, map insert, etc. Although SharePoint Designer 2007 (the first version of this product) could be used as a generic HTML editor, SharePoint Designer 2010 (the subsequent version) may no longer operate in absence of Microsoft SharePoint Server or Microsoft SharePoint Foundation.
SharePoint Designer shares its codebase, UI and HTML rendering engine with Expression Web, and does not rely on Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
's Trident
Trident (layout engine)
Trident is the name of the layout engine for the Microsoft Windows version of Internet Explorer.It was first introduced with the release of Internet Explorer version 4.0 in October 1997; it has been steadily upgraded and remains in use today...
engine.
The first version of this product, SharePoint Designer 2007, was a commercial software
Commercial software
Commercial software, or less commonly, payware, is computer software that is produced for sale or that serves commercial purposes.Commercial software is most often proprietary software, but free software packages may also be commercial software....
product. On March 31, 2009 however, SharePoint Designer 2007 was made available as a freeware. On April 24, 2009, Microsoft released SharePoint Designer Service Pack
Service pack
A service pack is a collection of updates, fixes or enhancements to a software program delivered in the form of a single installable package. Many companies, such as Microsoft or Autodesk, typically release a service pack when the number of individual patches to a given program reaches a certain ...
2. On April 21, 2010, SharePoint Designer 2010 was released and made available for download. On October 24, 2011, Microsoft released SharePoint Designer Service Pack 3.