Finally, at long last, after much encouragement from others, and much discouragement in trying to modify Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, I have decided to begin my blog.
I remember my first experience at Web development. It began with .NET. I never had the pleasure of using classic asp; for that matter, I didn't even know HTML! As I began developing in .NET I often heard FrontPage mentioned, but it seemed to be a “dirty word“. “Real developers don't do FrontPage“. With all I had to learn, I was glad to find something I did NOT have to learn *whew*, so I dove into .NET and Web development like a “real“ developer should and never once opened FrontPage.
A while ago, I began working with WSS. “It can be used right out of the box, no coding is necessary“. This seemed like a great way to introduce using a methodology to some project leaders that had never heard of RUP, Use Cases etc. I discovered it was easy to throw some sites up (the more I worked with the sites I created, the more it looked like I had literally thrown them up). Lists were just as easy. Then I decided I wanted to “tweak” some things. Once again, I read and hear, “don't use FrontPage, it will cause your pages to be unghosted and problems will follow“. Cool - still don't need to learn FrontPage. I soon discover that modifications usually means, delete everything you've done and do it over. That was ok for the first few times; it gives much practice and reinforces learning. After several times though; even this old girl didn't want to practice any more. Back to reading and learning I go. I soon discover that to truly modify WSS, one must use FrontPage. The beginning lines of the chapters - “we assume you are competent in the use of FrontPage, this book does not cover learning Front Page”. But.. I thought I wasn't supposed to be using FrontPage. Turns out, I do need FrontPage to modify WSS. Today, there was an ice storm, and I spent the entire day creating a project template for our organization and list templates to go with it. I now know how to copy and paste in FrontPage; but do I need to know more? Do I need to learn how to be a “not for real“ developer before I can become a “real” developer? Will I ever be a “real” developer? Do I even want to be a “real” developer?
In my next few posts, I will share some of the things I discovered about WSS as I created a “standard project site“ and the associated lists. If you have used WSS without integrating with Project Server to help manage projects, let me hear from you.