Google App Engine

Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was developed by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain ofblogspot.com. Blogs can also be hosted in the registered custom domain of the blogger (like www.example.com). Soblogspot.com domain publishings will be redirected to the custom domain. A user can have up to 100 blogs per account.

Up until May 1, 2010, Blogger allowed users to publish blogs on other hosts, via FTP. All such blogs had (or still have) to be moved to Google's own servers, with domains other than blogspot.com allowed via custom URLs. UnlikeWordPress.com, Blogger allows its users to use their own domain free of charge, while WordPress.com charges around $13 to use a custom domain. Blogger cannot be installed on a web server. One has to use DNS facilities to redirect a custom URL to a blogspot domain.

Redesign

As part of the Blogger redesign in 2006, all blogs associated with a user's Google Account were migrated to Google servers. Blogger claims that the service is now more reliable because of the quality of the servers.

Along with the migration to Google servers, several new features were introduced, including label organization, a drag-and-drop template editing interface, reading permissions (to create private blogs) and new Web feed options. Furthermore, blogs are updated dynamically, as opposed to rewriting HTML files.

In a version of the service called Blogger in Draft, new features are tested before being released to all users. New features are discussed in the service's official blog. In September 2009, Google introduced new features into Blogger as part of its tenth anniversary celebration. The features included a new interface for post editing, improved image handling, Raw HTML Conversion, and other Google Docs-based implementations, including:

• Adding location to posts via geotagging.
• Post time-stamping at publication, not at original creation.
• Vertical re-sizing of the post editor. The size is saved in a per-user, per-blog preference.
• Link editing in compose mode.
• Full Safari 3 support and fidelity on both Windows and Mac OS.
• New Preview dialog that shows posts in a width and font size approximating what is seen in the published view.
• Placeholder image for tags so that embeds are movable in compose mode.
• New toolbar with Google aesthetics, faster loading time, and "undo" and "redo" buttons. Also added was the full justification button, a strike-through button, and an expanded color palette.

In 2010, Blogger introduced new templates and redesigned its website. The new post editor was criticized for being less reliable than its predecessor.

Available languages

Blogger is available in these languages: Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Norwegian, Oriya, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu Vietnamese. Nepali, Farashi.Bemba,Tonga,Tumbuka and Cewa.

Country-specific blogger addresses

Starting in February 2013, Blogger began integrating user blogs with multiple country-specific URLs. For example, exampleuserblogname.blogspot.com would be automatically redirected to exampleuserblogname.blogspot.ca in Canada, exampleuserblogname.blogspot.co.uk in the United Kingdom. Blogger explained that by doing this they could manage the blog content more locally so if there was any objectionable material that violated a particular country's laws they could remove and block access to that blog for that country through the assigned ccTLD while retaining access through other ccTLD addresses and the default Blogspot.com URL. However it should be noted that if a blog using a country-specific URL was removed it is still technically possible to still access the blog through Google's No Country Redirect override by entering the URL using the regular Blogspot.com address and adding /ncr after the .com.

Available designs

Blogger allows its users to choose from various templates and then customize them. Users may also choose to create their own templates using CSS. The new design template, known as "Dynamic View", was introduced on 31 August 2011 with Dynamic Views being introduced on 27 September 2011. It is built withAJAX, HTML5, and CSS3. The time for loading is 40 percent shorter than traditional templates, and allows user to present blog in seven different ways: classic, flipcard, magazine, mosaic, sidebar, snapshot, and timeslide. Readers still have the option to choose preferable views when the blog owner has set a default view. Some of the widgets (e.g., Labels, Profile, Link List, Subscription Links, Followers and Blog Archive etc.) are available for Dynamic Views; other templates are chosen by the blogger.

In April 2013, Blogger updated its HTML template editor that has some improvements to make it easy for the users to edit the blog's source code. The editor was updated with syntax highlight, number line and jump-to-widget button for ease of editing the code.

For over half a year dynamic views users were suffering from a bug causing custom CSS and page navigation often not to load properly. This happened because aJavaScript routine rendered the page before it was loaded. A blogger user fixed the template and published the fix.

Integration

• The Google Toolbar has a feature called "BlogThis!" which allows toolbar users with Blogger accounts to post links directly to their blogs.
• "Blogger for Word" is an add-in for Microsoft Word which allows users to save a Microsoft Word document directly to a Blogger blog, as well as edit their posts both on- and offline. As of January 2007, Google says "Blogger for Word is not currently compatible with the new version of Blogger", and they state no decision has been made about supporting it with the new Blogger. However, Microsoft Office 2007 adds native support for a variety of blogging systems, including Blogger.
• Blogger supports Google's AdSense service as a way of generating revenue from running a blog.
• Blogger also started integration with Amazon Associates in December 2009, as a service to generate revenue. It was not publicly announced, but by September 2011 it appeared that all integration options had been removed and that the partnership had ended.
• Windows Live Writer, a standalone app of the Windows Live suite, publishes directly to Blogger.
• Blogger can be optionally integrated with Google+.
• Google+ comments can be integrated with blogger comments.
• The Campaigns tab in Blogger dashboard links to Adwords making it easier to create ads .
• You may create and add HTML site map static page  to your blogger BlogSpot blogs using Blogger JSON Feed API which helps both website live visitors as well as Search Engine bots.

Blogger on mobile devices

Blogger has launched mobile applications for users with mobile devices. Users can post and edit blogs, and also share photos and links on Blogger through their mobile devices. Not only advanced mobile devices, such as smartphones, are being considered, since users can also post blogs via traditional cell phones by SMS and MMS.

Screenshot of Blogger app on iOS

The major two mobile operating systems that Blogger focuses on are Android and iOS. Blogger allow users to edit blogs anywhere through the app and either publish the blogs or save them as drafts. Quick navigation from posts and drafts is accessible from a list. Users can attach photos by taking a picture with a Blogger app or selecting pictures from their photo galleries. Sharing current locations on posts is also possible by tabbing My Location bar and adding locations. Users can also share photos and links directly to Blogger.

Read More

Google Sites

Google Sites is a structured wiki- and Web page-creation tool offered by Google as part of the Google Apps for Workproductivity suite. The goal of Google Sites is for anyone to be able to create a team-oriented site where multiple people can collaborate and share files.

History

Google Sites started out as JotSpot, the name and sole product of a software company that offered enterprise social software. It was targeted mainly at small-sized and medium-sized businesses. The company was founded by Joe Kraus and Graham Spencer, co-founders of Excite.

In February 2006, JotSpot was named part of Business 2.0, "Next Net 25", and in May 2006, it was honored as one of InfoWorld's "15 Start-ups to Watch". In October 2006, JotSpot was acquired by Google. Google announced a prolonged data transition of webpages created using Google Page Creator (also known as "Google Pages") to Google Sites servers in 2007. On February 28, 2008, Google Sites was unveiled using the JotSpot technology. The service was free, but users needed a domain name, which Google offered for $10. However, as of May 21, 2008, Google Sites became available for free, separately from Google Apps, and without the need for a domain.

Features

• Custom Domain Name Mapping — Owners of both personal Google accounts and Google Apps for Business accounts are allowed to map their Google Site to a custom domain name.

• Multi-tier Permissions and Accessibility — There are three levels of permissions within Google Sites: Owner, Editor and Viewer. Owners have full permissions to modify design and content of the entire Google Site, whereas editors cannot change the design of the site. Viewers can only view the site and are not permitted to make any changes to text or otherwise.

Extension

• Gadgets — XML modules that can be embedded in a Site and may contain custom CSS and JavaScript. Gadgets achieve two purposes:

1. Separation or Abstraction — the custom code can be abstracted to a distinct file
2. Reuse — the same gadget can be reused by multiple sites as it is published publicly

• HTML Box — allows embedding custom HTML, CSS and JavaScript, but with following limitations:

1. one HTML Box cannot interact or refer to code outside including other HTML Boxes
2. Script cannot create another script, image or link tags

Limitations

• 100 MB of storage (for free account) and 10 GB of storage for Google Apps users
• No open use of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or JavaScript. JavaScript can be used within the confines of an embedded gadget or the HTML box. Inline CSS can be used within the webpage content area.
• Limited e-store capabilities, have to use the Google i-store gadget to add a shopping cart, iframe a third-party e-store provider such as Amazon, or use a Google Buy Now button.
• A site can also be displayed on a custom domain (e.g. www.example.com, wiki.example.com, support.example.com), but one must own the domain and have access to change the CNAME records.
• Limited use of HTML coding. HTML is checked and modified when saved, Javascript is made safe with Caja. CSS cannot be incorporated in the theme templates; however, inline CSS can be used within the webpage content area.
• No longer serves .html/.htm Web pages, like Google Pages did. All static HTML Web pages previously hosted on Google Pages can be migrated to Google Sites, but users later attempting to access them, as well as Portable Document Format (PDF) or other migrated files, must download those files in order to view them.
• Sites that are hosted in Google Sites are not available to residents of countries where Google Services are blocked.

Censorship

• Following a regional Turkish court ruling in 2009, all pages hosted on Google Sites had been blocked. It was done after one of the pages contained an alleged insult of Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 2012 the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) ruled this a breach of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Yildirim v Turkey, 2012). However, as of October 2013, Google Sites remained fully blocked to users in Turkey

Read More

Google Web Designer

Google Web Designer is a program for Windows, Mac and Linux from Google for creating interactive HTML5 ads and other HTML5 content. It offers a GUI with common design tools, such as a Text tool that integrates with Google Web Fonts, a Shapes tool, a Pen tool, and 3D tools. The advertising feature set is more complete with components to addGoogle Maps, YouTube videos and more, as well as automatically including the tracking code events for DoubleClickand AdMob.

Read More

Microsoft Dynamics Software

There are six separate products that make up the Microsoft Dynamics family: Microsoft Dynamics AX, GP, NAV and SL are enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions; Microsoft Dynamics CRM is Microsoft’s customer relationship management offering; Microsoft Dynamics RMS - short for retail management system - is Microsoft’s retail business software offering.

In general, Microsoft Dynamics GP, NAV and SL are intended for small and medium enterprises, and Microsoft Dynamics AX is best suited for larger enterprises. This is not to say, however, that a small organization should not use Microsoft Dynamics AX or a large organization should not use one of the other three. All four have been implemented in all sizes - and types - of organizations.

Microsoft Dynamics AX is a good option for companies with multi-site and/or multi-country operations. It is known for having strong functional support for manufacturers and distributors. Microsoft Dynamics NAV also offers strong functional support for manufacturing and distributing, though it’s highly configurable and has many vertical partners that offer market solutions. Microsoft Dynamics GP, meanwhile, offers strong financial management and human resources capabilities. It is popular in professional services, finance and the public sector. Finally, Microsoft Dynamics SL is good for project-based businesses such as construction. Click on any of the links below to learn more about a specific product.

Products

Dynamics AX

Dynamics CRM

Dynamics GP

Dynamics NAV

Dynamics SL

Dynamics RMS

About Microsoft Dynamics

The Microsoft Dynamics portfolio first started with Microsoft’s acquisition of Great Plains Software in 2001. During the acquisition, Microsoft also gained Solomon, which was previously acquired by Great Plains Software. In 2002, Microsoft acquired the Danish software company Navision and at the same time picked up the Axapta product. Combined, these four products made up Microsoft’s Business Solutions Group, which was later renamed Microsoft Dynamics. To further unify the brand, the four products were renamed to Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Read More

25 Best Business Software Tools and Web Services

Anyone who says their business "runs itself" probably owes a great debt of gratitude to a small army of software applications and Web services that tirelessly feeds the machine from behind the scenes. From creating and storing documents and staying on top of e-mail to keeping the books and getting teams working together, it takes a lot of code to run a business, or at least to run it well. But setting up your company isn't as easy as just fishing apps out of a barrel. You want the best you can get, and at a price that isn't through the roof.

With capability and frugality firmly in mind, we rounded up 25 of our favorite software tools and Web services that we deem the best for powering small and medium-size businesses. Of course, not every business needs every type of program or service, but if your small business could use some help in any of the categories below, our list will give you a pretty good shot at picking a winner.

Accounting Software

Intuit QuickBooks Pro

The flowchart-based accounting of QuickBooks is as close to a standard in financial management as the small-business world has, and it's arguably the easiest way for nonprofessionals to transfer their books from the filing cabinet to the computer, where they belong. Most actions, from cutting a check to billing a client, are just a click or two away from the start screen. ($200)

Backup and Recovery

Mozy

You can (and should) regularly back up files to an external hard drive or NAS (network-attached storage) de­­vice in your office--but what if the whole place goes up in smoke? Hedge your bet with an online backup service like Mozy, which automatically archives whatever you'd like across the Internet, safe and sound. Just select what you want backed up, and Mozy does the rest, either in bulk while you sleep, or in real time, as files are changed. ($5 per month for unlimited service)

Blogging Tool

WordPress

If your business still doesn't have a blog--one of the best ways around to provide up-to-date company and product news--you're only about three years behind the curve. Hey, it's not too late to catch up: WordPress installs in minutes (it even offers a free, hosted option on WordPress.com), and the platform is dazzlingly easy to use (the site's home page carries an ad for WordPress for Dummies, but we doubt you'll need to crack that volume). WordPress so simple, your team will be begging to contribute to the blog instead of whining that it's too laborious. (free)

Calendar

Sunbird

Mozilla's Thunderbird (our e-mail pick; see that category below) lacks a calendar, so most business users rely on the equally free Sunbird for scheduling. It's a very straightforward application, with day, week, and month views, and even a publishing feature to enable sending your calendar to a Web site, should you wish to make it public. Get the Lightning plug-in to integrate Sunbird directly with Thunderbird. (free)

Collaboration

Vyew

With Vyew, anyone can host an Internet session that lets scattered colleagues work together on a project in real time. This Web conferencing platform gives you a very simple whiteboard where you can upload documents for discussion, share your desktop, or create designs from scratch. You don't even have to register to use Vyew, but if you do, you get access to VoIP and other audio services. (free for up to 20 live participants; additional services extra)

Collaboration/Office Suite

Google Docs

If your team members all have Google accounts (and why wouldn't they?), sharing files and collaborating on them simultaneously and in real-time is a snap with Google Docs. A word processor and spreadsheet are your only choices--no free-form whiteboarding here--but the service is free and easy as pie to operate. Upgrading to the Premier Edition brings extra space (a 25GB limit versus 7GB for free) and a conference-room scheduling system. (Standard Edition is free)

CRM

Salesforce.com

Customer relationship management isn't just for the Fortune 500. Even one-person shops can benefit from a more ordered approach to managing the sales process, tracking leads, and ensuring that follow-ups are done in a timely fashion. Salesforce.com requires some training and patience due to its vastness, but its exhaustive feature set and affordable pricing options make it a business must-have. ($8.25 to $250 per user per 

Database

FileMaker Pro is more intuitive than Access, with many prebuilt templates to get you started.

FileMaker Pro

Access is a part of many editions of Microsoft Office, but if you don't already have that database program in your toolkit, consider springing for FileMaker Pro instead. This database application is more intuitive than Access, while offering high-end features like live SQL data source support and easy Web-publishing capabilities, so your whole team can access the database via a browser. And its array of prebuilt templates helps you get up and running in no time. ($299)

E-Commerce Service

Yahoo Small Business

You'd be surprised at some of the sophisticated things being done with the simple e-commerce service at Yahoo Small Business. Yahoo provides everything from templates and wizards to credit-card processing and sales-tax collection. If you sell less than 50,000 units, this is definitely one of the easiest and quickest ways to go online. Even better: A small army of third-party developers stands ready to create Web designs that work specifically with the service. ($40/month and up, plus transaction fees)

3

E-Mail

Thunderbird

If you have Microsoft Office, you already have Outlook, the industry-standard e-mail app. But if you're looking to save a buck and still get most of Outlook's features, Thunderbird is a capable, free alternative. Message tagging and a speedy, integratedsearch system actually offer a few improvements over off-the-rack Outlook. (free)

Yahoo Zimbra Desktop

Another interesting, non-Outlook e-mail option is Zimbra Desktop, which Yahoo acquired earlier this year. In simple terms, the Zimbra Desktop is an offline version of Zimbra's capable Web-based e-mail manager. It includes everything a small-business user needs: a contact manager, an impressive calendar, a to-do list, and even a simple, integrated document manager for quick note-taking. (free)

E-Mail Marketing

Topica

Don't call it spam: Communicating via e-mail with your customers is cool, as long as they opt in. Topica has been in the e-mail marketing/mailing-list game for years, and most spam filters are pretty kind to messages that are sent through its service. Topica is also one of the most affordable of such e-mail marketing platforms that you can find on the Web--and it sure beats running a mailing list server yourself. ($50 per month and up depending on e-mail volume)

 

Instant Messaging

Pidgin

You don't have to run four different instant-messaging applications just to communicate with your clients and with everyone in your office. Multiprotocol software like Pidgin allows you to communicate with users across more than a dozen IM services: Not just AIM, ICQ, and other biggies, but also lesser-known ones like Gadu-Gadu (it's Polish) and Zephyr. Trillian is similar, but it supports fewer services. (free)

Invoicing

Zoho Invoice

Don't need a full-fledged accounting app like QuickBooks? Zoho Invoice is a near-perfect Web-based solution for managing simple billing needs. Create and manage customer accounts, build invoices, and then print or e-mail them with a mouse click. You can also tie in your use of Invoice with Zoho's other, extra-cost business services. See our full review of Zoho Invoice. (free to $35 per month depending on invoice quantity)

 

Mobile Device Remote Access

SoonR Desktop

It's one thing to be stuck in an airport without access to a critical file back at the office, but what if you don't even have access to a computer? Enter SoonR, which lets you snag files from your PC or Mac via a mobile phone. SoonR isn't built for serious data transfer needs--but it just might get you out of a jam when it counts. (free)

Office Suite

Microsoft Office

Like it or not, any business, big or small, probably needs at least one copy of Microsoft Office somewhere in the building. All of the suite's applications are simply too close to being industry standards to ignore. It can be pricey, but you likely needn't worry about upgrading to the latest version--anything produced since the turn of the century should do. ($85 to $400 per user, depending on version)

OpenOffice.org

Don't want to fork over beaucoup bucks for Office? We can't blame you--and this alternative suite will work for 95 percent of your productivity needs. OpenOffice.org is mostly compatible with Microsoft Office, and operations are similar enough that any Microsoft user should have no trouble using it. The big three apps--word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation tool--are all here, along with a simple database and drawing tool. One caveat: OpenOffice has trouble with Office 2007 files; but the imminent new version, OpenOffice 3, is said to remedy that limitation. (free)

Project Management

Basecamp

Build complicated project timelines, to-do lists, and message boards, and share files among your team members-all via one simple-to-use Web tool. Basecamp can keep all your workers on task while letting everyone else know what other team members are up to. It can even track project time on a per-member basis, for creating detailed billing and reports when the job is done. ($24 to $149 per month, depending on number of projects managed)

Remote Access/Syncing

LogMeIn

If all you need is occasional access to a single PC that isn't within walking distance, you can get by with this simple remote-access tool. LogMeIn lets you quickly connect to your office computer to grab a file or check an application you don't have on your laptop, all via any computer with a Web browser. (free to $20 per month)

Syncplicity

If you regularly use more than one computer, keeping track of which machine has which version of which report can get a little confusing. The solution: Synchronize the PCs so you can ensure they're all up-to-the-minute, while protecting yourself in the event you made different changes to the same file on more than one PC. Unlike most traditional sync software, Syncplicity works over the Web, so you can sync from anywhere. (free for 2GB limit, to $10 per month for 40GB limit)

Security Suite

Avira's antivirus packages start with a free version for individual PCs.

Avira AntiVir

Yes, you need to protect your business with a solid antivirus package, but big-name, enterprise-level protection can be really expensive. At its most basic, Avira offers security for individual PCs for free (if you're willing to deal with one ad pop-up per day); but if you need protection for file and mail servers or other central services, Avira can provide such tools as well, for a generally reasonable price. (pricing varies by protection level)

Social Networking

LinkedIn is a social networking service for business.

LinkedIn

When it comes to finding employees, contractors, service providers, and even outsourcing partners, LinkedIn has proven to be an invaluable tool for many businesses. But the real beauty of LinkedIn is something that becomes apparent only with use and time: As you expand your network--recommending other businesses, and otherwise participating--you may find that other LinkedIn users are recommending your business, as well. In addition, a Q&A system lets you ask for general advice on all matters business. (free, up to $50 per month for premium services)

Task Manager

Chandler is a free, easy-to-use task manager.

Chandler

Post-it notes and day planners are so 1988. Get your schedule, brainstorming notes, to-do lists, and just about anything else you have tacked up around your office into one place--your PC, that is--with Chandler. This free, open-source application gives you deep control over your day while still being easy enough to use that you'll never have to crack the manual. (free)

VoIP

Skype for Business

Spend megabucks on your own PBX (private branch exchange), or spend nothing for a voice-over-IP setup like Skype for Business? If you're on a shoestring, the answer is clear. Sure, Skype can't easily handle things if, say, you want to run a tech support call center out of your basement. But for modest calling needs-especially if you place a lot of international calls-Skype is a solid and hugely affordable choice. (free software; subscription up to $9.95 per month for unlimited international plans)

VPN

LogMeIn Hamachi

There's no need to set up complicated VPN (virtual private network) servers to give remote users secure access to the corporate network: Hamachi (which recently became part of LogMeIn) does the job with managed peer-to-peer technology, so no centralized VPN server is necessary. It's easy to set up, easy on the budget, and your subscription gets you LogMeIn's remote desktop system, too. ($5 per month)

Read More

Microsoft Expression Web

Microsoft Expression Web, code-named Quartz, is an HTML editor and general web design software product by Microsoft. It is available free of charge from Microsoft and is a component of the discontinued Expression Studio.

Expression Web can design and develop web pages using HTML5, CSS 3, ASP.NET, PHP, JavaScript,XML+XSLT and XHTML. Expression Web 4 requires .NET Framework 4.0 and Silverlight 4.0 to install and run.^[2]Expression Web uses its own standards-based rendering engine which is different from Internet Explorer'sTrident engine.

Version history

On May 14, 2006, Microsoft released the first Community Technology Preview (CTP) version of Expression Web. On September 5, 2006, Microsoft released Beta 1. Beta 1 removed most of the FrontPage-proprietary (non-standard) features such as bots (use of FPSE features for server-side scripting), parts, functions, themes, automatic generation of navigation buttons, FrontPage forms, navigation pane to build a web site's hierarchy, and other non-standard features available in CTP 1. The Release To Manufacturing version was made available on December 4, 2006. The first and the only service pack was published in December 2007.^[5] Expression Web does not have the form validation controls for HTML fields like FrontPage, but supports validator controls for ASP.NET.^[6]

Microsoft Expression Web 2 was released in 2008.^[7] Expression Web 2 offers native support for PHP and Silverlight. No service packs have been released for version 2.

Microsoft Expression Web 3 was released in 2009. Until version 2, Expression Web was the only application in the Expression Studio suite based on Microsoft Office code and dependencies.^[9] With version 3, Expression Web was rewritten in Windows Presentation Foundation, in line with the rest of the Expression Suite, without Microsoft Office dependencies. A result of this was features like customizable toolbars and menus, standard Windows color scheme, spell check, DLL addins, file menu export feature, drag-and-drop between remote sites, comparing sites by timestamp, automatic language tagging, basic macro support were removed in this version. Other features like Undo do not work reliably. Version 3 introduced Expression Web 3 SuperPreview tool for comparing and rendering webpage in various browsers. Also noted was the lack of support for root relative links, links that start with a "/" to refer to the root of a web server. This feature was added with Expression 3 Service Pack 1. Service Pack 2 for Expression Web 3 was released in April 2010.

Microsoft Expression Web 4 was released on June 7, 2010. It added the option of HTML add-ins, and access to a web-based SuperPreview functionality, for testing pages on browsers that cannot be installed on the user's system (such as Mac OS X or Linux browsers). Microsoft Expression Web 4 also provides an SEO Checker which analyzes produced web site against the best practices for getting the highest possible search-engine rankings. Version 4 does not bring back all the features removed in Version 3.^[22] Expression Web 4 Service Pack 1 was released in March 2011 and added support for IntelliSense for the HTML5 and CSS3 draft specifications in the Code editor, HTML5 and CSS3 support in the CSS Properties palette, selected CSS3 properties in the Style dialogs, semantic HTML5 tags in Design View and new PHP5.3 functions. Expression Web 4 SP2 was released in July 2011, and fixed a number of issues and introduced new features such asjQuery IntelliSense support, a panel for managing snippets, Interactive Snapshot Panel, comment/uncomment functionality in Code View, and workspace and toolbar customization

Read More