A Tangled Web

From the Oct. 2008 Issue

There’s a war of sorts raging over which platform will dominate the next generation of websites.

One contender is certainly the original Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML. But there is also new competition from Ajax, an advanced version of JavaScript. There is Adobe Systems’ Flash, which began as a format for multimedia and grew from there. And there is Microsoft SilverLight, a newcomer that the folks in Redmond would like to see become a major force.

Which of these platforms will dominate is a question of vital importance to web designers. But the more critical question for most accounting firms is what program will give them an easy way to create and update websites for the firm or for clients or simply to have some working knowledge of how to get documents online. A lack of knowledge in this area could brand an accountant as a 21st Century Luddite — the kind of non-technical person stuck using an AOL mailbox as that online service slowly dies.

There was a time when literally dozens of HTML editors were available for little or nothing. Simply drop in the pictures and text, upload the file to a website using an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) application, and you were done. But then the market for these programs largely died, FTP became a little-used way of sending files, and life got complicated for small businesses. What then to do?

The answer is and should be Microsoft Expression Web. The successor to the popular FrontPage website management program, Expression Web 2.0 has improved vastly since the first, less-effective versions. It offers simplified navigation, strong tools and nearly painless website updating. But Expression Web also has a drawback in that it has been designed for use by high-end web designers. It competes well with design packages such as DreamWeaver, but the learning curve can be steep and training tools are, at least to date, not up to the task.

For firms that can’t afford a full-time web manager, this is a major problem. It’s a problem that will be solved eventually, when Microsoft has time to develop better training or even a “light” version of Expression Web for the novice. In the meantime, there are three work-arounds that may help bridge the gap.

Use Microsoft FrontPage 2003
Though the FrontPage line of products is retired, the last version of it is reasonably priced and very serviceable. And it’s easy to learn and use, thanks to years of development work and a host of third-party tutorials if you need one. The major drawback is that in order to use the built-in website updating feature, the web hosting service must have “FrontPage extensions” installed. Fortunately, nearly every ISP has done this, and it should not be a hurdle. Eventually, these extensions will die out, but for today they are not a major obstacle.

Use Microsoft Publisher
For about the same price, Microsoft offers its desktop publishing program, which includes website design templates and automatic site updating. The program is nothing to write home about. It’s kludgy, and has limited templates with awkward use of graphic layers that make this an easy program to use but one with fewer options than I like for artistic flair and panache. Nonetheless, for offices already using Microsoft Office or those that want to get up and running in a jiffy, this is a good place to start.

Use Microsoft Word
Sure, Word can create HTML pages … though with tons of caveats involved. Uploading the pages will need to be done with the FTP software built into your operating system, and this can sometimes be painful and difficult. The pages themselves will be bloated with Word code. And it’s not easy to string pages together in an elegant fashion, as you can with any of the more advanced programs. But it will work in a pinch.