Expression Web 3 Service Pack 1 now available

Good news for everyone who has been looking for root-relative links in Expression Web 3: The new Service Pack 1 (SP1) now has this feature along with a host of other requested upgrades such as the return of optional Windows colours rather than the cool and stylish but dark user interface.

New stuff

Cut straight from the Knowledge Base article, here’s a full rundown of the new features:

Extensibility

Supports add-ins that use the Expression Web object model.

Root-relative links

Supports root-relative hyperlinks.

PHP files that do not use the *.php file name extension

Adds support for Drupal and CakePHP template files. Expression Web 3 SP1 now recognizes .module, .install, .inc, and .ctp as valid PHP extensions.

Application color scheme

Provides an improved black and gray color scheme that better reflects the appearance of the Microsoft Expression Studio 3 family of products. Expression Web 3 SP1 also provides a new Application Options setting that lets you select the Windows color scheme instead of the default color scheme.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 META tag and Web Slice support

Contains new code examples to support features that are specific to Internet Explorer 8. The new code examples include META tags specific to Internet Explorer 8, plus a new Web Slice code example. You can access the code examples by pressing Ctrl+Enter in Code view.

Old fixes

The Service Pack also addresses a bunch of standing issues with the original release. Again cut straight from the Knowledge Base article:

• Fixes a problem in which multiple tasks are undone when you use the Undo feature.
• Resolves a problem in which an invalid link is generated when you drag an image from the Folder List panel into the Code view of a page.
• Enables you to select text in the Design view of a page more easily and more accurately.
• Resolves a crashing issue caused by nonstandard or corrupted fonts that are installed on your computer.
• Fixes a problem in which tags that begin with <?php are renamed after you rename a file.
• Resolves a problem in which Japanese characters are altered.
• Resolves a problem in which the source file is deleted after you copy a file from one instance of Expression Web 3 and then paste the file into another instance of Expression Web 3.
• Restores the ability to drag files into a selected folder in the Folder List panel.
• Enables connections to each destination without restarting the application when multiple publishing destinations are specified on the same FTP server and when only the user credentials are different for those destinations.
• Fixes several problems in the workflow between Expression Web and Team Foundation Server.
• Shows the correct file status in Publishing view after you publish a site.
• Updates the file status and publishing log when you use the Publish Selected Files command to publish one or more files. Additionally, Expression Web 3 SP1 displays the publishing progress in the Publishing Status panel.
• Provides several fixes that make sure that pages accurately display in SuperPreview.

Users ask, the Expression team delivers

The release of Expression Web 3 SP1 comes on the heels of an extensive process where the Expression Web team went out and asked users and MVPs what features they wanted to see added or improved in Expression Web 3. As a result much of what you see in this upgrade is actually based on what we, the users, have requested. Which I have to say is very cool. Two such examples are the root-relative links (which I requested back in the early days of EW2) and the application colour scheme which was removed from EW3 and many MVPs wanted back. More than anything this shows that the team are working hard to listen to the end users and creating the application the end user wants. Which is more than I can say for a lot of other software developers.

Go get it right now (it’s free)!

If you’re running Expression Web 3, go to the website and the the Service Pack right now. It’s a one-click install you can download directly by clicking here. It’s also available in mutliple languages other than English.