Item: SharePoint Designer (discontinued)
Rating: 6
Author: Doreen Giles

Overall Satisfaction with SharePoint Designer

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Currently, I am using SharePoint Designer to manage apps, edit HTML pages and manage files. I thought I would use it more to edit forms but I prefer InfoPath. I find it more useful to edit. When I want to get a clear picture of the hierarchy in SharePoint, I use SharePoint Designer. I find it difficult at times to navigate the breadcrumbs to get to what I want. It does not seem to be too forgiving when you want to navigate from one subsite to another.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Allows me to go directly to the file structure I want to examine.
Allows me to move files from one area within a site to another.
Good for editing the HTML code within a page.

Cons

Navigation between sub-sites and beyond the entry point is not seamless. I find it difficult to get to the root of a directory structure if I have not started there.
Would love to be able to do WYSIWYG in some form. I have only used it for a year but I have not found anything fancy to do.
I would like to be able to work in a development site and easily move to the production site.

Return on Investment

For my needs, I have not found SharePoint Designer useful for my day to day maintenance of SharePoint. It is useful for viewing all the objects that make up the SharePoint site.
It is not as intuitive in regard to setting up Workflows. I have yet to use it to set up workflows in SharePoint. Maybe if I needed more complex workflows, it would be beneficial.
I like to use SharePoint Designer for moving around files within SharePoint sites.

Alternatives Considered

I prefer InfoPath for designing forms for use in SharePoint over SharePoint Designer. I have not used SharePoint Designer for designing pages in SharePoint. I have found it easier to work directly in SharePoint. Granted I have only had the product for a little over a year.

Other Software Used

Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator CC

Likelihood to Recommend

SharePoint Designer is good if you want to do a custom page design—editing the master page in SharePoint. I have never done this. I like to use SharePoint Designer for moving pages around within a site. It is not as easy if you want to move pages between sites. If I am looking to edit HTML or apps, I am able to track down code through the SharePoint Designer interface. It is useful for locating all the files that make up pages. It is not my go-to for design because I would rather use an interface where it is WYSIWYG and not bounce from one screen to a browser to view the results of changes made.

Comments

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SharePoint Designer Novice