Foundation Website Creation with CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript Review

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Foundation Website Creation with CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript ReviewI purchase most CSS books that appear to have a different slant on the use of CSS. This book, although well written and authoritative, was less than I anticipated. It is, however, an excellent resource for those just now learning (X)HTML and CSS, et al. My complaint is simply that I overestimated its content. The writing style is clear and easily understandable and should be so to beginners as well. If considering a first book to learn these disciplines, this book is a good choice.Foundation Website Creation with CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript OverviewTextbook-style guide to Web development with Web standards: the why, what, and how in an easy-to-follow lesson plan. The importance of Web standards only grows larger as the number of Web developers increases, and this is the book for everyone joining the accelerating Web standards bandwagon.

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WordPress 2.7 Complete Review

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WordPress 2.7 Complete ReviewThis book helped me figure out how to convert an existing site to a WordPress theme, an especially challenging project since my existing html page design didn't have any clear header, middle, footer arrangement. I was able to figure out where I wanted to take things with my own theme development mostly from reading Chapter 6. (Getting under the engine with the WP template tags is far more empowering than following a tutorial that has you start out by fiddling around with an image in Photoshop.) Well written, too.WordPress 2.7 Complete OverviewWritten in a clear, easy-to-read style, the book takes you through the essential tasks required to create a feature-rich blog as quickly as possible. From initial setup to customizing modules, each task is explained in a clear, practical way using an example blog developed through the book. This book is a guide to WordPress for both beginners and those who are slightly more advanced. It's for people who are new to blogging and want to create their own blogs in a simple and straightforward manner, and it's also for people who want to learn how to customize and expand the capabilities of a WordPress web site. It does not require any detailed knowledge of programming or web development, and any IT-confident user will be able to use the book to produce an impressive blog.

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Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual Review

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Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual ReviewIf you spend much time on the Internet at all, at some point you've said to yourself, "Maybe I should have a web site." It can be a bit intimidating, and many people don't get beyond that "Maybe I should ..." phase. If you want to progress further, this book is for you.
The book is laid out in a logical progression from concept to interaction to making money with your site. Each stage of web "development" has its own section in the book -- which is a huge plus: you don't have to wade through a lot of basic information to get to what you want.
The first section covers the planning stage of website design. There's a discussion about choosing a hosting service (including the problems with using the free space that many ISPs give to their subscribers) and an overview of HTML editing software. There's also a brief introduction to HTML -- just enough to get you started.
Section two takes it from there. You've found a hosting service, you've got the software, and you have the skeleton of a site. NOW you want to make the site look good. This section covers pictures, links, and tables, and even goes into some basic CSS. You learn to turn a bunch of separate web pages into a web site, add content so people want to visit your site, and make the site look good so people want to come back.
Section three goes where the average HTML tutorial doesn't go and talks about driving traffic. Getting search engine hits, creating your own message boards, and even (once you get the traffic) making money on your site. This is the part of the book that will have broader appeal -- the information will be valuable to novices as well as more experienced webmasters. The only disappointment in this section was that the subject of hit counters and stat tracking services wasn't covered in much depth. I would have liked to have seen more information on the various tracking services, rather than a one-page mention.
Part four starts to enhance the site. Javascript menus and buttons, and audio and video. This is a dangerous section, and the book does preach caution in adding many of these features (I noticed that there was little mention of animated GIFs, which I was very thankful for). The section on creative menus using Javascript and DHTML was very useful, and I plan on implementing some of what I have learned on my own site after the first of the year. The section covering audio and video was brief, but contained enough information for the novice designer to completely annoy visitors with embedded audio. Thankfully, the council in this section was moderation in all things -- they make sure that novices realize how annoying embedded audio can be.
Part five covers blogging, specifically working with Blogger. This is a good idea, though most new bloggers will eventually want something more powerful. Syndication is also briefly explained (though they don't tell you how to create your own RSS feeds). Blogger-specific tweaks are covered briefly, and budding bloggers are encouraged to use the skills they've gained by reading the rest of the books to customize their basic Blogger templates.
This book is a valuable asset for novice website builders, and contains many useful tips for more advanced users (though most power users will find little in it that they don't know already). It's up to date with the latest standards, though they spent more time talking about using table tags for layout than I would have liked, and not nearly enough time on div tags. I understand CSS a lot better now than I did before, and I've got some great ideas for improving my own sites. I think that the most valuable part of this book -- and, really, one of the reasons I love O'Reilly books so much -- is the fact that you can do everything in this book with free software. You can use Dreamweaver or Frontpage, but you can make a great site using free software that's readily available on the Web. Highly recommended.Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual Overview
Think you have to be a technical wizard to build a great web site? Think again. For anyone who wants to create an engaging web site--for either personal or business purposes--Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual demystifies the process and provides tools, techniques, and expert guidance for developing a professional and reliable web presence.

Like every Missing Manual, you can count on Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual to be entertaining and insightful and complete with all the vital information, clear-headed advice, and detailed instructions you need to master the task at hand. Author Matthew MacDonald teaches you the fundamentals of creating, maintaining, and updating an effective, attractive, and visitor-friendly web site--from scratch or from an existing site that's a little too simple or flat for your liking.

Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual doesn't only cover how to create a well-designed, appealing, smart web site that is thoroughly up to date and brimming with the latest features. It also covers why it's worth the effort by explaining the rationale for creating a site in the first place and discussing what makes a given web site particularly aesthetic, dynamic, and powerful. It further helps you determine your needs and goals and make well informed design and content decisions.

Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual includes a basic primer on HTML, working with JavaScript, and incorporating services like Paypal's shopping cart, Amazon's associate program, and Google AdSense and AdWords. It delivers advanced tricks for formatting, graphics, audio and video, as well as Flash animation and dynamic content. And you'll learn how to identify and connect with your site's audience through forms, forums, meta tags, and search engines.

This isn't just another dry, uninspired book on how to create a web site. Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual is a witty and intelligent guide for all of you who are ready to make your ideas and vision a web reality.


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Web Development Solutions: Ajax, APIs, Libraries, and Hosted Services Made easy Review

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Web Development Solutions: Ajax, APIs, Libraries, and Hosted Services Made easy ReviewWeb Development Solutions: Ajax, APIs, Libraries, and Hosted Services Made Easy by Christian Heilmann and Mark Norman Francis left me with mixed feelings. The title lead me to believe there would be some more in-depth information related to the topics, but in reality the end of the title should have been Using Wordpress. The majority of this book focuses on Wordpress and how each of the topics relate to the blogging platform.
The reason I had mixed emotions is because on one hand, the authors made it seem as though web development is so easy your Grandma could do it, while on the other hand sliding in some disclaimers about needing more knowledge on different topics. I think that this book would give someone just enough material to be dangerous, but not enough to really understand web development as a whole. This book is geared to the beginner in web development, so I was hoping for some more solid material.
With that out of the way, lets take a closer look at the book and its contents:
The first chapter simply discusses the reason for starting up a website in the first place. There are many different reasons for many different people as to why they start a site. Some start for financial reasons (make money and advertising), while others start to share photos with family and friends. This chapter discussed several of these reasons for starting a website.
Chapter two was where the book really started to take off. This chapter discusses the Dilemma of "Rolling your Own" Solutions. We also get a brief crash course in several aspects related to web development.
The author gets you started by installing a local server on your machine with PHP and MySQL. After this is completed, the authors walk through an installation of Wordpress as we begin our journey. Basically every chapter after this will use Wordpress in one way or another.
This is where things get somewhat fuzzy. The chapters related to Ajax, APIs, and Libraries all revolve around Wordpress. The topics are not discussed in depth, but merely show you how to install an array of different plugins available to the Wordpress platform. Flickr, Youtube, Odeo, and Google Maps--all of which are presented as plugins for Wordpress.
The last few chapters involved some good discussions on promoting your content, navigation and layout, and finally--how to get help when you hit a roadblock. The last chapter really made this book worth the read, as it discussed the different ways to get help, the places to go, and how to ask for help in the different communities. There are some very helpful and important tips in this chapter as you seek help from your peers and colleagues.
Overall, the book was not a bad read--it just left me with mixed emotions due to the title of the book. The authors are very knowledgeable and that shows in each of the chapters. Though I felt the book made things look so easy, the authors were sure to point out that the solutions there were not in-depth, but enough to get you started. If you are just beginning your trek into web development, then this book would be a good read to get you up and running in no time flat. However--for long term involvement in the web, or a more in-depth discussion of the topics listed in the title, you may want to grab a few more books.Web Development Solutions: Ajax, APIs, Libraries, and Hosted Services Made easy OverviewBuilding "Web 2.0"/Ajax" applications is all the rage right now, and there is a lot of complicated code involved, but a lot of budding web developers don't realize that most of the hard work is already done for them, and available on the Web, through JavaScript libraries to provide most of that Ajax/DOM Scripting functionality out of the box, Application programming interfaces (APIs,) and hosting services such as Flickr and YouTube to provide all they need to easily store and retrieve their media (be it images, video, or whatever.)All the developer needs to know is enough to successfully wire together all this functionality successfully and responsibly, and this book shows you how. It assumes no knowledge at the start, showing how to set up an effective development environment, then moving on to building up a complete professional "Ajaxy"/"Web 2.0" site step by step, all using ready made functionality available on the web, including storing, retrieving, and displaying content, images and video, and effective site navigation, all topped off with a beautiful CSS layout.But it doesn't stop here. The reader is also shown how to promote their content to attract visitors to their site, and how to find a hosting partner.The techniques contained within this book are becoming increasing more in demand by aspiring and existing web developers, all wanting to be a part of the new generation of the web.

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The Author Online: A Short Guide to Building Your Website, Whether You Do it Yourself (and you can) or You Work With Pros Review

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The Author Online: A Short Guide to Building Your Website, Whether You Do it Yourself (and you can) or You Work With Pros ReviewSuccinct, genial, and indispensable. Never mind whether you plan to work with a web designer, you'll want to start by reading this book.The Author Online: A Short Guide to Building Your Website, Whether You Do it Yourself (and you can) or You Work With Pros OverviewYou've written your book. Now create your website.This brief manual, written by a longtime publishing veteran who now builds websites for authors, is designed to help you conceive, plan, and create your own unique presence online. It's not a technical book but instead focuses on the large questions that all writers must wrestle with as they plan their website: Who do you want to be online? What do you want to do there? And where do you start?A central premise of The Author Online is that anyone who can write a book is capable of building his own website. New technology and open source innovations make it easy, affordable, and even fun - a creative act unto itself. But like writing a book, it requires thoughtful and careful planning.The Author Online is filled with ideas, advice, and real-world examples. It also includes results from the first and only comprehensive survey of author websites and invaluable insights into:* the features readers look for on their favorite author websites* whether or not to blog or Twitter, and how to approach both in an authentic, effective way* when and how to work with designers and/or programmers* how to create a content plan for your site* how to use analytic data as an editorial toolVisit the companion website, TheAuthorOnline.com, for more information including a constantly updated and detailed list of online resources andtools plus dozens of sample author websites.

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XML: Your visual blueprint for building expert websites with XML, CSS, XHTML, and XSLT Review

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XML: Your visual blueprint for building expert websites with XML, CSS, XHTML, and XSLT ReviewThis book presents some good, simple information. The screen shots are nice except they are hard to read if you want to try to recreate them on your own. My biggest objection to the book is its use of XMLSpy as an application of creating the XML. XMLSpy, as the book indicates, is very expensive and not at all necessary for successfully completing an exercise in xml. This is particularly true for such an elementary book as this.XML: Your visual blueprint for building expert websites with XML, CSS, XHTML, and XSLT OverviewIf you're a visual learner, you'll love the only guidebook series that takes a visual approach to professional-level computer topics. High-resolution screen shots demonstrate over 100 key XML techniques, including choosing a text editor, adding entities and CDATA to XML documents, restricting the recurrence of elements, and generating XML using Access or Excel. Learn to create an XHTML transitional page, loop and sort with XSLT, debug with Firebug, and much more. Succinct explanations walk you through step by step.

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AdvancED DOM Scripting: Dynamic Web Design Techniques Review

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AdvancED DOM Scripting: Dynamic Web Design Techniques ReviewUPDATE (3-17-08)
I bought this book again because the material is definitely good. I'm really bummed Friends Of Ed let it go to press with all these errors though. I mean, come on--I'm finding errors all over the place! That is a great disservice to Sambells. But I've decided the material is worth wading through the many, many copy editing oversights. I'm crossing my fingers I don't get stuck troubleshooting typos in the code that choke my browser. That could easily waste hours of my time.
-=-=-
I was pretty excited after I dropped the $50 or so to by this book because the contents are right down my alley. Unfortunately, I could hardly make it out of Chapter 1 for all the typos and editorial oversights. Here are a few as an example:
PG 34 -- "myVarialbe" instead of "myVariable"
PG 35 -- "when you retrieving" instead of "when you are retrieving"
PG 36 -- references a function called "initAchors()" that isn't used in the example code for that example. initAnchors() appears in the next example on the next page.
PG 37 -- number of iterations in loop changes from 3 to 5 from 1st example to 2nd example for no apparent reason - this is confusing and distracts from the point being made.
PG 37 -- Figure 1-7 shows three objects in diagram instead of the 5 needed (one for each loop)
This is all in just 3 pages!
This is the part of the book I started reading first so I assume the rest of the book is going to be as poorly edited/ proofread. This surprises me as I own over 5 or 6 titles from the Friend Of Ed series and I don't recall ever seeing so much as a typo in any of them.
Overall, I think the book shows promise. But I can't tolerate errors like this in a programming book. They are difficult enough to read already without having to figure out what the message was "supposed" to be.
I'm returning this book to the store. When it reaches a later edition I may give it another go. It needs some serious "debuggin" first though.AdvancED DOM Scripting: Dynamic Web Design Techniques OverviewDOM Scripting is a vital technique for web developers and designers to learn and master in the modern web development arena, for adding dynamic effects to web applications such as animations, maps, drag and drop, and more.At friends of ED, we kick-started the interest in this subject with Jeremy Keith's acclaimed book DOM Scripting (friends of ED 1590595335.) And now, with AdvancED DOM Scripting, we're aiming to take the reader further-AdvancED DOM Scripting starts where the original DOM Scripting left off, assuming the reader has already mastered the basics, and taking them further, with countless real world tutorials. It is the first book to exclusively cover advanced DOM Scripting techniques, and reads like a wish list of must have dynamic web application features, including visual effects using JavaScript libraries, Ajax, Mashups using APIs, and much more.

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HTML5 Multimedia Development Cookbook Review

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HTML5 Multimedia Development Cookbook ReviewThis book offers a comprehensive look into the latest HTML evolution.
Easy to read and understand, even if you are new to HTML, they will guide you step by step and you will
find that creating a website is child's play! The clever tips and tricks throughout
the book are appreciated as well as the outside links offering further knowledge on the subject.

After all, if you're going to create a new website, why not do it right the first time! You'll
understand that a proper website will also give you proper
positioning in search engines and that is something you definitely want. As search engines are
constantly evolving, your way of coding evolves with it and this book covers it all.

It is fresh, new, smart and clean. It explains how much more flexible HTML5 is.
The bits of codes help understand the html transition to its new form. New attributes reduce the use of
Javascript, browser support and so much more.

It's a must read!HTML5 Multimedia Development Cookbook OverviewWritten in a cookbook style, this book offers solutions using a recipe based approach. Each recipe contains step-by-step instructions followed by an analysis of what was done in each task and other useful information. Web developers who value the need to stay ahead of the game. This cookbook will give you the edge with practical recipes for wielding this new technology immediately.

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Dreamweaver CS4 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide Review

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Dreamweaver CS4 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide ReviewThis is an excellent resource book. It is written for both the the beginner and the advanced user. I have read a wide variety of books on this subject, I have found this to be the easiest, best text.Dreamweaver CS4 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide OverviewWith the release of Adobe Creative Suite CS4, Dreamweaver solidifies its role as the de facto tool of choice for anyone using Photoshop and designing for the Web. Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide uses a combination of task-based instruction and strong visuals to teach beginning and intermediate users how to create, design, and publish powerful, innovative Web sites with Dreamweaver. Leading technology authors Tom Negrino and Dori Smith take readers step-by-step through the new features in Adobe Dreamweaver CS4, with completely revised chapters on critical tools like linking and including images and Flash animations. They also cover improvements to using styles and CSS in Dreamweaver, and the new Code Navigator in Dreamweaver CS4. Beginning users will learn to create their first Web site, add text, style and position page content, manage styles, work with links, incorporate images, media, tables, forms, and frames, design site navigation, and so much more. Experienced users will find this a convenient reference to the new features of Dreamweaver CS4.

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HTML and JavaScript BASICS (Basics (Course Technology)) Review

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HTML and JavaScript BASICS (Basics (Course Technology)) ReviewWeb pages are written in HTML, and Barksdale teaches this for an absolute novice. Hopefully, you should find it easy to follow. HTML's rapid success was due in no small part to this ease of use. It is also not a procedural language, though sometimes it is mistakenly called that. What Barksdale shows about HTML is that it is a declarative language. That is, you say that certain text should be written in a given colour or font style or size, and at a certain relative location on the page. You tell the browser what you want shown, and it has to implement that.
But Barksdale goes beyond HTML. As a display language, it is very limited. Whereas he shows how you can use JavaScript as a client side [ie. running on the browser] language, to perform actual programming tasks. JavaScript is a good functional complement to HTML, as you might appreciate.HTML and JavaScript BASICS (Basics (Course Technology)) OverviewThis BASICS series text, updated to include the latest information on JavaScript and HTML, provides an easy-to-follow, step-by-step introduction to all aspects of HTML and JavaScript programming. Topics covered in the book include HTML organization techniques, HTML power techniques, using images with JavaScript, and using forms with JavaScript.

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Teach Yourself VISUALLY Web Design (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech)) Review

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Teach Yourself VISUALLY Web Design (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech)) ReviewI like Huddleston's books and use them to teach introductory web design. His books are not for seasoned web designers or web developers, but for the novice person who is just learning how to write html and css. In this new book, he amps it up a little more, with more information on graphic design (from a heavy Adobe stance, I might add), which is very helpful in learning how to implement aesthetics for a website. I don't think you can find a book that will teach you color theory and aesthetics and html and css and javascript, etc. I believe such a tome would be daunting, to say the least. I have found that you always need two manuals to get the full tutorial - one that teaches code, and one that teaches aesthetics. But moreso, you need PRACTICE and TRIAL AND ERROR and PATIENCE in order to hone your coding skills and sense of aesthetics in web design. It takes time, and no one book is going to be the magic button that makes it all click because we all think and perceive aesthetics differently. This Huddleston text does a great job, imho, introducing all you need to know (or try to know) to create dynamically beautiful websites, by writing raw code. He keeps with his open-faced 2-paged instructions for each topic, along with full color screenshots. Thus he doesn't overwhelm you with text and you get the visual learning as well. What more can we ask for? Bravo to Huddleston on another very useful text.Teach Yourself VISUALLY Web Design (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech)) OverviewThe mechanics of Web design made easy for visual learners
An effective Web site combines good graphic design principles with a functional user interface. This colorful, step-by-step guide shows visual learners how to plan, develop, and publish a site, all with easy-to-follow lessons. Each task is illustrated with screen shots accompanied by numbered steps. You'll learn all the tools and techniques for creating great-looking Web sites that users will love.
Good Web design incorporates basic graphic design principles as well as the techniques required to make a site easy to navigate and user-friendly
Those who learn best when someone shows them how will quickly get up to speed with the full-color screen shots and step-by-step illustrations in this visual guide
Covers planning a site, creating eye-popping content with popular Adobe tools, building in functionality with HTML and CSS, testing the site, taking it live, and keeping it up to date
Companion Web site features code and design examples for experimentation

If you find learning easier when someone shows you how to do something, you'll quickly learn to build Web sites with Teach Yourself VISUALLY Web Design.

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Creating Web Sites Bible Review

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Creating Web Sites Bible ReviewAs of this review, I was on Chapter four.
There is a lot of info packed into this book, but also a lot of errors and typos.
The first tutorial web page they walk a person through on pages 114 / 115 has so many errors that it will not look anything like the finished product on page 116.
I wasted a lot of time attempting to figure out what the errors were, having to search other sections of the book for the proper code elements. THEN I had to play with the code elements to learn that the first example cannot be done the way they presented it!
The first tutorial shows this for aligning a headline center (I had to use parenthesis instead of the lesser than < and greater than > symbols so the actual code would show up here):
(p align"center"") (h3)Making Kimchi using an ordered list(h3)(p)
This does not work. It must look like this:
(h3 align="center") Making Kimchi using an order list(/h3)
The most frequently missing item is the forward slash / that is supposed to be at the end of nearly all HTML tags, according to the authors! They even say "If your screen differs in appearance slightly, don't worry about it."
WHAT GOOD IS A TUTORIAL IF MINE DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THE EXAMPLE?!
Just be prepared to have to figure stuff out on your own.Creating Web Sites Bible Overview
Updated for the most recent tools, techniques, and standards for creating cutting-edge Web sites for businesses or personal use, this book is one-stop shopping for HTML, JavaScript, CSS, tables, forms, Flash, and more
Brand-new chapters cover Ajax, Adobe CS3 tools, RSS, and blogging tools
Hands-on guidance and expert advice dive into such topics as creating and editing images and graphics, adding multimedia elements (e.g., Flash animations, audio, and video), creating stores for Yahoo! and Amazon.com, designing auction pages for eBay, and building blogs


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Creating Web Pages All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies Review

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Creating Web Pages All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies ReviewThis is a great book. I love it. But there is one thing that some people may be looking for in it that isnt there. This book will not tell you everything that you want to know about making a web page. It is exactly what the title says, it is a desk reference. I would not recommend it to a person that has no experience with web pages (mainly HTML), but if you know the basics behind a web page, and want to know how to improve your web page, buy this book.Creating Web Pages All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies OverviewWhether you're looking to show off your digital photos or launch your own blog, Creating Web Pages All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies, 3rd Edition delivers all the know-how you need to create Web pages for any need. It demystifies technical topics like HTML and Cascading Style Sheets, gives you the lowdown on adding sound and video to a page, and shows you how to put the latest versions of Dreamweaver and Flash to work.
These nine minibooks show you the easy way to create great-looking pages with all the bells and whistles. They're completely revised and updated to cover new page design tools and trends. Three all-new minibooks show you how to use Microsoft's new Expressions Web tool to build simple but dazzling pages at online services such as Google Pages, MySpace, and eBay. You'll also learn how to tweak a site's look and feel with Cascading Style Sheets. Discover how to:
Create user-friendly page designs
Build a blog or photo page
Fine-tune your firewall
Fine-tune pages with HTML or CSS
Spice up your pages with video and animation
Use templates to save time and frustration
Reduce exposure by controlling user tasks
Create interactive features such as clickable images
Generate sophisticated graphic effects and movies with FlashDiscover

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HTML Manual of Style: A Clear, Concise Reference for Hypertext Markup Language (including HTML5), Fourth Edition (4th Edition) Review

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HTML Manual of Style: A Clear, Concise Reference for Hypertext Markup Language (including HTML5), Fourth Edition (4th Edition) ReviewIf someone were just learning HTML/CSS now, what you would you tell him? That's how the "HTML Manual of Style" is written. Not about hobbling together a web page through a tool. But a back to the basics intro. The author covers why clean code is important both for humans and search engine robots.
The book includes the basic HTML 5 features amidst the "old stuff." One thing to watch out for - the section headers say "HTML 5". They don't really mean HTML 5 though. They really mean here's HTML that happens to include HTML 5. This is fine. It is an HTML book and not meant to highlight what is new specifically.
There are lots of short code examples along with showing how a browser renders them. It gives tips for planning, SEO and hosting. I particularly liked the list of attributes and easy to follow style. I also liked seeing jQuery mentioned.
While the book isn't geared for web developers, it is a nice review. And I think it is a great guide for those starting out. Or those relying on a tool to generate the web page. Or those who still embed style information in their HTML.
Note - while the title was originally about HTML, it has grown to HTML/CSS. The cover could highlight this better.
---
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for writing this review on behalf of CodeRanch.HTML Manual of Style: A Clear, Concise Reference for Hypertext Markup Language (including HTML5), Fourth Edition (4th Edition) OverviewTHE CLASSIC WEB AUTHORING GUIDE, NOW 100% UPDATED AND BETTER THAN EVER!If it's for the Web, this book will help you create it…faster, smarter, better! Don't settle for canned templates or boilerplate designs! Take control, with the classic guide to HTML web authoring…now completely revised for the latest techniques and shortcuts, including HTML5!Build it right…Well-planned and well-organizedEasy to navigateFun to read, view, and useSearch engine-friendly and findableReliable and consistentEasy to update and maintainCompatible with any browserBuild it all…Websites and pagesWiki articlesWeb services and ecommerceeBay pagesBlog postsHTML emailAnd much more!Contains quick reference guides to HTML elements and CSS properties–including the newest HTML5 and CSS3 improvements!

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WordPress Theme Design: A complete guide to creating professional WordPress themes Review

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WordPress Theme Design: A complete guide to creating professional WordPress themes ReviewWordPress Theme Design is a short book, 204 pages and offers an experience very much like that given by the Peachpit Press' Visual QuickProject Series. This is not a definitive guide to WordPress theming. Tessa Silver walks us through the creation of a WordPress theme intended for a monthly magazine site. As much CMS/beyond-the-blog flexibility of WordPress needs to be implemented by creative theming, this project offers an insight into how to customize WordPress for sites other than plain vanilla blogs. WordPress core features like "the loop," are mentioned but we are referred to the WordPress Codex documentation for more information. That's pretty much the way the book works, features or concepts, such as the loop or drop down menus are discussed, but for expanded explanations we are pointed to external web documentation.
The writing is clear and conversational and is targeted towards someone with a reasonable grounding in HTML and CSS, I'd say advanced novice to early intermediate. Those without an understanding of HTML will find it over their heads. A very basic understand of PHP syntax is also helpful. Except for WordPress specific code, experienced, standards aware coders will find much of the material pretty basic. Ms. Silver does create her design with modern web standards best practices, which she describes in a standards based context. The theme we create by following the tutorial is functional and illustrates some of WordPress' advanced capabilities, which can be accessed only through clever theming. Basic SEO is mentioned, and some advanced WordPress plug-ins and capabilities are briefly covered.
Chapter 6 offers a short overview of WordPress functions and a nice template tag reference. In Chapter 2, Silver offers brief descriptions describing her design workflow process and some of the tools she uses. In chapters 3-5 we create the basic theme and are introduced to WordPress themeing conventions. Chapters 7-9 briefly discuss some advanced WordPress capabilities, mostly gained through the use of plug-ins and widgets.
WordPress Theme Design: A complete guide to creating professional WordPress themes OverviewIn Detail
This title will take you through the ins and outs of creating sophisticated professional themes for the WordPress personal publishing platform. It will walk you through clear, step-by-step instructions to build a custom WordPress theme. From development tools and setting up your WordPress sandbox, through design tips and suggestions, to setting up your theme's template structure, coding markup, testing and debugging, to taking it live it reviews the best practices. The last three chapters are dedicated to additional tips, tricks and various cookbook recipes for adding popular site enhancements to your WordPress theme designs using third-party plugins.
Whether you're working with a pre-existing theme or creating a new one from the ground up, WordPress Theme Design will give you the know-how to understand how themes work within the WordPress blog system, enabling you to take full control over your site's design and branding.
What you will learn from this book?

Set up a basic workflow and development environment for WordPress theme design
Create detailed designs and code them up
Enhance your sites by choosing the right color schemes and graphics
Debug and validate your theme using W3C's XHTML and CSS validation tools
Customize and tweak your theme's layout
Set up dynamic drop-down menus, AJAX/dynamic and interactive forms
Download and install useful plug-ins and widgetize your theme
Improve post and page content using jQuery and ThickBox
Add interactivity to your themes using Flash
Includes a reference guide to WordPress 2.0's template hierarchy, markup, styles and template tags, as well as include and loop functions
Approach
Theme design can be approached from two angles. The first is simplicity; sometimes it suits the client and/or the site to go as bare-bones as possible. In that case, it's quick and easy to take a very basic, pre-made theme and modify it.
The second is "Unique and Beautiful". Occasionally, the site's theme needs to be created from scratch so that everything displayed caters to the specific kind of content the site offers. This book is going to take you through the Unique and Beautiful route with the idea that once you know how to create a theme from scratch, you'll be more apt at understanding what to look for in other WordPress themes.
Who this book is written for?
This book can be used by WordPress users or visual designers (with no server-side scripting or programming experience) who are used to working with the common industry-standard tools like PhotoShop and Dreamweaver or other popular graphic, HTML, and text editors.
Regardless of your web development skill-set or level, you'll be walked through the clear, step-by-step instructions, but familiarity with a broad range of web development skills and WordPress know-how will allow you to gain maximum benefit from this book.


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Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates Review

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Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates ReviewIn the classroom, when I teach web design, unless the courseware comes with templates the students spend the time creating pages from scratch. While this is worthwhile for novices, there are times when you need templates for some web projects.

In this book the authors has given you over 200 HTML templates, which are on the cd-rom, to work with. By following along with the book you'll end up creating over 50 pages. You find yourself working with frames, forms, tables, graphics and CSS.

The book should have had the design outputs in color to allow you to be able to see what the outcome would like. I did like the 3 case studies included, which take you from a basic web page to a very advanced design layout.

The cd-rom included trial version of Photoshop, FireWorks, Flash and HomeSite all of which have newer versions out and should be updated for the next edition. I found the JavaScript Cook to be a very handy and useful tool for creating scripts without an in depth knowledge of the coding techniques.

The other handy utility included in the HTML/CSS Developer's resource guide, which makes the creation of CSS easier. With all the helpful tool and tricks the book is certainly a welcome addition to my HTML/Web Design library. Overall a very good value for the money.Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates OverviewThis is the must-have book for designers who want to expand their skills and improve the quality of their designs. Learning CSS technology and continually improving one's design and developer skills is essential for every Web designer in today's marketplace. The goal of Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates is to educate beginning-to-intermediate Web designers on the various issues involved with Web design through general discussion, case studies, and specific tips and techniques. Using easy-to-understand language and concepts, the book teaches designers and developers how to create professional-quality CSS-based designs. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is explored, giving the reader a strong, basic understanding of how to get sites to rank better in search engines. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) also is explained, helping the designer create a more efficient site for the users who are already visiting. You'll get the benefit of the author's experience. With more than 15 years of experience as a Web designer for Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, and small businesses alike, Eccher has learned numerous tips and techniques of the trade and discloses them here, saving you time and aggravation by alerting you to potential pitfalls.

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Getting StartED Building Websites Review

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Getting StartED Building Websites ReviewThis is a very good book for the price. It has a lot of typos, but for the price, I can look past those. The book is very well laid out and gives some good examples, taking you through a very logical process. Some things are a bit over discussed but all in all, I would recommend this book for the novice website builder. Note: This book does not have ALL the answers and there are many things that are much more complicated in building websites than this book gets into. But if you want the basics to logically building a website from scratch, this book is a great start for the price.Getting StartED Building Websites OverviewThe whole world wants to build web sites. This key book in the Getting StartED series takes people with no knowledge of web design and teaches them the basics the friendly, friends of ED way. Rather than setting out to be a language reference or a strict set of guidelines like so many other web design books, Getting StartED Building Websites gives readers the wider picture, including important topics such as web hosting, search engine optimization, and CSS styling alongside the basics of HTML.The chapters are divided into the most common questions, so you'll find headings like "What kind of website should I make", "What about web hosting", and "How do I write good articles". It's this broad base approach that sets it apart from most beginner books that just focus down on one small topic.

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Bulletproof Web Design: Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS (2nd Edition) Review

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Bulletproof Web Design: Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS (2nd Edition) ReviewIf you are just coming over the the standards-compliant light, this book is the best for showing real, working techniques. Great examples that work. A cookbook. Cederholm won my heart and my mind with "Web Standards Solutions" and this book builds on that theme. The man is a good writer, easy to understand, and he makes compelling and lucid points.
Cederholm's presentation is great: he states a problem or goal, then examines several different ways of solving it. The examinations are just a paragraph or two long -- short and to the point. He points out the strengths and weaknesses of the various solutions, then concludes with a "best practices" solution. Finally, he builds on and refines the best practices solution to deliver a finished piece. When there is no clear-cut best way, he lays the cards on the table and let's you decide what is best for your specific application. He talks about the compromises between pixel-perfect layouts and fluid layouts and how each effects design and useability issues.
It is not stand-alone because a good reference is still useful to have by your side.Bulletproof Web Design: Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS (2nd Edition) OverviewNo matter how visually appealing or content-packed a Web site may be, if it's not adaptable to a variety of situations and reaching the widest possible audience, it isn't really succeeding. In Bulletproof Web Desing, author and Web designer extraordinaire, Dan Cederholm outlines standards-based strategies for building designs that provide flexibility, readability, and user control--key components of every sucessful site. Each chapter starts out with an example of an unbulletproof site one that employs a traditional HTML-based approach which Dan then deconstructs, pointing out its limitations. He then gives the site a make-over using XHTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), so you can see how to replace bloated code with lean markup and CSS for fast-loading sites that are accessible to all users. Finally, he covers several popular fluid and elastic-width layout techniques and pieces together all of the page components discussed in prior chapters into a single-page template.

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Dreamweaver CS3 for Windows and Macintosh Review

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Dreamweaver CS3 for Windows and Macintosh ReviewI read the other reviews and had to comment.
This book is NOT a technical manual, nor a step-by-step on how to design websites. Rather, it is a COMPANION book on how to use DreamWeaver. If you are familiar with other Adobe products, then you will appreciate that DreamWeaver maintains many similarities. If you are NOT familiar with Adobe products, then you are in for a major learning experience!
Let's get one thing straight right off the bat ... DreamWeaver is a highly complex program that is NOT meant for just any [dingbat] one to pick up on a whim and design the "perfect" website. You actually have to know how to read and understand (X)HTML, you can't just plop a site together without knowing this. Just because you CAN use the WYSIWYG interface doesn't mean you can do that exclusively.
If you are used to using FrontPage, then you have a RUDE awakening when it comes to the difference between that and DreamWeaver.
This book was the required book for the class in Web Design with DreamWeaver that I enrolled in (at an actual school) and completed very successfully.
This book is EXACTLY what the title states: a "quick start". It in no way ever implies that it is anything other than that! It is there as a gentle nudge. It is NOT there as a guided class!
AND, it NEVER EVER states that it teaches CSS ... NEVER!! Maybe you thought that "CS3" was the same as "CSS"??
If you are looking for an entire "class in a book" strictly on DreamWeaver, then I recommend the "Missing Manual" by O'Reilly and/or the "Classroom in A Book" series from Adobe Press.
If you are looking for a book on CSS (cascading style sheets), then you want the "Head First" series entitled "HTML with CSS & XHTML", or the Visual Quick Start book entitled "HTML, XHTML & CSS" ... DUH!! I mean, really - make sure you buy the correct book for what you want to learn! If you don't, then DON'T BLAME THE BOOK!!
I use this book as a reference quite often, and to remind myself how to do certain functions in DreamWeaver. It has a great index, and the appendices are very informative.
Also, the website is as complete as it can be. They give you the links for the resources in the book. There is only one "errata" that relates to using a Mac, and it's listed on the site.
About emailing ... they specifically say to READ THE FAQ'S FIRST. There is a disclaimer about them NOT being able to answer each and every email on page xiv of the book - so quit griping about that! Read the FAQ's, or get a teacher! [such a freakin' whiner you are M.F.Summy.]
I wish people would THINK before posting a negative review. There is value in every book. Before you buy it, look through it either online or in a book store! Whether you bought the proper one for your needs is NOT the book's fault! Grow up!Dreamweaver CS3 for Windows and Macintosh OverviewWith the release of Adobe Creative Suite CS3, Dreamweaver is now partof the world's leading suite of creative tools, making it the de factotool of choice for anyone designing for the Web. Adobe Dreamweaver CS3for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide uses a combinationof task-based instruction and strong visuals to teach beginning andintermediate users how to create, design, and publish powerful,innovative Web sites with Dreamweaver. Leading technology authors TomNegrino and Dori Smith take readers step-by-step through the newfeatures in Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, with all new chapters on buildingdynamic pages with Ajax and Spry, and designing for mobile devices.They also cover improvements to using styles and CSS in Dreamweaver,and the new Browser Compatibility Check in Dreamweaver CS3. Beginningusers will learn to create their first Web site, add text, style andposition page content, manage styles, work with links, incorporateimages, media, tables, forms, and frames, design site navigation, andso much more. Experienced users will find this a convenient referenceto the new features of Dreamweaver CS3.


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WordPress 2.8 Theme Design Review

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WordPress 2.8 Theme Design ReviewI seem to be reading quite a few WordPress books of late, and there are certainly a few to choose from. Packt Publishing's WordPress 2.8 Theme Design's tagline is 'Create flexible, powerful, and professional themes for your WordPress blogs and websites'.
WordPress themes are of interest to me since they fuse a visual aspect with PHP code, and there's no doubt that they appeal to many other people too.
Chapter Overview
1. Getting Started as a WordPress Theme Designer
2. Theme Design and Approach
3. Coding it Up
4. Debugging and Validation
5. Putting Your Theme into Action
6. WordPress Template Tag, Function, and CSS Reference
7. AJAX/Dynamic Content and Interactive Forms
8. Dynamic Menus and Interactive Elements
9. Design Tips for Working with WordPress
The book's author Tessa Blakely Silver starts very gently with an introduction to WordPress themes and why downloading a theme that's already been coded and designed may not always be the best solution. Subsequently, the book develops a theme from scratch and examines core technologies such as WordPress, CSS, XHTML and PHP.
The second chapter starts with a discussion of theme design in general, followed by the beginnings of the theme that's developed throughout the book. There are further discussions on semantic markup, typography, fonts and layout.
The following chapter focuses on the code aspect of theme design, and suggests a workflow strategy as well as template tags, hooks, and the WordPress loop. Comments are then discussed in some detail, the topic including pagination and threaded comments.
Chapter four examines the process of debugging and validating. A thorough chapter includes references to the W3C validation services, Firefox's JavaScript/Error console, Firebug and some of the issues that the budding theme developer will face when dealing with IE6.
Chapter five looks at the style.css file, which provides descriptive information about a theme, together with packaging the theme into a ZIP for distribution and running test installations of the theme package.
Chapter six adopts a more reference based approach, with an in depth examination of WordPress template tags, the WordPress template hierarchy, the loop and shortcodes.
The following chapter looks at AJAX and JavaScript, as well as preparing your theme for plugins and widgets.
Chapter eight builds on Chapter 7's JavaScript discussion by developing a drop-down menu for the theme. There is also a discussion of Flash and how that can be used with WordPress themes.
Chapter nine rounds off the book with a number of design tips that apply not just to WordPress theme design, but web design in general.
The book's about 250 pages in length, and is generally well written. I did, however, notice a few errors in code samples (mostly misplaced quotes), and a couple of examples in the prose itself. Another minor niggle was that the author talks about semantic markup, and then introduces 'sidebarLT' (sidebar left) and 'sidebarRT' (sidebar right) IDs into the markup.
The back of the book states: This book can be used by WordPress users or visual designers (with no server-side scripting or programming experience) who are used to working with the common industry-standard tools such as Photoshop and Dreamweaver or other popular graphic, HTML, and text editors. Regardless of your web development skill set or level, you'll be walked through the clear, step-by-step instructions. But familiarity with a broad range of web development skills and WordPress know-how will allow you to gain maximum benefit from this book.
It seems as through Packt have tried to convince the potential reader that this is the book for them, regardless of whether they're fairly inexperienced in some areas, or a a highly skilled developer. I'd say that the book covers a lot of ground, and that it does so at a pace that would be suitable for an inexperienced developer. Much of the content, however, would already be familiar to a skilled web developer, and so I feel that they'd think that the really useful content is a little thinly spread.
Overall, it's encouraging to see more books about WordPress; although the internet is a fantastic resource, books still have a very important role in my opinion. The content of this one is great for beginner-medium level web developers, but more experienced readers will be left wanting more.
WordPress 2.8 Theme Design OverviewTheme design can be approached from two angles. The first is simplicity; sometimes it suits the client and/or the site to go as bare-bones as possible. In that case, it's quick and easy to take a very basic, pre-made theme and modify it. The second is "Unique and Beautiful". Occasionally, the site's theme needs to be created from scratch so that everything displayed caters to the specific kind of content the site offers. This book is going to take you through the Unique and Beautiful route with the idea that once you know how to create a theme from scratch, you'll be more apt at understanding what to look for in other WordPress themes. This book can be used by WordPress users or visual designers (with no server-side scripting or programming experience) who are used to working with the common industry-standard tools like PhotoShop and Dreamweaver or other popular graphic, HTML, and text editors. Regardless of your web development skill-set or level, you'll find clear, step-by-step instructions, but familiarity with a broad range of web development skills and WordPress know-how will allow you to gain maximum benefit from this book.

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