Creating a Website: The Missing Manual

Title: Creating Your Own Websites Author: Matthew MacDonald Publisher: Pogue Press/O'Reilly ISBN: 0-596-00842-2 Pages: 535 pages Reviewer: Philip High Rating: 5 out of 5 stars I'm sure we all have experienced the frustrating incompleteness and illogic of many software manuals. This book is part of an impressive series billed as: "The book that should have been in the box" put out by Pogue Press. It's the first one I have read but I would have to agree with their tag line, and if the others are anything like it I would definitely be interested in checking them out. Of course a comprehensive set of web building tools doesn't come in one box -- no matter how hard some publishers try to bundle and brand it as such. That's one reason this overview is so handy. It ties together all the major issues in one current (for the moment) volume. A lot of territory is covered here: HTML, style sheets, graphics, tables, frames, site-promotion, merchandising, JavaScript, Audio, Video, Blogs, and more. Obviously there is only room to layout the basics for each of these topics, but the coverage is well selected, to the point, and surprisingly useful. At the same time it isn't an off-putting encyclopedia but an enjoyable walk through the essential steps in web site creation. For web beginners this is an excellent place to start. Even the introduction is worth reading! The major subjects covered are: creating web pages, making pages look beautiful, putting it online, attracting visitors, making money, and adding frills. These topics and related material are presented in five divisions, each with several chapters. Along the way you'll find plenty of good advice on such things as what software to use, how to choose service providers, and where to go for more information. Although the book seems to speak to the aspiring beginner, those with experience will probably find it fills in some gaps in their knowledge and serves as a great reference to have on hand. You might especially appreciate it if you have friends or clients who ask you web related questions about things you've done, but not recently, or without much thought. In other words, it can make you look as if you actually know what you're doing -- very handy indeed! For me it was a pleasure just to read a manual that was so well written and contained genuinely useful information, even if some of it was review. Personally, I have been interested in learning more about CSS lately and originally picked up the book for this section alone. There are two useful Appendixes. "A" is HTML tags. It's a pretty basic list but the descriptions are good and fairly detailed. Appendix "B" is a healthy selection of links that are conveniently grouped by the chapters they relate to in the text. I found this much easier to use than just having them scattered throughout. There is also a note on the inside back cover that reads: "The Missing CD-ROM. -- There is no CD-ROM with this book; you just saved $5.00." It's a

One of a series of "missing manuals" books, this book is very thorough. It is divided into five overall sections: an overview of the Web, building better Web pages, connecting with your audience, Web site frills, and Blogs. It includes more information than we have learned to expect from manuals, even from those few programs that include them. Each chapter includes some step by step instructions for accomplishing various tasks, such as coding, or how to use a given program or Web site. These are often accompanied by illustrations for some of the steps that might be confusing. Despite this, the book is not operating system, or program specific. In the case of software, the author includes these directions for more than one program or operating system. Instead of including a CD, there is a companion Web site. There you will find a zip file with code that is in each of the book's chapters as well as links to each of the URLS in the book; saving the effort of trying to correctly type in code or URLs. Interspersed throughout each chapter are tips and boxes of additional information. Section one provides a bit of history of the Internet and Web as well as a thorough explanation of how the Web works. The first chapter explains the types of, and ingredients of a Web site. It asks Web site designers to consider the types of browsers their intended audience will have and emphasizes good design. Chapter two introduces readers to creating a Web page. It first explains coding vs. the appearance of a site in a browser, discusses tags, when and how to use them, and parts of an html document. It also includes a table of the basic html tags, information about common mistakes, and xhtml. In chapter three the author familiarizes readers with how to put a page on the Web. There is a discussion of how Web hosting works, the anatomy of an URL and how browsers use them. Domain names, what they are, how to select an appropriate one as well as how to get one is given a good airing. Information about selecting a host and analyzing your needs is also provided as well as illustrations and instructions for registering with some Web hosts. The last chapter in this section discusses html editors from the free to the professional Dreamweaver™. A detailed discussion, instructions, and illustrations on how to use several of these are also part of this chapter. Several freebies are presented and evaluated. The second section focuses on building a Web page. Readers will get the most from this unit if it is read with the computer on, and the files from the Web site readily accessible. Plain html coding is included for all topics in this section, but the reader can save the trouble of entering the code by downloading and using the files from the Web site.. The first chapter in this unit (chapter 5) provides an overview of Web page construction plus more information about html tags. The author starts with describing layout problems, provides information about logical structure

This is my second "Missing Manual" book (FrontPage 2003 was the first), and I must admit that O'Reilly is really on to something with this series. (Assuming the rest are in the same vein as these two.) The author has the knack of presenting technical information in a clear and straightforward - yet folksy - manner. Of course this knack is pretty useless if the material itself isn't helpful - and this is where this book really shines. If you're planning on building a website, this book covers pretty much everything you need to know. I thought that the topics and the depth to which they were covered was perfect. Not only was need-to-know technical information presented, but a lot of you-really-outta-know-about-this knowledge was imparted as well.

'Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual' keeps the outstanding tradition the 'Missing Manual' line has been known for, and I personally think it's one of the best new lines of books to come along in some time. Matthew MacDonald takes you from start to finish as you go from being a HTML, CSS, and Javascript nobody to a major player in no time at all. The price on this book is a joke, it's well worth the retail and so much more for anyone that is new to the web site creating business. If you want to learn how to get your web site up and running in no time at all you NEED this guide YESTERDAY. ***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This book is brilliant! I expected good coverage of basics like HTML and style sheets, but this book is just PACKED with good stuff. The author's insight on all areas of web design is nothing short of amazing. On every topic you come across, whether it's making a navigation system, fixing some pictures, adding sound effects/music (yes, I know it's irritating), selling stuff, etc., the author has great tips on doing it and doing it well (and doing it on a budget, if necessary). The next greatest thing are the pointers to other sites on the web. The author shares a huge wealth of resources for getting more information, downloading good tools, using online services, and just plain getting free stuff ([...]). I put the book down a couple of days ago, and I'm already making money (although not much) with Google ads. I may go ahead with PayPal next. This is just too easy! I predict this book will become a legend.