HTML & XHTML

HTML is changing so fast it's almost impossible to keep up with developments. XHTML is HTML 4.0 rewritten in XML; it provides the precision of XML while retaining the flexibility of HTML. HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition, brings it all together. It's the most comprehensive book available on HTML and XHTML today. It covers Netscape Navigator 6.0, Internet Explorer 5.0, HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0, JavaScript, Style sheets, Layers, and all of the features supported by the popular web browsers.

Learning HTML and XHTML is like learning any new language, computer or human. Most students first immerse themselves in examples. Studying others is a natural way to learn, making learning easy and fun. Imitation can take learning only so far, though. It's as easy to learn bad habits through imitation as it is to acquire good ones. The better way to become HTML-fluent is through a comprehensive reference that covers the language syntax, semantics, and variations in detail and demonstrates the difference between good and bad usage.

HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition, helps in both ways: the authors cover every element of HTML/XHTML in detail, explaining how each element works and how it interacts with other elements. Many hints about HTML/XHTML style smooth the way for writing documents that range from simple online documentation to complex presentations. With hundreds of examples, the book gives web authors models for writing their own effective web pages and for mastering advanced features, like style sheets and frames.

HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition, shows how to:

• Implement the XHTML 1.0 standard and prepare web pages for the transition to XML browsers.
• Use style sheets and layers to control a document's appearance
• Create tables, from simple to complex
• Use frames to coordinate sets of documents
• Design and build interactive forms and dynamic documents
• Insert images, sound files, video, Java applets, and JavaScript programs
• Create documents that look good on a variety of browsers
• Use new features to support multiple languages

Preface

1. HTML, XHTML, and the World Wide Web
1.1. The Internet, Intranets,and Extranets
1.2. Talking the Internet Talk
1.3. HTML: What It Is
1.4. XHTML: What It Is
1.5. HTML and XHTML: What They Aren't
1.6. Nonstandard Extensions
1.7. Tools for the Web Designer

2. Quick Start
2.1. Writing Tools
2.2. A First HTML Document
2.3. Embedded Tags
2.4. HTML Skeleton
2.5. The Flesh on an HTML or XHTML Document
2.6. Text
2.7. Hyperlinks
2.8. Images Are Special
2.9. Lists, Searchable Documents, and Forms
2.10. Tables
2.11. Frames
2.12. Style Sheets and JavaScript
2.13. Forging Ahead

3. Anatomy of an HTML Document
3.1. Appearances Can Deceive
3.2. Structure of an HTML Document
3.3. Tags and Attributes
3.4. Well-Formed Documents and XHTML
3.5. Document Content
3.6. HTML Document Elements
3.7. The Document Header
3.8. The Document Body
3.9. Editorial Markup
3.10. The Tag

4. Text Basics
4.1. Divisions and Paragraphs
4.2. Headings
4.3. Changing Text Appearance
4.4. Content-Based Style Tags
4.5. Physical Style Tags
4.6. HTML's Expanded Font Handling
4.7. Precise Spacing and Layout
4.8. Block Quotes
4.9. Addresses
4.10. Special Character Encoding

5. Rules, Images, and Multimedia
5.1. Horizontal Rules
5.2. Inserting Images in Your Documents
5.3. Document Colors and Background Images
5.4. Background Audio
5.5. Animated Text
5.6. Other Multimedia Content

6. Links and Webs
6.1. Hypertext Basics
6.2. Referencing Documents: The URL
6.3. Creating Hyperlinks
6.4. Creating Effective Links
6.5. Mouse-Sensitive Images
6.6. Creating Searchable Documents
6.7. Relationships
6.8. Supporting Document Automation

7. Formatted Lists
7.1. Unordered Lists
7.2. Ordered Lists
7.3. The

• Tag
  7.4. Nesting Lists
  7.5. Definition Lists
  7.6. Appropriate List Usage
  7.7. Directory Lists
  7.8. Menu Lists

8. Cascading Style Sheets
8.1. The Elements of Styles
8.2. Style Syntax
8.3. Style Classes
8.4. Style Properties
8.5. Tag-less Styles: The Tag
8.6. Applying Styles to Documents

9. Forms
9.1. Form Fundamentals
9.2. The "form" Tag
9.3. A Simple Form Example
9.4. Using Email to Collect Form Data
9.5. The "input" Tag
9.6. The "button" Tag
9.7. Multiline Text Areas
9.8. Multiple Choice Elements
9.9. General Form Control Attributes
9.10. Labeling and Grouping Form Elements
9.11. Creating Effective Forms
9.12. Forms Programming

10. Tables
10.1. The Standard Table Model
10.2. Table Tags
10.3. Newest Table Tags
10.4. Beyond Ordinary Tables

11. Frames
11.1. An Overview of Frames
11.2. Frame Tags
11.3. Frame Layout
11.4. Frame Contents
11.5. The