Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Web Page

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating an HTML Web Page, Fifth Edition, provides you with the tools you need to create and customize your Web pages. A careful, step-by-step approach enables you to build and publish your first Web page. With the basics in place, you are slowly introduced to more advanced concepts such as tables, forms, frames, and style sheets. Many examples illustrate each new concept, and you are encouraged to use and build upon these examples. Many new Web page concepts are covered, including XML, style sheets and JavaScript programs.

Contents

I. CREATING YOUR FIRST WEB PAGE.

1. A Brief HTML Primer.
Okay, so just what is HTML? What can you do with HTML? Pages from All Walks of Web Life.
2. Laying the Foundation: The Basic Structure of a Web Page.
Getting Started. Tag Daze-Understanding HTML's Tags. And Now, Some Actual HTML. A Page by Any Other Name: Adding a Title. Fleshing Out Your Page with Text. How to Do Paragraphs. Help! The browser shows my tags!
3. From Buck-Naked to Beautiful: Dressing Up Your Page.
Sprucing Up Your Text. A Few Formatting Features You'll Use All the Time. Textras: Fancier Text Formatting.
4. The Gist of a List: Adding Lists to Your Page.
Putting Your Affairs in Order with Numbered Lists. Scoring Points with Bulleted Lists. Defining Definition Lists. Combining Lists Inside Lists.
5. Making the Jump to Hyperspace: Adding Links.
The URL of Net: A Cyberspace Address Primer. Getting Hyper: Creating Links in HTML.
6. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Clicks: Working with Images.
Images: Some Semi-Important Background Info. The Nitty-Gritty at Last:The <IMG> Tag. Good Uses for Images on Your Web Page. Changing the Page Background. A Special Image:The Pixel Shim (spacer.gif). Giving a GIF a Transparent Background.
7. The Host with the Most: Choosing a Web Hosting Provider.
What in the name of Sam Hill is a web hosting provider? A Buyer's Guide to Web Hosting. A List of Lists: Sites That Offer Lists of Web Hosts.
8. Publish or Perish: Putting Your Page on the Web.
What does your web home look like? A Pre-Trip Checklist. Okay, ship it! "Hey, I'm over here!" Getting Your Site on the Search Engines.

II. A GRAB BAG OF WEB PAGE WONDERS.

9. Images Can Be Links, Too.
Turning an Image into a Link. Why should I use an image as a link? The Ins and Outs of Image Links. Images can be maps, too..
10. Table Talk: Adding Tables to Your Page.
What is a table? Web Woodworking: How to Build a Table. Table Refinishing-More Table Tidbits. Using a Table to Set Up a Page with a Margin.
11. Making Your Web Pages Dance and Sing.
Sound Advice: Adding Sounds to Your Page. Do-It-Yourself Disney: Animated GIF Images. Creating a Marquee. Redirecting Browsers with Client Pull.
12. Need Feedback? Create a Form!
What is a form, anyway? Creating a Form. Using Text Areas for Multiline Text. Toggling an Option On and Off with Check Boxes. Multiple Choice Options: Radio Buttons. Oh say, can you CGI?
13. Fooling Around with Frames.
What's with all the frame fuss? Forging a Frameset Page. Teaching Frames and Links to Get Along. Frame Frills and Frippery. Handling Frame-Feeble Browsers. Fancier Frames.

III. HIGH HTML STYLE: WORKING WITH STYLE SHEETS.

14. A Beginner's Guide to Style Sheets.
What's a style, and what's a sheet? What About Browser Support? Some Style Basics. Three Sheets to the Web: Style Sheets and HTML.
15. Sheet Music: Styles for Fonts, Colors, and Backgrounds.
Using Styles to Control Fonts. Textstyles: More Ways to Format Text. Coloring Your Web World with Color Styles. Using Background Styles.
16. The Box Model: Styles for Dimensions, Borders, Margins, and More.
Thinking Outside the Box: Understanding the Box Model. Box Blueprints: Specifying the Dimensions. Cushy Content: Adding Padding to the Inside of the Box. The Box Revealed: Setting Borders. Room to Breathe: Specifying Margins Around the Box. Where the Box Goes: Working with Position Styles.

IV. WORKING WITH JAVASCRIPTS AND JAVA APPLETS.

17. The Programmable Page: Adding JavaScripts to Your Pages.
Using the <SCRIPT> Tag. Some JavaScript Examples.
18. More JavaScript Fun.
A Script for Mouseovers. Creating a Password-Protected Page. JavaScript and Forms. Creating a Drop-Down List of Links. A Mortgage Calculator.
19. Caffeinating Your Pages: Adding Java Applets.
Java: A Piping Hot Mug of Browser-Based Programs. How to Add a Java Applet to a Web Page. Java Resources on the Web.

V. ROUNDING OUT YOUR HTML EDUCATION.

20. Web Page Doodads You Should Know About.
The Searchable Site: Adding a Search Feature. Talk Amongst Yourselves: Adding a Chat Room or Bulletin Board. Using Server-Side Includes to Insert Files in Your Pages. Sneakily Hiding Text with HTML Comment Tags.
21. The Elements of Web Page Style.
Content Is King: Notes About Writing. The Overall Organization of Your Web Pages. Organization and Layout Hints for Individual Pages. Guidance for Using Graphics. Link Lessons: Keeping Your Links in the Pink.
22. Some HTML Resources on the Web.
Graphics Goodies I: The Three B's (Buttons, Bars, and Bullets). Graphics Goodies II: Yet Another B-Background Textures. Graphics Goodies III: Rolling Your Own Graphics. Sites for Sounds. The Big Picture: HTML Reference Pages. A Guide to HTML Style Guides. Counter Check: Tallying Your Hits. Passing Muster: Page Checkers. HTML Mailing Lists. Using Usenet Discussions. A List of HTML Lists

VI. SHOW ME THE MONEY: TURNING YOUR HTML SKILLS INTO CASH.

23. Turning Pro: Becoming a Paid Web Designer.
Getting Started: Your Business Plan. Getting Paid: Web Design Rates. Legalese: Notes About Contracts. Getting the Word Out: Advertising and Promotion. Street Cred: Web Design Certification.
24. Joint Ventures: Working with Ads and Affiliate Programs.
Making It a Banner Year: Putting Ads on Your Site. Partners in Cyberspace: Working with Affiliate Programs.
25. Selling Stuff Online.
The No Muss Method: Renting Online Retail Space. The Do-It-Yourself Method: Selling Stuff from Your Site. Where to Learn About Big-Time E-Commerce.

VII. APPENDIXES.

Appendix A. Speak Like a Geek Glossary.
Appendix B. Frequently Asked Questions About HTML.
Appendix C. The CD: The Webmaster's Toolkit.
Index.