Help with HTML and Web
design
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One of the first things
you will do as part of creating your Internet presence is do
design your web site content. We have compiled several links to
on-line resources which will be helpful for the HTML novice and
the expert web designer alike.
HTML References
On-line HTML references are an excellent resource for beginners
as well as a convenient reference for more experienced
developers. The following links comprise a small list of HTML
references:
- A Beginner's Guide to
HTML
- NCSA
- This is a primer
for producing documents in HTML, it is an excellent
starting point.
- Introduction to HTML - UTIRC
- An excellent
presentation of HTML as well as other elements of web
authoring. The index on this site makes finding
information very simple.
- View Source
- The best way to
learn HTML is by viewing the source of documents created
by someone else. If you see something you like, view the
source and see how it was done (but please honor any
copyright notifications that you encounter).
HTML Style Guides
and Design Tips
You may or may not want to become acquainted with some style
guides that exist out on the net.... or break the rules and
create your own style guide!
- Creating Killer Web Sites
- A good site
offering design tips for Web Designers. There is a
corresponding book "Creating Killer Web Sites"
that you can find at your local bookstore. A very good
site (and book) that offers creative suggestions for your
site.
- Web Pages That Suck
- As the saying
goes, one of the best ways to learn a craft thoroughly is
to learn not only its central tenets but also its
pitfalls. Web Pages That Suck teach you good Web design
by pointing out ugly, misguided, and confusing sites --
any site that fails to deliver good graphics, and clear,
well-focused content.
- Yahoo's directory of
Design and Layout
- A few dozen links
that describe people's personal taste on HTML design and
layout -- not to be taken religiously.
- View Source
- The best way to
get a handle on style is by viewing the source of
documents created by someone else. If you see something
you like, view the source and see how it was done.
HTML Books
There a number of HTML reference books available (more than we
could list here). The following books are highly recommended and
are regularly used by the Webmaster.
- HTML
Sourcebook, 4th Edition
- Author: Ian S.
Graham
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
This is one of the best HTML books available. It's
complete presentation of HTML includes a good deal of
information about HTTP and the Common Gateway Interface
(CGI). An overview of this book is available at the Wiley Website. You should have this
book or the O'Reilly book (below) on your bookshelf. (order information and
price)
- HTML: The
Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition
- Author: Chuck
Musciano & Bill Kennedy
Publisher: O'Reilly and Associates, Inc.
O'Reilly has a great reputation and produces excellent
books on a variety of topics - O'Reilly's HTML book is no exception. This
complete guide is full of examples, sample code, and
contains an excellent index. (order information and
price)
- Creating Killer
Web Sites
- Author: David
Siegel
Publisher: Hayden Books
A good book offering design tips for web authors. There
is a corresponding web site "Creating Killer Web Sites" that you can
visit. Overall, a very good book offering creative
suggestions for your site. (order information and
price)
- Web Pages That
Suck
- Author: Vincent
Flanders & Michael Willis
Publisher: Hayden Books
A book that illustrates the finer points of good web
design by pointing out web pages that suck. There is a
corresponding web site "Web Pages That Suck" that you can
visit. A light and at times humorous book but the
information presented is very good. (order information and
price)
Other Useful Books
As your web page design grows more complex, you may find you will
need to add dynamic content and CGI scripts. The following books
should help you expand your expertise.
- Dynamic HTML:
The Definitive Reference
- Author: Danny
Goodman
Publisher: O'Reilly and Associates, Inc.
After you have some basic Web page creation experience,
you may want to jump into the world of dynamic content. O'Reilly's Dynamic
HTML book covers the various standards and
the latest versions of style sheets, browser document
objects, and JavaScript objects. (order information and
price)
- JaveScript: The
Definitive Guide, 3rd edition
- Author: David
Flanagan
Publisher: O'Reilly and Associates, Inc.
JavaScript is an HTML extension that embeds
programming-language capability right into your web
pages. O'Reilly's JavaScript
book
is an excellent resource that is thoroughly researched
and well written. (order information and
price)
- Learning Perl,
2nd edition
- Author: Randal
L. Schwartz & Tom Christiansen
Publisher: O'Reilly and Associates, Inc.
If you are thinking about doing any kind of Perl CGI
programming in conjunction with the development of your
web site, then O'Reilly's Learning Perl book is a must-have. This
perl book is more like a hands-on tutorial and includes a
lengthly chapter on CGI programming. (order information and
price)
HTML Editors/Tools
There are numerous graphical tools available to help you
construct your web pages. Links to several HTML editor programs
and HTML editor directories are provided.
- Stroud's List -
Windows 95/NT HTML Editors
- A fairly good
presentation of some of today's more popular HTML
editors. Reviews and ratings are provided as well as
links to vendor sites and evaluation versions.
- Browsers, Viewers,
and HTML Preparation Resources - UTIRC
- A large
compilation of HTML editors and tools. The listings
include a description of system requirements, license and
version information, and price. A good resource but is a
bit dated.
- Yahoo's List of
Editors
- A somewhat
hodge-podge collection of HTML editors ... not as
comprehensive or as well organized as the UTIRC site.
- View Source
- The single most
valuable tool that you will have at your disposal is the
"View Source" capability of your web
browser. If your Web browser does not offer a "View
Source" command, you should strongly consider
changing browsers - we suggest the latest verion of Netscape Navigator.
- Popular
Graphical Editors
- Netscape Composer, NetObjects Fusion, Sausage Software HotDog, AOLpress, Adobe PageMill, Allaire HomeSite, GoLive CyberStudio, Galt Technology webMASTER PRO, Microsoft FrontPage
This is only a small
sample of Web publisher programs. You can find additional
programs by typing "HTML editor" into any good search
engine.
Webmaster Favorites
Please find below a list of resources that the Webmaster uses
more than occasionally. No guarantee of usefulness is attached to
this list whatsoever. It is merely provided as a
"snapshot" of a suite of tools that the Webmaster finds
very useful... your mileage may vary. : )
| Books |
anything by O'Reilly If you don't have an
HTML book, then today after work or during lunch or
whenever, you need to go to your favorite bookstore and
buy one. Both the HTML books listed above are excellent
(I have both, but you only need one). If you are doing
any CGI programming (in Perl) then you should probably
pick up the "Learning Perl" book. As you
learn more about perl and programming, you will want to
get the authoritative guide to perl or the "Programming Perl" book. If you are
doing any JavaScript programming, get the "O'Reilly JavaScript" book - it is
excellent.
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| Editor |
vi The popular and powerful
UNIX text editor, vi, is anything but WYSIWYG
(sorry to disappoint those of you expecting a
recommendation for a graphical HTML editor). I prefer
working with the HTML source code raw and don't care much
for using a mouse, so vi works wonderfully (for me).
Because I have heard so many good things about so many of
the graphical editors available I hesitate to give you a
recommendation. I would definitely go with an editor that
supports the HTTP "PUT" method to publish
content - I believe Netscape Composer and AOLpress both
support the PUT method.
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| Graphics |
PaintShop Pro For all of the simple
graphics I do, PaintShop Pro, has more than enough
capability and it's shareware so you aren't out hundreds
of dollars for just trying it (I do recommend you
purchase PaintShop Pro if you use it for an extended
period of time). Another utility I use quite often is an
on-line gif/jpg image compression utility GifWizard. Out of the box
software that performs gif/jpg image compression
includes: Adobe ImageReady, Emblaze WebCharger, Ulead SmartSaver.
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| Animations |
GIF Construction Set When I need to build an
animated gif (which is not very often), I use GIF Construction Set. It works, it's easy to
use, and it's shareware (and if you like it the
registration fee is very nominal). This really isn't a
recommendation, it's just what I use.
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| Image Maps |
Mapedit There are quite a few
image map utilities available. The best one that I have
found (and I have tried a few) is Mapedit written by Boutell.Com,
Inc. I may be partial to Mapedit because there is a Unix
version and it is inconvenient for me to reboot my
computer in MS Windows to run a simple image map
application - plus Mapedit is relatively cheap, just $25.
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| URLs |
Here are a handful of URLs that
have stayed in my Bookmark list on a consistent basis:
NCSA HTTPd
documentation
Apache
documentation and resources
User
Authentication Tutorial
JavaScript
Authoring Guide
Gamelan Java
Directory
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