Creating a Website: The Missing Manual, 3rd Edition

Creating a Website: The Missing Manual, 3rd Edition

by Matthew MacDonald
Released May 2011
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781449308643

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Book description

Think you need an army of skilled programmers to build a website? Think again. With nothing more than an ordinary PC, some raw ambition, and this book, you’ll learn how to create and maintain a professional-looking, visitor-friendly site. This Missing Manual gives you all the tools, techniques, and expert advice you need.

  • Plan your site. Create web pages by learning the basics of HTML and HTML5.
  • Control page design with CSS. Format text, images, links, tables, and other elements.
  • Attract visitors. Ensure that people can find your site through popular search engines.
  • Build a community. Add forums, fresh content, and a feedback form to encourage repeat visits.
  • Get smart. Use free tools to identify your site’s strengths and weaknesses.
  • Create your own blog. Post your musings with a free blog-hosting service.
  • Bring in cash. Host Google ads, sell Amazon’s wares, or push your own products.
  • Add pizzazz. Include audio, video, interactive menus, and more.

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Table of contents

  1. Creating a Website: The Missing Manual, Third Edition
    1. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly
    2. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
    3. The Missing Credits
      1. About the Author
      2. About the Creative Team
      3. Acknowledgments
    4. Introduction
      1. What You Need to Get Started
      2. About This Book
      3. Macintosh and Windows
      4. About the Outline
      5. About→These→Arrows
      6. About the Online Resources
        1. The Missing CD
        2. Registration
        3. Feedback
        4. Errata
        5. Newsletter
      7. Safari® Books Online
    5. 1. Preparing for the Web
      1. Introducing the World Wide Web
        1. Web Browsers
          1. Choosing your browser
        2. Web Servers
      2. Planning a Website
        1. Types of Sites
        2. The Lifespan of Your Site
        3. Practice Good Design
      3. The Ingredients of a Website
    6. 2. Creating Your First Page
      1. Introducing HTML: The Language of the Web
        1. Cracking Open an HTML File
        2. Seeing the HTML of a Live Web Page
        3. Creating an HTML File
        4. HTML, XHTML, and HTML5
      2. HTML Tags
        1. What’s in a Tag
        2. Understanding Elements
        3. Nesting Elements
      3. The HTML Document
        1. The Document Type Definition
        2. The Basic Skeleton
        3. Adding Content
        4. Structuring Text
        5. Where Are All the Pictures?
        6. The 10 Most Important Elements (and a Few More)
      4. Checking Your Pages for Errors
    7. 3. Putting Your Page on the Web
      1. How Web Hosting Works
        1. Understanding the URL
        2. How Browsers Analyze a URL
      2. Domain Names
        1. Choosing the Right Domain Name
        2. Searching for a Name
        3. Registering Your Name
          1. Domain parking
          2. Domain forwarding
        4. Free Domain Names
      3. Getting Web Space
        1. Assessing Your Needs
          1. A Web Host Checklist
        2. Choosing Your Host
          1. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider)
          2. Web hosting companies
          3. A web host walkthrough (#1)
          4. A web host walkthrough (#2)
        3. Free Web Hosts
      4. Transferring Files
        1. FTP
        2. Browser-Based Uploading
    8. 4. Power Tools
      1. Choosing Your Tools
        1. Types of Web Page Editors
        2. Finding a Free Web Page Editor
          1. BlueGriffon
          2. Amaya
          3. HTML-Kit
          4. CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor
        3. Professional HTML Editors
      2. Working with Your HTML Editor
        1. Starting Out
        2. Multiple Views
        3. Creating a Web Page in Code View
        4. Creating a Web Page in WYSIWYG View
      3. Managing a Website
        1. Defining a Site in Expression Web
        2. Uploading a Site in Expression Web
        3. Defining a Site in Dreamweaver
        4. Uploading a Site in Dreamweaver
    9. 5. Text Elements
      1. Understanding Text and the Web
        1. Logical Structure vs. Physical Formatting
        2. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
      2. HTML Elements for Basic Text
        1. Paragraphs
        2. Line Breaks
        3. Headings
        4. Horizontal Lines
        5. Preformatted Text
        6. Quotes
        7. Divisions and Spans
      3. HTML Elements for Lists
        1. Ordered Lists
        2. Unordered Lists
        3. Definition Lists
        4. Nesting Lists
      4. HTML Elements for Tables
        1. A Basic Table
        2. Cell Spans
      5. Inline Formatting
        1. Text Formatting: Italics and Bold
        2. A Few More Formatting Elements
        3. Special Characters
        4. Non-English Languages
    10. 6. Style Sheets
      1. Style Sheet Basics
        1. The Three Types of Styles
        2. The Anatomy of a Rule
        3. Attaching a Style Sheet to a Page
        4. Using an Internal Style Sheet
        5. Using Inline Styles
        6. The Cascade
        7. Inheritance
      2. More Powerful Selectors
        1. Class Selectors
        2. id Selectors
      3. Colors
        1. Specifying a Color
          1. Hexadecimal color values
          2. RGB color values
        2. Finding the Right Color
      4. Text Alignment and Spacing
        1. Alignment
        2. Spacing
        3. White Space
      5. Basic Fonts
        1. Specifying a Font
        2. Finding the Right Font
        3. Font Sizes
          1. Keyword sizing
          2. Percentage sizing
          3. Relative sizing
          4. Pixel sizing
      6. Embedded Fonts
        1. Web Formats for Fonts
        2. Using a Font Kit
        3. Using Your Own Fonts
        4. Borders
        5. Basic Borders
        6. Making Better Borders
        7. Using Borders with Tables
      7. Tutorial: Building a Style Sheet
        1. Creating a Well-Structured Style Sheet
        2. Saving Work with the <div> Element
        3. Saving Work with Contextual Selectors
    11. 7. Adding Graphics
      1. Understanding Images
        1. The <img> Element
        2. Alternate Text
        3. Picture Size
        4. File Formats for Graphics
          1. Choosing the right image format
          2. Compression
        5. Putting Pictures on Colored Backgrounds
      2. Images and Styles
        1. Inline Images in Text
        2. Borders
        3. Wrapping Text Around an Image
        4. Adding Captions
        5. Background Images
          1. Background watermarks
      3. Techniques with Graphics
        1. Graphical Text
        2. Backgrounds for Other Elements
        3. Graphical Bullets in a List
      4. Finding Free Art
    12. 8. Linking Pages
      1. Understanding the Anchor
        1. Internal and External Links
        2. Relative Links and Folders
          1. Moving down into a subfolder
          2. Moving up into a parent folder
          3. Moving to the root folder
        3. Changing Link Colors and Underlining
        4. Mailto Links
      2. Image Links and Image Maps
      3. Adding Bookmarks
      4. When Good Links Go Bad
        1. Site Management
        2. Link Checkers
        3. Using Redirects
    13. 9. Page Layout
      1. The Challenge of Screen Space
      2. Style-Based Layout
        1. Structuring Pages with the <div> Element
        2. Floating Boxes
        3. Fixed Boxes
      3. Creating a Layout with Multiple Columns
        1. Building a Fixed-Width Layout
        2. Creating a Resizable Layout
        3. Maximum Width: The Safety Net
        4. Stretching Column Height
        5. Super-Flexible Sites: The Zen of Web Design
      4. A Few More Layout Techniques
        1. Layering
        2. Combining Absolute and Relative Positioning
        3. Sizing Tables
          1. Sizing a table
          2. Sizing a column
          3. Sizing a row
    14. 10. Multipart Pages
      1. Understanding Multipart Pages
      2. Server-Side Includes
      3. Page Templates
        1. Understanding Page Templates
        2. Creating a New Page Template
        3. The Anatomy of a Page Template
        4. Using a Page Template
    15. 11. Introducing Your Site to the World
      1. Your Website Promotion Plan
      2. Making Your Site Search-Engine Friendly
        1. Choose Meaningful Page Titles
        2. Include a Page Description
        3. Supply Alternate Text for All Your Images
        4. Use Descriptive Link Text
        5. Don’t Try to Cheat
      3. Registering with Directories
        1. The Open Directory Project
        2. The Yahoo Directory
      4. Registering with Search Engines
        1. Rising Up in the Search Rankings
        2. Hiding from Search Engines
        3. The Google Webmaster Tools
      5. Tracking Visitors
        1. Understanding Google Analytics
        2. Signing Up for Google Analytics
        3. Examining Your Web Traffic
          1. Graph of visits
          2. Site Usage
          3. Map Overlay
          4. Traffic Sources Overview
          5. Content Overview
    16. 12. Website Promotion
      1. Spreading the Word
        1. Shameless Self-Promotion
        2. Google Places
        3. Google AdWords
        4. Return Visitors
      2. Transforming a Site into a Community
        1. Fostering a Web Community
        2. Website Community Tools
        3. Email Newsletters
        4. Twitter
        5. Groups
          1. Introducing Google Groups
          2. Creating a group
          3. Participating in a group
          4. Managing your group
        6. Facebook
          1. Creating a fan page
          2. Adding tabs to your fan page
          3. Promoting your Facebook page on your website
    17. 13. Blogs
      1. Understanding Blogs
        1. Popular Blogs
        2. Syndication
        3. Blog Hosting and Software
      2. Getting Started with Blogger
        1. Creating a Blog
        2. Creating Formatted Posts
      3. Managing a Blog
        1. Tweaking Common Settings
        2. Configuring Your Blogger Profile
        3. Giving Your Blog a Custom Domain Name
        4. Customizing Your Template
          1. Reformatting a template
          2. Changing (and rearranging) the gadgets in your template
          3. Editing the HTML in a template
        5. Managing Comments
          1. Deleting comments
          2. Moderating comments
    18. 14. Making Money with Your Site
      1. Money-Making the Web Way
      2. Google AdSense
        1. Signing Up for AdSense
        2. The AdSense Interface
        3. Creating an Ad
        4. Placing Ads in Your Web Pages
        5. Google-Powered Searches
      3. Amazon Associates
        1. Signing Up As an Associate
        2. Generating Associate Links
          1. Product links
          2. Advanced links
      4. PayPal Merchant Tools
        1. Signing Up with PayPal
        2. Accepting Payments
        3. Building a Shopping Cart
          1. Creating a custom page style
          2. Generating the shopping cart buttons
        4. Withdrawing Your Money
    19. 15. JavaScript: Adding Interactivity
      1. Understanding JavaScript
        1. Server-Side and Client-Side Programming
        2. Scripting Languages
      2. JavaScript 101
        1. The <script> Element
          1. Scripts and HTML
          2. Browsers that don’t support JavaScript
        2. Variables
          1. Declaring variables
          2. Modifying variables
          3. An example with variables
        3. Functions
          1. Declaring a function
          2. Calling a function
          3. Functions that receive information
          4. Functions that return information
        4. External Script Files
      3. Dynamic HTML
        1. HTML Objects
          1. Using HTML objects in a script
        2. Events
        3. Image Rollovers
        4. Collapsible Text
        5. Interactive Forms
          1. Form elements
          2. A basic form
      4. Scripts on the Web
        1. Finding a Simple Script
        2. JavaScript Libraries
        3. Web Widgets
    20. 16. Fancy Buttons and Menus
      1. Fancy Buttons
        1. Creating Your Button Pictures
        2. Making a Rollover Effect with CSS
        3. Picture-with-Text Buttons
        4. Picture-less Buttons
      2. Fancy Menus
        1. Do-It-Yourself Collapsible Menus
        2. Third-Party Menus
          1. Getting the script
          2. Creating the menu
    21. 17. Audio and Video
      1. Understanding Multimedia
        1. Linking, Embedding, and Hosting
        2. Types of Multimedia Files
      2. Basic Background Music
        1. The <embed> Element
        2. Embedded Audio Options
      3. Flash MP3 Players
        1. The Premiumbeat Player: Playing a Song List
        2. The Yahoo Player: Playing All Your Links
        3. Flashtrak Loops
      4. Video Clips
        1. Preparing Video
        2. Linking to and Embedding Video
        3. Flash Video
        4. Video in HTML5
      5. Uploading Your Videos to YouTube
        1. Signing Up with YouTube
        2. Preparing a Video
        3. Uploading a Video
        4. Watching a Video
    22. A. HTML Quick Reference
      1. HTML Elements
        1. <a> (Anchor Element)
        2. <address>
        3. <area> (Image Map)
        4. <b> (Bold Text)
        5. <base> (Base URL)
        6. <blockquote> (Block Quotation)
        7. <body> (Document Body)
        8. <br> (Line Break)
        9. <button> (Button)
        10. <caption> (Table Caption)
        11. <cite> (Citation)
        12. <code>
        13. <dd> (Dictionary Description)
        14. <del> (Deleted Text)
        15. <dfn> (Defined Term)
        16. <div> (Generic Block Container)
        17. <dl> (Dictionary List)
        18. <dt> (Dictionary Term)
        19. <em> (Emphasis)
        20. <embed> (Embedded Object)
        21. <form> (Interactive Form)
        22. <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, <h5>, <h6> (Headings)
        23. <head> (Document Head)
        24. <hr> (Horizontal Rule)
        25. <html> (Document)
        26. <i> (Italic Text)
        27. <iframe> (Inline Frame)
        28. <img> (Image)
        29. <input> (Input Control)
        30. <ins> (Inserted Text)
        31. <li> (List Item)
        32. <link> (Document Relationship)
        33. <map> (Image Map)
        34. <meta> (Metadata)
        35. <noscript> (Alternate Script Content)
        36. <object> (Embedded Object)
        37. <ol> (Ordered List)
        38. <option> (Menu Option)
        39. <p> (Paragraph)
        40. <param> (Object Parameter)
        41. <pre> (Preformatted Text)
        42. <q> (Short Quotation)
        43. <samp> (Sample Output)
        44. <script> (Client-Side Script)
        45. <select> (Selectable List)
        46. <small> (Small Print)
        47. <span> (Generic Inline Container)
        48. <strong> (Strong Importance)
        49. <style> (Internal Style Sheet)
        50. <sub> (Subscript)
        51. <sup> (Superscript)
        52. <table> (Table)
        53. <td> (Table Data Cell)
        54. <textarea> (Multiline Text Input)
        55. <th> (Table Header Cell)
        56. <title> (Document Title)
        57. <tr> (Table Row)
        58. <ul> (Unordered List)
      2. HTML5 Semantic Elements
        1. <article> (Article)
        2. <aside> (Sidebar)
        3. <figcaption> (Figure Caption)
        4. <figure> (Figure)
        5. <footer> (Footer)
        6. <header> (Header)
        7. <hgroup> (Header Group)
        8. <mark> (Highlighted Text)
        9. <nav> (Navigation Links)
        10. <section> (Section)
        11. <time> (Date or Time)
      3. HTML Character Entities
        1. HTML Color Names
    23. B. Useful Websites
      1. Chapter Links
    24. Index
    25. About the Author
    26. Colophon
    27. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly

Product information

  • Title: Creating a Website: The Missing Manual, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): Matthew MacDonald
  • Release date: May 2011
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781449308643