Sams Teach Yourself HTML and CSS in 24 Hours

Sams Teach Yourself Series

by Julie C. Meloni, Michael Morrison

In just 24 lessons of one hour or less, you can learn how to use HTML and CSS to design, create, and maintain world-class web sites. Using a clear, down-to-earth approach, each lesson builds upon the previous one, allowing even complete beginners to learn the essentials from the ground up.

Full-color figures and clear step-by-step instructions help you learn quickly.

Practical, hands-on examples show you how to apply what you learn.

Quizzes and Exercises help you test your knowledge and stretch your skills.

Learn how to…

Build your own web page and get it online in an instant

Format text for maximum clarity and readability

Create links to other pages and to other sites

Add graphics, color, and visual pizazz to your web pages

Work with transparent images and background graphics

Design your site’s layout and typography using CSS

Get user input with web-based forms

Publicize your site and make it search-engine friendly

Test a web site for compatibility with different browsers

Make your site easy to maintain and update as it grows

Free Access to Online Learning Lab

Register your book at informit.com/register for free, exclusive access to the Online Learning Lab to supplement this book’s lessons:

Video walkthroughs to show you how to complete the step-by-step examples in the book

Fast and fun online quizzes to test your understanding of each lesson

Updates or corrections as they become available

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Technology, Programming

445 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent introduction to HTML and CSS. Its main advantages over other books of this type are the full color examples and syntax-highlighted code snippets. The explanations and examples are simple and easily understood. It claims to cover HTML5, but actually just points out a few deprecated elements and mentions a few new elements and attributes. It doesn’t cover CSS3 at all. Besides XHTML 1.1 and CSS 2.1, it also deals with fonts, images, and SEO.

Web design tips
Use an email address encoder to obfuscate your mailto links using ASCII characters.
Use the W3C Link Checker to check for broken links.

Use absolute positioning only when you need fine, exact positioning. Otherwise, use relative positioning.

Don’t present more than 5 links (as a list or graphics) next to each other. Break them into multiple lists.
Use a flat structure; keep all pages within 1 or 2 links of the homepage.
Link to a category page or the homepage after each subsidiary page.

A home page should always include the site’s name, what it’s about, and a direct, concise statement of the most important message for the audience.

Color and graphics
Use Color Scheme Designer to create your color scheme. Choose tetrad or accented analogic.
Use Colorblind Web Page Filter to see how your site looks to someone with colorblindness.
Free graphics: Microsoft Office Images, Flickr (Creative Commons images)

SEO
Include appropriate keywords in the meta tags.
Use accurate page titles.
Create human-friendly URLs.
Create URLs that reflect the directory structure.
Use text, not graphics, for navigation.
Use a breadcrumb trail.
Use appropriate headings within each page.

[Rashad Knox · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was ok..

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely love this book it provides a comprehensive self - teaching guide for HTML and CSS. This is how I got started into computers and I will never forget this book. Loved it.

[Goodthelife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good intro!

[Karhy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book but it was just horrendous to read. The author just jumped around too much instead of building on concepts. HTML isn't difficult but she made things more confusing.