Heidi Boudro.com
Somehow I had never seriously considered learning HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), the "language" used to change or "mark up" a word-processed document into a web page that can be displayed by a web browser. Once I broke through that conceptual block, I set out to get the right materials.
Learning Web Design (O'Reilly, third ed. 2007), by Jennifer Niederst, begins helpfully with a chapter entitled "Where Do I Start?"; again, the biggest block to web proficiency seems to be getting started. My copy came with a disk containing sample documents for lessons and trial software (HTML editors, graphic design software, etc.) to use with the lessons. About half of my edition (the second) was a tutorial for learning HTML and half a tutorial for graphic design. The third edition has been significantly updated to cover the latest languages and techniques.
Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual (Pogue, 2006), by Matthew MacDonald, starts with an excellent overview of the web and proceeds to a detailed, chatty discussion of HTML and other technical and practical aspects of putting up a web site. It is not a tutorial, but it does contain instructions and examples. Its orientation is practical, toward actually getting something done; but it also provides significant background and context.
I needed both books. I got stuck halfway through Learning Web Design's HTML tutorial; HTML is not difficult but apparently I had not grasped it conceptually. I monkeyed with repairing HTML on my own site that Microsoft Word had jumbled. ("They" were right when "they" said not to create a web site with Microsoft Word.) Suddenly the more narrative discussion in Creating Web Sites made sense. I started Learning Web Design again from the beginning and it all clicked.
My next project is to work through the award-winning, tutorial-based CSS: The Missing Manual (Pogue, 2006) by David Sawyer McFarland. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), a relatively recent innovation, is a sort of add-on language to HTML that instructs the web browser on layout and display of web pages.
The Unusually Useful Web Book (New Riders, 2003), by June Cohen, really is unusually useful. The book is a distillation of the experience of dozens of industry experts on every possible facet of putting up and maintaining web sites. (As stated on the cover: "Everything we've learned about why sites succeed!" It is as practical as possible--checklists, worksheets ("What Will You Do With Your Web Site?"; "Writing Your Product Plan"; "How Will You Promote Your Site?"), lists of techniques and steps to take. It is also filled with interviews and features ("lessons from the trenches") on specific problems. I can't imagine a better way to become familiar with technical issues, marketing issues, design and usability issues, and terminology than with this excellent book.
Addendum: I can now "hand-code" HTML. In fact, I occasionally think in HTML, mentally tagging my own thoughts.
by Heidi Boudro