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Help on HTML
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. If you come across a resource that
you have found to be quite valuable,
e-mail the iServer webmaster
your link suggestion. We welcome your input and suggestions.
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).
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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.
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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.
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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 iServer 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)
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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)
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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 farily 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.
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iServer Webmaster Favorites
Please find below a list of resources that the iServer 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 iServer Webmaster finds very useful... your mileage may vary.
: )
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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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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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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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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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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 inexpensive, just $25.
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Here are a handful of URLs that have stayed in my Bookmark list
on a consistent basis:
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