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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Web Page and Blog - TOC

The COmplete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Web Page and BlogPart 1: Creating Your First Web Page or Blog

 

Chapter 1—A Brief HTML Primer
Okay, So Just What Is HTML?
What Can You Do With HTML?
You Can Format Text
You Can Create Lists of Things
You Can Set Up Links to Other Pages
You Can Insert Images
You Can Format Information In Tables
Pages From All Walks of Web Life
The Personal Touch: Personal Home Pages
The Blog Revolution
Hobbyists Do It with HTML
Not For Bathroom Reading: Electronic Magazines
Corporate Culture Hits the Web
Helping Hands: Government and Public Service Pages
From Student to Savant: Professional Web Designers

 

Chapter 2—Laying the Foundation: The Basic Structure of a Web Page or Blog
Getting Started
First, Crank Out a New Text File
Notes About Saving HTML Files
The Edit-Save-Browse Cycle
Tag Daze[md]Understanding HTML's Tags
And Now, Some Actual HTML
A Page by Any Other Name: Adding a Title
The <TITLE> Tag
Title Dos and Don'ts
Fleshing Out Your Page with Text
How to Do Paragraphs
"Help! The Browser Shows My Tags!"

 

Chapter 3—From Buck-Naked to Beautiful: Dressing Up Your Page or Blog
Sprucing Up Your Text
Some Basic Text Formatting Styles
Combining Text Formats
Accessorizing: Displaying Special Characters
A Few Formatting Features You'll Use All the Time
Sectioning Your Page with Headings
Aligning Paragraphs
Handling Preformatted Text
Them's the Breaks: Using <BR> for Line Breaks
Inserting Horizontal Lines
Textras: Fancier Text Formatting
The <FONT> Tag, Part I: Changing the Size of Text
The <BASEFONT> Tag
The <FONT> Tag, Part II: Changing the Typeface
Some Notes About Working with Colors
Changing the Color of Your Page Text
Changing the Color of Your Links
The <FONT> Tag, Part III: Another Way to Change Text Color

 

Chapter 4—The Gist of a List: Adding Lists to Your Page
Putting Your Affairs in Order with Numbered Lists
Using a Different Numbering Scheme
Scoring Points with Bulleted Lists
Changing the Bullet Type
Defining Definition Lists
Combining Lists Inside Lists

 

Chapter 5—Making the Jump to Hyperspace: Adding Links
The URL of Net: A Cyberspace Address Primer
Getting Hyper: Creating Links in HTML
Site Organization: Dealing with Directories
Anchors Aweigh: Internal Links
Creating an Email Link

 

Chapter 6—A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Clicks: Working with Images
Images: Some Semi-Important Background Info
No, Images Aren't Text, But That's Okay
Graphics Formats: Can't We All Just Get Along?
"How Do I Get Graphics?"
Converting Graphics to GIF or JPEG
The Nitty-Gritty at Last: the <IMG> Tag
"Help! The #%@*&! Browser Won't Display My Images!"
Specifying Image Height and Width
Aligning Text and Images
Handling Browsers with Graphics Turned Off
Separating Text and Images
Good Uses for Images on Your Web Page
Using a Color or an Image As the Page Background
Modifying the <BODY> Tag
A Special Image: The Pixel Shim (spacer.gif)
Giving a GIF a Transparent Background

 

Chapter 7—The Host with the Most: Choosing a Web Hosting Provider
A Plethora of Web Publishing Possibilities
Use Your Existing Internet Provider
Try to Find a Free Hosting Provider
Sign Up with a Commercial Hosting Provider
What to Look for In a Web Host
How to Transfer from One Host to Another
How to Get Yourself a Fancy-Schmancy Domain Name
What Does Your Web Home Look Like?

 

Chapter 8—Publish or Perish: Putting Your Page or Blog on the Web
What Does Your Web Home Look Like?
The Relationship Between Your Directory and Your Web Address
Making Your Hard Disk and Your Web Home Mirror Images of Each Other
A Pre-Trip Checklist
Okay, Ship It!
Adding Your Web Host's FTP Site
Sending the Files Via FTP
Creating a New Directory
Making Changes to Your Web Files
"Hey, I'm Over Here!" Getting Your Site on the Search Engines
Submitting Your Site
Using the <META> Tag to Make Search Engines Notice Your Site
Tips for Composing Search Engine-Friendly <META> Tags

 

Part 2: A Grab Bag of Web Page and Blog Wonders

 

Chapter 9—Images Can Be Links, Too
Turning an Image Into a Link
"Why Should I Use an Image As a Link?"
Example 1: A Web Page "Toolbar"
Example 2: Navigation Buttons
Example 3: Creating Image Thumbnails
The Ins and Outs of Image Links
Images Can Be Maps, Too
Step 1: Determine the Map Coordinates
Step 2: Use <MAP> to Define the Image Map
Step 3: Add the Image Map to Your Web Page

 

Chapter 10—Table Talk: Adding Tables to Your Page
What Is a Table?
Web Woodworking: How to Build a Table
The Simplest Case: a One-Row Table
Adding More Rows
Creating a Row of Headers
Including a Caption
Table Refinishing[md]More Table Tidbits
Aligning Text Within Cells
Spanning Text Across Multiple Rows or Columns
A Whack of Table Attributes
Using a Table to Set Up a Page with a Margin

 

Chapter 11—Making Your Web Pages Dance and Sing
Sound Advice: Adding Sounds to Your Page
First, Some Mumbo-Jumbo About Sound Formats
Sounding Off with Sound Links
Embedding Sound Files
Another Way to Add a Background Sound
Do-It-Yourself Disney: Animated GIF Images
Creating a Marquee
Redirecting Browsers with Client Pull

 

Chapter 12—Need Feedback? Create a Form!
What Is a Form, Anyway?
Creating Forms
Making It Go: The Submit Button
Starting Over: The Reset Button
Using Text Areas for Multi-Line Text
Toggling an Option On and Off with Check Boxes
Multiple Choice Options: Radio Buttons
Selecting From Lists
Say, Can You CGI?
A Service Exclusively for Readers
Ask Your Provider
The CGI-Joe Route
Check Out the Web's CGI Resources

 

Chapter 13—Fooling Around with Frames
What's with All the Frame Fuss?
Forging a Frame Page
The Basic Frame Tags
Dividing the Screen Horizontally
Dividing the Screen Vertically
Filling the Frames with Content Pages
Teaching Frames and Links to Get Along
Ready-Made Names for Frames
Specifying a Default Target
Frame Frills and Frippery
Handling Frame-Feeble Browsers
Fancier Frames

 

Chapter 14—Some Web Page Doodads You Should Know About
The Searchable Site: Adding a Search Feature
Talk Amongst Yourselves: Adding a Chat Room or Bulletin Board
Using Server-Side Includes to Insert Files In Your Pages
The SSI Include Tag
The SSI Echo Tag
Sneakily Hiding Text with HTML Comment Tags

 

Chapter 15—The Elements of Web Page Style
Content Is King: Notes About Writing
Spelling, Grammar, and Other Text Strangers
More Tips for Righteous Writing
The Overall Organization of Your Web Pages
The One-Track Web Page: Keep Pages to a Single Topic
Use Your Home Page to Tie Everything Together
Use a Consistent Layout
Organization and Layout Hints for Individual Pages
Elements to Include in Each Page
Make Your Readers' Lives Easier
Guidance for Using Graphics
Link Lessons: Keeping Your Links in the Pink

 

Part 3: Building Your Best Blog

 

Chapter 16—Blog Design Considerations
What is a Blog?
Designing Your Blog Entries
The Headline
The Date and Time
The Commentary
The Pull Quote
The Link
The Credit
The Permanent Link
The "Add a Comment" Link
Designing Your Blog Pages
The Blog Header
The Blog Modules
The Blog Entries
The Blog Footer
Archiving Blog Entries

 

Chapter 17—The Elements of Blog Style
Notes About Blog Style
Style, schmyle: It's the content, silly
What turns your crank?
Who's your audience?
Who are you?
Blog Style Tips
Decide on your posting frequency
Create a catchy name
Tell a story
Keep it short
Keep it relevant
Be yourself
Be interesting
Be consistent
Have fun

 

Chapter 18—Building an Audience for Your Blog
Measuring the Size of Your Audience
Basic Strategies for Drawing a Crowd
Get the word out
Get in the blog-specific indexes
Join a blogring
Join a geographic index
Send a note to an A-List Blogger
Link to other blogs
Creating a Crowd-Pleasingly Interactive Site
Simple interactive strategies
Setting Up a Comment System
Syndicating Your Site
What is Syndication?
Building an RSS File
Putting Your Feed Online

 

Chapter 19—Getting Along In the Blog World
Netiquette for Blog Readers
Lurk before you leap
Read the FAQ
Stay on topic
Don't get personal
Leave your address
Netiquette for Bloggers
Take your headlines seriously
Give credit where credit is due
Reference earlier entries
Preserve visitor privacy
Don't quote without permission
Respect intellectual property
Don't steal bandwidth
Don't edit others
Respond to a comment with a comment
Practice courtesy blogroll visiting
Announce blog interruptions

 

Chapter 20—Choosing and Using Blog Tools
Choosing a Blog Host
Blogger: Push-Button Publishing
Getting started with Blogger
Configuring your blog
Posting with Blogger
TypePad: The New Host in Town
Getting started with TypePad
Creating a blog
Configuring your blog
Posting with TypePad
Other Blog Hosts
Blog-City (blog-city.com)
LiveJournal (livejournal.com)
Pitas (pitas.com)
Upsaid (upsaid.com)
Weblogger (weblogger.com)
Xanga (xanga.com)
Running a Server-Side Blog Program
Movable Type (movabletype.org)
Greymatter (noahgrey.com/greysoft/)
pMachine (www.pmachine.com)
Blog Comment Systems

 

Part 4: High HTML Style: Working with Style Sheets

 

Chapter 21—A Beginner's Guide to Style Sheets
What's a Style, and What's a Sheet?
Styles in the Web Universe
Sheets: Collections of Styles
What About Browser Support?
Some Style Basics
Three Sheets to the Web: Style Sheets and HTML
Method #1: The <STYLE> Tag
Method #2: Linking to an External Style Sheet
Method #3: Inline Styles
Applying a Style to a Section
Applying a Style to a Word or Phrase
Working with Style Classes

 

Chapter 22—Sheet Music: Styles for Fonts, Colors, and Backgrounds
Using Styles to Control Fonts
Font Size Styles
Font Family Styles (the Typeface)
Font Weight Styles (Bolding)
Font Style Styles (Italics)
Textstyles: More Ways to Format Text
Indenting the First Line of a Paragraph
Aligning Text
Using the Text Decoration Styles
Working with Uppercase and Lowercase Letters
Coloring Your Web World with Color Styles
Using Background Styles

 

Chapter 23—The Box Model: Styles for Dimensions, Borders, Margins, and More
Thinking Outside the Box: Understanding the Box Model
Box Blueprints: Specifying the Dimensions
Cushy Content: Adding Padding to the Inside of the Box
The Box Revealed: Setting Borders
Room to Breathe: Specifying Margins Around the Box
Where the Box Goes: Working with Position Styles
Positioning In the Third Dimension

 

Part 5: Working with JavaScripts

 

Chapter 24—The Programmable Page: Adding JavaScripts to Your Pages
Using the <SCRIPT> Tag
Inserting the Script
Using an External JavaScript File
Some JavaScript Examples
Displaying a Message to the User
Writing Data to the Page
Hiding Your Email Address from a Spam Crawler
Putting the Date and Time Into a Page
Understanding JavaScript Functions
Displaying Messages in the Status Bar
Detecting the User's Browser

 

Chapter 25—More JavaScript Fun
A Script for Mouseovers
Creating a Password-Protected Page
Creating a Link to the Password Protected Part of Your Site
Understanding the Script That Processes the Password
JavaScript and Forms
Making Form Fields Mandatory
Confirming Form Data with the User
Creating a Drop-Down List of Links
A Mortgage Calculator

 

Appendix A—Frequently Asked Questions About HTML

 

Appendix B—HTML Codes for Cool Characters

 

Appendix C—The CD: The Webmaster's Toolkit
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