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What You Need to Get Started

This book assumes you don't have anything more than a reasonably up-to-date computer and raw ambition . Although there are dozens of high- powered Web editing programs to help you build a Web site, you don't need one to use this book. In fact, if you use a Web editor before you understand how Web sites work, you're liable to create more problems than you solve. That's because, as helpful as these programs are, they shield you from learning all the Web design nitty-gritty that can sometimes be the difference between an okay-looking Web site and a fantastic-looking one.

Once you master the basics, you're welcome to use a fancy Web page editor like FrontPage or Dreamweaver. You'll learn how these two leading programs work and you'll see a great free (!) alternativein Chapter 4.

Note: Under no circumstances do you need to know anything about complex Web programming technologies like Java and ASP.NET. You also don't need to know anything about databases or XML. These topics are fascinating, but insanely difficult to implement without some solid computer coding experience. In this book, you'll learn how to create the best possible Web site without becoming a programmer. (However, you will learn just enough about JavaScript to use many of the free samples you can find online.)

About This Book

No one owns the Web. As a result, no one has the responsibility to teach people how to use it or how to build a home for themselves online. That's where this book comes in. If the Web did have an instruction manualone that painstakingly details the basic ingredients , time-saving tricks, and fancy frills every Web site needsthis would be it.

Note: This book periodically recommends other books, covering topics that are too specialized or tangential for a manual about creating Web sites. Careful readers may notice that not every one of these titles is published by Missing Manual parent O'Reilly Media. While we're happy to mention other Missing Manuals and books in the O'Reilly family, if there's a great book out there that doesn't happen to be published by O'Reilly, we'll still let you know about it.

Macintosh and Windows

One of the best things about the Web is that it truly is World Wide: Wherever you live, from Aruba to Zambia, the Web eagerly awaits your company. The same goes for whatever kind of computer you're using to design your Web site. From an early model Windows PC to the latest and greatest Mac, the tactics, tools, and tricks described in this book can be implemented with pretty much whatever kind of computer you might have. (Of course, there are a few programs that favor one operating system over another, and you'll hear about those differences whenever they come up.) The good news is that this book is usable and suitable for owners of computers of all stripes .

On occasion, you'll see a keyboard shortcut mentioned to help you perform a quick maneuver like saving or printing a document. When these occur, you'll see the Windows keystroke listed first (with + symbols, as is customary in Windows documentation); the Macintosh keystroke follows in parentheses (with -symbols, in time-honored Mac fashion). In other words, you might read, "The keyboard shortcut for saving a file is Ctrl+S ( -S)."

About the Outline

This book is divided into five parts , each containing several chapters.

Part 1: Welcome to the Web . In this part, you'll start planning the Web site you want (Chapter 1). You'll learn the basics behind HTML, the language of the Web (Chapter 2); and you'll put your page online with a reputable hosting company (Chapter 3). Finally, you'll look at how you can simplify your life by using Web page editing software (Chapter 4).
Part 2: Building Better Web Pages . This part shows you how to use Web page essentials like pictures, links, and tables. You'll learn your way around the CSS standard, which lets you add fancy colors, fonts, and borders (Chapter 6). You'll master slick layouts (Chapter 9 and Chapter 10), and create an entire Web site with linked pages.
Part 3: Connecting with Your Audience . The third part explains how to get your site noticed in popular Web search engines like Google (Chapter 11), and how to foster a community by making your site more interactive with features like discussion boards (Chapter 12). Finally, you'll consider how you can get on the path to Web riches by showing ads or selling your own products (Chapter 13).
Part 4: Web Site Frills . Now that you can create a professional, working Web site, why not deck it out with fancy features like glowing buttons and pop-out menus ? You won't learn the brain-bending details of how to become a JavaScript programmer, but you will learn enough to find great scripts online, and use them in your own creations.
Part 5: Blogs . In this short part, you'll take a look at blogs (or Web logs) and the free software that helps you create them. (Blogs are a type of Web page that consists of regular, dated postingslike an online journal. In recent years , blogs have become a self-publishing phenomenon and a great place to rant, rave, and spill company gossip.)

At the end of this book, you'll find two appendixes. The first gives you a quick reference for HTML that explains its tags and points you to more detailed discussions in the various chapters of this book.

The second appendix lists a pile of useful Web links culled from the chapters in this book, which can help you learn more, get free stuff (like pictures, Web software, and handy examples), and sign up for services (like Google's ad program and PayPal's shopping cart tools). Don't worryyou don't need to type this information in by hand. It's all waiting for you on the "Missing CD" page at www.missingmanuals.com.

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