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Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and CSS in One Hour a Day, Sixth Edition is the latest edition of the original worldwide bestseller. The entire book has been thoroughly revised and refined to include new detailed coverage of HTML5, the next major revision of the core language of the World Wide Web, HTML. Work on the HTML5 specification is still ongoing, but parts of HTML5 are already being implemented in new versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Opera.
From the Back Cover
Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and CSS in One Hour a Day, Sixth Edition is the latest edition of the worldwide bestseller. The entire book has been thoroughly revised and refined to include new detailed coverage of HTML5, the next major revision of the core language of the World Wide Web, HTML. Work on the HTML5 specification is still ongoing, but parts of HTML5 are already being implemented in new versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Opera.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a person with relatively good, but out of date, knowledge of HTML, this book was fantastic at bringing me up to date and setting me up to create my own modern websites.
It does not assume prior knowledge (except you will need to know the basics of computers, the internet etc.) but also manages not to bore when covering the 'easy stuff' if you do already know some stuff. It uses well thought out examples throughout the book to illustrate every new topic, and the topics are arranged in a very sensible order. Chapters are long enough to be detailed, but short enough not to drag.
The style is informative and clear, without being patronising, the information up to date, but with enough description of deprecated-but-still-in-use items to ensure you will be able to create great new HTML5-compliant sites while still being able to understand and maintain older sites.
The step-by-step guide to installing all of the (free, open source) tools that you will need to do basic web publishing is excellent and ensures this book is a great one-stop-shop to getting your own website online. It does a good job of not assuming you are using the tools it suggests, though, which is often a problem with other 'teach yourself' style books.
On the basis of this book, I will definitely be looking to get hold of other titles by these authors, and this publisher.
It does not assume prior knowledge (except you will need to know the basics of computers, the internet etc.) but also manages not to bore when covering the 'easy stuff' if you do already know some stuff. It uses well thought out examples throughout the book to illustrate every new topic, and the topics are arranged in a very sensible order. Chapters are long enough to be detailed, but short enough not to drag.
The style is informative and clear, without being patronising, the information up to date, but with enough description of deprecated-but-still-in-use items to ensure you will be able to create great new HTML5-compliant sites while still being able to understand and maintain older sites.
The step-by-step guide to installing all of the (free, open source) tools that you will need to do basic web publishing is excellent and ensures this book is a great one-stop-shop to getting your own website online. It does a good job of not assuming you are using the tools it suggests, though, which is often a problem with other 'teach yourself' style books.
On the basis of this book, I will definitely be looking to get hold of other titles by these authors, and this publisher.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book having no previous experience of writing HTML code. My initial intent was to quickly read relevant sections and gain sufficient knowledge to understand how to read the code behind already written web pages !!. I have to say this book definitely allowed me to do that.
I had previously sourced a domain name through one of the major Web hosting companies which also provided many Free sets of software that I then used to construct my Web site. The free software I used was sufficiently sophisticated to allow me to construct my site using mainly a WYSIWYG font page (in theory NOT needing any HTML understanding). I did however manage to construct an acceptable Web site, (learning on the job so to speak !!, and having the help of online video pages. The software package I used also allowed me the option to view and change the written code behind each of the screens. (Getting back to why I purchased this book !).
I can say that the book has been a real "eye opener" into how best to use HTML, but also how to link it, and make use of other code i.e. CSS. I have ended up reading all of the chapters, (nearly in the order as written), VERY WELL SET OUT ! and relatively easy to understand !. Also I wish I had waited until I had read the book before starting with the Web construction. I have recently obtained a copy of Adobe "Dreamweaver" and am currently re-hashing my site.
Although Dreamweaver is a professional site and is now making Web building much easier, having the ability to understand the use of HTML code is proving to be very beneficial.
In conclusion a must read book, very well set out, does what is says on the tin !!
I had previously sourced a domain name through one of the major Web hosting companies which also provided many Free sets of software that I then used to construct my Web site. The free software I used was sufficiently sophisticated to allow me to construct my site using mainly a WYSIWYG font page (in theory NOT needing any HTML understanding). I did however manage to construct an acceptable Web site, (learning on the job so to speak !!, and having the help of online video pages. The software package I used also allowed me the option to view and change the written code behind each of the screens. (Getting back to why I purchased this book !).
I can say that the book has been a real "eye opener" into how best to use HTML, but also how to link it, and make use of other code i.e. CSS. I have ended up reading all of the chapters, (nearly in the order as written), VERY WELL SET OUT ! and relatively easy to understand !. Also I wish I had waited until I had read the book before starting with the Web construction. I have recently obtained a copy of Adobe "Dreamweaver" and am currently re-hashing my site.
Although Dreamweaver is a professional site and is now making Web building much easier, having the ability to understand the use of HTML code is proving to be very beneficial.
In conclusion a must read book, very well set out, does what is says on the tin !!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
41 reviews
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Not An Ideal Book For Practical Web Publishing
7 Dec 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Having been a Web developer a while back, I wanted a reference book that serves as a refresher on HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) -- and this book fits the bill perfectly. However, for someone who has no prior knowledge of HTML and CSS, this book comes up a little short. While it may be quite comprehensive in the topics it covers, it lacks a certain cohesiveness that would allow a beginner to use it as a practical guide for real world Web publishing. First, let's talk organization.
- Organization
This book has made a heroic effort to be comprehensive by attempting to cover everything from basic topics (e.g. tables, forms) to intermediate topics (e.g. embedding videos, absolute vs relative position, layers) to more advanced topics (e.g. Javascript [arrays, data types, loops, etc.], relational databases, server-side programming). That's all well and good, but it sometimes goes into so much of the nitty-gritty details that a beginner can easily lose sight of the complete picture. I feel it would be much better if the book had given a birds-eye view to get a beginner up to speed with the overall framework of a Web page before it went into the details.
- Practicality
The book barely touches on some important topics such as WYSIWYG editors (WYSIWYG is the acronym for "What You See Is What You Get" - pronounced wis-see-wig). *Real world* Web publishing use WYSIWYG editors (such as Adobe Dreamweaver) and other tools to expedite the development of Web sites. Hand-coding Web pages from scratch is almost never done. Mind you, I'm not saying learning how HTML/CSS works "under the hood" isn't important -- nothing can be further from the truth! My point is the book could have made more than passing mention of some of the practical aspects of Web publishing.
In addition, the book fails to sufficiently elaborate on the relationship between Javascript and HTML/CSS. Javascript, of course, is a major topic by itself -- in fact whole books are written on it - but the book could have at least made a stronger connection between HTML/CSS and Javascript since Javascript is so inextricably tied to HTML and CSS. Javascript is the basis for dynamic or interactive (vs. "static") Web pages.
- No Companion CD
The major beef I have with this book is that it doesn't have a companion CD with functioning Web pages that illustrate the HTML and CSS concepts covered in the book. At the very least, the book should have included a CD with the HTML and CSS examples presented in the book. Remember, HTML and CSS is best learned by example and experimentation. In this age of cheap storage media, there is simply no excuse to not include a companion CD.
- The Devil Is In The Details
Developing a highly-functional and complex Web page is a very involved process (the operative word here is *involved*). The book doesn't really discuss the problem of cross-browser compatibility. For example, different browsers (such as Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Chrome) render some elements a little differently - enough to significantly alter or "break" your intended Web page design.
---
The bottom line: Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing will get you up to speed with building a very basic Web page with relatively static (vs. dynamic) content. For a more practical guide to HTML/CSS for a beginner, you might want to consider Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML. Unlike Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and CSS, it doesn't just explain HTML/CSS with snippets of code, but walks you through the step-by-step building of functioning Web pages.
- Organization
This book has made a heroic effort to be comprehensive by attempting to cover everything from basic topics (e.g. tables, forms) to intermediate topics (e.g. embedding videos, absolute vs relative position, layers) to more advanced topics (e.g. Javascript [arrays, data types, loops, etc.], relational databases, server-side programming). That's all well and good, but it sometimes goes into so much of the nitty-gritty details that a beginner can easily lose sight of the complete picture. I feel it would be much better if the book had given a birds-eye view to get a beginner up to speed with the overall framework of a Web page before it went into the details.
- Practicality
The book barely touches on some important topics such as WYSIWYG editors (WYSIWYG is the acronym for "What You See Is What You Get" - pronounced wis-see-wig). *Real world* Web publishing use WYSIWYG editors (such as Adobe Dreamweaver) and other tools to expedite the development of Web sites. Hand-coding Web pages from scratch is almost never done. Mind you, I'm not saying learning how HTML/CSS works "under the hood" isn't important -- nothing can be further from the truth! My point is the book could have made more than passing mention of some of the practical aspects of Web publishing.
In addition, the book fails to sufficiently elaborate on the relationship between Javascript and HTML/CSS. Javascript, of course, is a major topic by itself -- in fact whole books are written on it - but the book could have at least made a stronger connection between HTML/CSS and Javascript since Javascript is so inextricably tied to HTML and CSS. Javascript is the basis for dynamic or interactive (vs. "static") Web pages.
- No Companion CD
The major beef I have with this book is that it doesn't have a companion CD with functioning Web pages that illustrate the HTML and CSS concepts covered in the book. At the very least, the book should have included a CD with the HTML and CSS examples presented in the book. Remember, HTML and CSS is best learned by example and experimentation. In this age of cheap storage media, there is simply no excuse to not include a companion CD.
- The Devil Is In The Details
Developing a highly-functional and complex Web page is a very involved process (the operative word here is *involved*). The book doesn't really discuss the problem of cross-browser compatibility. For example, different browsers (such as Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Chrome) render some elements a little differently - enough to significantly alter or "break" your intended Web page design.
---
The bottom line: Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing will get you up to speed with building a very basic Web page with relatively static (vs. dynamic) content. For a more practical guide to HTML/CSS for a beginner, you might want to consider Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML. Unlike Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and CSS, it doesn't just explain HTML/CSS with snippets of code, but walks you through the step-by-step building of functioning Web pages.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Solid introductory web text
1 Jan 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
As its title suggests, this is an introductory text. It makes a decent beginner's reference as well, but assumes little to no knowledge of web technologies and is clearly geared toward non-professionals. That said, it is a very well done introduction to Web 2.0, including some discussion of HTML5, and has a good breadth of coverage.
Similar to other Sam's books (most of which are great for beginners) the text is divided up into chapters that take about an hour to finish. It starts with very simple stuff such as the basic HTML/CSS tags and progresses to advanced topics like AJAX and scripting. If you've been awake during the last ten or so years, you can safely skip the introduction. Most of the common HTML 4.x tags are covered in depth, including some that have fallen into disuse. Notes are made regarding what will be supported in HTML5, but most of the discussion is limited to compatibility. This isn't a book on HTML5 or CSS3, which makes sense as of now since neither of those are widely supported yet. Aside from some brief discussion of the <video> tag, you probably won't learn much about the new standard itself.
Each chapter is built around a short exercise with code snippets and explanation. It is done in a step-by-step manner that's very easy to understand.* Additional reading and exercises are noted at the end, if you care to learn more. Aside from HTML, topics range from page layouts to basic scripting (JS/PHP), embedding movies, and content handling. It even touches on some frameworks like JQuery and swfobject. The authors generally shy away from browser-specific optimizations and syntax, which is probably a good thing as some of these can cause serious issues. They also discuss some legacy features that you might see (e.g. frames) but also do a good job noting what you should and shouldn't be using. The authors don't promote any particular browser, save for a brief note at the start that they recommend Firefox for use with this book. While I agree that Firefox is good for development- especially if you do JS- it's an unfortunate fact that IE still has the most market share and is also by far the least forgiving browser. If you can get something to work in IE, it will most likely work with anything else- but the opposite is far, far from true. On that note, there's not much discussion of browser quirks (rather, the authors point you to places like quirksmode.org, which is fine if you really care to know) but rather emphasis on writing well-formed pages that will most likely work.
*(I should note, however, that it just so happens I am a web professional, so take this with a grain of salt)
As with most general IT books, this one takes the scattergun approach and doesn't go very in-depth into any particular area. Some rather important things, like social network integration, are barely touched upon. Personally, I think this is for the better- you can spend months learning just one aspect of web publishing (and make a lot of money off it, to boot) so this sort of book gives you an idea of what's out there. If for whatever reason you only care about a particular topic, go find a book specific to it- more likely than not, there's probably a few dozen to pick from. Or if you'd rather save some money, go online: in most cases there are TONS of free web resources and tutorials for those who want to venture a bit deeper. This book just gives you a great place to start.
Pros:
Easy to follow with well-structured examples.
Good coverage in topics, breadth-wise.
Solid foundation of best-practice and design guidelines.
Cons:
Not much coverage of HTML5, which you might expect from the cover/description.
Similar to other Sam's books (most of which are great for beginners) the text is divided up into chapters that take about an hour to finish. It starts with very simple stuff such as the basic HTML/CSS tags and progresses to advanced topics like AJAX and scripting. If you've been awake during the last ten or so years, you can safely skip the introduction. Most of the common HTML 4.x tags are covered in depth, including some that have fallen into disuse. Notes are made regarding what will be supported in HTML5, but most of the discussion is limited to compatibility. This isn't a book on HTML5 or CSS3, which makes sense as of now since neither of those are widely supported yet. Aside from some brief discussion of the <video> tag, you probably won't learn much about the new standard itself.
Each chapter is built around a short exercise with code snippets and explanation. It is done in a step-by-step manner that's very easy to understand.* Additional reading and exercises are noted at the end, if you care to learn more. Aside from HTML, topics range from page layouts to basic scripting (JS/PHP), embedding movies, and content handling. It even touches on some frameworks like JQuery and swfobject. The authors generally shy away from browser-specific optimizations and syntax, which is probably a good thing as some of these can cause serious issues. They also discuss some legacy features that you might see (e.g. frames) but also do a good job noting what you should and shouldn't be using. The authors don't promote any particular browser, save for a brief note at the start that they recommend Firefox for use with this book. While I agree that Firefox is good for development- especially if you do JS- it's an unfortunate fact that IE still has the most market share and is also by far the least forgiving browser. If you can get something to work in IE, it will most likely work with anything else- but the opposite is far, far from true. On that note, there's not much discussion of browser quirks (rather, the authors point you to places like quirksmode.org, which is fine if you really care to know) but rather emphasis on writing well-formed pages that will most likely work.
*(I should note, however, that it just so happens I am a web professional, so take this with a grain of salt)
As with most general IT books, this one takes the scattergun approach and doesn't go very in-depth into any particular area. Some rather important things, like social network integration, are barely touched upon. Personally, I think this is for the better- you can spend months learning just one aspect of web publishing (and make a lot of money off it, to boot) so this sort of book gives you an idea of what's out there. If for whatever reason you only care about a particular topic, go find a book specific to it- more likely than not, there's probably a few dozen to pick from. Or if you'd rather save some money, go online: in most cases there are TONS of free web resources and tutorials for those who want to venture a bit deeper. This book just gives you a great place to start.
Pros:
Easy to follow with well-structured examples.
Good coverage in topics, breadth-wise.
Solid foundation of best-practice and design guidelines.
Cons:
Not much coverage of HTML5, which you might expect from the cover/description.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
An Excellent Tutorial Diminished By Poor Editing
25 Jan 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Laura Lemay has been writing "Teach Yourself" titles on web development topics for more than 15 years now, several of which I have read, enjoyed, and learned from. Having finished this updated edition of her "Web Publishing", I am happy to recommend it to HTML novices, but not without criticism and caveats.
THE GOOD: The first two parts of the book constitute a solid HTML primer written in a friendly, "only as technical as is necessary" style, moving into more complex web programming topics in later chapters. Best practices and compliance with the emerging HTML5 standard are emphasized throughout the short self-study lessons. Further, the closing sections of the book provide sound "real world" advice on topics like hosting, marketing, and publishing platforms.
THE IFFY: I felt that CSS was introduced rather clumsily, as if the authors took their old HTML 3.2 lessons and swapped in CSS code for the deprecated visual markup tags. Will confused newcomers persevere until Lesson 13 when the big picture is finally explained?
THE NOT-SO-GOOD: Visiting my local bookstore confirmed that the minor (but fairly frequent) syntax and spelling errors were not confined to my review copy. Less forgivable is the reference to Appendix B, "HTML Quick Reference", on page 150. Appendix B does not exist.
BOTTOM LINE: On page 538, the authors state that "visitors aren't going to have much patience if your web page is poorly organized or full of spelling errors." Again on page 543, "Spelling errors and bad grammar reflect badly on you, on your work, and on the content you're describing. It may be irritating enough that your visitors won't bother to delve any deeper... even if the subject you're writing about is fascinating." Applying these stated standards to the book, I would encourage Ms. Lemay and Mr. Colburn to demand an apology from their publisher.
THE GOOD: The first two parts of the book constitute a solid HTML primer written in a friendly, "only as technical as is necessary" style, moving into more complex web programming topics in later chapters. Best practices and compliance with the emerging HTML5 standard are emphasized throughout the short self-study lessons. Further, the closing sections of the book provide sound "real world" advice on topics like hosting, marketing, and publishing platforms.
THE IFFY: I felt that CSS was introduced rather clumsily, as if the authors took their old HTML 3.2 lessons and swapped in CSS code for the deprecated visual markup tags. Will confused newcomers persevere until Lesson 13 when the big picture is finally explained?
THE NOT-SO-GOOD: Visiting my local bookstore confirmed that the minor (but fairly frequent) syntax and spelling errors were not confined to my review copy. Less forgivable is the reference to Appendix B, "HTML Quick Reference", on page 150. Appendix B does not exist.
BOTTOM LINE: On page 538, the authors state that "visitors aren't going to have much patience if your web page is poorly organized or full of spelling errors." Again on page 543, "Spelling errors and bad grammar reflect badly on you, on your work, and on the content you're describing. It may be irritating enough that your visitors won't bother to delve any deeper... even if the subject you're writing about is fascinating." Applying these stated standards to the book, I would encourage Ms. Lemay and Mr. Colburn to demand an apology from their publisher.
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