sacramento_book_review said
In this reviewer's opinion, the O'Reilly series of books has always represented the upper echelon of technical books for reference about Operating Systems, programming languages or applications. These books range from quick reference to incredibly in-depth data on a specific subject matter. //Creating a Website// actually has an addendum to the title named //The Missing Manual//, which is a series of books published by O'Reilly.
MacDonald has compiled a great manual of material from A to Z on how to create a web site, and he's logically organized everything for the reader from the first chapter on how to prepare for the web to creating your first page and then putting it on the web. He includes chapters on Javascript and integration of audio and video into your creation, and ways to attract visitors to your web site once it's up and running. He discusses ways to set up e-mail so that your site visitors may communicate with you and even addresses how to make some money from all the hard work you have devoted to your labor of love. Find a chapter devoted to Blogs, how to host and the software needed for their creation, and how to tweak one.
Bottom line: If you know absolutely nothing about web site creation and want one go to source, //Creating a Website// is the one.
Reviewed by Lee "P.K." Crawford
dwwilkin said
While a little miffed at Amazon because they highlighted this edition when the newer edition had been out for a while, I didn't discover that till partially through the book. Put together as most Missing Manuals, where the next chapter builds greatly on the preceding chapter, it also has information that is decades old.
HTML, the building block of the web, has been around along time, and the web is fifteen years and more now. Even at the time of the book, ten to twelve years in, rehashing the building blocks with too much detail is probably best left elsewhere, even if it is to be used as that step needed to create greater depth in the later chapters.
What is lacking in the resources is a book that blasts in its title, Web Site Design for the best of 2009! Wouldn't that be useful. Current tips and tricks and a way to design something that is meaningful for the times. We have HTML, and XHTML and CSS, discussed. A work around to use Forums by co-opting Google, which is the reason I looked into this resource, and then found another work-around in the notes. Blogs are covered, but the material is out of date, though a good introduction.
In the end that is what this book is. Not as good as many missing manuals because it is out of date. And not as good as many missing manuals because it does not dig deep where it should. Just a little better than average but more than enough to get you up and running with a website that has more than the canned goods your web hosting software wants you to use.
moonwillow3 said
A very useful book and one I wish had been provided with the software I use to code websites.
said
The author tells you the in and outs,... what's missing in css and xhtml. The only thing bad about is book is, that it waste time telling how to make a frame website. I'm only 3/4 through this book. I'm reading on to see if this book tells me how to make a drop down menu!
said
This book was very helpful to me. I am a non-technical person, and found the text easy enough to follow and use as a reference in building my site. I especially liked the section dealing with Blogger, as I wanted to start a personal Blog; however, the first part on web hosts was not as detailed as I expected, so I ended up using "Web Hosting Simplified", an ebook published by Gold Alliance Group which is listed on Google. Overall, Creating A Web Site is a very useful guide which I recommend for anyone creating their first site.
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