Creating a Web Site: The Missing Manual

The book is broken up into four sections, covering how to plan your site, find a good webhost and register your funky new domain name, through to a primer for HTML and CSS and web graphics and finishing off with some excellent advice on how to attract visitors to your site, and how to get them to stay! The final section looks at 'web frills', adding javascript, audio and video to your site.

The book is firmly aimed at the web-novice - some of the sections on html and css are fairly basic, but cover the material well, staying clear of the too much jargon pitfall that dogs other books on the subject. Even so, there are some excellent tips and examples which taught me some new things!

As with all O'Reilly books, the style is clear and concise, with clear examples and pictures illustrating key points.

So. Recommended for beginners and worth chccking out for those past the first steps in building a website. Overall, a fine book.


Great, excellent, easy to understand   November 22, 2007
julius ceaser (London. uk)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful

This book is really good if you're new to website design and blogging. As usual, the missing manual series has debug website design in easy to understand manner, and with less jargon. It takes one through the very basic website design method, lays down the tools you need and how to use it. This is a must read book if you are new to web design and want to learn from scratch. It can't get better than this.


Really good book   June 19, 2009
Marie B. Stein (England)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I bought this book last year when a friend was building a website for me. I didn't want to be able to build it myself, just to follow what he was doing and learn a bit more about websites and the internet. But I actually think that I would have been able to build my own site with the guidance given in this book, it is so well written and takes you through step by step. And I have no IT knowledge, other than how to do the usual stuff of switching on, doing emails and using various Microsoft Office programmes.
One of the reviewers has criticised the book for the use of IT terminology but in fact everything is explained as you go along. There is an excellent index and HMTL glossary. I didn't even understand what HTML stood for when I opened the book and now I am sufficiently confident to do basic HTML stuff on my website. This has certainly given me enough knowledge to enable me to run my site without bothering my tecchie friend too often!
The best thing about the book is that it covers all aspects of creating a website, including SEO techniques to get traffic and using Google ads to generate a bit of income from the site. I regularly pick it up and re-read sections when I need to remind myself of something! Well worth the money!


Just what I wanted   March 31, 2009
EastLancs22
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This book is just what I have been looking for. It takes you from the basics of using XHTML to putting together a quality website and getting it online. Author uses really clear language and doesn't go over your head or talk down to you. It's approach is to teach you the PROPER way to write web pages, i.e. in XHTML, rather than showing you the quickest way. That way you get a good foundation and skill set for future development and you understand how it all works. Recommended.


When you are looking for a excellent manual - this is the one   December 15, 2009
K. Leeger (Netherlands)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Some booktitles do not always correctly reflect the contents of the book in question.
This one does! "Creating a website - The missing manual" gives you exactly that - all the
missing information you have been trying to dig up from software manuals, internet instructions,
library books. All to no avail, until you get your hands on this book. It will force you
to accept the unescapable disciplines of XHTML and CSS as well as good planning. Some important
items however are hidden, as well and you have to look for them. Such as the item concerning
"not to save" standard pages made up in Word or other programs as a web page in HTML (page 86).
This should have been in CAPITALS. Another one is that ALL web-page-elements are in escence
images, including most text elements. Boy, have I been wasting time in trying to get made-up text
into a number of "easy" WYSIWYG software packages. I am not overly keen on the "tips" in the book
being printed white on a grey background. Doesn't make for easy reading, especially when you're a bit older.
Otherwise, this book IS the missing manual that you need at the side of your computer, whilst constructing a website.