Building a Web Site for Dummies

by David A. Crowder

If you're just getting your feet wet in Web site construction, the first big hurdle is figuring out where to start. Building a Web Site for Dummies lightens things up with humor and makes the challenge of building a site far less daunting.

This book doesn't zoom you right into coding HTML, although it covers the markup language quite well. Instead, it offers a much higher-level look at site design by examining the general questions of navigation principles, affiliation possibilities, building communications with your users, and other wide-ranging topics. For this reason, the book covers a lot of ground and offers a broad perspective on site design that transcends simple page coding.

A couple of the more useful sections on Web site tools and e-commerce cover useful utilities, such as NetMechanic, Statbot, and Spinwave. The chapter on e-commerce helps you get to know the ropes of selling stuff online, and points you to online malls, fulfillment services, and currency converters.

The companion CD-ROM contains evaluation versions of useful tools, such as Paint Shop Pro, HomeSite 4.5, Fireworks, and Dreamweaver. You won't find all of the knowledge that you seek to become a Web site guru in this book, but you will gain perspective and learn tons of useful tips and tricks. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered:

Designing a Web site plan Web page construction 101 Using scripts and applets Site navigation Graphics handling Multimedia Site tuning Using content providers Message boards E-commerce Affiliates programs Publicity

Genres: Computers, Nonfiction, Technology, Website Design, Education, Business, Reference

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ana Mardoll · Rating 1 out of 5]

Building a Web Site for Dummies / 978-0-470-14928-7

This book is a great example of why reading reviews before buying is so necessary, even when dealing with "trusted" brand names. I picked this up in a store without going through my usual policy of checking the online ratings first, and boy I wish I'd saved my money.

Are you a newbie thinking about building a website? Would you like a "building a web site" guide for absolute dummies? Well, this is not it. Contrary to the title, this book assumes you already KNOW how to program and build a web site and assumes you already HAVE a web site that you just want to tweak. The HTML section is a "refresher" section, that claims to assume the reader already knows how to program in HTML, although if you already know how to program in HTML, I'm a little confused as to why the 16-page "refresher" section feels the need to tell you the most obvious stuff, like that the definition of the word "font" and what it does an an attribute. Refresher courses generally skip the basics and handle "medium-level" material that the user may have forgotten - that's why it's meant to "refresh" your memory. This feels like the author just copied the first chapter of a decent HTML for beginners book, but cutting out most of the content to get around copyright issues, and then calling it a day 16 pages in. So - yay - this book is worthless as a resource for beginners AND as a refresher course for old-hands.

The CSS section has the same problems as the HTML section and is additionally only 7 pages long. Fantastic.

The claim is circulating in some of the reviews (and in the book itself) that this is really a book for *refining* your existing web site, but it doesn't even do that well. The very little amount of information is buried in a thick, folksy writing style that seems to hope you won't notice the lack of content and preponderance of padding. The examples are clunky, and the images offered here are incredibly ugly - I wouldn't want these designs on my website. Most of the chapters are links to other web sites and recommendations for various "Dummies" books (as in, "I'm not going to go into HTML, but this other HTML for Dummies book does!" and "I'm not going to go into CSS, but this other CSS for Dummies book does!" or "I'm not going to go into Dreamweaver, but this other Dreamweaver for Dummies book does!" over and over again). The web site building advice is completely banal: update your content regularly, make your web site easy to use, include a way for your readers to contact you, etc. Chances are if you've been on the internet even a little in the last few years (enough to pick up HTML and CSS on your own, anyway!) then you already know this stuff.

In closing, I'd like to quote some of the "padding" that manages to make this book hit a 300+ page count without containing any useful information whatsoever:

"How to Use This Book:
Keep this book next to your computer and never lend it to anybody. It's far too precious for that. Make your friends buy their own copies. If you need to make space on your bookshelf, throw away anything else you own to make room for it. When you travel, take it with you. Hold it in your arms at night and tell it how much you love it."

"How This Book is Organized:
This book is divided into eight parts. I organized it that way, with a little help from the folks you see in the Acknowledgments. You did read the Acknowledgments, didn't you? Don't tell me that you're the kind of person who reads the Introduction but doesn't read the Acknowledgments. Please tell me that you didn't miss the Dedication, too?"

Yeah, this author is laughing all the way to the bank.

If you really want a decent "building a web site for beginners" book, I've found "Blended HTML, XHTML, and CSS" by Henry Bojack to be a very solid alternative, if you can find it at a decent price.

~ Ana Mardoll

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up from my local library to help me with a course on HTML and general web building within my Library & Information Science studies. Its an okay book. It gives you a lot of the basic fundamental bones. One thing, the HTML is slightly outdated as far as standards for HTML and CSS go (hello HTML5), so not all of it is still applicable (but its been a few years since it came out). It was interesting to see how web pages have changed as far as layout goes. The textbook I used for my course was much better. This one doesn't age well and it isn't that visually appealing either. This isn't my favorite book in the "for Dummies" line by a long shot. This one is generic, focuses a lot on some sites that aren't actually that great in terms of long term look for your own site today, and for me it just misses the mark on overall helpfulness. Might be time for the library to see about weeding this one and focusing on more updated versions/alternatives.

[Anibal · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author has excellent sense of humor - granted. The author knows about the subject - granted. The author goes to huge efforts to explain the basics - granted.

But after the funny phrases, basic explanations of concepts and acronyms and how to make the simplest instructions in html and CSS, the book is over. After reading this book you probably won't be able to make a better website then the hundreds of templates (free or paid) you can easily find in the web!

The author also holds dear some late 90' ideas. The train already left that station. This book needs a complete new edition and much more material. Even in 2004 when this book was written, it was already outdated.

Save your time and money. Use the web or AI.

[Deb Rainey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only reason that I didn't give the book 5 stars is that I read the 2nd Edition from 2004 (a friend loaned it to me) and some, but not all, of the websites were not up to date. I've been on a "learn to create an e-commerce website on your own" journey for about 6 months now and this book provided me with a lot of answers, and better questions. I still have a lot to learn but the step by step instructions helped me get a better grasp on some of the finer points of web design-I'm sure that a seasoned web-master might find it a yawn, but as a newbie, I found it very helpful.

[Tea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay. I already know how to build a web site. But I love to read newer editions of the Dummies books because I find (most) of them to be written in an engaging, amusing way. Plus times are always a-changin', so it's good to keep up. I'm learning new things as I read about the old things. This version in particular is very Google-product-involved- writer is a definite Google fanboy. But then again, who isn't?

[Ntombizakhona Mabaso · Rating 5 out of 5]

"About This Book

This isn't just another Web-design book. It's special. Really.
I set out to write the one book I'd want by my side if I were to set up a really fancy Web site and not break the bank doing it.
I tracked down and tested zillions of Web site enhancements and selected the top of the line to share with you.
And I'm honestly proud of the results. "

- David A. Crowder

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was a good primer on building a small web site. i picked it up to get a better understanding of the terminologies. Marginally helpful for understanding terms used in enterprise website build.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes sense. It has some useful ideas on website security as well. The designers of goodreads.com should read this.

[Nate Jordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, gee...

That was rough. But, I now feel I'm at least well-informed enough to start laying the foundation for my company website - www.monkeypuzzleonline.com.

[Yoli · Rating 3 out of 5]

so far so good. I can't say I'm enjoying it, but it has the answers I need. I recommend it.