HTML, XHTML, and CSS, Sixth Edition (Visual Quickstart Guide)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 456 pages
• Published by: Peachpit Press
• Edition: 6th Edition August 26, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0321430840
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0321430847
• Book Dimensions: 8.8 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.8 pounds

Product Review
It's important for anyone who creates Web sites--even those who rely on powerful editors like Dreamweaver or GoLive--to know HTML. The World Wide Web Consortium rewrote HTML as a subset of XML (dubbing it "XHTML 1.0") and the allowable code will eventually be stricter. Tags that are being phased out are labeled "deprecated"--current browsers can still handle them, but if you want your site to keep up with future browsers, not to mention conform to accessibility requirements, you will want to get on top of XHTML.

Of course, Elizabeth Castro manages to write books that not only speak to those who are already fluent in HTML, but are good for newbies too. She makes it a breeze to create sites that are visually stylish and technically sophisticated without the expense of buying an editor.

Among the topics covered in her new book, HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS: using the (relatively newer) structural tags (like doctype and div); correctly using older tags (like p and img) that have been modified in XHTML; writing XHTML so that formatting is done by the style sheets; writing those style sheets (cascading style sheets, a.k.a. "CSS"); creating a variety of layouts; and dealing with tables, frames, forms, multimedia, a bit of JavaScript (including mouseovers), WML (for mobile device displays), debugging, publishing, and publicizing your site.

As with all Visual QuickStart Guides, this one features clear and concise instructions side by side with well-captioned illustrations and screen shots that show both the source code and the resulting effect on the Web page. The index is extremely detailed, making this a great reference.

Also great for reference are the outstanding appendices. The first is an extensive list of tags and attributes, indicating which are deprecated and/or proprietary and on which page they are discussed. A similar appendix shows CSS properties and values; given the future of Web coding, this chart alone is worth the price of the book. Other handy charts cover intrinsic events, symbols and character Unicodes, and an expanded color chart that goes way beyond the virtually archaic Web-safe palette. All of which makes this a definite must-have for every Web designer's bookshelf. --Angelynn Grant --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Peachpit's "Visual Quickstart" guides are real meat-and-potatoes works for beginners. Nothing fancy to be found here, just one annotated screen shot after another. An advanced user will finish one of these books during a two-hour airplane ride; beginners will need a day. But everyone will welcome the purely practical approach.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: HTML 4 for the World Wide Web, Fourth Edition (Visual QuickStart Guide) (Paperback) A few weeks ago I developed a simple strategy for evaluating how-to books about technology. Books about computers should: 1) weigh less than a gallon of milk; 2) cost less than twenty dollars; 3) be updated yearly; 4) come with some kind of technical support via a website or an author email; and 5) Be clear, be clear, be clear. Books that comply with these requirements will achieve every author's dream of being good and popular at the same time. Elizabeth Castro writes books in this manner, and once again her HTML 4 For The World Wide Web (fourth edition) has found its way to the top of the bestseller lists for books about computers and the Internet. The book covers all the important aspects of HTML 4, including the latest updates about Cascading Style Sheets, Level 2. Each chapter gets right to the point and teaches you how to do things: format text, make links, add multimedia, make tables, frames, and forms. You get a handy color chart on the back inside cover of the book; and a whole chapter called "Extras" that teaches lesser-known tricks such as how to password-protect a directory, soup up your mailto links, create buttons with tables, and create and automatic slide show. There are also chapters about scripts, the essentials of JavaScript, and how to get people to visit your page after you've published it on the Web. The Visual Quickstart Guide format itself is an exemplary vehicle for Castro's instructional skills. Every page contains at least one diagram, so that the reader can SEE what's happening on their computer screen. All the lessons are divided into small bite-sized segments which are easy to digest. This strategy, known as "micro-uniting," has been proven to be the most effective way to teach. You can read the book straight through from start to finish, or you can use it as a reference book and jump in to any chapter. After each lesson, you may find yourself saying amazedly: "It's easy to do that!" In just a short time, working with this book, you'll be able to create useful, sophisticated and attractive effects on your web pages. Elizabeth Castro is one of those great how-to writers who anticipate your questions and thus make the learning process fast, efficient, and fun. HTML 4 For The World Wide Web is the ideal book to beginners who want to learn how to make web pages, and for intermediate-level users who want to give their web pages more features and a thoroughly professional look. Paperback, 384 pages Michael Pastore, Reviewer Comment | | (Report this)