Getting started with HTML

I’m looking for a book to get me pointed in the right direction with HTML. While I’m fairly familiar with the internet and computers in general, I have yet to make my own website. Most likely I will use Frontpage instead of true programming; I’m not starting a dot-com business or planning anything massive. Just looking for a decent book to get me pointed in the right direction. :confused: Any suggestions?

Dont take this as a personal comment, but the book that helped me the most when I first started creating web pages was “HTML for Dummies.”

I’d have to agree with Euty. The dummies books, or some similar series, will most likely be what you need.

Good recommendation there. I wish they had been around when I was starting out. I’m sure the latest version is very comprehensive these days.

I wouldn’t recommend Frontpage either. If you do get the ‘Dummies’ book, it would probably recommend you do it in a text editor like Notepad.

Frontpage, and other WYSIWYG programs, tend to auto-create code while you move tables and text around, making a bit of a mess.

If you really want to be in control and learn what it is that you’re doing, typing the actual coding directly is the bestest way to go.

When it comes to languages, HTML is the simplest there is and is a lot less daunting than you may expect.

I liked Teach Yourself HTML in 24 Hours by Dick Oliver. It has an online site with the examples used in the text at http://www.24hourhtmlcafe.com . In addition to doing a good job of teaching HTML, the author frequently had me rolling on the floor with his examples, like the one shown here on how to link to specific locations on another page.

I know they’re generally well-done books, but I just cannot bring myself to buy any of the “…for Dummies” or “Idiot’s Guide to…” books. Sorry, I’m neither a dummy nor an idiot; I just want to get a bit more informed on the topic at hand. (What do you expect from a kid raised by a Mom who couldn’t stand to listen to “Amazing Grace” because she didn’t consider herself “a wretch”?)

  1. Don’t use FrontPage if you want to learn HTML. It’s “HTML” that it writes in the back end is horrible, and the FrontPage components are unstable.

  2. My personal favorite web design book is O’Reilly’s Web Design in a Nutshell.

  3. Use Dreamweaver :slight_smile:

If you truly want to learn HTML, you’re going to need to do just that- learn HTML. Frontpage and other WYSIWYG editors don’t teach you anything other than how to point and click. Right now it may seem tedious, but in the end, you’ll be glad you used Notepad.

My advice is to check out the (free) HTML Goodieswebsite first. They have beginner primers, as well as advanced tutorials once you get your feet wet.

Personally, I find printed books to often be lacking when it comes to teaching. The only thing I use them for is a quick reference for a command here or there. Maybe that’s just me.

WebMonkey has lots of great resources on web design, starting with the basics of HTML. I would also recommend using some kind of text editor as opposed to FrontPage, at least in the beginning. You’ll learn more. See if you can find one that will give you some options in addition to what Notepad has, like syntax coloring and a better file browsing interface. I use a very old version of HomeSite for most of my web design, and that’s basically what it is… a glorified Notepad with some HTML-specific features. :slight_smile:

I learned by printing out and reading through the NCSA html primer. Very straightforward and to the point. I highly recommend it.

http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html

Anything else you need to know, you can find out by digging up a web site that does what you want to do and taking it apart to see how it works. Seriously. It’s the only real way to learn.

Another vote for Teach Yourself HTML in 24 Hours. I’m fairly clued up about HTML, and I thought it was really well written and (a good sign) did things properly – no sneaky shortcuts that may becomes obsolete one day.

HTML for the world wide web by Elizabeth Castro, part of the Visual Quickstart Guide series, Peachpit Press.

Superb in every respect. This is the book you want!

Or, if you want to do it the cheap way, you can peruse Yahoo! for HTML tutorial sites.

It’s really very easy to learn the essentials; just open up a text editor and type away. And if you avoid the troublesome stuff like frames, that makes your code cleaner and your web visitors happier. :slight_smile:

=)

I also recommend one of the “For Dummies” or “Complete Idiots” books. “HTML Goodies” is also good. I also read “Web Design Goodies” from cover to cover, and it was really an eye-opener. Also, Laura Lemay has written some good HTML books.

I have used FrontPage, but now I consider it too unstable. And yukky, yukky code. I now use Dreamweaver. But I have edited (and still have one site I edit) with Homesite/BBEdit. (I am cross-platform.) Homesite just came out with version 5, which I am chomping at the bit to try!

Knowing HTML is an excellent idea. Even if you use a WYSIWYG editor, you will be seriously handicapped if you are completely lost with HTML. I often go into “Code” mode in Dreamweaver to do a little hand-editing. It’s often necessary, to get exactly what you want.

Third vote here for Sam’s Teach Yourself HTML in 24 hours. I could do a basic web page in about two hours. Hint: Do the exercises at the end of the chapter.

I recommend The Complete Idiot’s Guide to HTML over HTML for Dummies. WebMonkey (see Ironblayde’s linke) is good, too.

I wouldn’t take CheapBastid’s suggestion of: View > Source to lightly. Sure, buy a book and use that but looking at, (maybe) printing off and trying to understand the coding of more proficient webmasters is a great way to keep learning, IMHO – makes you very quizzical.

i’d go with ‘view source’ too. that’s the way i learned it… just create something on frontpage, mess around with the code and work it out that way. when you see something interesting on a web page, look at the source and try and determine how it was done. once you’re proficient at html, move on to css - it’s an incredibly easy, efficient way to design web sites.

i’d go completely against frontpage and all that for making webpages - apart from all unnecessary code involved, the end product will always end up looking a bit cheesy and ameteurish no matter (epsecially?) how much javacode and the like that you put in. if you want a page that looks good at all, write it from scratch yourself.