by Joe Burns
Macmillan Publishing
527 pages
Recommended for ages 10 and up
With the advent of hundreds of webpage design applications available for free or for a nominal fee on the World Wide Web, designing webpages from scratch using HTML has fallen out of fashion. But with his award-winning book, HTML Goodies (and the accompanying website, found at http://www.htmlgoodies.com), Joe Burns makes HTML code and web design easy to master.
For those with no prior web design experience, Burns begins HTML Goodies with a seven-lesson primer, covering basic HTML codes as well as the practical details of putting up a website. From there, he moves on to share some text and graphic tricks, explain how to use tables and frames, and provide some pointers for those who wish to add sound, video, or Javascript to their pages. Burns writes clearly and concisely, keeping technical jargon to a minimum. His colloquial style makes his lessons easy to follow, and the use of graphics and screenshots throughout the book is also helpful.
But if the same "HTML goodies" found in Burns's book are available for free on the WWW, some may wonder if fluid writing and easy-to-follow lesson plans are enough to make the book worth buying. Although HTML Goodies offers, for the most part, the same tips that are available on the World Wide Web, the book is an essential resource for any would-be web designer. With one look at the index, it is possible to find any HTML code or other information within seconds. And having a copy of the book at hand allows web designers to cut down their Internet bills by designing pages offline, using the book as a reference. More than any other web design book I have read, Joe Burns's HTML Goodies communicated the basics of webpage design to me quickly and clearly. With Burns's help, I have been able to use my HTML knowledge for both personal pages and school projects. So pick up a copy of HTML Goodies, open up a blank Notepad file on your computer, and start building the next great Internet masterpiece. From scratch.
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Have you ever tried your hand at designing a webpage from scratch, using only HTML? Did you use the HTML Goodies website or book? Share your experiences by posting a discussion or by sending me an e-mail.
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