The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating an HTML 4 Web Page

You know how to surf the web, cruise for information, and sail the open seas looking for ports of interest, but when it comes to creating your own web page, you're ready to head back to shore. Don't abandon ship yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating an HTML 4.0 Web Page, Third Edition is your ticket to the exciting world of web publishing. Using a light-hearted, easy-to-understand approach and simple, step-by-step instructions, you'll explore the basics of web page creation and be adding sound, video, and cool backgrounds, as well as creating links and formatting text-with ease. In no time, you'll be a world-class web traveler making your mark in Cyberspace. In no time, you'll have your own homestead on the cyber-frontier.

One of the charms of the Web is that just about anyone can (and does) create a Web page. "It's cinchy," they tell you. And they're right. But it always helps to have a book handy to help you with some of the not-so-cinchy parts. And it amazes me how many Web design or publishing books just don't get it. Fortunately, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Web Page isn't one of those books. Despite its long name (which I refuse to type again), the book is very good.

Paul does a fair job of covering the subject in a friendly, engaging tone. Yes, this book has life to it. It has personality. The humor isn't forced or condescending. Paul covers a lot of ground quickly and I had to remind myself that Idiot's Guides, like Dummies books, are references. So, where I thought some things were skipped over quickly, the truth is that as a reference the book works well. (True beginners who need handholding and tutorials should turn elsewhere.)

The book's scope is vast. It goes into style sheets, JavaScript, and certain advanced options that help round out the Web page experience. It also covers my hot-button issue of FTP. Without FTP, you just can't publish your Web page on the Internet, and I'm embarrassed for the many book authors who don't include such vital information in their Web publishing books. Fortunately, it's covered here, and covered well.

I suppose I could gripe that the book doesn't cover XML, an advanced topic for Web page creation, and one that I've yet to see a decent book on, anyway. That's a minor quibble, though; as far as I'm concerned, XML is just a Microsoft conspiracy to yank Web page creation out of the hands of you and me, the mere mortals of the Internet. No, for basic Web page creation and publication, you really can't beat this book. --Dan Gookin