HTML 4 for Dummies

With each new generation of HTML (HyperText Markup Language), the code that lurks behind all those cool World Wide Web pages, comes a new learning curve. Not so, say Ed Tittel and Stephen Nelson James, who insist that "if you can dial a telephone or find your keys in the morning, you too can become an HTML author. (No kidding!)" Put their promise to the test as you discover the plain-English fundamentals of writing your way onto that wild and worldwide Web. Why spend big bucks on the latest and greatest Web authoring software when all you need is a copy of HTML 4 For Dummies and a little inspiration (not included, although tons of great ideas appear on the book's bonus CD-ROM). Instead, take this timely and informative tour through the tags, tips, and proven techniques that make the best Web pages work, and follow the entire Web publishing process, from design to maintenance, free of all that confusing technobabble and propeller-head cyberspeak.

This guide walks you through the entire Web authoring process, teaching you how to use the nuts and bolts of HTML to build your Web page. You've got to feel good about a guide that tells you that "if you can dial a telephone or find your keys in the morning, you too can become an HTML author."

The authors start with the premise that you're a true beginner. The first part of the book covers the history of the Web, what a browser is, how HTML is used, and what it takes to access the Web. The book then dives into HTML basics, page layout, and instructions on how to build your first basic Web page. Part 2 explains what a markup language is and how HTML works. This section provides an overview of each HTML tag, highlights special characters, and shows you how to add templates, lists, and links to your Web pages. Part 3 covers relatively advanced areas such as tables, attractive Web design, complex pages, forms, style sheets, image maps, navigation aids, and finally going live with your site.

Part 4 contains the famous "Part of Tens" section that is in each Dummies book, plus HTML's Top Ten Do's and Don'ts, Ten Design Desiderata, and Nearly Ten Ways to Exterminate Web Bugs. Extras on the CD-ROM include overviews on testing your pages, working with Dynamic HTML, frames, Common Gateway Interface (CGI), and more. The CD-ROM also has shareware and examples of HTML that are used in the book. --Elizabeth Lewis