Creating Web Pages For Dummies 7 Edition. Wiley

by Bud E. Smith and Arthur Bebak

No Experoence Required! Build Your Own Web Pages and Graphics

Create a Web Page Today
Building Pages
Better, Stronger, Faster Pages
Getting Interactive
The Part of Tens

Creating Web Pages For Dummies 7 Edition

About the Authors
Bud E. Smith is a computer book author with over 12 years of publishing
experience. Creating Web Pages For Dummies, 7th Edition, is one of over a
dozen books Bud has written; his Wiley Publishing, Inc. titles include Internet
Marketing For Dummies and Web Usability For Dummies. In addition to writing
books, Bud has been a computer magazine editor and product marketing manager.

Bud got his start with computers in 1983, when he left a promising career as
a welder for a stint as a data-entry clerk. Bud then moved to the Silicon Valley
to join a startup company, followed by work for Intel, IBM, Apple, and AOL.
His work and interests led him to acquire a degree in Information Systems
Management from the University of San Francisco.

Arthur Bebak received a degree in Computer Engineering at the University of
Illinois, which he attended on a fencing scholarship. He has designed mainframes,
managed large engineering projects, and studied business administration.
Arthur is founder of Netsurfer Communications, Inc., a highly successful
electronic publishing company, and is an accomplished author.

At Netsurfer, Arthur oversees a large staff of people who create Web sites for
numerous clients. They also write, edit, and publish several Web-based e-zines.

Authors’ Acknowledgments
The authors thank Steve Hayes, acquisitions editor, and the staff that helped
produce this book: Editors Paul Levesque, Rebecca Senninger, and Nicole
Haims, Technical Editor Danilo Celic, as well as the many other people
responsible for page layout, proofreading, indexing, and graphic art.

The Web was built more for love than for money, and that tradition was continued
by the many people who generously gave their time and support for
this book. We especially thank the providers of Web tools who supplied us
with an excellent set of programs for the CD-ROM and the Web authors who
agreed to let us use their sites for the figures in this book.

Introduction

It may be hard to remember, or it may seem like only yesterday, but some

years ago, the personal computer was introduced. The rise and rise and

rise of the personal computer — with maybe an occasional stumble but never

a real fall — seemed certain to be the most important social and technological

event at the end of the twentieth century. From Wozniak and Jobs’s Apple

II to Bill Gates’s Windows 95, nothing, it seemed could ever be bigger, or more

life-changing and important, than PCs.

But, people do talk. In fact, talking is one of the main things that people are

all about, and in the beginning, the personal computer didn’t let you interact

with others. However, first with modems, and then with networks, and finally

through their combination and culmination in the Internet, personal computers

became the tools that opened up a new medium of communication. The most

visible and exciting part of the Internet is the World Wide Web. Now communication,

not computation, is the story. Computers are still important, but mostly

as the means to an end; the end result is to enable people to interact.

If the most exciting channel of communication is the Web, the means of communication

is the Web page. Ordinary people demonstrate amazing energy

and imagination in creating and publishing diverse Web home pages. And

although ordinary people have a desire to create Web pages, businesses have

a need to set up shop on the Web. So the rush to the Web continues, often

with the same people expressing themselves personally on one Web page and

commercially on another.

So you want to be there, too. “But,” you ask, “Isn’t it difficult, expensive, and

complicated?” Not any more. As the Web has grown, easy ways to get on the

Web have appeared. And we discuss the best of them in the pages of this book.

About This Book

It’s about 380 pages.

Seriously, what do you find here? Easy ways to get published on the Web for

any kind of Internet user we could think of. Ways to make your first Web page

rich with carefully arranged text, graphics, and multimedia. Plus the information

you need to go beyond your first Web page and create a multipage personal

or business Web site. And tools (tools that we describe in the book or

provide as demos or in full versions on the CD-ROM) to help you go as far as

you want to go in creating a Web site.

Foolish Assumptions

Lots of good information is in this book, but almost no one is going to read

every word of it — except our long-suffering editor. That’s because we cover

Web page topics from beginning through intermediate levels, including how

to publish a Web page via Web-based services and the major online services,

how to use several different tools, and some Windows-specific and Macspecific

stuff. No one needs to know all of that! But anyone who wants to get

a Web page up on the Web does need to know some of it.

But what do you need? We assume, for purposes of this book, that you have

probably used the Web before and that you want to create a Web page. We

further assume that you are not yet a Web author, or that you’re fairly new

to the process. To use the information in this book, you need access to a personal

computer running Windows or Mac OS, and you need access to the

Web — either through an online service or an Internet service provider (ISP).

You should be running a Web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer,

Netscape Navigator, or a browser provided by an online service. If you have

a UNIX system and an Internet connection, much of this book works for you,

but you don’t have access to the online service or Web page creation tools

that we describe, except those available directly on the Web.

If you don’t have Web access from your personal computer, see Appendix B

for a list of service providers who can help you get it. You should already

have spent some time surfing the Web, or be willing to do so as you gather

information and examples for your Web page. In other words, if you’re wired,

or willing to get wired, you’re in. With that, the door to this book is open to

you, whether you want to create your first Web page or add new features to

one you already have.

The figures in this book show up-to-date Windows screen shots for a consistent

appearance. We wrote the instructions and steps in this book to work

equally well for Windows and the Macintosh.

Jump around in the book and go straight to information that you need. Later,

you can back up and read something that interests you, page through the

how-to sections, try using one of the tools on the CD-ROM, and then go look

at something on the Creating Web Pages For Dummies home page (created by

one of the authors) at the following address: www.creating-web-pages.com

Conventions Used in This Book

When our publisher first told us that this book was going to have conventions,

we got out our silly hats and our Democratic and Republican paraphernalia,

but apparently she just meant that we had to be consistent. The

conventions in this book are standard ways of communicating specific types

of information, such as instructions and steps. (One example of a convention

is the use of italics for newly introduced words — as with the word “conventions”

in the first sentence of this paragraph.)

Here are the conventions for this book:

Things that you, the reader, are asked to type are shown in bold.

New terms are printed in italics.

Information used in specific ways is formatted in a specific typeface. In

this book, one of the most common kinds of information displayed this

way is HTML tags; that is, formatting information used to create Web

pages (see Appendix A for a more complete definition). An example of a

tag is <TITLE>.

We also use a special typeface for URLs (Uniform Resource Locators),

which are the addresses used to specify the location of Web pages. For

example, the URL for the For Dummies Web site is www.dummies.com.

The Web is fast-paced and evolving. By the time you read this book,

some of the URLs listed in it may have changed.

Representative browser versions appear among the figures.

Menu selections look like this: File➪Save. This particular example means

that you choose the File menu and then choose the Save option. The

underlined letters represent Windows shortcut keys — hold down the

Alt key and press the first shortcut key, and then press the second shortcut

key (with or without Alt held down) to make the selection.

Related, brief pieces of information are displayed in bulleted lists, such

as the bulleted list that you’re reading right now.

Numbered lists are used for instructions that you must follow in a particular

sequence. This book has many sequential steps that tell you just

how to perform the different tasks that, when taken together, can make

you a successful Web author.

To make the steps brief and easy to follow, we use a specific way of

telling you what to do. Here’s an example of a set of steps:

1. Start your Web browser.

2. Go to the Web site www.tryfreestuff.com.

Note: This site is not real, just an example.

3. Click the link that matches the type of computer you have: PC, Macintosh or UNIX.

Part-y Time: How This Book Is Organized

We wrote this book to a carefully plotted, precise, unvarying plan, with the

predictable and predicted result: the book you’re holding in your hands now.

And the CD-ROM? Same thing.

Wait a second. Isn’t it true that the Web is changing every day, that Web sites

appear and disappear like so many jacks-in-the-box — or whack-a-moles, if

that’s a more familiar example to you — and that Web companies can pop

into and out of existence in a few weeks? So, what was that about a plan?

Well, okay, we did change things a little along the way. Maybe a lot. But we did

have a plan behind the book, even if it was finalized in a conference call at

5:00 this morning. The following sections explain the parts that make up the book.

Part I: Create a Web Page Today

You probably want to dive right into becoming a Web publisher. So we start

the book with some ideas about what to do in your Web site, and then give

some basics of HTML, the underlying language of Web pages, and specific

instructions on how to get your first, simple Web page up. You can start with

Yahoo! Geocities, a free service accessible to everyone, or built-in AOL or

CompuServe features, if you use one of those as your ISP.

Part II: Building Pages

The free, easy-to-use services in Part I are great for your first efforts as a Web

publisher. But soon you’ll want to use some “real” tools for managing and

editing your Web pages. You’ll also want to make your page richer with formatted

text and links. You may even want to add META tags to allow someone

using a search engine to easily find your pages. We tell you how to do all

that and more in this part.

Part III: Better, Stronger, Faster Pages

Huge books have been written about Web graphics. We know — one of the

authors co-authored one of them, Creating Web Graphics For Dummies by Bud

Smith and Peter Frazier (Wiley). In this part, we show you the high points of

how to create Web-friendly graphics and how to place graphics in your Web

page. Then we show you how to publish your customized Web page where

everyone can get to it.

Part IV: Getting Interactive

Most Web pages just sit there. But the fun ones interact with the user. We

show you how to add animation, multimedia, Web logs, and more interactivity

to your Web page. And we show you how to expand your “simple” Web

page, which by this point may be quite large, into a multi-page Web site. Have fun!

Part V: The Part of Tens

A Top Ten list is a great way to make complex information fun and easy

to remember. Our Top Ten lists show you key DO’s and DON’Ts of Web publishing.

Part VI: Appendixes

Appendixes in books are usually like appendixes in people: funny little things

that get taken out of the patient in a hurry if they act up. But for this book, we

pack in great information that can really help you. In Appendix A, a complete

glossary defines Web publishing terms that may be confusing to you. In other

appendixes, you see information about Internet service providers and Web

page developer resources, including a guide to the CD-ROM that comes with this book.

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Table of Contents

Introduction...........

About This Book .......

Foolish Assumptions ......

CD(-ROM) for Me, See? .......

Conventions Used in This Book .....

Part-y Time: How This Book Is Organized ......

Part I: Create a Web Page Today ............

Part II: Building Pages ....................

Part III: Better, Stronger, Faster Pages ......

Part IV: Getting Interactive ...................

Part V: The Part of Tens ..................

Part VI: Appendixes ...................

Icons Used in This Book .......

Part I: Create a Web Page Today ....................................7

Chapter 1:Web Page Publishing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Web Basics 101 .................................................................................................9

Understanding how the Web works .....................................................9

Getting up URLy ....................................................................................11

The For Dummies Way to Web Publishing ..................................................12

Making simple things simple ...............................................................13

Making difficult things possible ..........................................................14

Types of Web Sites .........................................................................................14

Personal sites ........................................................................................15

Topical sites ..........................................................................................17

Business sites ........................................................................................18

Entertainment sites ..............................................................................20

Web Page Guidelines ......................................................................................21

Asking “Why am I doing this?” ............................................................21

Don’t spend too much time on design ...............................................22

Putting the good stuff first ..................................................................24

Thinking twice about download times ...............................................25

Knowing your audience .......................................................................25

Using text bites .....................................................................................26

Looking at sites you like ......................................................................26

Planning for ongoing improvements ..................................................27

Deciding how you define success .......................................................27

Chapter 2: Going Worldwide with GeoCities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Starting with a GeoCities Web Page .............................................................30

Checking out Yahoo! GeoCities ...........................................................31

Following the city ordinances .............................................................32

Planning Before You Begin ............................................................................34

Getting Registered ..........................................................................................35

Begin Building Your Web Site ........................................................................38

We’re Off to See the Wizard ...........................................................................40

The Steps to Success .....................................................................................42

Chapter 3:Web Publishing with AOL and Other ISPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

The Best Internet Service Provider ..............................................................46

The Best Web Publishing Support ...............................................................51

Getting Your Web Page Up with AOL or CompuServe ...............................53

Looking into What AOL Offers ......................................................................54

Planning Before You Start ..............................................................................54

Getting a Start with 1-2-3 Publish .................................................................55

Publishing Your First Home Page .................................................................58

Chapter 4: Introduction to HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Get Ready: A Refreshingly Brief Description of HTML ..............................64

Viewing HTML documents ..................................................................65

Creating HTML documents ..................................................................68

Previewing HTML documents .............................................................69

Get Set: HTML Horse Sense ...........................................................................70

Basic HTML rules ..................................................................................70

Ten key HTML tags plus one ...............................................................73

Go: Creating a Web Page with HTML ...........................................................74

Creating a blank file for your HTML ...................................................75

Head users your way to win ................................................................76

Getting a heading and some body ......................................................78

Adding a little list ..................................................................................79

Looking back (and forward) in anchor ..............................................81

Browsing your own Weblet ..................................................................86

Looking to the next HTML steps .........................................................88

Part II: Building Pages ................................................89

Chapter 5: Choosing Your Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

Choosing Between WYSIWYG and Plain Text .............................................92

Pluses and minuses of text editors ....................................................92

Pluses and minuses of Netscape Composer .....................................93

Working with Netscape Composer ...............................................................96

Where Netscape 7.1 runs .....................................................................97

Getting Netscape Composer ...............................................................99

Using Netscape Composer ................................................................104

Using a Text Editor .......................................................................................106

Chapter 6: Creating Your Home Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

What to Put in a Home Page ........................................................................109

Me and my interests ...........................................................................110

Me and my family ...............................................................................111

Me and my work .................................................................................113

Starting Your Page ........................................................................................115

Creating your initial page using HTML ............................................115

Creating your initial page using a Web editor .................................118

I Never META Tag I Didn’t Like ...................................................................123

Adding META tags with HTML ..........................................................124

Adding META tags with Composer ...................................................125

Chapter 7: Filling In Your Home Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

Writing for the Web ......................................................................................127

Web realities ........................................................................................127

Web style .............................................................................................129

Have fun ...............................................................................................130

Formatting Web Text ....................................................................................131

Using HTML Lists .........................................................................................134

Entering Text in HTML .................................................................................136

Entering and formatting text .............................................................137

Making a list ........................................................................................138

Looking at the Web page ....................................................................138

Entering Text in Netscape Composer ........................................................140

Entering and formatting text .............................................................140

Making a list ........................................................................................141

Looking at the HTML ..........................................................................142

Chapter 8: Adding Links to Your Web Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145

Linking Basics ...............................................................................................146

How links work ....................................................................................146

Links and URLs ...................................................................................147

Avoiding mistakes ...............................................................................151

Linking to a Web Page ..................................................................................153

Adding Web page links in HTML .......................................................153

Adding Web page links in Composer ................................................154

Creating a Mailto Link ..................................................................................155

Creating a mailto link in HTML .........................................................157

Creating a mailto link in Composer ..................................................158

Part III: Better, Stronger, Faster Pages .......................159

Chapter 9: Creating and Adding Web-Ready Graphics . . . . . .  . .161

Using Graphics in Your Web Site ................................................................162

Using GIF and JPEG graphics formats ..............................................162

Using Web-safe colors ........................................................................165

Obtaining and creating graphics ......................................................166

Dealing with Graphics ..................................................................................168

Speeding up slow pages .....................................................................169

Avoiding three big mistakes ..............................................................170

Using Graphics in HTML ..............................................................................172

Use the <IMG> tag for inline graphics ..............................................173

Add an A for anchor to create a graphical link ...............................173

Experimenting with Advanced GIFfery ......................................................175

Transparent GIFs ................................................................................177

Animated GIFs .....................................................................................178

Clickable image maps .........................................................................178

Chapter 10: Placing Graphics Right (And Left) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

Adjusting Graphic Size .................................................................................179

Flowing Text around Graphics ....................................................................181

Putting a Border around a Graphic ............................................................183

Placing a Graphic in Netscape Composer .................................................183

Placing a Graphic in HTML ..........................................................................185

Chapter 11: Designing a Good-Looking Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189

Three Key Principles of Design ...................................................................190

Achieving simplicity ...........................................................................190

Producing predictability ....................................................................192

Creating consistency ..........................................................................194

Design Mistakes to Avoid ............................................................................194

Slow-loading pages .............................................................................194

Ugly color combinations ....................................................................195

Small text (And large text, too) .........................................................196

Breaking the Rules Safely ............................................................................197

Using Tables and Frames .............................................................................199

Creating simple tables .......................................................................199

Using tables for layout purposes ......................................................201

Friends don’t let friends do frames ..................................................202

Chapter 12: Publishing Your Web Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205

Getting Web Server Space ...........................................................................206

Web hosting service features ............................................................207

Options for Web server space ..........................................................209

Hiring help ...........................................................................................212

Transferring Your Files ................................................................................214

Arranging your files before transfer .................................................214

Transferring your files with FTP .......................................................215

Using an online service file transfer .................................................217

Putting Your Site to Work ............................................................................217

Testing your site .................................................................................218

Getting feedback on your site ...........................................................218

Part IV: Getting Interactive ........................................219

Chapter 13: Adding Animation and Multimedia . . . . . . . . . .221

Understanding Multimedia Pitfalls .............................................................221

Animating Your GIFs .....................................................................................223

Finding animated GIFs ........................................................................224

Adding animated GIFs to your Web page ........................................226

Creating an animated GIF ..................................................................227

The M- (for Multimedia) Files .....................................................................229

Adding a QuickTime Video File ..................................................................231

Adding an MP3 Audio File ...........................................................................233

Chapter 14: Adding More Interactivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235

Interactivity Made Easy ...............................................................................236

Using site counters .............................................................................237

Adding guestbooks .............................................................................238

Incorporating forms and CGIs ...........................................................239

Programming Your Pages ............................................................................240

JavaScript ............................................................................................241

ActiveX .................................................................................................241

Database interactivity ........................................................................242

Going beyond HTML ....................................................................................242

Style sheets — Cascading onto the Web .........................................242

HTML gets Dynamic ...........................................................................243

XML x-es out HTML ............................................................................243

The Web enters the twenty-first century .........................................244

Chapter 15: Creating a Full Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245

Creating Your Web Pages .............................................................................245

Getting your pages right ....................................................................246

Planning versus pushing ahead ........................................................247

Planning your Web site ......................................................................249

Creating the content ...........................................................................251

Publishing your Web site ...................................................................252

Stumbling blocks on the Web ............................................................253

Creating Navigation ......................................................................................255

Arranging your pages .........................................................................255

Getting the addresses right ...............................................................256

Creating a navigation bar ..................................................................258

Getting the Word Out ...................................................................................259

Publicize your site ..............................................................................259

Count your blessings — and your users .........................................262

Keep people coming to your site ......................................................262

Chapter 16: Becoming a Wizard with Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265

The Wonderful World of Blogs ....................................................................266

Finding blogs to read ..........................................................................266

Finding software for blogging ...........................................................267

Using Google’s Blogger.com ........................................................................268

Setting up your blog ...........................................................................269

Adding content to your blog .............................................................274

Part V: The Part of Tens .............................................279

Chapter 17: Ten Web Publishing DO’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281

DO Think About Your Target Audience .....................................................281

DO Use Good Sites as Models .....................................................................282

DO Get Permission for Content ..................................................................282

DO Use Links to Outside Sites ....................................................................283

DO Use Graphics and Multimedia ..............................................................283

DO Think Before You Create .......................................................................283

DO Ask for Feedback ....................................................................................284

DO Test Your Pages ......................................................................................284

DO Publicize Your Site .................................................................................285

DO Update Your Site ....................................................................................285

Chapter 18: Ten Web Publishing DON’Ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287

DON’T Limit Your Audience ........................................................................287

DON’T Break Netiquette Rules ...................................................................288

DON’T “Borrow” Content without Asking .................................................288

DON’T Abuse Graphics and Multimedia ...................................................289

DON’T Forget ALT Text and Text Versions of Menus ...............................289

DON’T Forget the Basics .............................................................................290

DON’T Start by Setting Up Your Own Web Server ...................................290

DON’T Make Your Site Hard to Navigate ...................................................290

DON’T Forget the “World” in World Wide Web .........................................291

DON’T Be Afraid to Find Out More .............................................................291

Part VI: Appendixes ...................................................293

Appendix A:Web Words Worth Knowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295

Appendix B: Internet Service Providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303

Appendix C: A Quick Guide to HTML Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .305

Versions of HTML .........................................................................................306

How to Use This Appendix ..........................................................................307

Reading the Tables .......................................................................................307

Widely Supported Tags ................................................................................308

Other Widely Used Tags ..............................................................................312

Less Frequently Used Tags ..........................................................................317

Appendix D: Using Resource.htm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325

General Web Developer Resources ............................................................325

Microsoft Windows Web Resources ...........................................................326

Microsoft Windows Software ......................................................................327

Macintosh Web Resources ..........................................................................327

Macintosh Web Software .............................................................................328

Web Logs .......................................................................................................328

Cascading Style Sheets ................................................................................329

RSS, Atom, and Content Syndication .........................................................329

Perl .................................................................................................................330

Java ................................................................................................................331

JavaScript ......................................................................................................331

XML ................................................................................................................332

ActiveX ...........................................................................................................332

Microsoft .NET ..............................................................................................333

USENET Newsgroups ...................................................................................333

Appendix E: About the CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .335

System Requirements ..................................................................................335

Using the CD with Microsoft Windows ......................................................336

Using the CD with Mac OS ...........................................................................336

What You’ll Find on the CD .........................................................................337

A Quick Overview .........................................................................................337

Resources ............................................................................................338

HTML Editors ......................................................................................338

Graphical tools ....................................................................................340

Web page utilities ...............................................................................341

Other Internet Tools ...........................................................................342

Troubleshooting ...........................................................................................343

Index........................................................................345

Wiley Publishing, Inc. End-User License Agreement.....363

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