Web Design Book(s) - Need recommendation 4

[olympus41]

Hello,


I am very new to web design and I am looking for a good book that will help me become more familiar with web design. I am looking for a book that will help me understand the concepts of using one program .VS. another to do web-design. A big question that I have always had is "Is it better to programm in code using HTML or is it better to use a program like FrontPage to be able to take advantage of point and click, drag and drop part of designing?", "How to create databases, and integrate them into my page?". These are some of the questions that I need to be able to find answers to. If anyone has a good book in mind that can help me with web-design, please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,


Olympus41

I am very knowledgeable on computers, networking and so forth.

 

[wantstolearncfm]

Just want to guide you away from frontpage, its really not much cop for webdesign.
Some people on here will tell you to handcode from scratch making a table with <table><td><th> etc... which takes ages in basically any WYSIWYG editor you can click and its there!
Anyway for a beginner get dreamweaver (even the trial to test it) but make sure you make use of the code and design window mode.
You can view changes to your code as you do it in WYSIWYG mode.
Once your competent you can begin coding in the coding window which will give you tips as you type the code, it also has useful snippets and inbuilt behaviors that let you insert good html strict into a document.
For learning HTML why not try W3 Schools

http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp

Also as a basic rule of thumb the SAMS teach yourself range give you a good basic founding, i tend to expand by then moving to a o'reily book.
Good Luck,
P.S check out your local libary

 

[olympus41]

That looks like a great website. Thank you. Do you by chance have any books in mind for learning to use Dreamweaver?

Thanks again.

 

[Empeethree]

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/dreamweavernut/index.html

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/html5/

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/wdnut2/

o'reilly books are probably some of the best to learn from.

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Trying is the first step to failure
Homer Simpson
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[Empeethree]

i would check froogle.com for the books, you can sometimes find them really cheap.

--------------------------------------
Trying is the first step to failure
Homer Simpson
--------------------------------------

 

[Dweezel]

I'd advise learning some basic html before getting too involved with WYSIWIGS, but once you do then I wouldn't recommend anything other than Dreamweaver (although I have a colleague who swears by Adobe GoLive, but he is a bit perculiar).

If you have to learn everything virtually from scratch (xhtml, css, javascript, Dreamweaver etc. etc.) Then I would strongly advise you get a subscription to Lynda.com. It costs $375 dollars a year, which may seem a little steep, but if you're just getting into web design then you'll get more than you're moneys worth.

The video tutorials are very easy to follow and the tutors are all very good. When I subscribed a few years ago I found myself getting into loads of other software as well, simply because I had such a huge resource of video tutorials to hand to get me up to speed on how to use them.

This page show's you what tutorials they offer:

http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modListing.asp

If you get a full subscription you can download what you want when you want. I wouldn't bother if you don't have broadband though. With broadband you can click on the links and watch the streaming tutorials in realtime as they download. I think it'd be like watching paint dry if you're on dial up.

 

[ChrisHunt]

It's impossible to make recommendations that will suit every reader. We all have different backgrounds and ways of learning. Like NaradaConsulting , I'm a fan of the O'Reilly "animal" books - but they may not work for you. I suggest you go to your local bookstore and look for something that speaks your language. You can often find sample chapters online too if you want to try before you buy.

You should look for some kind of primer on HTML to learn the nuts & bolts, and start by hand-coding your pages for the same reason. Try searching this forum for some recommended HTML editors, or use Notepad. Once you understand what's going on "under the hood" you can move on to WYSIWYG editors like Dreamweaver (if you want to).

There's a lot of design advice available online,

http://resource.reh3.com/

is a good place to start.

-- Chris Hunt

http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk

http://www.napitalia.org.uk

http://www.leicesteryha.org.uk

 

[TruthInSatire]

Another fan of oreilly. check out

http://www.safari.oreilly.com

you can set up a 14 day free trial. Set up your "book shelf" with more or less any book from the oreilly library (up to 10 books at a time for a standard book shelf, you can change books monthly). You can read the entire book online. I've subscribed and think it's WELL worth it.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
-Douglas Adams (1952-2001)

 

[Foamcow]

If you'd like to learn a bit more about the way design for the web is going (i.e. CSS and XHTML) then take a look at "Designing for Web Standards" by Jeffrey Zeldman.
It's a convincing guide as to why it's important not to think of a website as a "digital book" but rather why we should think about web content being separate from visual style.
Sounds a bit heavy when I say it, but the book is very easy to follow. Guess that's why he wrote it and I didn't! ;-)

http://www.foamcow.com