I am goint to attempt to build a website (for free, just for the experience) and since I am clueless I need some recommendations. I know there are lots of online helps but I need hard copy, in my hands step by step guide.

Borders has their 40% coupon and I thought that I would use it on a good HTML book. Do you have any favorites? Or should I forget programming (is that the right word?) and maybe get a book on content?

Thanks for your help,
Diana

Hi Diana, if you're ready to learn I'd recommend you go straight for the book: Head First HTML
It's very user friendly, provides exercises throughout so you learn from experience - great presentation, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand the terminology, etc. More info here.

Have fun! It's a great skill to learn

Here's some of the text from their info-page [and if you click the link above and then scroll down the page you can get the sample code from each chapter, as well as more sample PDFs from throughout the book]

What you should know before reading this book
We begin by teaching basic HTML, then standards-based HTML 4.01, and then on to XHTML.

To write standards-based HTML or XHTML, there are a lot of technical details you need to understand that aren't helpful when you're trying to learn the basics of HTML. Our approach is to have you learn the basic concepts of HTML first (without worrying about these details), and then, when you have a solid understanding of HTML, teach you to write standards compliant HTML and XHTML. This has the added benefit that the technical details are more meaningful after you've already learned the basics.
It's also important that you be writing compliant HTML or XHTML when you start using CSS, so, we make a point of getting you to standards-based HTML and XHTML before you begin any serious work with CSS.

We don't cover every single HTML element or attribute or CSS property ever created.

There are a lot of HTML elements, a lot of attributes, and a lot of CSS properties. Sure, they're all interesting, but our goal was to write a book that weighs less than the person reading it, so we don't cover them all here. Our focus is on the core HTML elements and CSS properties that matter to you, the beginner, and making sure that you really, truly, deeply understand how and when to use them. In any case, once you're done with Head First HTML & CSS, you'll be able to pick up any reference book and get up to speed quickly on all the elements and properties we left out.

This book advocates a clean separation between the structure of your pages and the presentation of your pages.

Today, serious Web pages use HTML and XHTML to structure their content, and CSS for style and presentation. 1990s-era pages often used a different model, one where HTML was used for both structure and style. This book teaches you to use HTML for structure and CSS for style; we see no reason to teach you out-dated bad habits.

We encourage you to use more than one browser with this book.

While we teach you to write HTML, CSS, and XHTML that is based on standards, you'll still (and probably always) encounter minor differences in the way Web browsers display pages. So, we encourage you to pick at least two up-to-date browsers and test your pages using them. This will give you experience in seeing the differences among browsers and in creating pages that work well in a variety of browsers.

We often use tag names for element names.

Rather than saying "the a element", or "the 'a' element", we use a tag name, like "the element". While this may not be technically correct (because is an opening tag, not a full blown element), it does make the text more readable, and we always follow the name with the word "element" to avoid confusion.

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I agree with Tess. This was the first HTML/CSS book I ever purchased and it is super! I got mine from Amazon because it was less expensive there. Wonderful book and very well written with humor thrown in.

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Jules, SunRise Virtual Solutions - WordPress Customization & XHTML/CSS Web Sites

When I learned HTML, it was probably 10+ years ago, but I still remember the book I used. It was the Visual Quickstart Guide for HTML that is published by Peachpit Press.

It taught me everything by showing it to me -- showed me what the code looked like as well as what that produced in a browser. It was mostly set up around specific needs and tasks (such as how to create a webform, how to insert an image, etc.) I loved this approach because I learn by doing and it would walk me through the how and why of each step. Plus it became a great reference; when I had to create something specific, I could easily refresh my memory on how to do it.

That was years ago and they release a new version every year or so, I think, so it probably includes XHTML and other things by now. But I really really loved it; those Visual Quickstart Guides will be my starting point the next time I need to learn a technical skill.

And in general, perhaps you can stop by a library to try a few out before you buy one?

HTML is a great language to learn. I use it more than you'd expect! And it certainly is an advantage as I ramp up my business. I hope it will serve you well, too. Good luck!

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Liz
Blue Canary Design & Virtual Assistance

I too read the Head First books, they have a great series and they are so easy to understand, they provide information on their site that coordinate with their books. Easy to learn information. They also have a web design book which I have not seen but I will bet you get tons of use information and CSS codes there as well.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

Originally Posted by Tess

Hi Diana, if you're ready to learn I'd recommend you go straight for the book: Head First HTML It's very user friendly, provides exercises throughout so you learn from experience - great presentation, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand the terminology, etc. More info here. Have fun! It's a great skill to learn Here's some of the text from their info-page [and if you click the link above and then scroll down the page you can get the sample code from each chapter, as well as more sample PDFs from throughout the book] What you should know before reading this book We begin by teaching basic HTML, then standards-based HTML 4.01, and then on to XHTML. To write standards-based HTML or XHTML, there are a lot of technical details you need to understand that aren't helpful when you're trying to learn the basics of HTML. Our approach is to have you learn the basic concepts of HTML first (without worrying about these details), and then, when you have a solid understanding of HTML, teach you to write standards compliant HTML and XHTML. This has the added benefit that the technical details are more meaningful after you've already learned the basics. It's also important that you be writing compliant HTML or XHTML when you start using CSS, so, we make a point of getting you to standards-based HTML and XHTML before you begin any serious work with CSS. We don't cover every single HTML element or attribute or CSS property ever created. There are a lot of HTML elements, a lot of attributes, and a lot of CSS properties. Sure, they're all interesting, but our goal was to write a book that weighs less than the person reading it, so we don't cover them all here. Our focus is on the core HTML elements and CSS properties that matter to you, the beginner, and making sure that you really, truly, deeply understand how and when to use them. In any case, once you're done with Head First HTML & CSS, you'll be able to pick up any reference book and get up to speed quickly on all the elements and properties we left out. This book advocates a clean separation between the structure of your pages and the presentation of your pages. Today, serious Web pages use HTML and XHTML to structure their content, and CSS for style and presentation. 1990s-era pages often used a different model, one where HTML was used for both structure and style. This book teaches you to use HTML for structure and CSS for style; we see no reason to teach you out-dated bad habits. We encourage you to use more than one browser with this book. While we teach you to write HTML, CSS, and XHTML that is based on standards, you'll still (and probably always) encounter minor differences in the way Web browsers display pages. So, we encourage you to pick at least two up-to-date browsers and test your pages using them. This will give you experience in seeing the differences among browsers and in creating pages that work well in a variety of browsers. We often use tag names for element names. Rather than saying "the a element", or "the 'a' element", we use a tag name, like "the element". While this may not be technically correct (because is an opening tag, not a full blown element), it does make the text more readable, and we always follow the name with the word "element" to avoid confusion.

That's what I was going to recommend too. I have it and it's a great book! I haven't been able to get very far into it but it is really good so far.

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Stephanie
New VA in the research phase :daisy:

There's a great free online resource - w3schools.com. It has great step-by-step tutorials for just about any language, plus an area to try out all the new coding you have learned as you go.

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

~Erin

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~Erin Banister
TheMarketingVA | TrinityJacobs

Wow! great suggestions. Okay, I bought the head first html book today (I am gonna be in over my head aren't I?). I checked out the other book suggested at the library. I went to the 3schools site (I love it!). I can't wait to get started. Now my question is: since it was mentioned about the head first website book, will I be needing that too? I am not working yet so I am gonna spend the time learning all this.
Tess, you really know your stuff can I put you on speed dial? LOL
Thank you so much everyone! I appreciate the handholding.
Diana

And Tess forgot to mention that her very own CodeHead (aka Hamid) provided a HTML Basics class on the forum that was/is very user friendly for building your own website. The first lesson is located here.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

Originally Posted by ladydianab

Now my question is: since it was mentioned about the head first website book, will I be needing that too? Diana

Hi Diana, in the Head First book, it will tell you where to go on their website to download info to work along with in the book. I loved this book because I had been away from web design for quite a few years before I decided to go back into it, and I knew that standards had changed a LOT. You will be delighted with this book!

Have fun!

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Jules, SunRise Virtual Solutions - WordPress Customization & XHTML/CSS Web Sites