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Garry T. Stasiuk
Instructor
Clark College

Garry's Home Page
Class Home Page

The Tools

What you need to build a web site. 

1.  A computer.

            Yep, it should run the latest PC or Mac or Linux/Unix Operating System.  
                        It needs to be able to run the latest version browsers, whether that is Internet Explorer, FireFox, Chrome or Safari. (see Chart Below)

2.  More than one Browser!

            You'll need at 3 browsers for testing purposes, a web editor, and a graphic editor (see chart below).

3.  A Web Editor.

                        For this course we will use the open Source Text Editor called Notepad++ But, I strongly urge you to look at the "free" WYSIWYG editor called Kompozer and at some of the suggestions listed below.

4.  A Graphics Editor

                        You WILL need a program to edit graphics, pictures, backgrounds and other art for your web pages... (topic for class #2)

Web Browser Statistics

You should have at least 3 Browsers installed on your computer! Why? Here's the browser stats for the last 4 months..

Browser Statistics Month by Month

2009 IE8 IE7 IE6 Firefox Chrome Safari Opera
December 13.5% 12.8% 10.9% 46.4% 9.8% 3.6% 2.3%
November 13.3% 13.3% 11.1% 47.0% 8.5% 3.8% 2.3%
October 12.8% 14.1% 10.6% 47.5% 8.0% 3.8% 2.3%
September 12.2% 15.3% 12.1% 46.6% 7.1% 3.6% 2.2%
                           
to see the latest trend on browser use see this web page at W3C Browser Stats

Down load Browsers from here

Windows
Apple
 Safari
Safari
Opera
Opera
Chrome
Chrome
On the Macintosh (Apple Computers) the last available version of Windows Internet explorer is Version 5.2.3 (2002)
Netscape is no longer supported (as of February 1, 2008, final version is 9.0.0.5)

Text Editors on the Class Disk
You can actually build a web site with a simple text editor
(PC) Windows
(Mac) Apple
NotePad
TextEdit
 NoteTab Lite (free)
 Smultron

 Commercial HTML/CSS  Editors
Windows Apple
Top Style
There is a lite version available that only edits CSS
Taco HTML Editor (free and commercial)
Coffee Cup HTML Editor ($49.00) Coda (Commercial)

Free open source WYSIWYG Web Editor

Windows
Apple
Komposer
Komposer

Commercial Web Editors (Not necessary for this course)
MicroSoft's Front Page (Windows Only) $199  Has ebeen replaced with EXPRESSION WEB.20  $299

GoLive! (Windows & Apple)  $399 Has been replaed with Dreamweaver (Windows & Apple) $399

The Class text book

Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS, 2nd Edition by Ian Lloyd Edition:  ISBN:     978-0-9804552-7-4 Published:     December 2008
Down load the sample files!!!

Other excellent references (all these books have on-line sample chapters)

Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML (Head First) [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback) by Eric Freeman (Author), Elisabeth Freeman (Author) http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hfhtmlcss/

Creating a Web Page with HTML: Visual Quick Project Guide (Paperback) Just the basics by Elizabeth Castro (Author)  (Simple step by step intructions) http://www.cookwood.com/htmlvqj/

HTML, XHTML, and CSS, Sixth Edition (Visual Quickstart Guide) (Paperback)
by Elizabeth Castro (Author) http://www.cookwood.com/html6ed/

Html for Dummies Quick Reference (Spiral-bound) by Deborah S. Ray (Author), Eric J. Ray (Author) Just the basic code and how to use it, real handy. http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTitle/productCd-0764507214,subcat-BUILDING.html

The Web Programmer's Desk Reference,  A Complete Cross-Reference to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
By Lazaro Issi Cohen and Joseph Issi Cohen  This is the big one, the holy grail, it has ALL the code in dictionary form http://nostarch.com/frameset.php?startat=wpdr

Creating Web Pages All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, 3rd Edition
By Richard Wagner, Richard Mansfield http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTitle/productCd-0764543458.html

Web Design For Dummies, 2nd Edition (Paperback)
by Lisa Lopuck (Author) http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTitle/productCd-0471781177.html

The Principles of Beautiful Web Design by Jason Beaird
http://www.sitepoint.com/books/design1/about.php   A free preview is available

Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition (Paperback) by
Steve Krug (Author) http://www.sensible.com/buythebook.html
 
The Non-Designer's Web Book, 3rd Edition (Paperback) by Robin Williams (Author), John Tollett (Author) http://www.peachpit.com/title/0321303377
 
Creating Web Pages with HTML Simplified, 3rd Edition by Sherry Willard Kinkoph
Sample chapter in PDF form here

HTML: Your visual blueprint for designing Web pages with HTML, CSS, and XHTML
by Paul Whitehead, James H. Russell Sample chapter here


try them out before you buy..