You can easily create a professional-looking website with nothing more than an ordinary computer and some raw ambition. Want to build a blog, sell products, create forums, or promote an event? No problem! This friendly, jargon-free book gives you the techniques, tools, and advice you need to build a site and get it up on the Web.



The important stuff you need to know:

* Master the basics. Learn HTML5, the language of the Web.

* Design good-looking pages. Use styles to build polished layouts.

* Get it online. Find a reliable web host and pick a good web address.

* Use time-saving tools. Learn free tools for creating web pages and tracking your visitors.

* Attract visitors. Make sure people can find your site through popular search engines like Google.

* Build a community. Encourage repeat visits with social media.

* Bring in the cash. Host Google ads, sell Amazon’s wares, or push your own products that people can buy via PayPal.

* Add pizzazz. Include audio, video, interactive menus, and a pinch of JavaScript.

Matthew MacDonald is a developer, author, and educator in all things Visual Basic and .NET. He's worked with Visual Basic and ASP since their initial versions, and has written over a dozen books on the subject, including The Book of VB .NET (No Starch Press) and Visual Basic 2005: A Developer's Notebook (O'Reilly). He has also written a number of Missing Manual titles on Excel 2007 and Access 2007 (O’Reilly). His website is http://www.prosetech.com/.

The Missing Credits; About the Author; About the Creative Team; Acknowledgements; The Missing Manual Series; Introduction; The Glory of Building a Website from Scratch; About This Book; About the Online Resources; Safari® Books Online; Part 1: Building Basic Web Pages; Chapter 1: Creating Your First Page; 1.1 HTML: The Language of the Web; 1.2 Tutorial: Creating an HTML File; 1.3 Seeing the HTML of a Live Web Page; 1.4 A Closer Look at HTML Tags; 1.5 Understanding HTML Documents; 1.6 Tutorial: Building a Complete HTML Document; 1.7 Checking Your Pages for Errors; Chapter 2: Becoming Fluent in HTML; 2.1 Types of Elements; 2.2 HTML Elements for Basic Text; 2.3 Tutorial: Converting Raw Text to HTML; 2.4 HTML Elements for Lists; 2.5 HTML Elements for Tables; 2.6 Inline Formatting; Chapter 3: Building a Style Sheet; 3.1 Graphic Design on the Web; 3.2 Style Sheet Basics; 3.3 Tutorial: Attaching a Style Sheet to a Page; 3.4 When Styles Overlap; 3.5 Class Selectors; 3.6 Colors; 3.7 Text Alignment and Spacing; 3.8 Basic Fonts; 3.9 Web Fonts with Google; 3.10 Borders; Chapter 4: Adding Graphics; 4.1 Introducing the Element; 4.2 Tutorial: Storing Images in a Subfolder; 4.3 File Formats for Web Graphics; 4.4 Tutorial: Wrapping Text Around an Image; 4.5 Background Images; 4.6 Finding Free Art; Chapter 5: Working with a Web Editor; 5.1 The Benefits of a Web Editor; 5.2 Choosing Your Web Editor; 5.3 Getting Started with Dreamweaver; 5.4 Setting Up Shop with Expression Web; 5.5 Trying Out Brackets; Chapter 6: Linking Pages; 6.1 Understanding the Anchor; 6.2 Tutorial: Linking the Pages in a Site; 6.3 More Tricks with Links; 6.4 Links That Lead to Bookmarks; 6.5 When Good Links Go Bad; Chapter 7: Designing Better Style Sheets; 7.1 Planning a Style Sheet; 7.2 Building a Complete Style Sheet; 7.3 Improving Your Style Sheet; 7.4 Tutorial: Becoming a Style Detective; Part 2: From Web Page to Website; Chapter 8: Page Layout; 8.1 Understanding Style-Based Layout; 8.2 Choosing Your Layout; 8.3 Tutorial: Creating a Layout with Multiple Columns; 8.4 A Few More Layout Techniques; 8.5 Putting the Same Content on Multiple Pages; Chapter 9: Getting Your Site Online; 9.1 How Web Hosting Works; 9.2 Domain Names; 9.3 Getting Web Space; 9.4 Transferring Files to Your Site; Part 3: Connecting with Your Audience; Chapter 10: Introducing Your Site to the World; 10.1 Your Website Promotion Plan; 10.2 Making Your Site Search-Engine Friendly; 10.3 Registering with Search Engines; 10.4 Tracking Visitors; Chapter 11: Website Promotion; 11.1 Spreading the Word; 11.2 Transforming a Site into a Community; 11.3 Email Newsletters; 11.4 Twitter; 11.5 Facebook; 11.6 Groups; Chapter 12: Adding a Blog; 12.1 Understanding Blogs; 12.2 Getting Started with Blogger; 12.3 Blog Management; 12.4 Reviewing Comments; Chapter 13: Making Money with Your Site; 13.1 Money-Making the Web Way; 13.2 Google AdSense; 13.3 Amazon Associates; 13.4 PayPal Merchant Tools; Part 4: Interactivity and Multimedia; Chapter 14: JavaScript: Adding Interactivity; 14.1 Understanding JavaScript; 14.2 JavaScript 101; 14.3 Dynamic HTML; 14.4 Scripts on the Web; Chapter 15: Dynamic Buttons and Menus; 15.1 Fancy Buttons; 15.2 Choosing Your Approach; 15.3 Tutorial: Creating a Rollover Button; 15.4 Fancy Menus; Chapter 16: Audio and Video; 16.1 Understanding Multimedia; 16.2 Playing Audio Files; 16.3 Showing Video Clips; 16.4 Fallbacks for Old Browsers; 16.5 Uploading Videos to YouTube; Part 5: Appendixes; Where to Go from Here; HTML Quick Reference; HTML Elements; HTML5 Semantic Elements; HTML Character Entities;