books

Spring Into HTML & CSS

spring into HTML and CSS book cover

Need to build a web site? Or update one? Or just create some effective new web content? Maybe you just need to update your skills, do the job better.

Welcome. This book's for you. We'll leverage what you already know about the web, so you'll go further, faster than you ever expected. You'll master today's best practices: the real nuts and bolts, not theory or hooey. You'll learn through dozens of focused HTML, XHTML, and CSS examples: crafted for simplicity and easy to adapt for your own projects.

Need specific solutions? This book's modular, visual, high-efficiency format delivers them instantly. Dig in, get started, get results!

Includes concise XHTML and CSS annotated references: quick help for every language element

The Zen of CSS design: visual enlightenment for the web

By dave shea & molly e. holzschlag

zen of css design book cover

Proving once and for all that standards-compliant design does not equal dull design, this inspiring tome uses examples from the landmark CSS Zen Garden site as the foundation for discussions on how to create beautiful, progressive CSS-based Web sites. By using the Zen Garden sites as examples of how CSS design techniques and approaches can be applied to specific Web challenges, authors Dave Shea and Molly Holzschlag provide an eye-opening look at the range of design methods made possible by CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

By the time you've finished perusing the volume, you'll have a new understanding of the graphically rich, fully accessible sites that CSS design facilitates. In sections on design, layout, imagery, typography, effects, and themes, Dave and Molly take you through every phase of the design process--from striking a sensible balance between text and graphics to creating eye-popping special effects (no scripting required).

“The extra special joy of The Zen of CSS Design is the wonderful explainations of graphic design incorporated into every Zen variant the duo examine.” - K. August

Check out more info on the book at the Peachpit Bookstore.

Other current books

250 HTML and Web Design Secrets. I had a blast writing this book, chock full of short, sharp information covering everything from process to markup to marketing. A comprehensive look at professional web design, but done through very useful tips and methods rather than more complex prose. From Wiley Publishing orders via Amazon - a great deal at $16.99 U.S. - the book is about 400 portable pages. Props to Wiley for putting a great price point on this, hopefully that will translate into lower costs for international readers, too.

Teach Yourself Movable Type in 24 Hours. Co-authored by me and Porter Glendinning, this is a great starting point for anyone interested in using Movable Type. From installation to modifying templates, creating custom designs to using trackback and more. From Sams, available now!

Design Your Own E-shop is a visually beautiful, easy-to-follow introduction to putting your own small storefront online. Learn about merchant accounts, ecommerce solutions, and more. From AVA Publishing.

Book Resources

If you have a book of mine and require templates, files, and errata, here's the place. If you're looking for something not listed here, please let me know.

CSS: The Designer's Edge

Here are the files you'll want to download, all in .zip format:

There are also a lot of reported copy mistakes in the first printing. Fortunately, the second printing is an improvement. For errata, please see the book's page at Sybex Publishing.

Special Edition Using HTML & XHTML

Looking for the templates for Special Edition Using HTML & XHTML? Here they are, for your copy & paste pleasure.

XHTML Magic

The website URL in the book is incorrect for some reason. The site and related files can be found here.

INComplete book list

Cascading Style Sheets: The Designer's Edge
By discussing both the technical and design aspects of CSS, Cascading Style Sheets: The Designer's Edge will appeal to designers who want the complete picture--people who want to learn to use CSS to work faster and smarter, and to create beautiful sites that meet business objectives.
Special Edition Using Macromedia Dreamweaver MX
I co-authored this book with Jennifer Ackerman Kettel. Macromedia Dreamweaver MX may well revolutionize the way visual editors for the Web are developed. The upcoming version of the software is incredibly powerful, with a great deal of control over interface components and extensions that put a lot of power in the hands of those Web professionals who use it.

This book is aimed specifically for intermediate to advanced level professionals who want to balance their professional experience and skills with the most progressive and compliant design tool around.

Special Edition Using Macromedia Dreamweaver MX is primarily intended to assist growing professionals in gaining a fantastic working knowledge of Dreamweaver and the issues in design and markup that are affecting the changing way in which they work. The book addresses issues in Web design and development from an extremely contemporary standpoint. While the information contained within is suitable for beginners, the real emphasis is to assist the intermediate designer interested in learning how to work with Dreamweaver to achieve best practices within the design and development industry. The book provides plenty of tips and real-world advice from people working in the trenches, and lays a solid groundwork so that readers have a firm grasp of the basics before moving to more advanced functionality. (ISBN: 0789727072)
Integrated Design: Holistic Strategies for Mastering the Web.
Bridging the gap between creative and technical can be difficult for many. Yet, the true Web professional is best able to become innovative when esthetic and scientific skills are integrated.

This unusual, four color book takes a look at the challenges that today's Web professionals face and seeks to provide solutions by opening up new ways of thinking about design and browser technologies. Topics covered: human learning, the science of color, space, shape, and type; the art of markup, CSS, dynamic technologies and media.

The book is based on ideas and feedback from Molly's well-read column in Web Techniques Magazine, Integrated Design, which she wrote for three years until Web Techniques closed in January of 2002. (ISBN: 0735712336)
Design Your Own (DYO) Homepage
Designed by Amy Burnham-Greiner of abgraphic.design and published by AVA publishing, I got to write the text for this beautiful book. A perfect gift for people interested in creating a fun, contemporary home page.
Usability: The Site Speaks for Itself.
Editors Molly E. Holzschlag and Bruce Lawson. Sick of usability pundits telling you what to do? Here's a chance to listen to the voices behind the sites: eBay, Metafilter, SynFonts, BBC, Economist, and evolt. Definitely a refreshing perspective that goes beyond the usability hype. Glasshaus. (ISBN: 1904151035)
Teach Yourself LiveMotion 2.0.
A beginner's book to using Adobe LiveMotion 2.0, Adobe's richly featured motion graphic design program for the Web. An update from the first book version, this version offers information on movie clips and scripting features within the program. Sams. (ISBN: 0672323125)
Special Edition Using HTML and XHTML.
A professional's guide to Web markup. Describes Web authoring in context of contemporary concerns: document conformance, document type definitions,structure, presentation with CSS, validation, internationalization, accessibility and section 508 compliance, XHTML modularization, and XML. Que. (ISBN: 0789727315)
Perl Web Site Workshop.
Published by Sams, and co-authored with Jason Pellerin, this is a workshop-oriented book to help Web designers put Perl to use on their sites. (ISBN: 06272322757)
Color for Web Sites.
A four color book examining basic color theory, color and images, and color psychology. Featuring the artwork of Joe Forkan and the photography of Derrick Story. Rotovision, Ocober 2001. (ISBN: 2880465427)
XML, HTML, XHTML Magic.
A collaborative effort with Martin L. de Vore, Christopher Schmitt, Steve Franklin, Jason Cranford Teague, and John Kuhlman, this book examines how to build Web sites using a variety of markup, CSS, and scripting technologies. New Riders, October 2001. (ISBN: 0735711399)
Special Edition Using XHTML 1.0.
A real-world look at XHTML 1.0 and related technologies. Que, November 2000. (ISBN: 0789724316)
Teach Yourself Adobe LiveMotion in 24 Hours.
A beginner's guide to creating static and motion Web graphics and Flash files with Adobe's cool tool, LiveMotion. Sams, April, 2000. (ISBN: 0672319160)
Special Edition Using HTML 4.0—Sixth Edition.
Comprehensive (1100 pps) study of the Hypertext Markup Language and related technologies, updated and revised. Que Training, December 1999. (ISBN: 0789722674)
Mastering Adobe GoLive 4.
Co-authored with Stephen Romaniello, this book is a design guide for Adobe GoLive 4. Sybex Publishing, November 1999. (ISBN: 0672319160)
Short Order HTML 4.
Short, concise, intermediate level quick-guide to HTML 4.0. Hayden Publishing, November 1999. (ISBN: 0789720493)
Mastering FrontPage 2000—Standard and Premium Editions.
In-depth study of Microsoft's FrontPage 2000 software. Sybex Publishing, April 1999. (ISBN: 0782124550)
The Complete Website Kit.
Books and CD-ROM with almost 2000 pages of design and development techniques for Web site developers. Sybex Publishing, December 1998. (ISBN: 0782124283)
Special Edition Using HTML 4.0—Fifth Edition.
Comprehensive (1100 pps) study of the Hypertext Markup Language and related technologies. Macmillan Computer Publishing/Que Training, December 1998. (ISBN: 0789718510)
Web by Design: The Complete Guide.
The "Bible" of Web design guides—layout, color, graphics, typography, multimedia, and Web programming. Sybex Publishing, March 1998. (ISBN: 0782122019)
Teach Yourself HTML 4.0 in 24 Hours.
Co-authored with Dick Oliver and with assistance from Lee Anne Phillips, this is an HTML 4.0 guide for the novice audience. Sams, October, 1997. (ISBN: 0672317249)
Guide to Designing with Stylesheets, Tables, and Frames.
Part of the Laura Lemay Web Workshop series. Studies layout techniques and tips. Sams, June, 1997. (ISBN: 1575212498)
Guide to Sizzling Web Site Design.
Survey of 100 cutting-edge Web sites with tips and commentary, four color format. Part of the Laura Lemay Web Workshop series. Sams, February, 1997. (ISBN: 1575212218)
Professional Web Design: Theory and Technique on the Cutting Edge.
Theory and Technique as it applies to the professional Web designer. My very first computer book. Prima Publishing, September, 1996. (ISBN: 0761507590)
HTML 4.0 Unleashed (contributing author).
Chapters on Web graphics, interactive design, and typography. Macmillan Computer Publishing, 1998. (ISBN: 0672313472)
HTML 4.0 Unleashed: Professional Reference Edition (contributing author).
Chapters on Web graphics, interactive design, and typography. Macmillan Computer Publishing, 1998. (ISBN: 157521380X)
The Internet Unleashed (contributing author).
Chapters on interactive media and design. SAMS, 1997. (ISBN: 06230466X)

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