HTML
Basic HTML
HTML is the language that web browsers and web servers use to display web pages. HTML "tags," when added to a plain text document, instruct web browsers how to display that content on a web page. If a web page is a house, its HTML code is its blueprint.
HTML...
Creating Forms
Note: This is also available as a functionality demo , so is left relatively unformatted here.
If you want to give your readers the ability to interact with your site - to send information to it rather than simply receive information from it - you'll...
Creating Forms Module: Introduction
Creating Forms: Introduction
Creating Forms
Introduction
If you want to give your readers the ability to interact with your site -- to send information to it, rather than simply receiving information from it -- you'll need to move beyond...
Creating Forms Module: The <form> Tag
Suppose we want to create a basic login form:
Login:
Password: We'll need three parts to this form:
A text box for users to enter their login name
Another text box for their password
A "submit" button to send their information off ...
Creating Forms Module: Text and Password Fields
Creating Forms: Text and Password Fields
Creating Forms
Text and Password Fields
Text boxes, with a type attribute of "text," are ideal for letting users enter short words and phrases, like a first or last name, a login name or a password.
<input...
Creating Forms Module: Submit Buttons
Creating Forms: Submit Buttons
Creating Forms
Submit Buttons
You're nearly finished creating your example login form now. Here's the code you should have so far:
<form action="http://mysite.com/scripts/login.php" method="post">
<input...
Creating Forms Module: Submit Buttons
Creating Forms: Submit Buttons
Creating Forms
Submit Buttons
You're nearly finished creating your example login form now. Here's the code you should have so far:
<form action="http://mysite.com/scripts/login.php" method="post">
<input...
Creating Forms Module: Hidden Fields and Checkboxes
Creating Forms: Hidden Fields and Checkboxes
Creating Forms
Hidden Fields and Checkboxes
There are other types of form elements and inputs. Now that you've learned the basics, let's go through the rest of them.
Hidden Fields
Sometimes you...
Creating Forms Module: Labels and Radio Buttons
Creating Forms
Labels and Radio Buttons
If you want your page to be the Cadillac of Web pages, as accessible as it is well crafted, you should use the <label> tag in your forms. The simplest way to use it is to wrap the tag around...
Creating Forms Module: Text Areas
Creating Forms: Text Areas
Creating Forms
Text Areas
The text area is the odd man out in a form. Unlike a text field, a one-line field with a set limit of characters, the <textarea> and </textarea> tags create a box into which...
Creating Forms Module: The Select Tag: Pulldown Menus
Creating Forms: The Select Tag: Pulldown Menus
Creating Forms
The <select> Tag: Pulldown Menus
The select tag is another oddball in the world of forms. When you have too many possible answers to a question to use checkboxes or radio...
Creating Forms Module: The Select Tag: Multiple Choice Boxes
Creating Forms
The <select> Tag: Multiple Choice Boxes
What if we have a long list of items, and want to allow our users to select as many or as few of those items as they like? By simply adding size and multiple attributes to our beginning...
Creating Forms Module: One Last Attribute
Creating Forms: One Last Attribute
Creating Forms
One Last Attribute
Normally, users can jump from one part of a form to the next by pressing the TAB key on their keyboard. When they finish filling in the "First Name" text field, for example,...
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
From the beginning, HTML has always been perceived as a very simple "language" to learn. With only a few simple tags, you could mark up a document and put it online. HTML was very forgiving, flexible and intuitive.
However, this same simplicity w...
Page Layout and Design
Web Standards for Publishing Ventures
After more than a decade's experience and several significant studies about how people read web pages, web designers have developed several tips for good site design. Here are some basic elements you should consider when creating a page.
Navigation Bars...
Choosing Colors
The roots of a successful Web design come from the color choices you make. Color is crucial in creating an optimal user experience. Proper use of colors can even be required under some accessibility guidelines for the visually impaired.
Earlier, you...
Logos
Logo design is critical for more than just your website. It will be used on business cards and promotional material, in presentations, in newspaper articles and videos. You want something that remains recognizable even at a distance or at a small size.
Types...
Web Pages
Using Adobe Dreamweaver
Many different programs let you create and edit web pages. They offer some advantages over coding pages in HTML:
They let you place photos and text exactly where you want them to go.
They let you see what your pages will look like as you edit them....
Creating an HTML page
Now that you have defined a site, you should create a web page to upload as a test. From Dreamweaver, you can create a new page by clicking File, then New , and choosing "HTML" from the Basic page menu that displays. If the green Quick Start menu...
Advanced Dreamweaver Techniques
One advantage of using a program like Dreamweaver - as opposed to a simple text editor - is that it has some built-in functions that make complicated web page effects quite simple to implement. In this section you learn about image maps, Library items,...
Behaviors
Many interactive features on web pages are produced by integrating small programming scripts into your HTML code. These are usually created using a programming language called JavaScript. JavaScript is significantly more difficult to learn than HTML,...
File Management
Keeping Track of Files
As your site matures, the amount of content will grow. And grow. And grow even more. You'll have to consider how you'll archive your material and how to best organize your long-term production to maximize efficiency.
Here are a few tips on how to keep...
Slugs
A slug is the name of a story or article in the publishing business. Organized naming structures help you with better search engine rankings. Using incorrect characters can throw your server for a loop.
There is no difference between .htm and .html...
Making Backups
It’s easy to overlook the task of regularly backing up your data. But all it takes is one crash of your hard drive, a fire, a flood, a power surge, or the theft of your computer and you can spend a lifetime regretting it.
We’ve already pointed out...
Databases
Introducing Databases
Part of what has unbottled community publishing is the use of databases to store and deliver content. It becomes clear to anyone working for an extended period on a website that there's a lot of repetitive work. Unless you have some way to manage your...
Planning Your Database Tables
How Relational Databases Work
As a news site, you might want to keep a database of past stories for your readers. You could keep that information in a table that looks like this:
Table name: Articles
Headline
Byline
Date
Body
Dog...
Database Applications
Open Source Options
If your site runs on open-source software, it's likely to have one of two database applications available: MySQL or PostgreSQL.
MySQL (http://www.mysql.com/ ) is the most popular open-source database application, and most open-source...
Database Workers
Who Works on Databases?
There are several people involved in getting a database-powered site up and running, especially if you are having one custom-developed for your site. They include a:
Database architect. This person looks at the type of data...