Books & Videos

Web Site Cookbook

Solutions & Examples for Building and Administering Your Web Site

By Doug Addison

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Release Date: February 2009

Pages: 288

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The total number of web pages today has been estimated at over 3 billion, spanning millions of individual websites. Not surprisingly, there is tremendous pressure on web developers and designers to remain current with the latest technologies.

The Web Site Cookbook from O'Reilly covers all the essential skills that you need to create engaging, visitor-friendly websites. It helps you with the practical issues surrounding their inception, design, and maintenance. With recipes that teach both routine and advanced setup tasks, the book includes clear and professional instruction on a host of topics, including:

registering domains
ensuring that hostnames work
managing the directory
maintaining and troubleshooting a website
site promotion
visitor tracking
implementing e-commerce systems
linking with sales sites

This handy guide also tackles the various elements of page design. It explains how to control a reader's eye flow, how to choose a template system, how to set up a color scheme, and more.

Typical of O'Reilly's "Cookbook" series, the Web Site Cookbook is written in a straightforward format, featuring recipes that contain problem statements and solutions. A detailed explanation then follows each recipe to show you how and why the solution works. This question-solution-discussion format is a proven teaching method, as any fan of the "Cookbook" series can attest to.

Regardless of your strong suit or your role in the creation and life of a website, you can benefit from the teachings found in the Web Site Cookbook. It's a must-have tool for advancing your skills and making better sites.

Chapter 1 Web Server Setup
1. Introduction
2. Registering a Domain Name
3. Managing and Protecting a Domain Name
4. Choosing a Server Platform and Hosting Plan
5. Enabling Server-Side Includes
6. Setting the Default Filename for a Directory or Entire Site
7. Making Sure Your Web Site Loads With and Without the "www" Prefix
8. Creating and Accessing Directories Outside the Web Site Root Directory
9. Automating Routine Tasks
10. Restarting Your Web Server
11. Monitoring Web Server Activity
12. Building an Easy-to-Maintain Web Site with Free Tools
Chapter 2 Site Planning and Setup
1. Introduction
2. Writing a Functional Specification for Your Site
3. Assessing Available Materials for a Site
4. Organizing Your Files in Directories
5. Establishing a Naming Convention for Your Files
6. Establishing a Naming Convention for Page Titles
7. Establishing a Naming Convention for Your Variables
8. Downloading All Files from a Site
9. Making URLs Easy to Find and Remember
10. Creating a Flowchart for Complex Site Functionality
Chapter 3 Page Design and Navigation
1. Introduction
2. Choosing Between a Flexible and Fixed Layout
3. Creating a Color Scheme
4. Making Room for All Your Navigation
5. Designing Pages for Advertisements
6. Expanding Your Web Site
7. Adding Background Images
8. Creating Breadcrumb Links
9. Creating a Link Menu to Other Pages
10. Creating Navigation That Does Not Link to Itself
Chapter 4 Formatting Text and Code
1. Introduction
2. Writing Standards-Compliant Web Pages
3. Displaying Foreign and Special Characters
4. Choosing Type Sizes for Display and Body Text
5. Including Dynamic Content in Static Pages
6. Adding a Discretionary Hyphen to Long Words
7. Dividing a Text Block into Multiple Pages
8. Reformatting Database Content as HTML
9. Optimizing Web Page Code
Chapter 5 Formatting Graphics
1. Introduction
2. Optimizing Your Images
3. Creating a Web-Friendly Logo
4. Slicing and Recombining Complex Images
5. Choosing Clip Art and Stock Photos
6. Disabling Image Download
7. Creating Watermarked Images on the Fly
Chapter 6 Displaying and Delivering Information
1. Introduction
2. Explaining Who's Responsible for Your Site
3. Writing Meaningful Link Text
4. Adding Preview Information to Links
5. Creating Effective Pop-up Windows
6. Randomizing Text or Images
7. Highlighting the Search Term
8. Embedding RSS Feeds on Your Site
9. Creating an RSS Feed from Database Content
10. Adding a Poster Frame to a QuickTime Movie
11. Creating a Printer-Friendly Version of Your Site
12. Generating Downloadable Files Dynamically
13. Offering Your Site on Mobile Devices
Chapter 7 Interacting with Visitors
1. Introduction
2. Preventing Blank Form Fields
3. Duplicating Form Field Data
4. Using Sample Input to Reduce Errors
5. Formatting User-Entered Information
6. Generating Form Menu Choices from a Database
7. Storing Multiple Values in One Database Field
8. Using a Graphical Character String for Form Authentication
9. Putting Additional Information in mailto Links
10. Send Visitor Messages to Your Mobile Phone
11. Using Cookies to Remember Visitor Choices
12. Internationalizing Your Web Site Problem
13. Creating an Email Newsletter
Chapter 8 Promotion and E-Commerce
1. Introduction
2. Turning Site Traffic into Loyal Visitors and Customers
3. Creating an Effective Landing Page
4. Creating a Favicon
5. Forcing a Secure Connection
6. Creating a Self-Signed SSL Certificate
7. Disabling a Form Submit Button After the First Click
8. Creating Complex Select Menus with optgroup
9. Protecting Your Site from Fraud
10. Generating Income from Traffic and Content
11. Tracking and Blocking Visitors Based on Their IP Numbers
12. Soliciting Donations and Contributions
Chapter 9 Maintenance and Troubleshooting
1. Introduction
2. Handling Requests for Missing or Relocated Pages
3. Adding the Referring Page to a Form
4. Improving Site Performance
5. Tracking and Documenting Site Changes
6. Modifying an Auto-Indexed File List to Match Your Site's Design
7. Converting Source Documents to Web Pages
8. Coordinating Site Updates and Testing
9. Taking Care of Your Database
10. Evaluating Your Site with Metrics
11. Developing Test Procedures for Your Site
12. Preventing Email Address Harvesting

Colophon

Books & Videos

Web Site Cookbook

Solutions & Examples for Building and Administering Your Web Site

Read on Safari with a 10-day trial

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Web Server Setup

Introduction

Registering a Domain Name

Managing and Protecting a Domain Name

Choosing a Server Platform and Hosting Plan

Enabling Server-Side Includes

Setting the Default Filename for a Directory or Entire Site

Making Sure Your Web Site Loads With and Without the "www" Prefix

Creating and Accessing Directories Outside the Web Site Root Directory

Automating Routine Tasks

Restarting Your Web Server

Monitoring Web Server Activity

Building an Easy-to-Maintain Web Site with Free Tools

Chapter 2 Site Planning and Setup

Introduction

Writing a Functional Specification for Your Site

Assessing Available Materials for a Site

Organizing Your Files in Directories

Establishing a Naming Convention for Your Files

Establishing a Naming Convention for Page Titles

Establishing a Naming Convention for Your Variables

Downloading All Files from a Site

Making URLs Easy to Find and Remember

Creating a Flowchart for Complex Site Functionality

Chapter 3 Page Design and Navigation

Introduction

Choosing Between a Flexible and Fixed Layout

Creating a Color Scheme

Making Room for All Your Navigation

Designing Pages for Advertisements

Expanding Your Web Site

Adding Background Images

Creating Breadcrumb Links

Creating a Link Menu to Other Pages

Creating Navigation That Does Not Link to Itself

Chapter 4 Formatting Text and Code

Introduction

Writing Standards-Compliant Web Pages

Displaying Foreign and Special Characters

Choosing Type Sizes for Display and Body Text

Including Dynamic Content in Static Pages

Adding a Discretionary Hyphen to Long Words

Dividing a Text Block into Multiple Pages

Reformatting Database Content as HTML

Optimizing Web Page Code

Chapter 5 Formatting Graphics

Introduction

Optimizing Your Images

Creating a Web-Friendly Logo

Slicing and Recombining Complex Images

Choosing Clip Art and Stock Photos

Disabling Image Download

Creating Watermarked Images on the Fly

Chapter 6 Displaying and Delivering Information

Introduction

Explaining Who's Responsible for Your Site

Writing Meaningful Link Text

Adding Preview Information to Links

Creating Effective Pop-up Windows

Randomizing Text or Images

Highlighting the Search Term

Embedding RSS Feeds on Your Site

Creating an RSS Feed from Database Content

Adding a Poster Frame to a QuickTime Movie

Creating a Printer-Friendly Version of Your Site

Generating Downloadable Files Dynamically

Offering Your Site on Mobile Devices

Chapter 7 Interacting with Visitors

Introduction

Preventing Blank Form Fields

Duplicating Form Field Data

Using Sample Input to Reduce Errors

Formatting User-Entered Information

Generating Form Menu Choices from a Database

Storing Multiple Values in One Database Field