Create Your Own Website (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

by Scott Mitchell (Author) "As the popularity of the Internet and the World Wide Web have risen over the past decade, virtually all businesses have established an online presence..." (more)
Key Phrases: family pictures page, web host provider, flag accessories, File Edit, Favorites Tools Help, Mozilla Composer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

If you, like millions of other people, have ever dreamed of creating your own website but haven't actually done so because you think it will be too difficult, think again. Chances are, you already have all the skills you need to create a website and Create Your Own Website, Second Edition will show you how to use them. Walk through the entire website building process, from registering a domain name to uploading web pages, with the author at your side. Specifically, you will learn how to create:

• A family website
• A hobby website
• An eBay storefront
• A blog
• An image sharing directory

If you can use a word processor, you can create your own website with what you already know and the help of this book!

About the Author
Scott Mitchell has authored hundreds of articles on Microsoft Web Technologies since 1998. In addition to his vast collection of online articles, Scott has written three previous books on ASP/ASP.NET: Sams Teach Yourself Active Server Pages 3.0 in 21 Days; Designing Active Server Pages; and ASP.NET: Tips, Tutorials, and Code. Scott has also written a number of magazine articles, including articles for Microsoft's MSDN Magazine and aspPRO.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 2 edition (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672328267
• ISBN-13: 978-0672328268
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #666,777 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun to Read, Accurate to the Max., November 28, 2006

By	A. J. Baltes (TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Create Your Own Website (Using What you Already Know) (Paperback)

Reading this book allows someone to create five different styles and types of Websites by walking the reader through accessing Composer and desired templates, altering the text, color, and photos to personalize each Webpage, obtain a host provider, register a domain name, and publish each Webpage to a Web server.
* Chapter 1 introduces the basic functions of what a browser and Web page are, while showing the reader how to down load a free software program provided with the book.
* Chapter 2 describes the logistics of setting up a public location for viewing Web pages on the Internet by locating a host provider.
* Chapter 3 discuses customizing a Family/Personal Website template by using Composer like any other word processor, adding or deleting pages, and saving with a URL to the same folder located on the reader's computer.
* Chapter 4 continues with detailed items in "Creating a Hobby Website" by scaling images, changing existing hyperlinks, adding rows, discussing anchors, and the effect they have on sharing information with Website viewers.
* Chapter 5 "Creating a Website for an Organization" introduces obtaining a map from the Internet to replace the templates generic sample, offering email access to customers, and providing additional tips.
* Chapter 6 "Creating an Informational Website for Your Business" shows how to customize color within cells, add tables for creating coupons, and setting navigational hyperlinks.
* Chapter 7 "Creating an Online Storefront" deals with how to implement an e-Commerce Website by merging with "Creating Paypal Merchant Account" Website. With this tool, advanced programming skills that are typically required to create a shopping cart, a means to accept payment, and the functions of using forms for transferring users from one Website to another are eliminated. This lifts those advanced tasks off the reader and transfers them onto Paypal's Website in exchange for a small percentage of the product profit.
* The Bonus Chapter goes into more depth covering specific topics, like HTML, Understanding How the Internet Works, Domain names, and Optimizing Your Digital Pictures.

Throughout this book, the author highlights topics that have been covered in Shelly Cashman's "Discovering Computers" text book. One is how the Internet works. Scott Mitchell relates the Internet to the U.S. post office and adds a picture that gives a simple analogy for beginners. I appreciated the comparison, and could visualize the delivery process of digital information clearly (Mitchell 130).

The second item introduced in chapter 2 explained the concept of bandwidth. Mitchell shares very practical information related to space and cost that should be considered when choosing a host provider. The nominal comparisons made corresponding to bandwidth gave me a better appreciation for this concept.

The title "Create Your Own Website Using What You Already Know" very accurately describes what to expect out of the contents and functionality this book provides. The reader will be happy to know that the author's voice is very excited to share information in a reassuring way. Scott Mitchell continually keeps the reader in touch with the fact that the process he is laying out will be fun and easy to do, that the reader will not only learn the process but enjoy going through it.

I found the way the information was presented kept the progression of details simple enough for a first timer to feel very comfortable using and exploring all the items introduced.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No HTML? No HTML!, November 15, 2004

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Create Your Own Website (Using What you Already Know) (Paperback)

Mitchell gives us a breezy, confident approach to making a website. He emphasises that, within reason, you can do it all by yourself. With the aid of this book, naturally.

He walks us through the templates on the CD that comes with the book. The general thrust is to show how if you can read and write, well, then you can make a website. There is certainly more involved than in merely using a browser to peruse the web. But the book gives a total absence of HTML tags, until the last chapter. Instead, Mitchell lists 3 web authoring tools - Microsoft's FrontPage, Macromedia's Dreamweaver and Mozilla's Composer. These handle the grungy details.

You can regard this book as an independent validation of the claims made for the above tools. Indeed, no programming appears to be necessary for a simple website.

Along these lines, the chapter on making an online storefront is well done. The example storefront is actually quite limited. But even so, to have it running without programming is impressive.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Up in Running in Minutes, May 26, 2005

By	Frank Rubio "friends12343212" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Create Your Own Website (Using What you Already Know) (Paperback)

I just purchased Microsoft FrontPage 2003 and FrontPage Step by Step. There was no help in creating a website to sell items in the help section of FrontPage or in the book FrontPage Step by Step. After reading this book, I had an item up for sale on the internet within thirty minutes. Great book! No programming in HTML required. Just copy and paste.