Web Page Design
A non-credit
course taught by Mike Gildersleeve for the
UNH Department of Continuing
Education
Contact the instructor at amgilder@cs.unh.edu
This page provides links to selected resource that I expect students in this course will find particularly helpful and/or interesting. This list is by no means intended to be exhaustive. In fact, it’s not even necessarily limited to only the best options. I’ve simply listed the best options of which I am currently aware. Please feel free to suggest your favorite alternatives.
Ted Tinker's Totally Turtles sample site
Helpful Web Sites
Web
Style Guide
The companion site to our design textbook by Patrick Lynch and
Sarah Horton, you will find most of the book’s
content (including color illustrations) here.
Useit.com
Jakob Nielsen’s
site devoted entirely to Web usability. Tons of useful content. Don’t
miss his recommended sites list
or his list of the top ten
mistakes in Web design.
Creating
Killer Websites Online
The companion site to David Siegel’s
book. Lots of useful insights and tips, but not the full book.
Web
Pages That Suck
Vincent Flanders presents sound Web design advice while looking
at design approaches that definitely do not work. Learn what to do right by
learning what not to do wrong!
How
to Make an Annoying Web Page
A very creative approach to what not to do if you want to keep
your readers around, complete with examples.
IBM
Ease of Use Web Design Guidelines
Big Blue's take on the subject of how to design easy-to-use
Web interfaces. Very well organized and presented.
Web
Page Design for Designers
A resource for designers working on the Web.
PageResource.com
A Web development tutorial and information site.
About
Web Design
Another resource for Web design tutorials and resources, including
sections on popular Web design software.
The
World Wide Web Consortium
Go straight to the source for the final word on Web standards and recommendations.
Also, check here for useful tools and tutorials.
WebMonkey
Large collection of highly regarded tutorials for most Web-related technologies.
Also includes some useful reference resources.
Web
Developer’s
Journal
Promising “tips on Web page design, HTML, Graphics, Internet business,
e-commerce and development tools.”
WebReview
All sorts of articles and columns relating to Web-related technologies. Don’t
neglect the archives.
WebReference
Bills itself as “The Webmaster’s
Reference Library - Web Authoring Tips & Tutorials for Developers”.
W3Schools
Numerous tutorials and working samples pertaining to most Web-related technologies.
Includes references as well.
Web
Developer’s
Virtual Library
Huge collection of reference and tutorial resources on Web related technologies.
HTML
Tips.com
Information for the Webmaster, ranging from HTML to design to marketing to freelancing.
Beware the obnoxious popup ads!
Netscape
Downloads
Here you can get both the latest version of Netscape’s
browser and legacy versions (for page testing).
Internet
Explorer Downloads
Here you can get both the latest version of Microsoft’s
browser and legacy versions (for page testing).
Opera
Downloads
Here you can get both the latest version of Opera’s
browser and some legacy versions (for page testing). To access the legacy versions,
you must do a custom download. If you can figure out where to find older legacy
versions, please let me know.
The
Evolt Browser Archive
An extensive, though not necessarily exhaustive, archive of
various versions of various browsers and their supplements.
WS_FTP
LE
Download WS_FTP LE, which is free for educational use.
ActivePerl
for Windows
Download a free copy of ActivePerl for Windows straight from the source.
MacPerl
Development
For news and downloads pertaining to Mac OS ports of Perl.
The
Barebones Guide to HTML
A thorough, yet
concise online reference to HTML 4.
The
XHTML Transition
Well-written tutorial
on making the transition from HTML to XHTML.
The
CSShark Answers FAQs
A thorough, yet concise, introduction to CSS and answers to
commonly asked questions on the subject.
WebReview’s
Style Sheet Reference Guide
Browser compatibility charts, an FAQ, and a useful overview.
ECMAScript
Language Specification
The ECMAScript standard available for download in PDF and PostScript
formats.
Netscape
JavaScript Developer Central
Netscape’s
official repository of all things JavaScript.
Microsoft
Scripting Technologies
Microsoft’s
official repository of all things JScript.
Doc
JavaScript
Collection of numerous task-specific tutorials in JavaScript.
DHTML
Demos
The companion site to Jeff Rule’s
book Dynamic HTML: The HTML Developer’s
Guide, this site offers an extensive collection of DHTML demos. For explanations,
you’ll
need to get the book, but you can learn a lot just by studying the source code
of the online demos.
Dynamic
HTML Guru
A creative approach to presenting tutorial and reference material
on DHTML.
Dynamic
HTML at MSDN
A decidedly IE-centric online workshop on Dynamic HTML straight
from the folks at Microsoft. As with most Microsoft sites, this one is best
viewed with Internet Explorer.
Dynamic
HTML Lab
Numerous articles (many in series) pertaining to applications
of DHTML.
Helpful Books
 |
Title |
HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, 4th ed. |
| Author | Chuck Musciano & Bill Kennedy | |
| Publisher | O’Reilly, 2000 | |
| ISBN | 0-596-00026-X | |
| Notes | If you have only one HTML/XHTML reference in your library, make it this one! | |
 |
||
 |
Title |
HTML 4 for the World Wide Web, 4th ed. |
| Author | Elizabeth Castro | |
| Publisher | Peachpit Press, 2000 | |
| ISBN | 0-201-35493-4 | |
| Notes | Same series as several of our required books. If you like them, you’ll like this one too. |
 |
Title |
Web Style Guide |
| Author | Patrick J. Lynch & Sarah Horton | |
| Publisher | Yale University Press, 1999 | |
| ISBN | 0-300-07675-4 | |
| Notes | Most of this book (along with color versions of its figures) is available online at info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual | |
|
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Title |
Don’t Make Me Think |
| Author | Steve Krug | |
| Publisher | New Riders , 2000 | |
| ISBN | 0-7897-2310-7 | |
| Notes | A must read if you’re serious about designing truly usable sites. You’ll actually enjoy reading this one. Would have been required if it weren’t so pricey. | |
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 |
Title |
Designing Web Usability |
| Author | Jakob Nielsen | |
| Publisher | New Riders , 2000 | |
| ISBN | 1-56205-810-X | |
| Notes | Another excellent, but expensive, book on designing sites with an eye toward usability. | |
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Title |
Web Site Usability |
| Author | Jared M. Spool, et al. | |
| Publisher | Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 1999 | |
| ISBN | 1-55860-569-X | |
| Notes |
Very enlightening report on an extensive Web usability study. Challenges some common assumptions in Web design. |
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Title |
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web |
| Author | Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville | |
| Publisher | O’Reilly, 1998 | |
| ISBN | 1-56592-282-4 | |
| Notes |
Excellent book for improving the overall logical structure of your sites. Most useful after you’ve had some hands-on design experience. |
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Title |
The Non-Designer’s Web Book, 2nd ed. |
| Author | Robin Williams & John Tollett | |
| Publisher | Peachpit Press , 2000 | |
| ISBN | 0-201-71038-2 | |
| Notes |
Fun to read and useful. Not many earth-shattering revelations, but a solid foundation in the basics. Some handy tricks. |
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Title |
Creating Killer Web Sites, 2nd ed. |
| Author | David Siegel | |
| Publisher | Hayden Books , 1997 | |
| ISBN | 1-56830-433-1 | |
| Notes |
Somewhat dated and bit overbearing, but useful overall. If a third edition comes out, I’d definitely check it out. |
 |
Title |
DHTML and CSS for the World Wide Web, 2nd ed. |
| Author | Jason Cranford Teague | |
| Publisher | Peachpit Press, 2001 | |
| ISBN | 0-201-73084-7 | |
| Notes |
Author’s
companion Web site at www.webenvironments.com/dhtml |
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Title |
Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide |
| Author | Eric A. Meyer | |
| Publisher | O’Reilly, 2000 | |
| ISBN | 1-56592-622-6 | |
| Notes | Like all the O’Reilly Definitive Guides I’ve seen, this one contains pretty much all you need to know in easily accessible reference format. | |
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Title |
Cascading Style Sheets: Designing for the Web, 2nd ed. |
| Author | Håkon Wium Lie & Bert Bos | |
| Publisher | Addison Wesley, 1999 | |
| ISBN | 0-201-59625-3 | |
| Notes | Comprehensive (and readable) coverage of how CSS is defined to behave, but without much consideration to how it actually does behave in popular browsers. | |
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Title |
Core CSS |
| Author | Keith Schengili-Roberts | |
| Publisher | Prentice Hall PTR, 2000 | |
| ISBN | 0-13-083456-4 | |
| Notes | More instructive approach. Somewhat better at explaining the basics than the Meyer book. Not as good as Meyer for reference use. |
 |
Title |
JavaScript for the World Wide Web, 4th ed. |
| Author | Tom Negrino & Dori Smith | |
| Publisher | Peachpit Press, 2001 | |
| ISBN | 0-201-73517-2 | |
| Notes | Companion Web site at www.javascriptworld.com | |
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Title |
JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, 3rd ed. |
| Author | David Flanagan | |
| Publisher | O’Reilly, 1998 | |
| ISBN | 1-56592-392-8 | |
| Notes | Excellent and complete reference. | |
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Title |
Beginning JavaScript |
| Author | Paul Wilton | |
| Publisher | Wrox Press, 2000 | |
| ISBN | 1-861004-06-0 | |
| Notes | Thorough, instructive introduction to virtually all aspects of JavaScript programming. | |
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Title |
The Book of JavaScript |
| Author | Dave Thau | |
| Publisher | No Starch Press, 2000 | |
| ISBN | 1-886411-36-0 | |
| Notes |
Very readable instructional book focussed on practical applications of JavaScript for creating interactive pages. |
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Title |
DHTML and CSS for the World Wide Web, 2nd ed. |
| Author | Jason Cranford Teague | |
| Publisher | Peachpit Press, 2001 | |
| ISBN | 0-201-73084-7 | |
| Notes |
Author’s
companion Web site at www.webenvironments.com/dhtml |
|
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Title |
Dynamic HTML: The HTML Developer’s Guide |
| Author | Jeff Rule | |
| Publisher | Addison-Wesley, 1999 | |
| ISBN | 0-201-37961-9 | |
| Notes | Presents common DHTML techniques as a series of (mostly browser-specific) example scripts. | |
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Title |
Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference |
| Author | Danny Goodman | |
| Publisher | O’Reilly, 1998 | |
| ISBN | 1-56592-494-0 | |
| Notes | Complete reference to the major components of DHTML. A bit dated, however. |
Last modified:
April 23, 2002
© 2002, A. Michael Gildersleeve
Contact the author at amgilder@cs.unh.edu