HTML5 and CSS3 All-in-One For Dummies E-Book

Andy Harris

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1364

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

A new edition of a bestseller covers the latest advances in web development!

HTML5 and CSS3 are essential tools for creating dynamic websites and boast updates and enhanced features that can make your websites even more effective and unique. This friendly, all-in-one guide covers everything you need to know about each of these technologies and their latest versions so that you can use them together. Building on the bestselling formats of the first two editions, this new edition teaches you the fundamentals of HTML5 and CSS3, and then presents ways for using them with JavaScript, MySQL, and Ajax to create websites that work.

• Covers using JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, and Ajax in the context of programming dynamic web pages with CSS3 and HTML5
• Includes self-contained minibooks that review HTML, CSS, design and layout, client-side JavaScript, Ajax and server-side, and putting it all together
• Examines new web development advancements including new technologies and changes to the standards
• Features a website that contains supporting materials including code and several valuable programs that are useful for web development

HTML5 and CSS3 All-in-One For Dummies, 3rd Edition serves as the perfect reference for both web development beginners and seasoned professionals looking to learn more about how to get the most out of the powerful combination of HTML5 and CSS3.

Leseprobe

HTML5 and CSS3 All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Published by:John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street,Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774,www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013952425

ISBN 978-1-118-28938-9 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-42139-0 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-118-41983-0 (ePDF)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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HTML5 and CSS3 All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/html5css3aio to view this book's cheat sheet.

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Use Any Computer

Don't Buy Any Software

How This Book Is Organized

New for the Third Edition

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Book I: Creating the HTML Foundation

Chapter 1: Sound HTML Foundations

Creating a Basic Page

Understanding the HTML in the Basic Page

Meeting Your New Friends, the Tags

Setting Up Your System

Displaying file extensions

Setting up your software

Chapter 2: It's All About Validation

Somebody Stop the HTML Madness!

XHTML had some great ideas

Validating Your Page

Aesop visits W3C

Using Tidy to repair pages

Chapter 3: Choosing Your Tools

What's Wrong with the Big Boys: Expression Web and Adobe Dreamweaver

How About Online Site Builders?

Alternative Web Development Tools

Picking a Text Editor

Tools to avoid unless you have nothing else

Suggested programmer's editors

My personal choice: Komodo Edit

Other text editors

The bottom line on editors

Finding a Good Web Developer's Browser

A little ancient history

Overview of the prominent browsers

Other notable browsers

The bottom line in browsers

Chapter 4: Managing Information with Lists and Tables

Making a List and Checking It Twice

Creating an unordered list

Creating ordered lists

Making nested lists

Building the definition list

Building Tables

Defining the table

Spanning rows and columns

Avoiding the table-based layout trap

Chapter 5: Making Connections with Links

Making Your Text Hyper

Introducing the anchor tag

Comparing block-level and inline elements

Analyzing an anchor

Introducing URLs

Making Lists of Links

Working with Absolute and Relative References

Understanding absolute references

Introducing relative references

Chapter 6: Adding Images, Sound, and Video

Adding Images to Your Pages

Linking to an image

Adding inline images using the <img> tag

src (source)

height and width

alt (alternate text)

Choosing an Image Manipulation Tool

An image is worth 3.4 million words

Introducing IrfanView

Choosing an Image Format

BMP

JPG/JPEG

GIF

PNG

SVG

Summary of web image formats

Manipulating Your Images

Changing formats in IrfanView

Resizing your images

Enhancing image colors

Using built-in effects

Other effects you can use

Batch processing

Working with Audio

Adding Video

Chapter 7: Creating Forms

You Have Great Form

Forms must have some form

Building Text-Style Inputs

Making a standard text field

Building a password field

Making multi-line text input

Creating Multiple Selection Elements

Making selections

Building check boxes

Creating radio buttons

Pressing Your Buttons

Making input-style buttons

Building a Submit button

It's a do-over: The Reset button

Introducing the <button> tag

New Form Input Types

date

time

datetime

datetime-local

week

month

color

number

range

search

email

tel

url

Book II: Styling with CSS

Chapter 1: Coloring Your World

Now You Have an Element of Style

Setting up a style sheet

Changing the colors

Specifying Colors in CSS

Using color names

Putting a hex on your colors

Coloring by number

Hex education

Using the web-safe color palette

Choosing Your Colors

Starting with web-safe colors

Modifying your colors

Doing it on your own pages

Changing CSS on the fly

Creating Your Own Color Scheme

Understanding hue, saturation, and lightness

Using HSL colors in your pages

Using the Color Scheme Designer

Selecting a base hue

Picking a color scheme

Chapter 2: Styling Text

Setting the Font Family

Applying the font-family style attribute

Using generic fonts

Making a list of fonts

The Curse of Web-Based Fonts

Understanding the problem

Using embedded fonts

Using images for headlines

Specifying the Font Size

Size is only a suggestion!

Using the font-size style attribute

Absolute measurement units

Relative measurement units

Determining Other Font Characteristics

Using font-style for italics

Using font-weight for bold

Using text-decoration

Using text-align for basic alignment

Other text attributes

Using the font shortcut

Working with subscripts and superscripts

Chapter 3: Selectors: Coding with Class and Style

Selecting Particular Segments

Defining more than one kind of paragraph

Styling identified paragraphs

Using Emphasis and Strong Emphasis

Modifying the Display of em and strong

Defining Classes

Adding classes to the page

Using classes

Combining classes

Introducing div and span

Organizing the page by meaning

Why not make a table?

Using Pseudo-Classes to Style Links

Styling a standard link

Styling the link states

Best link practices

Selecting in Context

Defining Styles for Multiple Elements

Using New CSS3 Selectors

Attribute selection

not

nth-child

Other new pseudo-classes

Chapter 4: Borders and Backgrounds

Joining the Border Patrol

Using the border attributes

Defining border styles

Using the border shortcut

Creating partial borders

Introducing the Box Model

Border, margin, and padding

Positioning elements with margins and padding

New CSS3 Border Techniques

Image borders

Adding Rounded Corners

Adding a box shadow

Changing the Background Image

Getting a background check

Solutions to the background conundrum

Manipulating Background Images

Turning off the repeat

Using CSS3 Gradients

Using Images in Lists

Chapter 5: Levels of CSS

Managing Levels of Style

Using local styles

Using an external style sheet

Understanding the Cascading Part of Cascading Style Sheets

Inheriting styles

Hierarchy of styles

Overriding styles

Precedence of style definitions

Managing Browser Incompatibility

Coping with incompatibility

Making Internet Explorer–specific code

Using a conditional comment with CSS

Checking the Internet Explorer version

Using a CSS reset

Chapter 6: CSS Special Effects

Image Effects

Transparency

Reflections

Text Effects

Text stroke

Text-shadow

Transformations and Transitions

Transformations

Three-dimensional transformations

Transition animation

Animations

Book III: Building Layouts with CSS

Chapter 1: Fun with the Fabulous Float

Avoiding Old-School Layout Pitfalls

Problems with frames

Problems with tables

Problems with huge images

Problems with Flash

Introducing the Floating Layout Mechanism

Using float with images

Adding the float property

Using Float with Block-Level Elements

Floating a paragraph

Adjusting the width

Setting the next margin

Using Float to Style Forms

Using float to beautify the form

Adjusting the fieldset width

Using the clear attribute to control page layout

Chapter 2: Building Floating Page Layouts

Creating a Basic Two-Column Design

Designing the page

Building the HTML

Using temporary background colors

Setting up the floating columns

Tuning up the borders

Advantages of a fluid layout

Using semantic tags

Building a Three-Column Design

Styling the three-column page

Problems with the floating layout

Specifying a min-height

Using height and overflow

Building a Fixed-Width Layout

Setting up the HTML

Fixing the width with CSS

Building a Centered Fixed-Width Layout

Making a surrogate body with an all div

How the jello layout works

Limitations of the jello layout

Chapter 3: Styling Lists and Menus

Revisiting List Styles

Defining navigation as a list of links

Turning links into buttons

Building horizontal lists

Creating Dynamic Lists

Building a nested list

Hiding the inner lists

Getting the inner lists to appear on cue

Building a Basic Menu System

Building a vertical menu with CSS

Building a horizontal menu

Chapter 4: Using Alternative Positioning

Working with Absolute Positioning

Setting up the HTML

Adding position guidelines

Making absolute positioning work

Managing z-index

Handling depth

Working with z-index

Building a Page Layout with Absolute Positioning

Overview of absolute layout

Writing the HTML

Adding the CSS

Creating a More Flexible Layout

Designing with percentages

Building the layout

Exploring Other Types of Positioning

Creating a fixed menu system

Setting up the HTML

Setting the CSS values

Flexible Box Layout Model

Creating a flexible box layout

Viewing a flexible box layout

… And now for a little reality

Determining Your Layout Scheme

Book IV: Client-Side Programming with JavaScript

Chapter 1: Getting Started with JavaScript

Working in JavaScript

Choosing a JavaScript editor

Picking your test browser

Writing Your First JavaScript Program

Embedding your JavaScript code

Creating comments

Using the alert() method for output

Adding the semicolon

Introducing Variables

Creating a variable for data storage

Asking the user for information

Responding to the user

Using Concatenation to Build Better Greetings

Comparing literals and variables

Including spaces in your concatenated phrases

Understanding the String Object

Introducing object-based programming (and cows)

Investigating the length of a string

Using string methods to manipulate text

Understanding Variable Types

Adding numbers

Adding the user's numbers

The trouble with dynamic data

The pesky plus sign

Changing Variables to the Desired Type

Using variable conversion tools

Fixing the addInput code

Chapter 2: Talking to the Page

Understanding the Document Object Model

Previewing the DOM

Getting the blues, JavaScript-style

Writing JavaScript code to change colors

Managing Button Events

Adding a function for more … functionality

Making a more flexible function

Embedding quotes within quotes

Writing the changeColor function

Managing Text Input and Output

Introducing event-driven programming

Creating the HTML form

Using getElementById to get access to the page

Manipulating the text fields

Writing to the Document

Preparing the HTML framework

Writing the JavaScript

Finding your innerHTML

Working with Other Text Elements

Building the form

Writing the function

Understanding generated source

What if you're not in Chrome?

Chapter 3: Decisions and Debugging

Making Choices with if

Changing the greeting with if

The different flavors of if

Conditional operators

Nesting your if statements

Making decisions with switch

Managing Repetition with for Loops

Setting up the web page

Initializing the output

Creating the basic for loop

Introducing shortcut operators

Counting backwards

Counting by fives

Understanding the Zen of for loops

Building while Loops

Making a basic while loop

Getting your loops to behave

Managing more complex loops

Managing Errors with a Debugger

Debugging with the interactive console

Debugging strategies

Resolving syntax errors

Squashing logic bugs

Chapter 4: Functions, Arrays, and Objects

Breaking Code into Functions

Thinking about structure

Building the antsFunction.html program

Passing Data to and from Functions

Examining the makeSong code

Looking at the chorus

Handling the verses

Managing Scope

Introducing local and global variables

Examining variable scope

Building a Basic Array

Accessing array data

Using arrays with for loops

Revisiting the ants song

Working with Two-Dimension Arrays

Setting up the arrays

Getting a city

Creating a main() function

Creating Your Own Objects

Building a basic object

Adding methods to an object

Building a reusable object

Using your shiny new objects

Introducing JSON

Storing data in JSON format

Building a more complex JSON structure

Chapter 5: Getting Valid Input

Getting Input from a Drop-Down List

Building the form

Reading the list box

Managing Multiple Selections

Coding a multiple selection select object

Writing the JavaScript code

Check, Please: Reading Check Boxes

Building the check box page

Responding to the check boxes

Working with Radio Buttons

Interpreting Radio Buttons

Working with Regular Expressions

Introducing regular expressions

Using characters in regular expressions

Marking the beginning and end of the line

Working with special characters

Conducting repetition operations

Working with pattern memory

New HTML5/CSS3 Tricks for Validation

Adding a pattern

Marking a field as required

Adding placeholder text

Chapter 6: Drawing on the Canvas

Canvas Basics

Setting up the canvas

How <canvas> works

Fill and Stroke Styles

Colors

Gradients

Patterns

Drawing Essential Shapes

Rectangle functions

Drawing text

Adding shadows

Working with Paths

Line-drawing options

Drawing arcs and circles

Drawing quadratic curves

Building a Bézier curve

Images

Drawing an image on the canvas

Drawing part of an image

Manipulating Pixels

Chapter 7: Animation with the Canvas

Transformations

Building a transformed image

A few thoughts about transformations

Animation

Overview of the animation loop

Setting up the constants

Initializing the animation

Animate the current frame

Moving an element

Bouncing off the walls

Reading the Keyboard

Managing basic keyboard input

Moving an image with the keyboard

Book V: Server-Side Programming with PHP

Chapter 1: Getting Started on the Server

Introducing Server-Side Programming

Programming on the server

Serving your programs

Picking a language

Installing Your Web Server

Inspecting phpinfo()

Building HTML with PHP

Coding with Quotation Marks

Working with Variables PHP-Style

Concatenation

Interpolating variables into text

Building HTML Output

Using double quote interpolation

Generating output with heredocs

Switching from PHP to HTML

Chapter 2: PHP and HTML Forms

Exploring the Relationship between PHP and HTML

Embedding PHP inside HTML

Viewing the results

Sending Data to a PHP Program

Creating a form for PHP processing

Receiving data in PHP

Choosing the Method of Your Madness

Using get to send data

Using the post method to transmit form data

Getting data from the form

Retrieving Data from Other Form Elements

Building a form with complex elements

Responding to a complex form

Chapter 3: Using Control Structures

Introducing Conditions (Again)

Building the Classic if Statement

Rolling dice the PHP way

Checking your six

Understanding comparison operators

Taking the middle road

Building a program that makes its own form

Making a switch

Looping with for

Looping with while

Chapter 4: Working with Arrays

Using One-Dimensional Arrays

Creating an array

Filling an array

Viewing the elements of an array

Preloading an array

Using Loops with Arrays

Simplifying loops with foreach

Arrays and HTML

Introducing Associative Arrays

Using foreach with associative arrays

Introducing Multidimensional Arrays

We're going on a trip

Looking up the distance

Breaking a String into an Array

Creating arrays with explode

Creating arrays with preg_split

Chapter 5: Using Functions and Session Variables

Creating Your Own Functions

Rolling dice the old-fashioned way

Improving code with functions

Managing variable scope

Returning data from functions

Managing Persistence with Session Variables

Understanding session variables

Adding session variables to your code

Chapter 6: Working with Files and Directories

Text File Manipulation

Writing text to files

Writing a basic text file

Reading from the file

Using Delimited Data

Storing data in a CSV file

Viewing CSV data directly

Reading the CSV data in PHP

Working with File and Directory Functions

opendir( )

readdir( )

chdir( )

Generating the list of file links

Chapter 7: Exceptions and Objects

Object-Oriented Programming in PHP

Building a basic object

Using your brand-new class

Protecting your data with access modifiers

Using access modifiers

You've Got Your Momma's Eyes: Inheritance

Building a critter based on another critter

How to inherit the wind (and anything else)

Catching Exceptions

Introducing exception handling

Knowing when to trap for exceptions

Book VI: Managing Data with MySQL

Chapter 1: Getting Started with Data

Examining the Basic Structure of Data

Determining the fields in a record

Introducing SQL data types

Specifying the length of a record

Defining a primary key

Defining the table structure

Introducing MySQL

Why use MySQL?

Understanding the three-tier architecture

Practicing with MySQL

Setting Up phpMyAdmin

Changing the root password

Adding a user

Using phpMyAdmin on a remote server

Implementing a Database with phpMyAdmin

Chapter 2: Managing Data with MySQL

Writing SQL Code by Hand

Understanding SQL syntax rules

Examining the buildContact.sql script

Dropping a table

Creating a table

Adding records to the table

Viewing the sample data

Running a Script with phpMyAdmin

Using AUTO_INCREMENT for Primary Keys

Selecting Data from Your Tables

Selecting only a few fields

Selecting a subset of records

Searching with partial information

Searching for the ending value of a field

Searching for any text in a field

Searching with regular expressions

Sorting your responses

Editing Records

Updating a record

Deleting a record

Exporting Your Data and Structure

Exporting SQL code

Creating XML data

Chapter 3: Normalizing Your Data

Recognizing Problems with Single-Table Data

The identity crisis

The listed powers

Repetition and reliability

Fields with changeable data

Deletion problems

Introducing Entity-Relationship Diagrams

Using MySQL Workbench to draw ER diagrams

Creating a table definition in Workbench

Introducing Normalization

First normal form

Second normal form

Third normal form

Identifying Relationships in Your Data

Chapter 4: Putting Data Together with Joins

Calculating Virtual Fields

Introducing SQL functions

Knowing when to calculate virtual fields

Calculating Date Values

Using DATEDIFF to determine age

Adding a calculation to get years

Converting the days integer into a date

Using YEAR() and MONTH() to get readable values

Concatenating to make one field

Creating a View

Using an Inner Join to Combine Tables

Building a Cartesian join and an inner join

Enforcing one-to-many relationships

Counting the advantages of inner joins

Building a view to encapsulate the join

Managing Many-to-Many Joins

Understanding link tables

Using link tables to make many-to-many joins

Chapter 5: Connecting PHP to a MySQL Database

PHP and MySQL: A Perfect (but Geeky) Romance

Understanding data connections

Introducing PDO

Building a connection

Retrieving data from the database

Using HTML tables for output

Allowing User Interaction

Building an HTML search form

Responding to the search request

Book VII: Integrating the Client and Server with AJAX

Chapter 1: AJAX Essentials

AJAX Spelled Out

A is for asynchronous

J is for JavaScript

A is for . . . and?

And X is for . . . data

Making a Basic AJAX Connection

Building the HTML form

Creating an XMLHttpRequest object

Opening a connection to the server

Sending the request and parameters

Checking the status

All Together Now — Making the Connection Asynchronous

Setting up the program

Building the getAJAX() function

Reading the response

Chapter 2: Improving JavaScript and AJAX with jQuery

Introducing jQuery

Installing jQuery

Importing jQuery from Google

Your First jQuery App

Setting up the page

Meet the jQuery node object

Creating an Initialization Function

Using $(document).ready()

Alternatives to document.ready

Investigating the jQuery Object

Changing the style of an element

Selecting jQuery objects

Modifying the style

Adding Events to Objects

Adding a hover event

Changing classes on the fly

Making an AJAX Request with jQuery

Including a text file with AJAX

Building a poor man's CMS with AJAX

Chapter 3: Animating jQuery

Playing Hide and Seek

Getting transition support

Writing the HTML and CSS foundation

Initializing the page

Hiding and showing the content

Toggling visibility

Sliding an element

Fading an element in and out

Changing Position with jQuery

Creating the framework

Setting up the events

Building the move() function with chaining

Building time-based animation with animate()

Move a little bit: Relative motion

Modifying Elements on the Fly

Building the basic page

Initializing the code

Adding text

Attack of the clones

It's a wrap

Alternating styles

Resetting the page

More fun with selectors and filters

Chapter 4: Using the jQuery User Interface Toolkit

What the jQuery User Interface Brings to the Table

It's a theme park

Using the themeRoller to get an overview of jQuery

Wanna drag? Making components draggable

Downloading the library

Writing the program

Resizing on a Theme

Examining the HTML and standard CSS

Importing the files

Making a resizable element

Adding themes to your elements

Adding an icon

Dragging, Dropping, and Calling Back

Building the basic page

Initializing the page

Handling the drop

Beauty school dropout events

Cloning the elements

Chapter 5: Improving Usability with jQuery

Multi-Element Designs

Playing the accordion widget

Building a tabbed interface

Using tabs with AJAX

Improving Usability

Playing the dating game

Picking numbers with the slider

Selectable elements

Building a sortable list

Creating a custom dialog box

Chapter 6: Working with AJAX Data

Sending Requests AJAX Style

Sending the data

Building a Multipass Application

Setting up the HTML framework

Loading the select element

Writing the loadList.php program

Responding to selections

Writing the showHero.php script

Working with XML Data

Review of XML

Manipulating XML with jQuery

Creating the HTML

Retrieving the data

Processing the results

Printing the pet name

Working with JSON Data

Knowing JSON's pros

Reading JSON data with jQuery

Managing the framework

Retrieving the JSON data

Processing the results

Chapter 7: Going Mobile

Thinking in Mobile

Building a Responsive Site

Specifying a media type

Adding a qualifier

Making Your Page Responsive

Building the wide layout

Adding the narrow CSS

Using jQuery Mobile to Build Mobile Interfaces

Building a basic jQuery mobile page

Working with collapsible content

Building a multi-page document

Going from Site to App

Adding an icon to your program

Removing the Safari toolbar

Storing your program offline

Book VIII: Moving from Pages to Sites

Chapter 1: Managing Your Servers

Understanding Clients and Servers

Parts of a client-side development system

Parts of a server-side system

Creating Your Own Server with XAMPP

Running XAMPP

Testing your XAMPP configuration

Adding your own files

Setting the security level

Compromising between functionality and security

Choosing a Web Host

Finding a hosting service

Connecting to a hosting service

Managing a Remote Site

Using web-based file tools

Understanding file permissions

Using FTP to manage your site

Using an FTP client

Naming Your Site

Understanding domain names

Registering a domain name

Managing Data Remotely

Creating your database

Finding the MySQL server name

Chapter 2: Planning Your Sites

Creating a Multipage Website

Planning a Larger Site

Understanding the Client

Ensuring that the client's expectations are clear

Delineating the tasks

Understanding the Audience

Determining whom you want to reach

Finding out the user's technical expertise

Building a Site Plan

Creating a site overview

Building the site diagram

Creating Page Templates

Sketching the page design

Building the HTML template framework

Creating page styles

Building a data framework

Fleshing Out the Project

Making the site live

Contemplating efficiency

Chapter 3: Introducing Content Management Systems

Overview of Content Management Systems

Previewing Common CMSs

Moodle

WordPress

Drupal

Building a CMS site with WebsiteBaker

Installing your CMS

Getting an overview of WebsiteBaker

Adding your content

Using the WYSIWYG editor

Changing the template

Adding additional templates

Adding new functionality

Building Custom Themes

Starting with a prebuilt template

Changing the info.php file

Modifying index.php

Modifying the CSS files

Packaging your template

Chapter 4: Editing Graphics

Using a Graphics Editor

Choosing an Editor

Introducing Gimp

Creating an image

Painting tools

Selection tools

Modification tools

Managing tool options

Utilities

Understanding Layers

Introducing Filters

Solving Common Web Graphics Problems

Changing a color

Building a banner graphic

Building a tiled background

Chapter 5: Taking Control of Content

Building a “Poor Man's CMS” with Your Own Code

Using Server Side Includes (SSIs)

Using AJAX and jQuery for client-side inclusion

Building a page with PHP includes

Creating Your Own Data-Based CMS

Using a database to manage content

Writing a PHP page to read from the table

Allowing user-generated content

Adding a new block

Improving the dbCMS design

About the Author

Cheat Sheet

More Dummies Products

Guide

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

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Introduction

I love the Internet, and if you picked up this book, you probably do, too. The Internet is dynamic, chaotic, exciting, interesting, and useful, all at the same time. The web is pretty fun from a user's point of view, but that's only part of the story. Perhaps the best part of the Internet is how participatory it is. You can build your own content — free! It's really amazing. There's never been a form of communication like this before. Anyone with access to a minimal PC and a little bit of knowledge can create his or her own homestead in one of the most exciting platforms in the history of communication.

The real question is how to get there. A lot of web development books are really about how to use some sort of software you have to buy. That's okay, but it isn't necessary. Many software packages have evolved that purport to make web development easier — and some work pretty well — but regardless what software package you use, there's still a need to know what's really going on under the surface. That's where this book comes in.

About This Book

You'll find out exactly how the web works in this book. You'll figure out how to use various tools, but, more importantly, you'll create your piece of the web. You'll discover:

How web pages are created: You'll figure out the basic structure of web pages. You'll understand the structure well because you build pages yourself. No mysteries here.How to separate content and style: You'll understand the foundation of modern thinking about the Internet — that style should be separate from content.How to use web standards: The web is pretty messy, but, finally, some standards have arisen from the confusion. You'll discover how these standards work and how you can use them.How to create great-looking web pages: Of course, you want a terrific-looking website. With this book, you'll find out how to use layout, style, color, and images.How to build modern layouts: Many web pages feature columns, menus, and other fancy features. You'll figure out how to build all these things.How to add interactivity: Adding forms to your pages, validating form data, and creating animations are all possible with the JavaScript language.How to write programs on the server: Today's web is powered by programs on web servers. You'll discover the powerful PHP language and figure out how to use it to create powerful and effective sites.How to harness the power of data: Every web developer eventually needs to interact with data. You'll read about how to create databases that work. You'll also discover how to connect databases to your web pages and how to create effective and useful interfaces.How AJAX is changing everything: The hottest web technology on the horizon is AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). You'll figure out how to harness this way of working and use it to create even more powerful and interesting applications.

Foolish Assumptions

I don't have any foolish assumptions: I'm not assuming anything in this book. If you've never built a web page before, you're in the right hands. You don't need any experience, and you don't have to know anything about HTML, programming, or databases. I discuss everything you need.

If you're reasonably comfortable with a computer (you can navigate the web and use a word processor), you have all the skills you need.

If you've been around web development for a while, you'll still find this book handy.

If you've used HTML but not HTML5, see how things have changed and discover the powerful combination of HTML5 and CSS3.

You'll see how new HTML and CSS features can literally make your web pages sing and dance, with support for advanced tools like audio and video embedding, animation, and much more.

If you're already comfortable with HTML and CSS, you're ready to add JavaScript functionality for form validation and animation. If you've never used a programming language before, JavaScript is a really great place to start.

If you're starting to get serious about web development, you've probably already realized that you'll need to work with a server at some point. PHP is a really powerful, free, and easy language that's extremely prominent on the web landscape. You'll use this to have programs send e-mails, store and load information from files, and work with databases.

If you're messing with commercial development, you'll definitely need to know more about databases. I get e-mails every week from companies looking for people who can create a solid relational database and connect it to a website with PHP.

If you're curious about AJAX, you can read about what it is, how it works, and how to use it to add functionality to your site. You'll also read about a very powerful and easy AJAX library that can add tremendous functionality to your bag of tricks.

I wrote this book as the reference I wish I had. If you have only one web development book on your shelf, this should be the one. Wherever you are in your web development journey, you can find something interesting and new in this book.

Use Any Computer

One of the great things about web development is how accessible it can be. You don't need a high-end machine to build websites. Whatever you're using now will probably do fine. I tested most of the examples in this book with Windows 7, Ubuntu Linux, and a Macbook pro. I've tested on computers ranging from cutting-edge platforms to mobile devices to a $35 Raspberry Pi. Most of the software I use in the book is available free for all major platforms. Similar alternatives for all platforms are available in the few cases when this isn't true.

Don't Buy Any Software

Everything you need for web development is on the companion website. I've used only open-source software for this book. Following are the highlights:

Komodo Edit: Komodo Edit is my current favorite editor. It's a solid free text editor well suited to the many text-editing tasks you'll run across in your programming travels. It also works exactly the same on every platform, so it doesn't really matter what computer or operating system you're running.XAMPP: When you're ready to move to the server, XAMPP is a complete server package that's easy to install and incredibly powerful. This includes the incredible Apache web server, the PHP programming language, the MySQL database manager, and tons of useful utilities.Useful tools: Every time I use a tool (such as a data mapper, a diagram tool, or an image editor) in this book, I make it available on the companion website.

There's no need to buy any expensive web development tools. Everything you need is here and no harder than the more expensive web editors.

How This Book Is Organized

Web development is about solving a series of connected but different problems. This book is organized into eight minibooks based on specific technologies. You can read them in any order you wish, but you'll find that the later books tend to rely on topics described in the earlier books. (For example, JavaScript doesn't make much sense without HTML because JavaScript is usually embedded in a web page written with HTML.) The following describes these eight minibooks:

Book I: Creating the HTML Foundation — Web development incorporates a lot of languages and technologies, but HTML is the foundation. Here I show you HTML5, the latest incarnation of HTML, and describe how it's used to form the basic skeleton of your pages.Book II: Styling with CSS — In the old days, HTML had a few tags to spruce up your pages, but they weren't nearly powerful enough. Today, developers use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to add color and formatting to your pages as well as zing and pizazz. (I'm pretty sure those are formal computer programming words.)Book III: Building Layouts with CSS — Discover the best ways to set up layouts with floating elements, fixed positioning, and absolute positioning. Figure out how to build various multicolumn page layouts and how to create dynamic buttons and menus.Book IV: Client-Side Programming with JavaScript — Figure out essential programming skills with the easy and powerful JavaScript language — even if you've never programmed before. Manipulate data in web forms and use powerful regular expression technology to validate form entries. Also discover how to create animations with JavaScript with the powerful new <canvas> element.Book V: Server-Side Programming with PHP — Move your code to the server and take advantage of this powerful language. Figure out how to respond to web requests; work with conditions, functions, objects, and text files; and connect to databases.Book VI: Managing Data with MySQL — Most serious Web projects are eventually about data. Figure out how databases are created, how to set up a secure data server, the basics of data normalization, and how to create a reliable and trustworthy data back end for your site.Book VII: Integrating the Client and Server with AJAX — Look forward to the technology that has the web abuzz. AJAX isn't really a language but rather a new way of thinking about web development. Get the skinny on what's going on here, build an AJAX connection or two by hand, and read about some really cool libraries for adding advanced features and functionality to your pages.Book VIII: Moving from Pages to Sites — This minibook ties together many of the threads throughout the rest of the book. Discover how to create your own complete web server solution or pick a web host. Walk through the process of designing a complex multipage web site. Discover how to use content management systems to simplify complex websites and, finally, to build your own content management system with skills taught throughout the book.

New for the Third Edition

This is actually the third edition of this book. (The previous editions were called HTML, XHTML, and CSS All in One For Dummies.) I have made a few changes to keep up with advances in technology:

Focus on HTML5: The first edition of the book used HTML4, the second edition used XHTML, and this edition uses HTML5. I'm very excited about HTML5 because it's easier to use than either of the older versions, and quite a bit more powerful.Integration with CSS3: CSS3 is the latest incarnation of CSS, and it has some wonderful new features too, including the ability to use custom fonts, animation, and new layout mechanisms.Improved PHP coverage: PHP has had some major updates reflected in this book. I have modified all form input to use the safer filter_input mechanism, and all database connectivity now uses the PDO library.Enhanced jQuery coverage: jQuery has become even more important as a utility library than it was before. The coverage updates some of the nice new features of this library.A new mobile chapter: Mobile web development is increasingly important. I provide a new chapter with tips on making your pages mobile-friendly, including use of the jQuery mobile library and building responsive designs that automatically adjust based on screen size.Support for the WebsiteBaker CMS: I use this CMS quite a bit in my web business, and I find it especially easy to modify. I changed Book VIII, Chapter 3 to explain how to use and modify this excellent CMS.Various tweaks and improvements: No book is perfect (though I really try). There were a few passages in the previous edition that readers found difficult. I tried hard to clean up each of these areas. Many thanks to those who provided feedback!

Icons Used in This Book

This is a For Dummies book, so you have to expect some snazzy icons, right? I don't disappoint. Here's what you'll see:

This is where I pass along any small insights I may have gleaned in my travels.

I can't really help being geeky once in a while. Every so often, I want to explain something a little deeper. Read this to impress people at your next computer science cocktail party or skip it if you really don't need the details.

A lot of details are here. I point out something important that's easy to forget with this icon.

Watch out! Anything I mark with this icon is a place where things have blown up for me or my students. I point out any potential problems with this icon.

Beyond the Book

You can find additional features of this book online. Visit the web to find these extras:

Companion website:www.aharrisbooks.net/haio

This is my primary site for this book. Every single example in the book is up and running on this site so you can see it in action. When necessary, I've also included source code so you can see the source code of anything you can't look at with the ordinary View Source command. I've also posted a link to every piece of software that I mention in the book. If you find any example is not working on your site, please come to my site. If there was a problem with an example in the book, I'll update the site right away, so check my site to compare your code to mine. I also have links to my other books, a forum where you can ask questions, and a form for emailing me any specific questions you might have.

Cheat Sheet: Go to www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/html5css3aio to find this book's Cheat Sheet. Here, you can find primers on selected HTML syntax, CSS attributes, JavaScript syntax, and MySQL commands.Dummies.com online articles: Go to www.dummies.com/extras/html5css3aio to find the Extras for this book. Here you can find articles on topics such as using HTML entities, resetting and extending CSS, JavaScript libraries, using templates with PHP, SQLite and alternative data strategies, fun with jQuery plug-ins, and what's next for the web.Updates: For Dummies technology books sometimes have updates. To check for updates to this book, go to www.dummies.com/extras/html5css3aio.

Where to Go from Here

Well, that's really up to you. I sincerely believe you can use this book to turn into a top-notch web developer. That's my goal for you.

Although this is a massive book, there's still more to figure out. If you have questions or just want to chat, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also visit my website at www.aharrisbooks.net/ for code examples, updates, and other good stuff.

I try hard to answer all reader e-mails, but sometimes I get behind. Please be patient with me, and I'll do my best to help.

I can't wait to hear from you and see the incredible websites you develop. Have a great time, discover a lot, and stay in touch!

Book I

Creating the HTML Foundation

Visit www.dummies.com for more great content online.

Contents at a Glance

Chapter 1: Sound HTML Foundations

Chapter 2: It's All About Validation

Chapter 3: Choosing Your Tools

Chapter 4: Managing Information with Lists and Tables

Chapter 5: Making Connections with Links

Chapter 6: Adding Images, Sound, and Video

Chapter 7: Creating Forms

Chapter 1

Sound HTML Foundations

In This Chapter

Creating a basic web page

Understanding the most critical HTML tags

Setting up your system to work with HTML

Viewing your pages

This chapter is your introduction to building web pages. Before this slim chapter is finished, you'll have your first page up and running. It's a humble beginning, but the basic web technology you learn here is the foundation of everything happening on the web today.

In this minibook, you discover the modern form of web design using HTML5. Your web pages will be designed from the ground up, which makes them easy to modify and customize. Although you figure out more advanced techniques throughout this book, you'll take the humble pages you discover in this chapter and make them do all kinds of exciting things.

Creating a Basic Page

Here's the great news: The most important web technology you need is also the easiest. You don't need any expensive or complicated software, and you don't need a powerful computer. You probably have everything you need to get started already.

No more talking! Fire up a computer and build a web page!

Open a text editor.

You can use any text editor you want, as long as it lets you save files as plain text. If you're using Windows, Notepad is fine for now. If you're using Mac, you'll really need to download a text editor. I like Komodo Edit (www.activestate.com/komodo-edit) or TextWrangler (www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/). It's possible to make TextEdit work correctly, but it's probably easier to just download something made for the job. I explain text editors more completely in Chapter 3 of this mini-book.

Don't use a word processor like Microsoft Word or Mac TextEdit. These are powerful tools, but they don't save things in the right format. The way these tools do things like centering text and changing fonts won't work on the web. I promise that you'll figure out how to do all that stuff soon, but a word processing program won't do it correctly. Even the Save as HTML feature doesn't work right. You really need a very simple text editor, and that's it. In Chapter 3 of this minibook, I show you a few more editors that make your life easier. You should not use Word or TextEdit.

Type the following code.

Really. Type it in your text editor so you get some experience writing the actual code. I explain very soon what all this means, but type it now to get a feel for it:

  <!DOCTYPE HTML><html lang="en-US"><head><meta charset="UTF-8"><!-- myFirst.html --><title>My very first web page!</title></head><body><h1>This is my first web page!</h1><p>This is the first web page I've ever made,and I'm extremely proud of it.It is so cool!</p></body></html>

Save the file asmyFirst.html.

It's important that your filename has no spaces and ends with the .html