Project WebSite

In order to start the HTML project I went looking for a book to learn from. OK, so I actually started looking at tutorials and whatnot on-line, but I seem to have a hard time learning that way. There is something about having a real life book to read from that makes the difference for me. This is apparently the way I am wired so I'm working with it. To that end I found Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML. It got a lot of good reviews around the web, but I almost didn't buy it because it was published by O'Reilly¹. But after looking around I decided that it was the way to go. And I'm totally glad I did. The introduction is all about why they style their books the way they do. It is full of words like metacognition, cognative science, and dendrite. Clearly this is my kind of book. And I agree with what they have come up with - the high school textbook manufacturers should take a page or two from their notes. The book is large (about 650 pages) and I completed it in about 5 days including stopping when my brain was full so I could come back later/the next day and hopefully it would make sense then (it always did). Plus I did a lot of flitting from project to project just because I felt like it.

So I started my way through the book and now feel comfortable making a basic web site using XHTML and CSS. I made a couple of options for the index page (mostly the same XHTML, different CSS) and sent them to my sister and my parents. Hopefully they will have some feedback for improvement and whatnot. Then I will start in on the other pages in the site. Which I am thinking will be mostly the same as the index, but with one large element that changes from page to page. My main issue is that I'm not an artist. I don't have the ability to make cool stuff in a computer program to use on my website. So my websites are pretty basic, but I guess they will get the job done.

I'm excited to hear what they think both good and bad. I think I'm missing that camaraderie that you get working with other people. Not like the dreaded "group project" (just ask Jason about some of the group projects he had to work on complete all by himself in college) but more like working with people around who can give you feedback and support. That back and forth of normal conversation that I don't get a lot of staying being a stay at home...person (props to DrJ). Unfortunately everyone else will have to wait and see when I get around to Project WebServer to be able to check it out. Too bad because then I could get your opinions too.

1. This is because of WWdN in Exile. O'Reilly published his book "Just a Geek" and botched it pretty much completely. Reading WWdN in Exile has apparently biased my opinion of this publishing company.