Learn web design the right way

Just over two years ago, I made a point of calling in to the offices of SitePoint in Melbourne , Australia . I was in town, passing through as part of my year-long world travels, and wanted to meet some of the people there who I’d emailed and written a few articles for in the past. We did lunch. We spoke about writing. And I said that I didn’t think that I was up to writing a book by myself but I’d like the chance to do something.

That something turned out to be a job of tech-editing a book by Shirley Kaiser. I got the offer to do it about a week after we did lunch and thought ‘why not?’. It was a job I could do while on the travels – all I’d need to do was call in at Internet Cafes from time to time to get chapters for review and send back my comments changes.

The travels ended, I got back to the UK , but there was no sign of Shirley’s book. Then, in February last year, I got an email from SitePoint entitled ‘Potential Writing Opportunity’. That was then, and this is now – the potential writing opportunity was fulfilled, but what happened to Shirley’s book?

I have just received my complimentary copy of her book Deliver First Class Web Sites: 101 Essential Checklists, after my own book which I began writing months after editing hers. It’s strange that it worked out like that, and I feel for Shirley having to wait that long for publication (I was just itching to get my hands on the printed copy of my own book!).

A peremptory scan through the book this morning suggests that it’s not that different a beast from the versions that I originally reviewed, but after a year and a half my mind is a little hazy on the fine details, so I could be wrong!

What this book does really well, if I’m allowed to pass comment on something that I had a hand in, is that it cuts out a lot of the waffle and gets to the point very quickly. I’m a fan of the checklist approach (especially if the person reading knows some background info and is not a total newbie) and with this book you can also download easily printable PDF checklists, rather than scribble on the pages themselves (or break the spine of the book by photocopying pages … which obviously you wouldn’t do for copyright reasons, nudge., nudge, wink?).

I’m looking forward to finding some time to re-read the book from start to finish. Who knows, I might even read it in the van and pretend that I’m somewhere exotic, just to take me back to where I was when I originally worked on it!

… for the great review and quote!

Thanks for writing this book, Ian. Build Your Own Web Site the Right Way Using HTML & CSS should immediately be made required reading for every single course on web design or web development across the world.

I added the emphasis there, of course. What a great testimonial!

A lot of people have asked me about how sales of the book are doing. Actually, that’s almost the first question I get asked and, strange though it may seem, I am continually surprised that they are asking this. Perhaps I shouldn’t be. However, what’s more surprising, I think - or at least to the person asking - is my reply to that question, which is invariably:

“Haven’t a clue, and I don’t wanna know either.”

Is that weird? I’ll tell you my reasons why: I spent 7 months on the book, desperately trying to get things done to deadline while simultaneously selling up, moving house and beginning wedding plans. I certainly hoped I’d hit the target and that the book would be well received. Certainly the feedback I’ve had right from the beginning has been overwhelmingly positive. However, I was also worried that the last thing the world needs is another book about HTML and CSS, regardless of how well it’s written or how standards-compliant all the advice given is. So, I went by this rule:

Ignorance is bliss.

If I don’t ask how sales are going, I won’t be told, and therefore if sales are not good I won’t start getting all depressed that it was a failed venture and nobody was interested. If I remain blissfully ignorant of that possibility, then I will, I figured, remain optimistic and will continue to do the most I can to promote the book not thinking that I’m not flogging a dead horse. So, since publication I’ve been asked the same question and given the same answer all the time.

Yesterday I received an email from SitePoint which was, among other things, about sales. I’ll quote it here and insert my thoughts as I, well, thought them while reading it through:

“Just thought I’d let you know that your book is doing pretty well in terms of sales … “

Mmm, ‘pretty well’, not ‘really well’ or ‘fantastically well’. Reading on then:

” … from our site right now. Most books that we sell get an initial sales spike when the emails go out and then tail off. Your book, on the other hand, didn’t get that initial sales spike (as we expected pretty much) … “

Yeah, that’s the thing - trying to sell a book that’s aimed at complete novices is difficult to sell to people who already frequent SitePoint.com or subscribe to the newsletter and so on. They know this stuff already. Selling sand to the Arabs, and all that.So I carried on reading:

” … but it’s had much stronger ongoing sales. At the moment, it’s outselling every other book from our site once the spikes are removed. Good job!”

So, I wasn’t asking for sales news, but I’m more than happy to hear this, that’s for sure!

“Early reviews seem good too.”

That’s the one thing I’d love to see more of though. I’ve put together a collection of (summarised) reviewsof the book here, but would love to see some more out there in the wild. So, here’s a personal plea: if you read my book and enjoyed it, please do consider putting together a write-up of it. Currently if you search for reviews of the book on Google not a huge amount is turning up. And remember that if you are an Amazon associate you could earn a bit of commision from any sale that results from someone searching for a review, landing on your site and then clicking through to Amazon.

If you would like a copy to do a review on your site, please do drop me a line. I can’t promise to get you a copy (it’s SitePoint’s decision and obviously it’s dependent on your audience/influence etc) but if you don’t ask you definitely don’t get!

Well, I could have, and if you feel like writing a better review than this, then please feel free! But I have to repeat something that Kevin Yank posted at SitePoint today regarding some feedback from a total web newbie. Apologies for the rather long blockquote - I found it difficult to remove any part of it! The emphasis on certain words was added by me.

Now, Jess is studying to teach drama and English, so she could easily have taken the path of least resistance, but as we had just received our office copies of Ian Lloyd’s Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS , I dropped one on her desk and hinted that she might find it interesting reading.

Less than a week later, she shot me an instant message one afternoon with a URL in it and asked me, “What do you think?” Bracing myself for the worst, I clicked through and blinked in astonishment at the green check mark that popped up at the bottom of my browser window. The site validated!

It turns out that Jess enjoyed the book so much, she even included an extra page on her site explaining how she had come by her newfound HTML and CSS skills:

And here’s what my happy customer wrote:

I read the book, which assumed no prior knowledge, and was quickly educated in how to use valid HTML and create snazzy web layouts in CSS, in a way that means I can apply my styling to a number of pages using one style sheet—very handy if I want to change something across all my pages.

The result? You’re looking at it. The fact that my first page I created, my homepage, is Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict is an achievement that very, very few first-time webpage builders can claim. In fact, all my webpages pass both HTML and CSS validation 100%, except for the Blogger code in my blog page. But that’s their problem, and another reason why I would ideally use hand-crafted weblogging technology if I were using blogging with students.

I should say, even though I know I’m pushing the boundary between exposition and just plain bragging - this website took me only FIVE days to make. From opening the book through to writing these closing words. That fact even has my head spinning.

And Kevin continued:

I’m still getting used to my girlfriend preaching the gospel of web standards, but I couldn’t be more proud - not only because Jess did such a professional job on her first-ever web site, but also because Ian has produced a book that can engender that level of enthusiam in building web sites the right way from someone with no prior web design experience.

And with that I’m going to sit back and crack open a nice cold fruit smoothie (well, I am at work - it’s a bit early for a lager!).

Buy The Book Here

This weekend I had my own first sighting of my own book in the wild. This is a truly momentous occasion, one that people who haven’t slogged for months to complete some weighty tome or other will probably never understand. For me, that moment came in Bath (the town, sill – I wouldn’t read in the bath. I mean, that would involve having to wash myself, pff!), specifically in the dungeon level where the books for nerdy people are generally hidden. Here is that moment:

You’ll just have to take my word for it, of course, but check out the ‘old man’s hands’. Yep, that’s my hand alright!

So, while I was enjoying the moment, I glanced around the shelves and spotted one of Rachel’s books, then another. Along the shelf a bit further was Andy’s CSS book, while Stuart’s and Dan’s books were nestling nearby. I could carry on, but you get my drift. And if not, it’s this – in that small section of that bookshop I could count many books, certainly more than I had fingers to count on, written by people who I would call friends, not just mere acquaintances or ‘know-the-name’ type people; there were probably loads more people there who tech edited books whose names are not visible on the front cover too. This got me thinking:

• Is that experience of knowing the other people on the shelves atypical?
• Do people who operate in other spheres of interest not only know the ‘competition’ (not that I think we truly are) but count them as friends?

I guess asking the question here won’t give me the answers, as most readers of this blog (other than family) are likely the very same tech type people whose books I see on the shelves. But if you have an opinion on this, and even better if you are a writer on another topic, please do let me know if what I experienced here (and will no doubt continue to) is typical or a complete anomaly.