How to design and write web pages today

330 Pages·2011·13.495 MB·English

by  Karl Stolley

HOW TO
DESIGN
AND WRITE
WEB PAGES
TODAY
Recent Titles in
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How to Write about the Media Today
Raúl Damacio Tovares and Alla V. Tovares
How to Write Persuasively Today
Carolyn Davis
HOW TO
DESIGN
AND WRITE
WEB PAGES
TODAY
Karl Stolley
Writing Today
Copyright © 2011 by Karl Stolley
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion
of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the
publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stolley, Karl.
How to design and write web pages today / Karl Stolley.
p. cm. — (Writing today)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-313-38038-9 (hardback) — ISBN 978-0-313-38039-6 (ebook)
1. Web sites—Design. I. Title. II. Series.
TK5105.888.S76 2011
006.7—dc22 2010051317
ISBN: 978-0-313-38038-9
EISBN: 978-0-313-38039-6
15 14 13 12 11 1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook.
Visit www.abc-clio.com for details.
Greenwood
An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC
ABC-CLIO, LLC
130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911
Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911
This book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
To Patricia Sullivan

CONTENTS
Series Foreword ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xxi
PART I. WHAT AM I WRITING?
Chapter 1 Why Write for the Web? 3
Chapter 2 Reading the Web 13
Chapter 3 Creating Web Content 25
Chapter 4 Standards-Based Web Pages 33
Chapter 5 Preparing to Write and Design 43
PART II. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Chapter 6 Accessibility 57
Chapter 7 Usability 69
Chapter 8 Sustainability 81
viii CONTENTS
PART III. STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
Chapter 9 Structured Content: XHTML Overview 91
Chapter 10 Presentation and Design: CSS Overview 103
Chapter 11 Rapid Prototyping 121
Chapter 12 Writing with Source in a Text Editor 133
Chapter 13 Page Metadata 147
Chapter 14 Page Branding 159
Chapter 15 Navigation 177
Chapter 16 Text Content 189
Chapter 17 Page Layout 205
Chapter 18 Multimedia Content 225
Chapter 19 Performance and Interaction 235
PART IV. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Chapter 20 Site Architecture 249
Chapter 21 Reusing and Dynamically Generating Content 257
Chapter 22 Dynamic Sites in WordPress 267
Chapter 23 Going Live 275
Chapter 24 Tracking Visitors, Sharing Content 281
Resources for the Future 289
Glossary 295
Index 299
SERIES FOREWORD
Writing is an essential skill. Students need to write well for their
coursework. Business people need to express goals and strategies clearly
and effectively to staff and clients. Grant writers need to target their
proposals to their funding sources. Corporate communications pro-
fessionals need to convey essential information to shareholders, the
media, and other interested parties. There are many different types
of writing, and many particular situations in which writing is funda-
mental to success. The guides in this series help students, profession-
als, and general readers write effectively for a range of audiences and
purposes.
Some books in the series cover topics of wide interest, such as how
to design and write Web pages and how to write persuasively. Others
look more closely at particular topics, such as how to write about the
media. Each book in the series begins with an overview of the types of
writing common to a practice or profession. This is followed by a study
of the issues and challenges central to that type of writing. Each book
then looks at general strategies for successfully addressing those issues,
and it presents examples of specifi c problems and corresponding solu-
tions. Finally, each volume closes with a bibliography of print and elec-
tronic resources for further consultation.
Concise and accessible, the books in this series offer a wealth of
practical information for anyone who needs to write well. Students at