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HTML5 for Web Designers

achmatim — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:05:55 +0000

When the book first landed on my doorstep, I was a bit let down by its meagre length of around 85 pages. I have to be honest, however, and admit I had not done my research before its arrival. From the book’s inception, the publishers stated that they intended to produce something to fill the gap between a blog post and book, something that people would be able to pick up, read quickly, and start implementing straight away.

So I set aside my disappointment and started reading this beautifully crafted book.

After reading through it, my opinion has changed. I realise exactly what A Book Apart were aiming to create when they decided on a short format for the series. HTML5 for Designers is split up into six bite-size chapters:

Chapter One

The first chapter lays out the foundations of the book and explains how, as a community, we arrived at the latest iteration of our favorite markup language, HTML5. Keith discusses how HTML was born, the ill-fated transition from HTML to XML (which never happened), the suggestion of XHTML2, and why we write “HTML5″ instead of “HTML 5″.

You might be tempted to skip straight to the second chapter, but I firmly believe that you should read this. It’s vital material, and you’ll almost certainly learn something. (I sure did!)

Chapter Two

Chapter two discusses how to convert web pages from XHTML 1 toHTML5. It also touches on elements that changed in HTML5 and some elements that are absent from the specification.

Chapter Three

In chapter three, the book delves into the realms of rich media and what it means for designers and developers. Keith hints that this chapter could have a whole book dedicated to it (perhaps hinting at an upcoming A Book Apart title?). He does a good job describing the possibilities of and showing a few examples of its capabilities. Although some readers may wish for more depth, this book is of course written for designers, so detail is kept to a minimum.

Keith goes on to explain the possibilities of the and elements, something which many argue will change the way we work with the web. Keith gives great examples on how to introduce these elements into your client work with various fallback options for browsers that lag behind.

Chapter Four

In chapter one, it’s explained that HTML5 started life as Web Apps 1.0 and Web Forms 2.0, which were later merged. So as one might imagine, Web Forms were destined to become an integral part of theHTML5 specification.

Chapter four covers the new elements and attributes for use in forms, including placeholder, required, autocomplete, datalist, new input types, sliders/spinners, and dates and times.

Chapter Five

Chapter five covers semantics (although I feel that this should have been one of the first chapters in the book). Elements discussed include , , , and , as well as the usual structural elements that get used in nearly every site.

Chapter Six

Finally, chapter six discusses the most important question aboutHTML5: Can we use it today? I trust, as you are on this website, that you will already know the answer to that question.

My opinion of HTML5 for Web Designers

After finishing this book, I discovered that it is in fact quite a gem for anyone starting on their HTML5 journey.

There are undoubtedly areas that could have been expanded further, but the limitations imposed by the authors meant merciless fat-trimming. This is the type of book that you would be happy to keep on your desk as a quick reference manual, a shortcut before diving into the full HTML5 specification.

I would definitely recommend buying this book if you haven’t already. It’s true that great things come in small packages!

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HTML5 Designing Rich Internet Applications

achmatim — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:43:46 +0000

Four of us doctors have read this book (figure 1) and in our opinion it contains an unacceptable number of errors which makes it misleading to the reader.

The preface claims “a group called the Web Standards project began developing HTML5 in 2007″. It didn’t; it was the WHATWG, in 2004.
In “spring 2010 .. Microsoft formerly [sic] joined the HTML5Working Group”. Chris Wilson, then lead of Internet Explorer, was co-chair in 2006.
Page 11 mentions the element. There isn’t one; it was renamed to the element (as it’s correctly called on page 22) before June 2008, at least 2 years before this book was published July 2010.
Page 19 discusses the element, which was removed from the spec in September 2009.
Page 27 tells us “The W3C had already begun modernizing the FORM element, called Forms 2.0, before HTML5″. The WHATWG started with Webforms 2; the W3C had worked on XForms 1.0.
There is a element used extensively in the chapter “Building a web site using HTML5 blocking elements” — this should be the
element.
Page 72 tells us “The ANCHOR element has four pseudo classes: link, active, hover and visited”, omitting the focus pseudo-class which is vital for accessibility, as it is applied when a user navigates to a link using the keyboard rather than hovering with a mouse.
Page 73 says “New to CSS3 is a new extension called pseudo elements”. Pseudo-elements were there from CSS 1.

The book also promotes several examples of bad coding practices:

pairs to force new lines
classitis (
class="footerStyle">)
form s are not accessibly associated with their s
not using the full vendor-prefix stack (-moz-, -ms- , -o-, -webkit-, [no prefix]) resulting in code that is neither future-proof nor cross-browser
bad semantics, for example
class=mainTitleStyle> rather than using an HTML heading

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HTML5 for Web Designers

Pro HTML5 Programming: Powerful APIs for Richer Internet Application Development

achmatim — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 22:30:22 +0000

HTML5 is here, and with it, web applications take on a power, ease, scalability, and responsiveness like never before. In this book, developers will learn how to use the latest cutting-edge HTML5 web technology?available in the most recent versions of modern browsers?to build web applications with unparalleled functionality, speed, and responsiveness.

Explains how you can create real-time HTML5 applications that tap the full potential of modern browsers Provides practical, real-world examples of HTML5 features in action Shows which HTML5 features are supported in current browsers Covers all the new HTML5 APIs to get you up to speed quickly with HTML5 What you?ll learn How the HTML5 specification has evolved How to develop cutting-edge web applications using new HTML5 features like WebSockets, Geolocation, Web Storage, Canvas, and Audio and Video. Which features are available in browsers today Who is this book for?

This book is for web designers and developers who want to use the latest cutting-edge technology available in current browsers; developers who want to create dynamic, HTML5 web applications; and developers who want to know which HTML5 features are supported in current browsers.

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HTML5 for Web Designers

InDesign CS5 For Dummies

achmatim — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:09:35 +0000

As the industry standard in professional layout and design, InDesign delivers powerful publishing solutions for magazine, newspaper, and other publishing fields. This introductory book is an easy-to-understand reference for anyone migrating from another software application or those with little-to-no desktop publishing experience. You’ll explore InDesign basics and examine the enhancements to the latest version, while you also discover how pages work, build templates, create frames and shapes, manage styles, and much more.

InDesign is proving to be an increasingly popular layout and design application; the latest version includes new functionality and enhanced tools
Teaches all the basics for first-time users, including how to open and save your work, arrange objects, work with color, edit text, manage styles, finesse character details, add special type, import and size graphics, set paths, work with tabs, create indices, and more
Demonstrates how to calibrate colors, export PDF files, fine-tune paragraph details, create frames and shapes, manipulate objects, and work with automated text

InDesign CS5 For Dummies offers a straightforward but fun approach to discovering how to get the most from your desktop publishing experience when using InDesign.

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JQuery: Novice to Ninja

achmatim — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 04:41:50 +0000

jQuery: Novice to Ninja will show you how to unleash the amazing power of jQuery. In this easy-to-follow guide, you’ll master all the major tricks and techniques that jQuery offers—within hours.

jQuery has quickly become the JavaScript library of choice, and it’s easy to see why. This JavaScript framework dramatically improves how you add interactivity and animation to your website.

What will you learn?

This exciting new 390-page book is perfect for any jQuery user, regardless of whether you’re a beginner, advanced, or somewhere in-between.

What You Will Learn:

How to zero in and instantly transform page elements
How to create clever animations that attract visitors’ attention
How to build cool UI widgets to wow your clients
Simple methods to add power to your designs
Strategies for advanced plugin development
How to simplify the handling of AJAX requests
Best-practice code organization methods
Advanced techniques for ninja-level developers

EARLE CASTLEDINE

You may know that Earle Castledine (aka Mr. Speaker) is a world-renowned expert on the jQuery framework. He has a unique, quirky writing style that will have you laughing out loud. This is your opportunity to learn directly from one of the world’s best jQuery experts. With a Master’s degree in information technology and a lifetime of experience, Earle has a refreshing and entertaining writing style.

CRAIG SHARKIE

Craig Sharkie’s intricate knowledge of best-practice JavaScript is apparent in his writing. He began his jQuery journey as a Fine Arts graduate turned programmer, and has successfully worked with some of the Web’s biggest names. Craig discovered JavaScript in 1995 and has been an evangelist for the “good parts” since then. This is your chance to benefit from Craig’s extensive experience.

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The Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS3 with CSS, Ajax, and PHP

achmatim — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:30:42 +0000

With over 3 million users worldwide, Adobe’s Dreamweaver is the most popular web development software in the world, and it just took another step forward with CS3, the new version released in 2007. Having come a long way from its humble beginnings as a simple web design tool, CS3 allows you to rapidly put together standards compliant web sites and dynamic web sites with server-side languages and Ajax, and much more.

To complement this great new application, David Powers has written the ultimate guide to it—The Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS3 teaches you everything you need to know about the application, from setting up your development environment environment to publishing your sites and applications on the web, and everything in between.

Takes you through your development environment set up
Covers everything you need to create both standards compliant web sutes, and dynamic web applications
Teaches several real world techniques using a series of step by step tutorials

What you’ll learn

How to set up your ideal development environment, using Mac OSX/Windows, Apache (and IIS on Windows,) Apache, MySQL, and phpMyAdmin
Creating standards compliant web sites using CS3′s XHTML and CSS features
Creating dynamic web applications using CS3′s PHP and Spry Ajax server behaviors
Building several real world web site functions, such as form validation, random quote generator, search function, user management/login pages, dynamic Ajax gallery, and much more.
Creating an interface design in Fireworks CS3 and importing it into Dreamweaver CS3.
How use Dreamweaver CS3′s XML functionality, to consume RSS feeds, and create Spry data sets
Using includes, templates and master detail pages.
How to publish your site after you’ve created it

Summary of Contents

Chapter 1: Dreamweaver CS3—Your Creative Partner
Chapter 2: Building Dynamic Sites with Ajax and PHP
Chapter 3: Getting the Work Environment Ready
Chapter 4: Setting Up a PHP Site
Chapter 5: Adding a Touch of Style
Chapter 6: Creating a CSS Site Straight Out of the Box
Chapter 7: Building Site Navigation with the Spry Menu Bar
Chapter 8: Sprucing Up Content with Spry Widgets
Chapter 9: Building Online Forms and Validating Input
Chapter 10: Introducing the Basics of PHP
Chapter 11: Using PHP to Process a Form
Chapter 12: Working with PHP Includes and Templates
Chapter 13: Setting Up MySQL and phpMyAdmin
Chapter 14: Storing Records in a Database
Chapter 15: Controlling Access to Your Site
Chapter 16: Working with Multiple Tables
Chapter 17: Searching Records and Handling Dates
Chapter 18: Using XSLT to Display Live News Feeds and XML
Chapter 19: Using Spry to Display XML
Chapter 20: Getting the Best of Both Worlds with PHP and Spry

This book is part of friends of ED’s ‘Essential Guide’ series

The Essential Guide series takes a pragmatic approach to learning. We understand that you might not have the time or the inclination to read through a long book before you can get up and running, and we designed this series to give you the knowledge you want when you want it. The learning is always by example, with lots of code snippets that you can take with you and use in your own applications. The focus is on targeted learning for web professionals—providing the essential tools that the modern web developer needs. A book in this series won’t focus as much on the basics as a Foundation book, but it will take you further, introducing some advanced topics that are essential for using a particular technology in the real world.

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Dreamweaver CS4 For Dummies

achmatim — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:14:20 +0000

Whether you?re a seasoned pro or a Web design newbie, Dreamweaver CS4 For Dummies shows you the quickest, easiest way to get up to speed on Dreamweaver. You?ll be able to create professional, great-looking, user-friendly websites in no time at all. Take advantage of the new, more customizable interface, improved integration with Flash and Photoshop, a handy new AJAX coding feature, and Live View, which lets you see your work as you create it.

Understand Dreamweaver basics, set up your site and create new pages, and work with text, graphics, and links. You can manage, test, and publish a site, define and apply styles with CSS, coordinate your design work, add audio, video, and Flash files to your site, build a dynamic Web site, and use Dreamweaver?s database features. Know how to:

Design, build, and deploy professional-looking Web sites
Use Dreamweaver?s new, more versatile preset layouts
Fine-tune styles with enhanced CSS support
Keep your pages cutting-edge with SmartObjects
Take advantage of the new, more customizable interface
Understand browser differences, make the most of CSS, build dynamic sites
Create and optimize Web graphics
Learn to maximize Cascading Style Sheets and Dreamweaver?s Layers features for creating fluid layouts

Complete with lists of ten resources, ten timesaving tips, and ten great Web sites designed in Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver CS4 For Dummies is your one-stop guide to setting up, working with, and making the most of Dreamweaver.

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Foundation Web Design with Dreamweaver 8

achmatim — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:59:06 +0000

Dreamweaver is Macromedias best-selling web design/development environment, and the updated version of Dreamweaver will be available later this year. Dreamweaver has the capability to generate dynamic website code using server-side languages like ASP, PHP, and ASP.NET. We know that you don’t always require a full database driven site though, so this book focuses on using the latest version of Dreamweaver to design and create usable, standards-compliant websites using XHTML and CSS. One of the highlights of this version is much closer, tighter CSS/XHTML. This book will show you how to make the most of that feature.

After a brief introduction to the latest version of Dreamweaver, and how CSS and XHTML fit into it, Craig looks at using the software for your web design projects in a hands-on, task based manner, covering these topics:

Setting up a site in Dreamweaver
Global web site essentials, such as dealing with doctypes, meta tags, comments, and page defaults, and attaching CSS and JavaScript files to your page
Styling page content properly using CSS
Working with images
Creating web site navigation
CSS for impressive page layouts that work
Getting user feedback via forms

Following these exercises, the book then shows how to bring everything together with a final case study using Dreamweaver to build a complete web site.

Summary of Contents:

Chapter 1: A New Kind of Web Design
Chapter 2: Getting Started with Dreamweaver
Chapter 3: Setting Up a Website
Chapter 4: Web Page Essentials
Chapter 5: Working with Text
Chapter 6: Working with Images
Chapter 7: Creating Navigation for Your Website
Chapter 8: Web Page Layouts
Chapter 9: Getting User Feedback
Chapter 10: Putting It All into Practice

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Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8

achmatim — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:38:49 +0000

In this book we look specifically at using Dreamweaver’s built-in server behaviors to build dynamic web sites using PHP and MySQL, the world’s most popular open source server-side language and database server combination, which are both reliable, powerful, and open source (and therefore free to use!) This latest version of Dreamweaver includes even more powerful support for PHP and MySQL.

David Powers first takes you through the latest version of Dreamweaver, and how PHP and MySQL fit into it, then looks in-depth at setting up your work environment – installing PHP, MySQL, and the Apache web server, making sure they are all working together, and setting up a new web site via Dreamweaver. He then goes to work, using several tutorials and real world examples including topics such as PHP essentials (knowing what PHP code looks like,) working with forms, designing and implementing effective MySQL databases, debugging and troubleshooting, creating dynamic navigation, login, and search functionality

Examples built throughout the book include a content management system, and an online image gallery. All examples are designed to meet modern usability requirements and be web standards compliant. No previous experience of PHP or MySQL is necessary to use this book.

From the Author

Since my previous book on PHP in Dreamweaver MX 2004, I’ve spent a lot of time researching the problems people encounter getting PHP/MySQL to work with Dreamweaver. The result is a book that I’m convinced will have you up and running quickly and painlessly. Dreamweaver 8 takes a lot of the hard work out of integrating a database into your websites, but it can’t do everything. So instead of just giving you a series of instructions to click this and click that, I help you understand what’s going on in the background. If you understand why you’re doing something, you’re more likely to remember it, and to get it right.

I’ve based the book round a case study that puts all of Dreamweaver’s PHP server behaviors through their paces, and uses techniques that can be applied to a wide range of sites, whether you’re designing for yourself or on behalf of clients. I also equip you with sufficient knowledge of basic PHP to have the confidence to dive into the code generated by Dreamweaver and tweak it to your own requirements. The emphasis is exclusively on PHP, so you don’t waste any time on information that’s not relevant to what you’re doing.

The final chapter takes an in-depth look at the exciting new addition to Dreamweaver 8’s server behaviors, XSL Transformation, which makes light work of incorporating a live news feed and other XML documents into your websites. I’ve had fun writing it. I hope you have fun using it.

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jQuery Cookbook

achmatim — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:22:46 +0000

jQuery simplifies building rich, interactive web frontends. Getting started with this JavaScript library is easy, but it can take years to fully realize its breadth and depth; this cookbook shortens the learning curve considerably. With these recipes, you’ll learn patterns and practices from 19 leading developers who use jQuery for everything from integrating simple components into websites and applications to developing complex, high-performance user interfaces.

Ideal for newcomers and JavaScript veterans alike, jQuery Cookbook starts with the basics and then moves to practical use cases with tested solutions to common web development hurdles. You also get recipes on advanced topics, such as methods for applying jQuery to large projects.

Solve problems involving events, effects, dimensions, forms, themes, and user interface elements
Learn how to enhance your forms, and how to position and reposition elements on a page
Make the most of jQuery’s event management system, including custom events and custom event data
Create UI elements-such as tabs, accordions, and modals-from scratch
Optimize your code to eliminate bottlenecks and ensure peak performance
Learn how to test your jQuery applications

The book’s contributors include:

Cody Lindley
James Padolsey
Ralph Whitbeck
Jonathan Sharp
Michael Geary and Scott González
Rebecca Murphey
Remy Sharp
Ariel Flesler
Brian Cherne
Jörn Zaefferer
Mike Hostetler
Nathan Smith
Richard D. Worth
Maggie Wachs, Scott Jehl, Todd Parker, and Patty Toland
Rob Burns

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