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Author/s : June Cohen
Publisher : New Riders
Category : Web design, HTML and JavaScript
Review by : John Wetherbie
Rating : 10 horseshoes</pre>
The Unusually Useful Web Book could have been titled The Book You Must Read To Help You Plan, Design, Build, and Maintain A Successful Web Site. Everyone who is on a team developing or maintaining a website should read this book and then re-read it frequently to keep the information and lessons fresh. I will definitely use this book to help me with my future web projects.
This book provides an overview of the processes, the techniques, and the technologies that can (and should) be used to develop and maintain a successful web site. If you are looking for an in-depth technical book on HTML, CSS, or other specific tools this is not that book. Buy this book anyway! It will be worth it.
The book is divided into four major sections: Planning Your Site, Designing Your Site, Building Your Site, and Maintaining Your Site. There is also an appendix with short biographies of the experts that the author interviewed and some additional expert advice. Each section has good information that you can use right now whether you are starting to create a new site or are involved in the maintenance and upgrade of an existing site.
There are some great features to go along with the great information. The book has 19 worksheets (the back cover says 20 so maybe I missed one) throughout the book to help you with tasks such as: determining the site's goals, determining the site's features, improving site speed, browser/platform compatibility, and how you will promote the site. There are one-to-two page Lesson from the Trenches sub-sections that present the experience of web development veterans. Three lessons that stand out in my mind are: You are not your user, Your site is not the center of the user's universe, and Why
you should follow web standards. Two other features throughout the book are the links that point to other sections with more in-depth information about a topic and the references to on-line resources.
A conscious effort was made to make the book look and feel like a website. This approach works very well. Sections are short, important points are highlighted, and I found myself following links to more in-depth information on topics that were of interest to me. This book lives up to its title by being full of unusually useful information and also being unusually readable. I think this book is going to be an instant classic.
More info at Amazon.com More info at Amazon.co.uk
