Disclaimer!
This website will not teach you how to code. Frankly, I can barely code myself. What this section will do, however, is provide you with information that has helped me so far as I struggle to get through my English 507 class.
Books
We were assigned HTML5 & CSS3 for the Real World by Alexis Goldstein, Louis Lazaris, and Estelle Weyl. Unless you've had experience with html coding, I don't recommend this book. In my personal opinion, it assumes some experience, building on previous html generations. I've been reading it only because I've had to read it for my assignments, but I can't say it's been especially instructive.
HTML & CSS: Design and Build Websites, however, is a different story. This book wasn't assigned but was recommended, and I'm glad I spent the extra money. What I like about this particular book is its heavy use of graphics and color type. It weighs a ton, thanks to its high production value (glossy pages, and a lot of them), but I've referred to this one more often than the required book, and it's a book that I'll keep.
Online Tutorials
Nearly every website I've completed for English 507 has been created thanks to the bounty of coding resources available online. I have only to type in a few keywords — for example, "em dash in html5" — and several results appear with the answer. Of course, it goes beyond special characters. Unsure how to do my layout for my color theory assignment, I searched for "layout html5," which took me to W3Schools.com's excellent website. What I especially love about this resource is that it allows you to tweak the code and try things yourself so that you can see how minor changes in yoru code will affect your website. Another helpful resource is from Web Designer Depot, which has a helpful "back to basics article."
There are also numerous e-books, including the free online book How to Code in HTML5 and CSS3 by Damian Wielgosik.
Helpful Previews
Frustrated with having to upload my html and CSS files to the server in order to see what my page looked like, I searched for a site that would allow me to preview my code. It turns out that there are several available. My favorite, HTML Instant, allows immediate preview of code changes, and includes three views through use of: one with all code, one with a split screen between your code and the resulting website, and one with all the website — all accessible by clicking on the blue, red, or green tags midway on the page. It is this site that I used to test-drive several color schemes and font choices for this website before I finally settled on what you see here.
Final Thoughts
When the year first started, I hadn't the first clue about how to build a website. Since then, I've created more than 10, each one building on the ones before it. It's safe to say that I'm not going to win any Web design awards, but there has been some noticeable progress, and that's all been thanks to the resources I've discussed throughout this website.
The most important thing is to not be afraid to play a bit — or get too frustrated when your layout isn't cooperating. (Been there...) It can be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack when your code is misbehaving, but finding that missing element can be a rewarding challenge ... if you choose to view it as such.
Happy coding!
