Introduction
I don’t think websites were ever intended to be made only by “web professionals.” Websites are documents at heart. Just about everyone knows how to make a document in this digital age, be it Word, Google Docs, Markdown, or something else. HTML shouldn’t be an exception. Sure it’s a bit more technical than other types of documents, but it’s also very special.
It’s the document format of the web. The humble HTML document is ubiquitous. It’s everywhere. If you looked at a website today, you almost certainly saw HTML.
HTML is robust. You could look at a website made today or one made twenty years ago. They both use HTML and they both work. That is an achievement that not many document formats can claim. You also don’t need any special program to make an HTML document. Many exist, and you could use any of them. You could also just open Notepad and write HTML by hand (spoiler: we are going to do just that).
I created this web book because I wanted something for people who don’t consider themselves professional web developers. Imagine if Word documents were only ever created by “Word professionals.” No. Knowing how to write some HTML and put it on the web is a valuable skill that is useful to all sorts of professional and personal pursuits. It doesn’t belong only to those of us who make websites as a career. HTML is for everyone. HTML is for people.
Who is this book for?
This book is aimed at people who have no prior coding experience of any kind. I won’t assume you know the first thing about HTML. We will start small. But by the end of the book we will have built a personal website complete with multiple pages, images, a blog, and more.
I will assume you have some experience using a computer and performing basic tasks like creating files and folders. This is a necessary prerequisite because (again, spoiler alert) websites are essentially just files and folders.
What do I need?
You need a computer with internet access. I wrote this book in a generic way so that it would be applicable for people using macOS, Windows, or Linux. If I point you toward software to install, it will be free (or have a usable free tier) and will be cross-platform (or I will offer platform alternatives).
Table of contents
- Zero to internet: your first website
- Add content to your website
- Intermission: upgrade your text editor
- A website with style
- Adding an about page
- Adding a blog
- Adding a resume
- Intermission: installing a local web server
- Adding a fun page
- Achievement unlocked: Hypertexter
Bonus chapters
This is the stuff I wanted to cover but felt that it was a little bit out of scope. CSS and PHP both have a bit of a steeper learning curve compared to HTML. I don’t think they’re out of reach for anyone who wants to explore them, though. And a little bit of both of them can go a long way. So this is my way of giving you a little taste of each one.
Up next
Now that you know the why behind this book, it’s time to take the first step. In the next chapter, you will learn how to make a website from scratch and put it on the web.