BKWPDCBK.RVW   980712

"Web Page Design Cookbook", William Horton/Lee Taylor/Arthur
Ignacio/Nancy L. Hoft, 1996, 0-471-13039-7,U$34.95/C$48.95
%A   William Horton william@horton.com
%A   Lee Taylor leetay@tellword.com
%A   Arthur Ignacio
%A   Nancy L. Hoft itech@mv.mv.com
%C   5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor, Etobicoke, ON   M9B 6H8
%D   1996
%G   0-471-13039-7
%I   John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
%O   U$34.95/C$48.95 416-236-4433 fax: 416-236-4448
%P   649 p. + CD-ROM
%T   "Web Page Design Cookbook"

A disk of templates, two sprinkles of HTML, and hold the CGI.

Chapter one provides a very Web-like introduction: it's quick, it's
snappy, it jumps from topic to topic without too much order getting in
the way, and after it's over you kind of wonder if you've actually
learned anything.  The attempt to list the requirements to get up and
running, in chapter two, does give you the basics, but in such a terse
fashion that it will likely only confuse the rank novice.  The
cookbook aspect starts in chapter three.  The book now admits that the
reader is not going to learn about HTML (HyperText Markup Language),
tells you to use the templates on the CD-ROM, and then runs through a
"flying fingers" demonstration of modification of a template that will
probably leave you a tad bemused.

Chapter four lists an enormous variety of interesting Web page
templates.  However, because there has been no background explanation
I can see a number of users failing to understand why their newly
created forms page does not populate the database they expected it to. 
Chapter five, therefore, starts to explain HTML, although in a very
abbreviated fashion.  Fonts, graphics, and audiovisual tags are in
chapter six.  There is a quick run through forms and tables in chapter
seven, but buried in the middle is the admission that you are going to
have to learn CGI (Common Gateway Interface) and the related
programming yourself, therefore rendering this chapter more or less
useless.

Chapter eight presents a number of graphical options, although calling
them design is pushing the term a bit.  Chapter nine, on writing for
an international audience, is not only excellent, but covers a subject
that most Web design books neglect.  A series of common questions
would have been better if all the answers did not seem to start out
"that depends" in chapter ten.  Chapter eleven looks at general
structures for Web site designs.  A grab bag of topics, many of which
have been touched on already, get retouched in chapter twelve.

While the idea of putting together templates so that novices do not
have to learn the tools has some merit, in practice, the lack of
fundamental material will probably lead to disappointing results. 
Ironically, it may be more experienced workers who can use the
cookbook material effectively.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1998   BKWPDCBK.RVW   980712