Author:

Matthew MacDonald,

Publisher:

Progue Press/O'Reilly

ISBN:

0-596-00842-2

Reviewer:

Lan Barnes

BOOK REVIEW:

Part of the "Missing Manual" series, CWS is very much a beginner's book on designing, creating, and promoting personal web sites for the non-technical. While this might not make it the best book for the geeks on your list, and definitely not the web professionals, it would be a fine first book for the beginner who wants a comprehensive tutorial on creating web content.

Although Macs are mentioned frequently, and Linux in a couple of places, the book is very much Microsoft oriented. I believe that this is more blindness that bigotry, since MacDonald has nice things to say about Nvu and even lynx (!) when he mentions them.

Don't look in here for advice on CGI (half a page) or PHP (unmentioned as far as I can tell). Do look for composition tips, discussions of frames, hosting and uploading, all couched and explained for people who are brand new to the concepts.

If your Aunt Tilly has been bugging you to make a web site for her, then this is the book to give her.

• Lan Barnes