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Take Control of iWeb: iLife '08 Edition
Learn how to make useful, attractive Web sites with iWeb!
Apple's iWeb aims to help you build an attractive Web site quickly and easily, but not all of iWeb's features are fully explained. If you want step-by-step instructions and plenty of time-saving tips, Web pro Steve Sande can help. In Take Control of iWeb, Steve walks you through all the steps for building an iWeb site and uploading it to .Mac or to another Web host (see the FAQ tab, below, for info about MobileMe and this ebook). You can look over his shoulder as he enhances iWeb's templates with a designer's eye, using tools like masks, reflections, and Instant Alpha.
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Contents and Intro
What's New
FAQ
Steve teaches you the best ways to make all types of iWeb pages—including blog, podcast, photo, and movie pages—and he covers topics that go beyond the basics and way beyond the online help. You'll learn how add special elements to your site: iPhoto albums and galleries, YouTube videos, Google AdSense ads, Google maps, and forms that integrate with Google Docs. You'll also find coverage of how to edit graphics so your site loads faster, how to import podcasts and videos, how to make image maps, and even ideas for working with CafePress, Google Checkout, and Zen Cart to create an online store.
Read this book to learn the answers to questions such as:
How do I create graphical effects like those in the above clickable images?
What are smart guidelines for naming sites and Web pages?
What's the deal with iWeb Domain files?
What URL will my home page end up with?
How do I create an RSS feed for my blog?
How do I make an image map? (There is a way!)
Can I create an entire online store with iWeb?
How do I edit a graphic so its background color matches the color of my page?
What if I don't want to publish to .Mac?
What if I want to publish to .Mac, but with my own domain name in my URL? (See the FAQ tab, above, for info about MobileMe and this ebook).
Book Info
133 pages
Version 1.0
Published 20-Mar-08
2.3 MB download
Free 30-page PDF sample with Table of Contents, Introduction, Quick Start, and section starts.
Welcome to Take Control of iWeb: iLife '08 Edition. This book puts you in control of creating and publishing professional-looking Web sites using iWeb, Web design software from Apple Inc. This book was written by Steve Sande, edited by Karen Anderson and Tonya Engst, and published by TidBITS Publishing Inc.
Introduction
In January 2006, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced iWeb, a new Web site design and publishing tool in iLife '06. I know all too well how difficult it is to make a great-looking Web site and create a blog, because I've struggled with the complexities of RSS feeds and searched to find a way to easily publish photo galleries and podcasts. Watching Jobs simply click and drag his way through the creation of a professional-looking Web site in a few minutes during a keynote address was certainly an eye-opener, so I purchased iLife '06 and began playing with iWeb. The result of my play was the first edition of this book.
Fast-forward to August 2007 and another announcement from Steve Jobs—the release of iLife '08 , including a new version of iWeb. What impresses me most about iWeb 2 is how Apple's developers improved on the original by adding capabilities that previously required extensive workarounds—see What's New in iWeb 2 (two pages ahead) for more details on the new features.
In this book, I take you on a journey of discovery. I briefly explore the past so you can see what a powerful tool iWeb is, and then you can follow me as I build a Web site step by step. You can visit my iWeb site at http://www.tcoiweb.com/, and then read about how I used iWeb to create what you're viewing.
If you've never made a Web site before, you'll be thrilled with how easily you can organize your thoughts and have iWeb turn them into a beautiful work of art. Experienced Web designers will be happy with how iWeb works with the rest of the iLife suite to create vibrant Web sites full of text, sound, video, and photography.
Let's get started!
Quick Start to Making a Site in iWeb
Although you can read this book sequentially, you may wish to use this page to set a custom path through the topics that I cover. You can click the blue links to jump quickly to a particular section.
Learn what's new in iWeb 2:
Find out how the changes in iWeb 2 and new features of .Mac combine to help you create Web sites that are more compelling and powerful that those you could create in iWeb 1; see What's New in iWeb 2.
Start your site:
For historical context, read A Brief History of Web Sites. Then, if you haven't already, Install iWeb.
Start a new site! Learn how to Create Your First Site.
Get the scoop on Editing One Site on Two Macs.
Ready to take your site live? In Publish Your Site, you'll find out how to publish to .Mac and to other servers. Appendix A: Web Hosting provides more detail about hosting your site on a server that is not .Mac.
Add links & media:
Learn about making links in Create Web Hyperlinks and Create Other Link Types.
If image-based links are more your fancy, find more info in Create Picture Hyperlinks and Make an Image Map.
Turn your thoughts into bits with Publish a Blog.
Take your radio or TV show online with Publish a Podcast.
Add Photos to your site, and learn about Photo pages, My Albums pages, and Web galleries.
Use iWeb to Create an Online Movie Theater.
Go beyond the limits:
Learn how to Make Text Sparkle and discover the fabulous effects you can create with Shapes, Layers & Masks.
Add Special Elements to count visitors and provide information.
See Enhance Photos to add cool effects—like Instant Alpha—to your photos, plus get advice on how to Accelerate Picture Downloads.
Add Google Maps to give your readers directions with the Google Map Web Widget.
Get an example of adding HTML code to your Web page in Add a YouTube Video.
Looking for extra income? Add Google AdSense Ads, get ideas for how to Run an Online Store, and Increase Traffic to your site.
Add a Form to your site in order to capture information from visitors.
Manage Multiple iWeb Sites using separate domain files.
What's New in iWeb 2
Let's start by looking at what's new or different in iWeb 2:
.Mac improvements: Apple has updated the .Mac service to make it more useful to iWeb users. For instance, you can now Publish to a Personal Domain on .Mac. Apple has also increased the amount of disk storage and the monthly bandwidth allowance, so even large and heavily visited Web sites can exist on a .Mac account. However, the .Mac terms and conditions still prohibit the use of .Mac-hosted sites for ecommerce.
Web widgets: With a new feature called HTML Snippets, you can add things like news headlines, live webcam feeds, YouTube videos, and stock tickers to your Web site. For examples, see Add a YouTube Video and Add a Form.
Google integration: Apple and Google have been getting cozy lately, and the integration of Google AdSense and Google Maps into iWeb 2 is a perfect example of the level of cooperation between the two companies:
The Google AdSense widget enables you to Add Google AdSense Ads to your Web pages.
The Google Maps widget provides a way to Add Google Maps to your Web content with one click.
New templates and theme switching: Apple has created 8 new themes for iWeb 2, bringing the total to 26. When you Choose a Template for your Web site, consider a new iWeb theme to give your site a makeover.
Instant Alpha: A powerful new photo editing tool, Instant Alpha, removes background clutter from photos you use in iWeb sites, giving the images a more professional appearance.
Improved integration with iPhoto: Through enhanced Photo pages, Web galleries, and My Album pages, iWeb 2 makes it easier than ever to Add Photos to a Web site.
Does this ebook cover MobileMe and iWeb?
At present (June 23, 2008) after you buy the ebook, you can open it to page 1 and click Check for Updates. On the resulting Web page, author Steve Sande has written a short essay about what MobileMe might mean for iWeb users. In a nutshell, what you need to know right now is this: Don't panic! Likely you can ignore the change-over to MobileMe and your site will continue working exactly as it does now.
However, what nobody outside Apple seems to know is if iWeb will be updated to give it full MobileMe compatibility and - if that update occurs - what other changes might be included. Once we find out what's changed (if anything) in iWeb and have time to digest the information, we'll post more info on the Check for Updates Web page, and we'll consider updating the PDF.
Q: Does this book cover iWeb 2 or iWeb '08?
A: Yes. Apple confusingly gives iWeb (and the other iLife '08 applications) two version numbers, one that applies to the program, as in iWeb 2 (it's the second version of iWeb) and another that refers to the iLife suite, as in iWeb '08. Sorry about that! We use iWeb '08 when talking about the program on the site, since we feel readers are more likely to look for that, but we talk about iWeb 2 in the book, since we feel that's more clear when discussing the actual software.
Q: Do you have an ebook that covers iWeb 1, which came with iLife '06?
