Part I - Learning

Part II - Preparation

Part III - Writing the Code

Part IV - Templates

Part V - Exercises

Why did I Create This Website and Book?

James Girardi author I wrote this book and built this website to give individuals and small business owners the tools and knowledge necessary so they can build a website for them.

It Took Me a Summer to Figure it Out

I can still recall the one summer where I decided that I wanted to learn how to build websites. It came after calling a few design companies and got quotes that were not only high, but all over the board. It also seemed, the bigger the design company, the bigger the quote. But I didn’t need an online shop or an extensive blog. I just needed a way to give my brick and mortar business a presence on the web. It just so happened that summer was a slow time for my business so not only did I have time on my hands, I also had to budget my money.

So there I was, on the first morning, sitting at my computer and ready to get started. I searched, “how to build a website”. I got results from website builders to hosting companies to snippets on PHP, Java, HTML, etc. None of the results were a simple breakdown of a website and how to program one from scratch. So I continued to dive deeper into my search. Searching for how to make a navigation bar for a website or how to add images to a website. It seemed that my search resulted in information that was too complex for the newbie web designer. It was almost like people were showing how much knowledge they had of programming and by putting out such complex coding was a way to deter others from trying to learn. I am sure they were not doing that but from my perspective it did seem like that.

I would type out the code, then test it. 9 out of 10 times, it didn’t work. Something was always missing. Even if I copied and pasted the code, it didn’t always work. Even the simplest PHP code will not work if your web server is not set up correctly. Even conversations with tech support with the hosting company seemed futile. I think it is probably why I kept my focus on HTML and CSS. Let me get a grasp on these two concepts and deal with PHP and other programming languages later.

After days, even weeks, trying to complete a simple task using HTML and CSS was laborious. Tasks that I take for granted today were not so easy for the layman. I vowed back then if I ever gained proficient knowledge of putting together a website, that I would put that information in an easy and concise format for others to use.

It Has Been a Decade Since...

Build a Responsive Website with HTML and CSS It’s been almost a decade since that summer and I am glad that stuck to the grindstone. I built websites for my businesses. I built websites for other businesses. I find it fun and rewarding and I am always learning more about coding and website techniques. I hope that my book helps other small business owners build their first websites and gain a web presence of their own.

BUY NOW