Rating: 
Summary: Up-to-date, all encompassing; not for ASPers or *designers*!
Review: After a nice short overview, the text dives straight into a full HTML 4 tag list, with info on browser-specific elements. Frames, tables, forms and colours are also described in a more tutorial style.CSS and XML are introduced with similar tutorial style with references following on CSS 1 and XSL (dec 98), and the same procedure follows for Javascript 1.2 (good), CGI with Perl (ok), PHP (see below) and HTTP (a bit incomplete, but headers listed). There is then information on Apache configuration and optimisation. I'm not sure about the PHP chapter as I ignored it; they seem to have favoured a full PHP reference but only convered using CGI with Perl - I guess this is as they have other Perl books. I would recommend this book to webmasters, after considering the following - this book is not about _design_, as it does not cover any style or graphics issues. There is also nothing covering ASP (see _ASP In A Nutshell_) or webservers other than apache.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a MUST HAVE for any software developer
Review: Anybody taking courses in web master subjects knows that various bits of coding rules get thrown at you ... all at once. What this book does it great. Webmaster in a Nutshell makes sense of many different languages without going overboard. Other text go into detail in just one software language. But you may not get the "heart" of it. This book does just that. Quick and right to the point. From here, you will have a better time understanding other books that specialize in an entire subject. pvr-consulting.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference For Any Web Designer
Review: As a part-time web designer, I'm always looking to learn more "web tricks" and WebMaster In a Nutshell allows me to do just that. The second edition of this book covers so many different aspects of web development. It devotes chapters to new developments in HTML (HTML 4) and JavaScript. There are also chapters devoted to Cascading Style Sheets, XML, CGI, Apache modules, and HTTP itself. All current HTML tags and attributes are listed, along with JavaScript event handlers. Tables, frames, character entries and color values are also covered in various chapters. Very handy material! While this is definitely not a tutorial book, it does contain lots of reference material and I learned a few new tricks reading through this book. It's one I'll know I'll refer to again and again when I have a question about how to do a particular task while working on one of my websites. Also recommended: HTML 4 Visual Quick Start Guide by Elizabeth Castro; and UNIX in A Nutshell by Arnold Robbins.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference For Any Web Designer
Review: As a part-time web designer, I'm always looking to learn more "web tricks" and WebMaster In a Nutshell allows me to do just that. The second edition of this book covers so many different aspects of web development. It devotes chapters to new developments in HTML (HTML 4) and JavaScript. There are also chapters devoted to Cascading Style Sheets, XML, CGI, Apache modules, and HTTP itself. All current HTML tags and attributes are listed, along with JavaScript event handlers. Tables, frames, character entries and color values are also covered in various chapters. Very handy material! While this is definitely not a tutorial book, it does contain lots of reference material and I learned a few new tricks reading through this book. It's one I'll know I'll refer to again and again when I have a question about how to do a particular task while working on one of my websites. Also recommended: HTML 4 Visual Quick Start Guide by Elizabeth Castro; and UNIX in A Nutshell by Arnold Robbins.
Rating:
Summary: 2nd Ed now has HTML4, CSS + XML, but missing Perl Quick Ref
Review: As an avid fan of the first edition, I was delighted to discover that the second edition covered HTML4, Cascading Style Sheets, XML and the new JavaScript functions. The book excells as a quick reference to these and virtually all other webmaster areas, including Apache server configuration, CGI variables and much more. You just can't beat it. It replaces half a dozen books costing thirty or fourty quid each! Once you've grasped the basics of HTML and JavaScript, this may well be the only reference book you ever need. Now on to the nitpicking... and why I only gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I was exceptionally disappointed to see that the Perl Quick Reference that I had been so fond of in the first edition had now been replaced with a mere overview of the cgi.pm module; and that a quick reference to the PHP scripting language appeared to have taken Perl's place. Yes, I have other Perl references. Heck, I've *already* got the Perl Pocket Reference, Perl In A Nutshell and Linux In A Nutshell (which includes a Perl Quick Ref). But that's not the point. The second edition, like the first, sells itself as the only book you'll keep on your desktop (as opposed to on your shelf). Sorry, but with the Perl Quick Ref missing, this just isn't true anymore. Perl is the number one CGI programming language and the number one quick fix language. Whatever you want to do, you can rattle up a quick and dirty Perl solution in seconds. PHP just isn't up in that category. I need a Perl Quick Reference on my desk at all times. I just don't understand the decision to cut the Perl Quick Ref, since it only took up a dozen pages or so. It was as vital to any half decent webmaster as the HTML or JavaScript sections. O'Reilly, *please*, put back the Perl Quick Ref and earn yourself the full five stars.
Rating:
Summary: Solid
Review: As with all o'reilly books I have read, or browsed through, this one gets right to the point. "Webmaster in a nutshell" is a great overview of the basic tools used in building and maintaining a web site. However, this is not a book for the right-brain-left-wing web artists out there. There's no design tips, no pictures and best of all they have left out the obligatory four page 'History of the Internet" that seems to accompany any and all books of this type. I think one guy wrote that a few years ago and they just xerox it into each book. Overall, I would rate this book as not too deep, not too shallow, but JUST RIGHT. I loved this book and I recommened it to anyone from beginner to advanced. Bottom Line: It's a great reference book and a whole lot more.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book to have
Review: Either you are a seasoned IT professional or a relatively new player, this book is good to have. It will take you to a tour of how todays' WWW work. It does not have the most detailed reference on everything about Perls (its object oriented features, for example) but for what's been produced, it is worth the price ! Get it !
Rating:
Summary: Indispensable for all Webmasters.
Review: Excellent reference book. Don't go to work without this one. What is a webmaster anyway? A webmaster knows how to do many things.
Rating:
Summary: Almost the only book on my desk
Review: Get your Web development library together, and then get this book! This book is not going to teach you all the bits and pieces, but this is exactly what the cover says "A Desktop Quick Reference", and a good one at that. It saves you having to haul a bunch of books around. The sections on HTML 4, CSS, and JavaScript are fantastic, and I would recommend the book on these alone. The HTTP section is useful for the list of header fields with pretty good descriptions for a quick reference. There is also a group of sections on Server Configuration which are handy when browsing Apache configurations. The PHP and CGI/Perl sections are not as useful and this is why I drop a star. The "reference" part of the PHP section is simply a list of function one-liners. I tend not to use the CGI/Perl sections at all. I'm not a Perl developer, and I find I need a more comprehensive guide to help me out. In summary, this book is most useful if you know what you are doing, but just can't remember the detail!
Rating: 
Summary: Arachnophobes Beware
Review: I am a true archnophobe, and the cover of this book, even the picture of the cover of this book, is more than I can stand.
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