HTML Writers Guild Newsletter Volume 5, Number 15, 30 August 1999 http://www.hwg.org/ editor@hwg.org Table of Contents 1. Online Education Spotlight: Beginning Programming Perl 2. Back to School with HWG: More Online Classes Open for Enrollment 3. Join Us In Rome at the E-Commerce Summit, 6-8 October 1999 4. New W3C Proposed Recommendations: HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0 5. Next Month's Town Hall Meeting is Thursday, 23 September 1999 6. Eloquent Gurus Wanted for the HWG Speakers Bureau 7. HWG-News FAQs: "Why Did I Get This Email?" and more... This issue of HWG-News is sponsored by: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- myConduit.com http://www.myConduit.com myConduit.com is a revolutionary new Web-based service that brings together qualified web development freelancers, agencies and employers. As a freelancer, you are now able to find the projects YOU want at the prices YOU set. As an employer, you will now have instant access to thousands of web development freelancers and agencies worldwide. myConduit.com is COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL and ABSOLUTELY FREE to register and become eligible for new projects. Register today at www.myConduit.com and begin enjoying the benefits of participating in the world's largest marketplace for web development services. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Online Education Spotlight: Beginning Programming Perl (Ann Navarro, Online Education Director, classes@hwg.org) Looking for that next step to take in furthering your Web development skill set? Learn how to program using Perl! Our six-week Beginning Programming With Perl course begins September 20. Taught by the Guild's own Perl-guru Rich Bowen, you'll learn the basics of the Perl programming language, popular for CGI programming, system administration, and a variety of other tasks. The course will cover the fundamentals of the language, such as variables, looping and conditional structures, regular expressions, modules, database communication, and system administration. (Note that this is NOT a CGI course. While the skills you will learn are applicable to creating CGI programs, CGI itself is not the focus of this course). Want to add Perl to your web author's repertoire? Reserve your space in our online classroom NOW at: http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/p101.4.html Tuition fees are $50 for Trial members, $25 for Full members (textbook and completion certificate NOT included); space may be limited so sign up today! 2. Back to School with HWG: More Online Classes Open for Enrollment (Ann Navarro, Online Education Director, classes@hwg.org) The end of summer means back to school -- and what better way to advance your continual learning experience with one of the Guild's online classes! Our courses are taught by your fellow HWG members who are experts in their fields, and are adaptable to YOUR schedule so that you can learn at the pace that's right for you! EARLY AUTUMN CATALOG The following classes are currently open for enrollment: Creating Web Graphics with Paint Shop Pro Dates: September 6, 1999 - October 15, 1999 (6 weeks) Beginning Programming with Perl [profiled above] Dates: September 20, 1999 - November 5, 1999 (6 weeks) Using Macromedia Dreamweaver - Part 1 Dates: October 4, 1999 - October 29, 1999 (4 weeks) Introduction to HTML 4.0 Dates: October 11, 1999 - November 19, 1999 (6 weeks) Business Writing Basics Dates: October 11, 1999 - December 3, 1999 (8 weeks) Introduction to XML Dates: October 18, 1999 - November 26, 1999 (6 weeks) Practical Web Management: Creating an Effective Web Site Dates: October 18, 1999 - November 30, 1999 (6 weeks) COURSE FEES For all courses, Full and Discounted members may register for $25, Trial members for $50. Upgrade your membership before registering, and save money! Payments may be made online via secure transaction; all figures are in U.S. funds. A certificate of completion is available for an additional $5; the request needs to be made at the time of registration. Textbooks (when required) are separate and may be purchased through the Guild's online bookstore, The Bookmark. Books should be purchased before the first week of class! In addition, students should have regular access to the web and the ability to post completed assignments on a public (non-Intranet) web server. Sign up today through our online enrollment forms or get more information at: http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/ Head back to school this fall with the HTML Writers Guild -- enroll now! 3. Join Us In Rome at the E-Commerce Summit, 6-8 October 1999 (Frank Boumphrey, VP of Guild Special Events, frank@hwg.org) The HTML Writers Guild invites our members to join us in Rome this October for the E-Commerce Summit! In addition to HWG President Kynn Bartlett presenting as a speaker at the conference, the Guild will hold our first ever European meeting, and everyone is invited! For this event we have arranged a special 50% discount on the conference registration; we hope to see you there, especially our members from Europe and elsewhere! We also hope to have special HWG events throughout the summit, so please check the HWG website for more information! Details about the E-Commerce Summit can be found at: http://www.e-commerce-summit.com/ 4. New W3C Proposed Recommendations: HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0 (Ann Navarro, W3C Advisory Committee Representative, w3c-rep@hwg.org) Two new Proposed Recommendations have been released this week by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). As a member of the W3C, the HTML Writers Guild participates in the Consortium's mission to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability. The first new Proposed Recommendation, HTML 4.01, is an updated version of HTML 4.0, released 28 April 1998. A list of changes between HTML 4.0 and 4.01 can be found on the W3C web site, at: http://www.w3.org/TR/html40/appendix/changes.html#19990824 The second Proposed Recommendation, XHTML 1.0 is an exciting new advancement for Web authors. XHTML provides for a reformulation of HTML 4.01 into Extensible Markup Language (XML). This reformulation provides many benefits, including bringing HTML authors quickly up to speed on the syntactical requirements of XML, and providing the means to readily incorporate HTML documents or document fragments into XML documents. The XHTML 1.0 specification can be found at: http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ As Proposed Recommendations, HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.0 are currently being evaluated by the membership of the W3C Advisory Committee for adoption as official W3C Recommendations. The HTML Writers Guild has taken an active role in the development of both these new Proposed Recommendations. Our primary participant in the W3C HTML Working Group is Frank Boumphrey, with by Ann Navarro as alternate. We invite Full members of the Guild to discuss these proposals and provide feedback on the HWG-Plus-W3C mailing list. For more information about this mailing list, including subscription information, please see: http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-plus-w3c/ 5. Next Month's Town Hall Meeting is Thursday, 23 September 1999 (Leanne Phillips, HWG Secretary, secretary@hwg.org) Each month, the Guild provides an opportunity for real-time discussion and chatting via HWG Interactive. These monthly meetings are hosted by members of the Governing Board (with most of them in attendance), and give our members the chance to voice your views about the HWG. The details for September's meeting are: 23 September Town Hall Meeting Date: Thursday, 23 September 1999 Time: 6:30 p.m. PDT, 9:30 p.m. EDT, 01:30 (24 September) GMT Server: HWG Interactive, http://interact.hwg.org/ IRC: irc.hwg.org, port 6667 Channel: #townhall To connect, either go to the URL above and use the Java-based client available via the web, or use your favorite IRC client and join channel #townhall. We look forward to meeting you there! 6. Eloquent Gurus Wanted for the HWG Speakers Bureau (Frank Boumphrey, Vice President - Special Events, vp-events@hwg.org) The HTML Writers Guild is pleased to announce the creation of the new HWG Speakers Bureau. The purpose of this program is to list qualified speakers on topics of interest to the HTML community. To qualify for this list you should have the following qualifications 1. Be an expert in your topic. 2. Be a fluent and accomplished speaker. 3. Have had experience speaking to a large audience. Speakers who meet these qualifications will be informed of any call for papers for national meetings received by the HWG, and will go into a database of speakers. They may also be invited to speak at HWG sponsored events. If you think you might qualify please forward a brief biography to vp-events@hwg.org together with a list of topics you feel qualified to speak on. In addition to your address, phone number, and other contact information, please include a short statement outlining your experience, and the reasons that you think you are the person who should speak on your subject(s) of choice (Don't be coy!). Please put "HWG Speakers Bureau" in the subject line. Successful candidates may be asked to provide a outline and a set of Powerpoint or HTML slides on a topic of choice for further evaluation. We are also implementing a category of "Senior Speaker". Senior speakers may be asked to speak as HWG authorized speakers at national events. If you think you may fall into this category please add a note to this effect and the reasons that you think you qualify as a senior speaker. 7. HWG-News FAQs: "Why Did I Get This Email?" and more... (HWG-News Newsletter Editor, editor@hwg.org) Some questions you may be asking: Q: Why did I get this mail? A: You received this newsletter because you are a member of the HTML Writers Guild. This message came from hwg-news, the Guild's mandatory mailing list for all members. If you need more information about hwg-news, please see the List Charter at: http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-news/index.html Q. Why doesn't this newsletter talk about web design or HTML? A. The newsletter is the Guild's administrative bulletin to the membership. If you are interested in the topics of Web design and HTML, then you might want to subscribe to some of our discussion lists devoted to those topics. More information on the Guild's offering of discussion lists can be found at: http://www.hwg.org/lists/mailinglists.html Q. How can I find out more about Guild activities? A. The Guild has set up a one-way announcement list, HWG-Announce, that carries bulletins of day-to-day Guild business. For details on how to subscribe, please see: http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-announce/ Q: How do I unsubscribe from hwg-news? A: Since this is a required list in order to maintain your Guild membership, unsubscribing is the same as resigning from the HTML Writers Guild. If you have your Member ID and password, to resign your membership in the Guild and to unsubscribe to hwg-news, visit: http://www.hwg.org/member/resign.html Fill in the pertinent information, and submit it. If you don't have a Member ID, or have forgotten your password, send mail to: mailto:lost-password@hwg.org with a Subject of: Resign membership In the body of the message, provide the following information: * Your email address(es) * Your member ID if you have one. * The list of discussion lists you are on. Please remember that unsubscribing to hwg-news automatically resigns you from the Guild. If you have problems with unsubscribing, please contact the password support team for help. Q: Can my company advertise in the Guild's newsletter? A: Yes; the Guild is offering sponsorship opportunities in HWG-News on a limited basis. If you are interested in advertising your web related product or service here, please send email to advertising@hwg.org or call (714) 526-4963. Discounts are available to Guild Business and Corporate members, as well as for multiple placements. The Guild's newsletter reaches over 100,000 web authors worldwide each month. (Note: The Guild does not make our member database available for third party use. We have a strong privacy policy and will not release our members' personal information; our mailing list is not for sale. Any questions regarding the Guild's advertising or privacy policies can be directed to advertising@hwg.org.) Q: What if I want to comment on this newsletter? A: The HWG-News Mailing List is a "Read-Only" list -- please do not try to reply to this message directly. If you wish to contact the editor of this newsletter, you may do so by sending email to editor@hwg.org. Each article begins with the contact information for the author as well. Copyright 1999, HTML Writers Guild, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Published monthly via email and WWW.