Forum Moderators: phranque
Phrased another way:
What are the skills you use the most, or that you most value having?
PhotoShop/Illustrator
HTML/CSS/Javascript
ASP/VBScript/.NET
PHP/Apache/MySQL
XML/SOAP
Flash/Actionscript
[ciwcertified.com...]
Three things to know (that I've seen) are:
1. HTML and its related technologies (css, xhtml, etc)
2. Image manipulation (and interface design)
3. Understanding of Dynamic Scripting (javascript and basic PHP,ASP, Perl, or CFM coding)
Biggest value to me? Knowledge of Dreamweaver & Photoshop.
Good luck!
Patrick Elward
[edited by: crashomon at 4:16 pm (utc) on June 1, 2004]
PERL
Can perl do stuff that PHP can't? If I have learnt a reasonable amount of PHP is it worthwhile learning perl as well?
In other words, Perl and PHP can be complementary to each other. The learning curve for PERL is steeper, but you can do 'more' with it. The learning curve for PHP is flatter (initially) and combined with xSQL backend, you can do some amazing things.
But the original question is what skills are necessary? To that end, knowing how to navigate either of these languages is extremely valuable. Knowing how to program either of these will take a considerable investment of time.
To paraphrase a quote I saw somewhere . . .
"Learning a language is hard, just ask a baby."
Good luck,
Patrick Elward
"goo goo daa daa!"
Where do the old standbys fit into the modern development world? What new ones are "essential"?
When I started this job, Perl was "de facto". Now I suspect it's going extinct. (sorry to all you Perl lovers, but PHP rawks)
What about ColdFusion?
I guess I should mention I'm tutoring a co-op student, who is already familiar with Adobe PS and Illustrator. We're starting with HTML, CSS, Javascript. I've introduced Dreamweaver as a GUI HTML tool, but most of the assignments are hand-coded with Homesite. Then we'll move on to Flash. After that, then what?
As far as necessary skills for a webmaster, these are what I would list:
-HTML
-CSS
-Any scripting language (PHP, Perl, ASP, or JSP)
-Photo editing (you at least nead to be able to do this)
-Graphic design (if you can't do this, you need someone to do it)
-Server setup/administration (MS servers are easy to deal with. If you use *nix then you need to know what you're doing)
-Knowledge of basic networking and how the internet works(DNS, Name Servers, etc)
But, if you are teaching them to be a well-rounded internet professional, I think a good dose of SEO, SEM, internet marketing and usabilty should be thrown in. It's one thing to say you can build a site, it's another to say that you can build a site that people can find and like to visit.
It's unlikely that this student is going to be involved in management or sales or system administration (which I do - all of the above). This student is most interested in taking graphics and text and hupping them together into a website.
But, a good webmaster wears many hats, but more often than not, they're hired to simply build/manage whatever site and leave the marketing to the 'suits.'
To analogize: Its like building a property for business use, you've got architects, plumbers, electricians, painters and once its built, you need an operations manager, a store clerk and a shipping/inventory person.
In the old days this might have been one person, but nowadays, most tasks are managed by specialists. It helps to be a generalist to know all of the basic skills, but once you start talking about SEO and marketing stuff, you're moving away from basic skills and moving towards promotions and non-technical components.
Patrick
(not a CEO, and not a COO, but definitely a WEO!)
It's unlikely that this student is going to be involved in management or sales or system administration
It doesn't matter. If they don't understand it, they can't build/design for it and therefore there is something lacking in their sites.
As a marketer, I can say, "yes, I would like to do SEM" but if the designer built the site without understanding what SEM is, then I am stuck and the site will have to be redesigned. The same goes for SEO and other forms of internet marketing.
Usabilty should be a MANDATORY part of any web designer's skill set. In the past few weeks I have seen too many sites that were built by people who could write all sorts of HTML and other code, but the sites they designed were simply bad sites because they were put together badly in terms of movement. Too amny print designers become web designers thinking that there is no difference. Print design is two dimentional and web design is three dimentional and too often a print->web designer overlooks this.
One area I didn't expect to have to improve when I started was my English. As a native English lad, born and bred, I thought a GCSE and a modicum of understanding was enough. As it turns out, to write interesting and 'sticky' copy you have to really work at it. And I still have a lot to learn. The same goes for other languages I would imagine, depending on your target audience. So I would recommend some reading around copy/content writing, textual relevance and creative writing.
Something else they don't ask for in the job requirements is negotiation skills. Whether that be clients, suppliers or the GF , you will need to hone this skill to get the most return for your efforts.
Compatibility, usability and accessibility are all areas I would want integrating into a curriculum if I was starting a course now.
Lastly, and something I value hugely, is an understanding of design principles. Something you can learn and apply like any other subject. You don't have to be innately talented to be good at simple design. Areas to think about might include typography, colour theory and layout composition.
Ta, Limbo.
Something else they don't ask for in the job requirements is negotiation skills.
I agree completely. Although this may be a slightly off-topic gripe, I am sorry to say that during my entire education barely any time was spent on learning vital businessplace skills such as negotiation, interviewing etc. which, lets face it, almost EVERYONE needs no matter what profession they're in.
Also, after a website is built and online, whatever its purpose and goals, it is used by people. Regardles of the tehcnology, the software, or the code, a good webmaster/web designer needs to understand how people relate to the site, what their behavior and habits are, and how the design affects their decisions and opinions about the site. So, an understanding of how to measure and evaluate user reaction is important. This is where the talents of the artists, the programmers, and the marketers must be blended.
He should have skills in: HTML, Programming(javascript,php,asp,.net,perl,xml,coldfusion,flash),graphic design and probably some i've forgoten.
But when i say some skills it, doesn't mean being an expert. The webmaster should have these skills to keep the web site running but no one can do everything perfectly.
From my experience too many people group web design and web development together. Graphic artists should no be expected to be programmers and vice versa, and i dont think webmaster should always be considered both.
