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When you first started, did you feel as if you had the I.Q. of a cockroach (like me)?
But since you have an inquiring mind, and hopefully more brains than a cockroach, there are lots of places to go for help.
There are many tutorial web sites. One of my favorites is www.w3schools.com, and I learned web writing long ago from www.webmonkey.com or at least you can find "webmonkey" if that site is unavailable.
A second help would be download a free trial of Dreamweaver from Macromedia and take the tutorial. Then put Dreamweaver away and open the code in a text editor (like notepad) and learn the code.
HTML is probably the easiest computer language ever invented.
Good luck, and if you get stuck, look at the problem from a different angle, then if you are still stuck, we're open 24 hours a day.
then i started playing with a wysiwyg editor
then i started "borrowing" code, and seeing how it works
came here
still learning :)
I did my first site at a "free" community with chats and message boards to help, and used their template, which was actually more complicated than using HTML, especially when needing to make any changes.
I immediately started to study and use HTML, and stuck to Notepad exclusively so that I'd have it all memorized and be able to do edits any time, any place. I've never been sorry, and now I'm doing the same with CSS - all individually coded by hand so it's firmly fixed. And conversions to XHTML will also be done by hand, at least for the basic templates for the sites being converted.
I stayed with HTML 3.2 which is not bad to start, because some sites now need to be owner maintained and anything further than using <font> tags could confuse the people. BUT I always made a practice of closing all tags (except BR and meta tags), nesting things properly, and enclosing all tag attributes in quotes, so the move to XHTML is now painless.
>Are there any sites that will teach the beginner "how-to"
Some will say the W3C, but I think there are simpler ways at the beginning. Everyone has different taste, I'd suggest doing Google searches for specifics like "web design tutorials," HTML tutorials, and for specific graphics programs, Photoshop or PSP tutorials, to find the ones you think are easiest to understand.
I used beginners books for HTML - some are easier, but I believe the one by Dr. Ian Graham is the best, as well as the newer one by Molly Holtzchlag. They cover many more useful topics. Dr. Graham goes into HTTP protocols and a number of important technical issues, and Molly is a "designer" and goes into more of the design and interface issues.
For CSS I'd stay here and look up threads on the subject. Also check out some of the resources mentioned in those, they're some of the best I've seen.
At this point in time, I'd make sure all sites validate, which I didn't do to begin with - imho HTML 4 transitional is fine.
For learning graphics, I personally needed simple books to start out with. A lot of people consider PSP a good way to go; I found it easier to use Photoshop, but there are many more basic tutorials on line for PSP so that's a good way to start, and it's MUCH cheaper.
These cover the basic tools needed to implement design. You can look up instructions on what makes for good design, site interface, color theory and usability, but surfing looking at sites is a great way to get inspiration and learn. Everyone eventually develops their own individual style over time, but there can be a tendency to get stale and into a rut. So inspiration by looking around is a good booster for improving and diversifying design skills.
That's a very intelligent question.
The very first step is organizing the "Information Architecture" (IA) - sort of pre-solving all the hurdles so your visitor will have an easy time. This apparent ease and simplicity is actually the BIGGEST part of the job, IMO. If you create a good IA, the rest of the job becomes pretty straighforward.
Here's a good tutorial for Information Architecture [hotwired.lycos.com] from Webmonkey.
It's probably talling about bigger websites than you would tackle for your first projects - but look past that and grasp the principles. Good IA is the jumpstart that so many websites are missing.
(edited by: tedster at 3:46 am (utc) on May 18, 2002)
Learning the actual coding taught me nothing about professional-level design. As I mentioned in another forum, what's considered good, professional design changes over the months and years, too.
Ironically, I think that books are still better for learning than tutorials on websites: you can bounce around in a book as needed, or as you're interested, and you can reference a book anytime.
If you're doing design, learning Photoshop is a must. I recently flipped through a copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Photoshop For the Web, and that seems to cover everything.
As for learning HOW to design? "The Non-Designers Web Book" by Robin Williams (a female writer, not the comedian)is an excellent place to start.
I still haven't found a be-all, end-all "textbook" on what makes up the elements of a good, professional "graphic" design... a book that lays out all the rules why one "graphic design for the screen" is superior to another. There's a ton of books that show a lot of good design for inspiration, but I can't really find any that break it down piece by piece. I guess beyond the 4 basics - repetition, contrast, alignment, proximity - it becomes subjective. (How do art teachers grade anything???)
Once you get past all that, you'll want to consider things like usability - www.usableweb.com is a great place to start - and understanding some backend technology (PHP, ASP, CFM, etc.) is must now, too. You may not code in it, but you'll no doubt end up working with pages that feature it.
Today it is not as necessary to learn the HTML language used to build websites, as it used to. That is because the WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) programs available are very easy to use and learn. I'm not saying that it isn't advantagious to learn HTML - it is - but that you don't have to start there. As you learn how to build pages with a WYSIWYG program you will also learn how HTML works.
I purchased Microsoft FrontPage 2000, which I am very happy with, but there are others, cheaper and more expensive.
Above all, keep coming back to this forum, even if you don't understand too much right now. It will come (and slowly, still is for me). And there is a gold mine of web knowledge in the people of this forum, along with a generous and helpful spirit, probably unsurpassed anywhere on the web. (Pssst... You may have to foregive them for using terms that are undecipherable to commoners - I think many of them have lost touch with their ignorance.) :)
Nick
A couple of weeks ago I read through The idiots guide to web design (well I would wouldn't I :) ) and thought it a good way to learn the bones but the flesh (as mentioned above), that is usability and functionality are, perhaps, concepts a little harder to grasp. Keep at it, it ain't that hard, even for a cockroach. If a tbear can do it .....etc,etc.
Good luck
Oh, by the way. Others before mention various programmes, (I use PSP for day to day speed and PS for special tasks) check them all out and choose those that 'fit your hand'. They are all excellent!
IMHO (there I go again)
Hi help4me, I'm not the finished article yet regarding web design/development, but I think if you learn the basics you will soon be building sites of a good standard, something which I hope I have learned.
By basics I mean navigation, layout, color use, HTML and usability. These basics form the fabric of any good website and makes it more professional.
The best way I learned this web design/development thing was by just doing it. I bought Dreamweaver 2 and Adobe 5 and just started messing around, it wasn't long before I was building pages, creating graphics etc. The more I messed around the beter I become.
My advice to you is to mess around, make mistakes, mess around some more, make more mistakes, but most of all enjoy it.
>When you first started, did you feel as if you had the I.Q. of a cockroach (like me)?
That made me laugh. When I built my first web page/site I stood back admired my creation and thought - man I'm a genuis. I honestly thought I was the best web designer around. It didn't take me long to realise I wasn't.
I still remember the day when someone pointed out that my site sucked - that's when I thought I had the IQ of a cockroach ;)
Anyway good luck with your ventures.
Cheers,
Stickymaster.
So my advice for anyone is, give it ago. Might look hard at first but give it time, and your get the hang of it.
My advice to you is to jump in. Build something and do some reading (ok - a LOT of reading :)). There's a ton to learn but don't let it overwhelm you. Whittle away at it.
My advice to you is to jump in.
::Exactly!
Not to long back I bought SAMS HTML 4. I knew nothing about nuthin- but I did know that I needed to learn HTML. You'll find by just jumping in that you'll have question after question and before long looking for ways to hone your skills.
I began in a very odd way...I was laid up for a year after a bike accident...I'd just sued the landlord for not doing repairs...so I bought a PC...paid for a year with an ISP...got cable in with a free calls deal and set out to play
after I'd done all the usual stuff, looked up my namesakes etc...I decided to go see what this "chat" stuff was...the first place I went to had a few designers there who were larking about building spoof sites on the fly while they chatted
that's how I began...after a couple of weeks I built myself a home site largely guided by Joe Burns [htmlgoodies.com]...then a friend asked me to do one for them...then another...then I was too busy to do one for another friend so they offered to pay
so I'm a web developer entirely by accident
All told you've already heard the best advice a couple of times on this site.
JUMP IN, the waters fine :)
