software standards for newcomers

what a new webmaster should use for standard software

[stationarytraveller]

firt off, i'de like to say hello to all wm's and that this this recource is invaluable. i have been messing with html since around 2000, after mastering tables, now i am getting in to css layout. i've exclusively always used notepad, tried fontpage because it came with win, but it didnt give me enough freedom. long story short, currently i am attempting find clients as i've registered at guru's site. i am wondering what software i should look in to and what i will need it for, specificaly (e-commerce? . . . what do clients look for?) i'de like to learn php as i believe it would be my next best step . . . i'de like to make web design a career, i'm 1 year out of high school. i'm guessing there is private messanging on this forum, so if anyone would like to see some of my official work, MSG ME! ;) thanks

-tim

[pmkpmk]

Welcome to Webmasterworld, stationarytraveller!

Tough choice - making a cerreer in webdevelopment :-) Good luck - there's lot of competition and the gold-rush era is well over...

There is no "standard" - it all depends on your needs and the client's demand. Some want to have sites made purely in Flash, others need a content management system (CMS), and again others might only wnat a kickstart and then continue to maintain their sites in Frontpage, Fusion, GoLive, Dreamweaver - you name it.

Knowing your way around HTML and CSS is a good choice though. Try to write clean and efficient code, which validates with the W3C validators (both HTML and CSS).

Look at other sites, learn from them, and build your own sites. There's lot of free webhosting out there: use it to gather experience.

Good luck!

[encyclo]

Rather than just Notepad, you should look for a context-highlighting text editor, which parses the HTML and CSS files and shows tags, etc. in different colors to distinguish them better. It'll save you a load of hassle and makes editing a whole lot easier.

On Windows, I would use EditPlus, and on Linux (my development platform of choice) I use Bluefish. However, there are a thousand text editors out there, and everyone has their own favorite.

For ecommerce, check out OSCommerce, which is built with PHP/MySQL and is free to use and adapt.

[mack]

I think we have all been in the same situation at some point or another. I woudl say that choosing your weapon comes down to personal choice. I started of using m$ frontpage. It does the job, but as you develop you want to learn at least the basics of html on your own.

I then moved away from windows all together and started using Linux. I find that it has all the tools I need and also gives me a much better understanding of how computers operate.

However being on Windows does not limit you in any way, You just need to find what suits your development style. As was mentioned I think you do need to have a good grasp of html css in order to process with your planned wen development career. Lets be honest if you want to still be designing in 4-5 years you will NEED to know CSS and probaly xml.

Mack.

[pmkpmk]

I just had a quick glimpse on the links you stickied me - as a first impression it's quite OK. If it has all been done by yourself, then there's certainly potential to build on.

I agree with encyclo: a syntax highlighting editor which not only understands HTML but also CSS, maybe PHP and other languages would be immense help.

We did a quick&dirty project with GoLive which combines a sort of WYSIWYG with direct HTML and CSS editing and it worked quite OK. There were however no "deeper" reasons for selecting GoLive other that we gould get it fast and cheap. Dreamweaver et.al. will do the job just as well.

[isitreal]

I would use EditPlus, and on Linux (my development platform of choice) I use Bluefish.

EditPlus is a really good Code editor, it's very clean, very light weight, and very configurable.

Encyclo: does bluefish work as welll as edit plus in terms of configuration options, like being able to create your own html code templates, tag templates etc?

Does it have a comparably powerful search and replace? (multiple open files, multiline search and replace etc?)

I've been thinking of switching to Linux too, but I need a code editor that works as well as Editplus. What Linux distro do you use and prefer?

thanks for any information. By the way, I saw your recommendation for wordpress, just tried it, it's as good as you say it is. For multiple user applications is there a CMS system you'd recommend that is as good as that?

[pmkpmk]

What do you mean with "multiple user applications"?