Creating A Website

Creatania · Nov 3, 2010

I have recently been reading more into creating a website, html coding etc etc.

I was wondering how you create a website:
Do you code it all using html or another way?
Do you use a program to do it all with no coding at all?
Do you know a minimum amount of coding or none at all?

I want to be able to create a decent professional looking website and am willing to learn. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Faevilangel · Nov 3, 2010

learn xhtml + css. Don't bother with software which does it for you, just get a copy of notepad2

mangoprint · Nov 3, 2010

The professional Wysiwyg editor would be Adobe Dreamweaver. A lot of people use variations of notepad for pure coding, or Dreamweaver in code view. It really depends.

You can always setup a professional looking site by using a free template from the internet and just changing the text. Always the risk someone will recognise the template from someone else's site though!

Creatania · Nov 4, 2010

Faevilangel said:
learn xhtml + css. Don't bother with software which does it for you, just get a copy of notepad2

Thanks for that.

It seems like learning html and css are essential really in creating a website. I purchased a book that goes into html and css in a bit more detail, although very basic hopefully it will give me the basics and I'll be able to, in time, create a decent site.

Does anyone else have any useful links / tips?

zomex · Nov 4, 2010

Hello,

Do you use a program to do it all with no coding at all?

The website builders and programs (including Dreamweaver) create the HTML/CSS behind the scenes. So every website is made up of code even if it's made with a program but in most cases you won't see it.

Thanks for that.

It seems like learning html and css are essential really in creating a website. I purchased a book that goes into html and css in a bit more detail, although very basic hopefully it will give me the basics and I'll be able to, in time, create a decent site.

Yeah, I think in the long run learning HTML/CSS is really worth it even if it is a bit of a pain to learn in the beginning. Once you know it you'll be able to do what ever you like with your website whenever. It's a great feeling when you're no longer limited by your knowledge. The problem with using a website builder is that they are always limited to some extent. As others have said using a WUSIWUG editor (What You See Is What You Get) can be a good choice. It's worth noting that many of them create bad code which isn't user friendly, a good example being Frontpage. However, Dreamweaver for example is by far the best WUSIWUG editor around because it creates really good HTML/CSS if used correctly. The best thing about using Dreamweaver is that it has a code and visual view. So if you create something in the visual view you'll be able to click the code view and see which HTML/CSS was made.

Does anyone else have any useful links / tips?

When I first started to learn HTML/CSS I would download a free template and make changes. If I didn't know what some code did I would simply 'Google it'. Before you know it you won't need to Google so much because you'll know what every bit of HTML does

But if I could go back in time I'd use a good book to learn much like what you're doing now.

I wish you the best of luck.

Jack

DesignerDrawings · Nov 4, 2010

Here is a little piece of HTML that will just insert straight into Notepad.

<html>
<head>
<title>My First Page</title>
</head>
<body>
Hello World
<a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>
</body>
</html>

Hopefully this will get you started with your site. HTML and CSS can be as simple of hard as you want it to be.

Just remember the number 1 rule of HTML (well it is in our offices) Always close off tags!!!

Example:

<head> // Opens the tag
</head> // Closes the tag

I hope this helps if you need more help with anything don't be afraid to give me a shout.

soft-industry · Nov 4, 2010

Hi. Please, read about HTML5. And read about CMS such as Drupal or Joomla or Wordpress.

Vahur · Nov 13, 2010

Good starting point is using wordpress CMS platform. You can also find any help from w3schools.com.

WebsiteDesigner · Nov 13, 2010

You might want to get a professional, I doubt you'll be able to master what is required to build a decent/professional website in a short time.

But I would recommend Lynda training videos for HTML and W3C Schools tutorials. You'll then have to look at designing websites something which you don't just learn easily takes years. You might also like to look into PHP and this is the best PHP book that I would recommend.

But as someone has already said above CMS are good as well. Start with the easier ones like Wordpress.

dedwardp · Nov 13, 2010

Definitely start out by learning the html and css - html for the pages' information and then the css to lay it out and make it look how you want it to look!

Neither of them are too tricky to pick up and you'll be running with them before long - I found that this site was quite useful in learning the css and, as has been referred to above, the W3C schools are also particularly useful.

dagaul101 · Nov 14, 2010

You can use a template from Wordpress which is a Content Management System, you install it on your domain, a simple step if you have cPanel, and simply add content to it, you can then have a look at the source code to see the format

Andrei · Nov 15, 2010

You can also find free information on Good Tutorials dot com (i'm not allowed to post links yet). From basic to advance. Take your time to practice and don't give up

Wubbleyou · Nov 15, 2010

Wordpress is definately the most user-friendly content management system, but it really depends on the scale you want the site to be.

If its going to be a 3 page site with a homepage, about us and contact page then i'd recommend learning a small bit of CSS and XHTML instead.

Once you get the hang of how to insert images, create <div>'s, and inserting links then you can build from there. I'd recommend using W3Schools as many have mentioned.

Creatania · Nov 15, 2010

Thanks all.

I have been reading up on it and I have created a small website with a few pages, images, div tags, floating etc.

This wasnt for a business as of yet. I dont think I am good enough to create a website for my business. I think Id rather get a professional to do that. I'd just like to learn how to create a website.

lukem85 · Nov 15, 2010

Hi all,
Unfortunately we didn't read this post before handing over funds to WebCreationUK and letting them p**s it up a wall for the last 3.5 months. We have given them until tomorrow to sort things out but its looking unlikely. Their indian designer hasn't really done anything since the beginning of august and I don't even know who he/she is as well seem to communicate through an interpreator.

Either way, wouldn't reccommend them one iota! But we do still need a website built and here would seem look a good place to advertise the business.

I need a web designer with some creative flare to design an recruitment agency website which needs to integrate with our in-house database to keep content live and updated. Needs to have a modern feel but not too much flash because of the google ranking.

Oh and we need a pretty fast turnaround. If you think you can help, please drop me an e-mail. Site probably 13 pages plus.

M@ster IT · Nov 15, 2010

Simply click on the link below and we'll be able to fix your issue and train you how to do it yourself for future reference:

www.masterit-solutions.com/index.php#

We look forward to hearing from you!

M@ster IT

Faevilangel · Nov 15, 2010

Creatania said:
Thanks all.

I have been reading up on it and I have created a small website with a few pages, images, div tags, floating etc.

This wasnt for a business as of yet. I dont think I am good enough to create a website for my business. I think Id rather get a professional to do that. I'd just like to learn how to create a website.

That's a good idea as then you would be able to update your site and not rely on a web designer to do it for you.

Creatania · Nov 16, 2010

I can now make a basic website with links, columns, css, etc. but it looks just that - basic.

Are there any other more advanced options available? Are actual courses (at universities etc) worthwhile? In the long term I would like to be able to make a decent professional looking website without the aid of web designers as such.

dedwardp · Nov 17, 2010

Creatania said:
I can now make a basic website with links, columns, css, etc. but it looks just that - basic.

Are there any other more advanced options available? Are actual courses (at universities etc) worthwhile? In the long term I would like to be able to make a decent professional looking website without the aid of web designers as such.

It depends what you have in mind in terms of making the layout look less 'basic' - if it is that you feel it needs more design to it/to look more professional aesthetically, then that would be a different skillset in that you'd be looking for a designer to produce the layouts for you to then convert in to the html and css site.

DBMark · Nov 17, 2010

Creatania said:
I can now make a basic website with links, columns, css, etc. but it looks just that - basic.

Are there any other more advanced options available? Are actual courses (at universities etc) worthwhile? In the long term I would like to be able to make a decent professional looking website without the aid of web designers as such.

There are two main areas to this. One is making the site look visually appealing, and you need to improve your css and html skills to do this; perhaps also learn some graphic design techniques.
The other side to this is making the site interactive. This is a whole new area, and can include learning about php and mysql (which Wordpress and Drupal use), and possibly other stuff like javascript (again used by the major cms) ajax, xml, even flash.
May be time to invest in something from Waterstones or Amazon? Good luck

JohnGeek · Nov 17, 2010

first of all learn html.

Deleted member 88049 · Nov 18, 2010

It depends on what you want you're website to do. If you want the website to contain static pages (content only which doesn't change) then HTML and CSS would definately get you there.

However if you want your website to do a bit more, for example allow the user to send some information to you via a form, or display information from a database then you would have to look at some server side code. I would suggest php as the server side code with MySQL as the database, however I am bias as I use php and Mysql on a daily basis and have got very little experience with any other server side languages.

wbmkk1 · Nov 20, 2010

As previously mentioned W3schools runs a great online tuition scheme, for newbies to hlml and css.

I learnt all my skills (early 2010) on this site, then looked on Youtube for a few videos, such as at this

www youtube.com/watch?v=v4oN4DuR7YU

It's like your very own tutor

petrillo · Nov 20, 2010

im not a profesional web designer and have recently just got ito web design i started by reading a couple of books about it (whitch is always a good start) then have a play around with dreamweaver and some templates and am now getting a bit of confidance in trying without templates. In my opinion templates are a good way to start.

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