Html

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I am in the process of setting up my first website, but my web design knowledge is very poor.

How did you learn HTML & CSS? Did you go on a course, do a degree, learn online or read a book?

I want to start learning this as soon as possible and was curious to know if there was a method that any of you preferred.

Thanks,

James

 

[maria102]

Hi James

Are you using web authoring software? if so, which one?

 

[Interconnect IT]

At what level do you rate your time? £10 an hour?

There's plenty of html and css books out there, but I'd say that to reach any level of competence you're looking at hundreds of hours of time, and then you'll still have to deal with various compatibility issues.

A cheaper way, in terms of time, is to use a decent content management system and a suitable theme. With luck it'll come with a nice WYSIWYG editor and a you'll find a nice and easy to configure theme that'll reflect your company's image.

Web design and development is hard and time-consuming to learn. Unless you want to make it a key skill of yours I simply wouldn't bother and would either use off the shelf items, or go to a pro.

But I would say that - our company builds websites

 

[stugster]

http://www.webmonkey.com/

That's where I started out years and years ago.

On the Right hand side there is a "HOW-TO LIBRARY", go for Authoring and then HTML basics

 

[stevesimo]

Try www.w3schools.com It contains tutorials on all the main web disciplines (HTML, CSS, PHP, ASP, SQL and much more) - and its FREE!

I use it purely for reference purposes on a regular basis

Hope this helps,

Steve (Blackpool)

 

[ImproveSearchListings]

Thanks for you replies so far.

I don't have a web authoring program yet, but do have a content managment system. I have been using the editor and been able to tweak a couple of bits.

Really, I've picked up a few minor parts by changing parts, seeing what it does, then changing them back.

I am actually setting up an affiliate store - very, very early stages, but it is live. If you really want to look, I can PM you the address, but I don't want it properly scrutinised just yet.

I like the look of the webmonkey tutorials stugster - I can see myself spending a bit of time on there.

Thanks Steve, I'll take a look at that too.

 

I'd reccomend using microsoft front page. it's the eaiser for beginners to knock out a decent webpage or even just download a free website template and just replace the text with your own stuff.

 

[stevesimo]

Purely from a coding point of view Dreamweaver is a much better program for editing web pages. Front Page works in pretty much the same way although probably slightly easier for the absolute beginner. One of the main problems I have with it is that it produces spaghetti code which is often difficult to read and maintain. This is only based on my experience of working with sites which have been created with FrontPage. Also I know Dreamweaver has a built in facility for cleaning up HTML to remove redundant HTML tags, not sure if FrontPage has this facility.

Hope this helps

Steve (Blackpool)

 

[Page]

Have a look at Joomla - very clever and free.

I can pass you onto someone that could host your site - but to be honest it is dead easy to set up yourself on his site.

 

[danmaull]

www.web-source.net i think i used if the link doesnt work search for web source on google

 

[sideorder]

I'd reccomend using microsoft front page. it's the eaiser for beginners to knock out a decent webpage or even just download a free website template and just replace the text with your own stuff.

Front Page produces some of the worst code I've seen in a long time - a good example is if you create a web page in Word (yes some people do this) and save it as an HTML page - your end up with hidden styles and your page size will be three or four times larger than needed. The best way is to use something like notepad or UltraEdit - you do need some knowledge on HTML but it's easy to pick up.

Lee
sideorder.co.uk

 

[Codefixer]

I started of with notepad and started to learn by hand coding. Took an awful long time to develop my first website but stood me in good stead.

I'd also recommend w3schools.com

 

[dave_n]

I started of with notepad and started to learn by hand coding. Took an awful long time to develop my first website but stood me in good stead.

I'd also recommend w3schools.com

lol...i still use it sometimes!

 

[sideorder]

I still see jobs advertised in London saying, only apply if you can code HTML in notepad eg, Front Page users need not apply.

Lee
sideorder.co.uk

 

[abel]

As a relative newbie to web design/development (2 years) I learnt html and css at an intensive training course and then went on a self-learning curve.

Whilst I agree with the comments about using a CMS (Content Management System) e.g. Joomla, Wordpress, etc. as they allow you to create comprehensive and professional sites quickly, easily and with very little knowledge. I would also say that to make the sites stand out from the crowd and have complete control, some knowledge of html and especially CSS is a must.

opensourcecms.com/ is a great site where you can test out various CMS's to see which suits you best.

and of course (as mentioned before) w3schools.com/ is the definitive reference site.

As almost every CMS system relies heavily on php, knowing html (xhtml is the latest standard) will only really help with specific posts/pages and the WYSIWYG editors that are now supplied deal with that quite well anyway.

I would recommend concentrating more on learning CSS, as this will have a more dramatic effect on the look and feel of the site than learning xhtml, although a basic understanding of xhtml is very useful.

I would not recommend Microsoft front page. Notepad et al. are good for pure coding but for newbies it can be very daunting.

I personally found dreamweaver very useful in it's mixed view option so you can view the page and see the code at the same time, which is a good learning tool to see the relationship between the two.

 

[abel]

I still see jobs advertised in London saying, only apply if you can code HTML in notepad eg, Front Page users need not apply.

You must be kidding?

 

[Kitecom]

I don't have a web authoring program yet, but do have a content managment system.

Realistically your content management system should look after 75% of your coding needs along with a template to match. Most of the open source CMSs have masses of templates provided by the community around them - unless you plan to build your own template from scratch that is, in which case my advice would be to ignore HTML, PHP or anything else and just concentrate on the CSS specific to your CMS.

There are a good few useful tools to help with the CSS - the best being the "Web Developer" plugin for Firefox.

Good luck!

 

[snipe12]

Unless you have lots of time, I wouldn't bother.
I used to be a web developer by trade and in my opinion anyone can create a website but few can do it properly.

One thing you have to think of is it really worth spending so much of your time to learn how to create a website, not know the tricks to get it to rank well on a search engine etc just to save say £500 for a smallish website?

Finally HTML and CSS are only the start. If you want any decent bits on the website such as an enquiry form then you need PHP or again pay for software.

 

[JadeRose]

Buy a good step by step book for dreamweaver and go through it. Make sure it covers all what you want to learn.

Regards JR

 

[gyearsley]

I'd recommend using microsoft front page. it's the easier for beginners to knock out a decent webpage or even just download a free website template and just replace the text with your own stuff.

Frontpage is Now MS Expression Web google for "MS Expression Web" ( still cannot post URL's yet b'cos I dont have 15 posts made under my login )


I have not used this version yet, but I hope it is an improvement over frontpage, whilst it has already been said that frontpage is a little easier for beginners, it does seem to include extra code in any web site designed with it which ultimately bulks the site out unnecessarily.

 

[Kitecom]

I have not used this version yet, but I hope it is an improvement over frontpage, whilst it has already been said that frontpage is a little easier for beginners, it does seem to include extra code in any web site designed with it which ultimately bulks the site out unnecessarily.

I would always strongly advise against Frontpage in any of its forms... For example, if you make a page with FP and then run it through something like Browser Cam you'll see the first problem. I've also noticed that it engenders a lot of bad coding habits that take a long time to "unlearn" once you reach FP's limits and want to push on to the next stage...

 

[gyearsley]

You should really quote my whole post as it will make sense a little more to others, i think you misunderstand my post, i too do not really rate frontpage to be honest but was making the point known that Frontpage isnt called Frontpage anymore.

 

[ChilledDJ]

I began by looking around amazon etc and reading the reviews of all the web design books to find out on the experiences of others before buying. I've now bought two : Castro's HTML, XHTML and CSS for the world wide web, and am now working my way through CSS the missing manual by McFarland. I outgrew Castro's book in 3 months but it provides a very good starting point imo going through HTML you'll need to know and some CSS skills and is very useful as a reference. She even provides a couple of useful PHP scripts although doesn't explain how or why they work as fully as I'd expect (time to buy a PHP book methinks!). Another criticism is it doesn't deal as thoroughly with brower incompatibilities as the missing manual, but I suppose it doesn't have to as it's meant as a starting point! This missing manual also has lots of links to articles on the web and useful websites. So, imo, read reviews of books and software and decide which one will work best with your current IT skill set and go for it!

 

[JustOneUK]

As an expert at being a newbie I would say go straight for joomla and dive into as many joomla forums as you can find - follow the golden rule ASK ASK ASK....and ASK again.

If you go down the frontpage/dreamweaver route then you will still have to learn the whole cms side of websites - so you might as well start out with one - 3 steps up the ladder right from the start.

James.

 

[UKSBD]

I do everything with notepad and found the best way of learning was by just
viewing source of existing pages, saving it and then working backwards.

 

[Dizzydiza]

My very first attempt on creating a website I used Word then I got Dreamweaver. I now create my church website and and my business website using Dreamweaver and I have absolutely no knowledge of any computer language at all. Ok the websites are not very professional looking but they do they job. Have a look. Oh, and yes, I really do need to get rid of the frames on the church website....its just finding the time!
www.shctk.co.uk
www.dizatiaras.co.uk