Web duhsign!!
- Thread starter N4THA
- Start date
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I taught myself - found Sam's Teach Yourself HTML & CSS really useful, can't recommend this book highly enough.
Also the w3c schools website is well worth bookmarking and visiting regularly.
Jeff
Also the w3c schools website is well worth bookmarking and visiting regularly.
Jeff
Last edited:
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D
Dawg
If you haven't already, get a domain name and some hosting.
If the hosting does an auto install of WordPress all well and good, but a manual one is a doddle, (although it takes longer than the claimed 5 mins usually. Maybe 7 or even 8..)
Don't pay for a theme until you know what you are doing, you will be wasting your money as you won't know what to look for in a theme.
Get a free theme that you can play with, Atahualpa is popular and good to learn on, and keep popping at that until you get a feel for it. You can load other free themes in too and play around to get even more of a feel. Do the same with plugins.
The WordPress forums are quite good, and Spectacu.la, (members here) do a good basic guide to using WP, here.
The WP site is good, with links to all sorts of stuff, including 1136 free themes and 8527 plugins, Enough to keep going.
As Dots and Spots said, learning the basics of HTML and CSS will be time very well spent.
If you get stuck, ask on here.
Good luck.
If the hosting does an auto install of WordPress all well and good, but a manual one is a doddle, (although it takes longer than the claimed 5 mins usually. Maybe 7 or even 8..)
Don't pay for a theme until you know what you are doing, you will be wasting your money as you won't know what to look for in a theme.
Get a free theme that you can play with, Atahualpa is popular and good to learn on, and keep popping at that until you get a feel for it. You can load other free themes in too and play around to get even more of a feel. Do the same with plugins.
The WordPress forums are quite good, and Spectacu.la, (members here) do a good basic guide to using WP, here.
The WP site is good, with links to all sorts of stuff, including 1136 free themes and 8527 plugins, Enough to keep going.
As Dots and Spots said, learning the basics of HTML and CSS will be time very well spent.
If you get stuck, ask on here.
Good luck.
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0
Get a demo version of dreamweaver when you're 12 years old and just play around with it.
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To be honest, though other people may know more about web design than you, YOU know more about how you learn than we do. Or at least I hope you do. There are more resources out there than anyone could look at in their entire life, so the selection of what to use will be largely based on what you like, and what fits with your way of learning.
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To be honest, though other people may know more about web design than you, YOU know more about how you learn than we do. Or at least I hope you do. There are more resources out there than anyone could look at in their entire life, so the selection of what to use will be largely based on what you like, and what fits with your way of learning.
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C
Coppock
I'd personally recommmend staying away from Dreamweaver and other HTML software, without knowing tags to put in when something doesn't look or work right it can become a bit of a headache.
I've tried to help people with HTML websites before and although I wouldn't say it was a complicated process, that's probably because i started learning HTML in the 90s. Adding images tends to be the major hurdle for most people i've worked with, understanding that every image needs to be linked in and stored in the correct folder online just glazes newbies eyes over sometimes (no offense).
I strongly recommend wordpress for a start, its' not the system we use often, but there's lots of free add-ons, free guides, free support, and free themes to get you started. If you decide it's working and you want to improve on it then you can buy a theme or commission a designer to do one for you, a unique one shouldn't cost much, we can design them from scratch from £30 so you're not talking mega money depending on what you're specifically after.
Get hosting with the one click install if you can, most packages come with it now (always check though), then it's fairly straightforward (click add page, fill in the content section, highlight bits and click bold - that sort of thing).
If you want I can install wordpress live on our server and give you a login so you can take a look at what you'd be working with once it's installed?
Let me know, it'll only take me 5 mins and if it helps you then my work here is done
Jen
I've tried to help people with HTML websites before and although I wouldn't say it was a complicated process, that's probably because i started learning HTML in the 90s. Adding images tends to be the major hurdle for most people i've worked with, understanding that every image needs to be linked in and stored in the correct folder online just glazes newbies eyes over sometimes (no offense).
I strongly recommend wordpress for a start, its' not the system we use often, but there's lots of free add-ons, free guides, free support, and free themes to get you started. If you decide it's working and you want to improve on it then you can buy a theme or commission a designer to do one for you, a unique one shouldn't cost much, we can design them from scratch from £30 so you're not talking mega money depending on what you're specifically after.
Get hosting with the one click install if you can, most packages come with it now (always check though), then it's fairly straightforward (click add page, fill in the content section, highlight bits and click bold - that sort of thing).
If you want I can install wordpress live on our server and give you a login so you can take a look at what you'd be working with once it's installed?
Let me know, it'll only take me 5 mins and if it helps you then my work here is done
Jen
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0
- Original Poster
- #12
How difficult is it using an open source software i.e magento, zen cart to do an ecommerce site for a novice? Can anyone tell me what competitors are doing under the keyword search "electronic cigarette".
How much would it cost me to compete by paying a designer to do the site?
How much would it cost me to compete by paying a designer to do the site?
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0
1. learn html - buy a Sams or Dummies book, and work through it from front to back
2. set your self a goal - and don't do anything else until it is exactly what you wanted (dont cut any corners)
3. Learn CSS - get another book - Dummies or Sams, and repeat stage 2
4. Learn how to use photoshop backwards (repeat stage 2)
5. Learn how to slice and dice a photoshop/illustrator file, and then code it in HTML and CSS
6. Learn PHP -run through a "bigger book" and repeat stage 2
7. Learn MySQL, get the book, and learn it hard, repeat stage 2
Then and only then start looking at packages like Wordpress, Joomla or editors like Dreamweaver. Without the skillset (HTML, CSS, image manipulation, PHP and MySql) you will be totally lost
At the same time, you will need to get boned up on graphic design, typography and Internet marketing. Whilst these things wont be essential, a working knowlege of these subjects is invauable
2. set your self a goal - and don't do anything else until it is exactly what you wanted (dont cut any corners)
3. Learn CSS - get another book - Dummies or Sams, and repeat stage 2
4. Learn how to use photoshop backwards (repeat stage 2)
5. Learn how to slice and dice a photoshop/illustrator file, and then code it in HTML and CSS
6. Learn PHP -run through a "bigger book" and repeat stage 2
7. Learn MySQL, get the book, and learn it hard, repeat stage 2
Then and only then start looking at packages like Wordpress, Joomla or editors like Dreamweaver. Without the skillset (HTML, CSS, image manipulation, PHP and MySql) you will be totally lost
At the same time, you will need to get boned up on graphic design, typography and Internet marketing. Whilst these things wont be essential, a working knowlege of these subjects is invauable
Upvote
0
If you want to learn web design because you want to become a web designer or build a complete site from scratch then there is no shortcut. The lists of books and websites that you have (from other posters) makes sense, especially the sams and dummies books and the wc3 website.
If you want to learn web design because you want to get a website up but you don't want pay a designer then I think the Wordpress option will be very cost effective. Get your site up, install a theme. Loads of brilliant people on this forum are really helpful with wordpress.
Not sure on the carts idea if you want e-commerce. That might be a step too far for a complete novice, but there are loads of hosting companies that can provide you with hosting that comes with ecommerce installed and you can probably wade your war through it. Can someone who knows let me know if you can get an ecommerce solution through wordpress. I have heard that you can but it was a my friend's brother's cat type story.
Good Luck with it.
Phil
If you want to learn web design because you want to get a website up but you don't want pay a designer then I think the Wordpress option will be very cost effective. Get your site up, install a theme. Loads of brilliant people on this forum are really helpful with wordpress.
Not sure on the carts idea if you want e-commerce. That might be a step too far for a complete novice, but there are loads of hosting companies that can provide you with hosting that comes with ecommerce installed and you can probably wade your war through it. Can someone who knows let me know if you can get an ecommerce solution through wordpress. I have heard that you can but it was a my friend's brother's cat type story.
Good Luck with it.
Phil
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0
C
Coppock
Not sure about ecommerce on wordpress - it wouldn't surprise me in all honesty! You'll have to look for ecommerce plugins.
I managed to set up our new dedicated server at midnight last night with a one click installer for magento Was really pleased with myself,
I've not yet used magento, so can't comment on how easy it is (looks quite easy from a glance at the interface)
Just be careful if you go for magento - not all hosting will run it, we've had to upgrade to a dedicated server for our clients because it drained the resources in the shared one and refused to install.
Zen Cart is ok, we've used it before to make a couple of shops, but I wouldn't say its easy to get your head around for the first time.
In truth I don't think many of the ecommerce ones are that easy to get to grips with in the first instance.
Good luck!
Jen
I managed to set up our new dedicated server at midnight last night with a one click installer for magento
Was really pleased with myself,I've not yet used magento, so can't comment on how easy it is (looks quite easy from a glance at the interface)
Just be careful if you go for magento - not all hosting will run it, we've had to upgrade to a dedicated server for our clients because it drained the resources in the shared one and refused to install.
Zen Cart is ok, we've used it before to make a couple of shops, but I wouldn't say its easy to get your head around for the first time.
In truth I don't think many of the ecommerce ones are that easy to get to grips with in the first instance.
Good luck!
Jen
Upvote
0
F
Faevilangel
Not sure about ecommerce on wordpress - it wouldn't surprise me in all honesty! You'll have to look for ecommerce plugins.
I managed to set up our new dedicated server at midnight last night with a one click installer for magento
I've not yet used magento, so can't comment on how easy it is (looks quite easy from a glance at the interface)
Just be careful if you go for magento - not all hosting will run it, we've had to upgrade to a dedicated server for our clients because it drained the resources in the shared one and refused to install.
Zen Cart is ok, we've used it before to make a couple of shops, but I wouldn't say its easy to get your head around for the first time.
In truth I don't think many of the ecommerce ones are that easy to get to grips with in the first instance.
Good luck!
Jen
Wordpress has quite a few e-commerce plugins, paid and free but it's nothing compared to a full cart system like magento. I would only recommend wp for small e-commerce sites (15 items max) as it's not built for it and is limited on features.
I would say 99% of e-commerce sites are a pain to get your head around (like learning web design all over), so give yourself a few weeks to learn the workings of the structure.
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0
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