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Web Design 101

Posted by JaneQCitizen • 6/01/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: learning web design

This may or may not be the proper forum for this question, but a girl's gotta start somewhere.

I need good sources ... forums, blogs, sites about web design. How-to's, why-to's, where-to's and even who-to's - starting with the very basics.

I'm even considering going back to school for it because I find it immensely fun. So, point me to stuff you've found on the WWW would you please? Even good schools (online?).

User Comments

6/01/08

xtremer

basics : w3schools.org

others:
smashingmagazine.com
forums:
forums.sitepoint.com
forums.digitalpoint.com

[reply]
1. 6/02/08
  
  ccRicers
  
  Smashing Magazine is the bee's knees.
  
  For creative inspiration I look into CSS galleries like CSS Remix or Best Web Gallery.
6/01/08

newward

Most software packages will help with HTLM syntax. Check out Dreamweaver (pricey but worth it). If you are really serious, take a look at sites that show you how to hand code first - www.pagetutor.com/html_tutor/index.html, www.webdesigntutorials.net/, www.w3schools.com/ then you'll learn the languages.

My blog covers more theory then coding - but you are welcome to take a look www.newward.com/articles/index.php.

[reply]
6/01/08

richrf

Web design is such a broad field - starting with creative depiction (e.g. Photoshop), to converting to CSS/HTML (DreamWeaver, HTML editor) and then integrating with programming code (e.g Javascript, PHP, ASP) and databases (MySQL).

So a lot depends upon your skills, interests, objectives. If you can provide a bit more info, maybe I can provide some suggestions.

Rich

[reply]
1. 6/02/08
  
  JaneQCitizen
  
  I know a bit about Photoshop, a bit about HTML and CSS, but can't say I understand how they all fit together.
  
  For instance, how to do a background like that on Web Designer Wall? www.webdesignerwall.com I can create art in Photoshop, but I don't know how large to make it, how to code it in the CSS without it tiling, etc.
  
  I also want to learn how to do image maps and fancy/creative navigation tabs.
  
  Edit to add: Need learn the difference and functions of CSS versus php and html -- really, I don't know how it all fits gether.
2. 6/02/08
  
  ccRicers
  
  JaneQCitizen,
  Think of webpages as separated into two parts, the content layer and presentation layer.
  
  HTML should only be focused on the content of your site, and dividing the content into labeled groups (these would be the tags), so that you can make sense of how it's organized.
  
  CSS is about the presentation. It tells the tags what the content in them looks like. You will add all your colors, backgrounds, and text sizes in CSS.
  
  PHP is a more complex area that requires some programming knowledge- it's beneficial for sites where many pages need to be created in an orderly fashion. Wordpress, for example is coded in PHP, and used to produce HTML automatically.
6/01/08

barryfromtexas

This site helped me get started with html www.webdevelopersnotes.com/tutorials/html/

[reply]
6/02/08

richrf

One of the best places to start is:

w3schools.com/default.asp

You can build up your knowledge slowly. One way to do this, is to have a real life project. Maybe customize your own blog theme.

[reply]