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Learning Web Design
EmperorSeth
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
In short, as long as I'm laid off and unemployed anyway, I might as well use the opportunity to better myself. I was thinking of learning more about web design, for starters. I have a limited understanding of html, but that's about it. I want some suggestions on how to expand my knowledge, with the long-term hope of having at least a web page up and running by the end of the week so I can start tweaking it. I could even start my own webcomic! It would be a terrible, terrible webcomic because I can't draw, but not the point.
You know what? Nanowrimo's cancelled on account of the world is stupid.
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Although I prefer a good book. Friends of Ed and New Riders both have excellent books on CSS/XHTML which will give you a solid grounding and understanding of web developing (which is what you really mean, design is like, this whole other discipline).
Like developing is the programming in the code and all that. Design is the front end, so the pretty pictures, fonts, and easy on the eyes and for the user to navigate. They blend into each other from what I know. But I am interested in this thread, I would like to learn more about this too so, people help us!
Developing is making the design still look good in valid semantic XHTML, properly separating content from layout and design.
Not exactly. What Echo said, basically.
Front end and back end are still both typically the concern of developers. The 'back end' is usually databases etc. that create, store and drive the content for the front end. So, for example, the pa forum has a back end which is essentially a large database of user profiles, posts etc. that is fed to and populated by a php/XHTML front end, which is the bit we use.
Design is typically concerned with how a website looks, but that includes things like user interfaces, user experience, legibility and accessibility and so on - design, generally.
There is usually a lot of cross over though, if you're building a website by yourself then you're probably going to have to design it as well, but w3schools.com won't teach you how to do that. Not well, anyway (although I think it probably covers some basic accessibility issues, W3C and all that).
Let's teach the guy to crawl before we teach him to compete in triathlons, eh?
As far as "back-end" goes. If you're the only one that is editing the site DreamWeaver is great. Good management for files and the thing can edit almost anything web related. If there is going to be multiple people editing the site it might be good to look into an OpenSource CMS system - which you'd need to get familiar with.
But for basics - CSS and XHTML are your friends.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
Hah true, but if you're doing something like .NET it's very simple to use AJAX. If you're using something else it can be more complex but since he was already a software developer (if I remember correctly), I'm sure he can pick it up quickly :P
If you're looking at this as a genuine career opportunity, stay the fuck away from w3schools. Buy yourself a decent set of books and learn it the right way.
You should start your learning with HTML and CSS. Move on from there.
QFT
Now adays most basic websites that don't have any e-commerce or interactivity are not very complicated when you look at the source. Everything is broken apart into divs and you could change the complete format of the site by editing the CSS file.
Also, look in to server side includes
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
Will something like Dreamweaver let me drag and drop images and whatnot or do I still need to be a competent coder to get things to make a decent web page.
My page will just be pretty simple, I just need basic site navigation, some pictures/backgrounds and maybe a slideshow. The user won't be able to do anything on my site except navigate between pages.
What should I do?
(my apologies for the thread hijack, it seemed related)
My advice is if you just want a simple website, stay away from Dreamweaver. It will just cause you headaches until you know how to properly code and is overkill for a simple site anyway. It's a powerful tool, but as a result not very accessible to new users. At first glance, it looks like a DTP-type application where you can just throw images down wherever you want them ala InDesign or Quark but if you try using it like that you will end up fighting with hidden demons that are determined to make a mess of any layup you try to create.
Any good CSS/XHTML book will guide you through the process of making a site just like you've described using nothing but a text editor.