I Want To Learn Web Design

G'day I am really keen to learn web design I know i need to learn HTML but every website I go to is not very helpful, just wondering if someone can help me with a decent website/books or can teach me a few things.
Also wondering if it is worthwhile doing any courses in this right now or to wait?
Know any good schools in Melbourne Australia
Thanks.

reply to post by pixiekaram


Downlload the trial version of Dreamweaver, it's a WYSIWYG editor (What You See Is What You Get), it's great if you have 0 knowledge to get used to it, then you will understand what the other sites talk about

www.w3schools.com...

everything you need is here, except your own server to actually make a site on.

ed: using dreamweaver isn't learning, once you have the basics down you can use notepad =/ and its really not complicated, compared to say c++


ps: if someone can explain how to post html code clips here I will, because previous attempts cut off half the tags =( which is not helpful to anyone.

Well, there is a lot out there,

I'm an enthusiast, so I know the basics enough to give you some tips if you have something in particular you want to do.

but google is your best friend...try searching for what you're aiming ot do, and you will find a lot of examples floating around out there.

as far as beginning from absolute scratch....well, the thing you need to know about web design is form follows function. get the syntax right and you can do basically anyhting you want.

experiment, and if you have some ideas of things you want to see on a web page, I can maybe provide some code snippets to demonstrate.

reply to post by whatsinaname


i found that website does it actually show you how to write it all together? coz it kept skipping steps.

yes it does, me and several of my real life friends learned html with this website, I made a website for my band at the time using frames and a .tk host for ease of use

ed: it even has in browser code examples, but the best way is to use notepad and save as .html after your done and open with your actual browser. some browsers don't accept old codes, some are picky.

reply to post by mremonkey


you can try this...just remove the spaces...


url = http : // www .abovetopsecret. com/ forum/ thread753868/ pg1#pid123

< a href=" " etc

The BEST wysiwyg edited there ever was that existed was the old Netscape Navigator composer.. I think it was called composer...

It was simple. No rubbish, you make a page in it, and you look in notepad - Exactly the same code, not like these new things that ruin things to make them 'compliant' - bs imo.

I make a web page, if I fail to include support for something, that is a learning curve.

I don't want some funk app making everything easy, so if in the case Im without such funky apps, I can use notepad and still come out on top.

Notepad is the best editor. However, if you need to check on the fly, yeah... try the ^^.

Or go download seamonkey and use the netscape navigator composer there

www.seamonkey-project.org...

SImple, easy, drag and drop. and from there you can do your worst to the code. Unlike the adobe things, which basically tell you to sod off, and everytihng is their way or .. you're just not paying enough.

I cannot fathom how to post html here without it being cut off and effecting the forum page, so i'll just say this. you can write a working html page with as little as 8 lines. less even. once you get the html, head and body tags just go from there and use the referance pages for images and such when you get stumped. good luck!

another good program for html editing is htmlkit....

it can be used as simple as a text editor,

or you can set it up as a full fledged php / ftp editor and site management tool

lots of plug ins and great community support,

also, the colour coded html markup is easy to read

I am also trying to learn web design. I have CorelDraw Web Site Creator., but its really over my head. So I'm going to follow this thread. Thanks for links and help from all you members and thanks for posting this thread.

reply to post by whatsinaname


Hi. I found this thread to be helpful.www.abovetopsecret.com...

Hey. Im a web designer / developer....i remember how hard it was for me and couldnt find much help.....also people tell you to learn much out dated things..ill be more than happy to show you the ropes if there was some way to make contact on this site without posting my email address for all to see..if so contact me and ill get you going in no time..im currently working on something big and dont mind teaching becuase i think more people should help their fellow man..gl mate

When I first got interested in HTML and authoring websites, I had run into the same problem perusing the web and found HTML Goodies.

It explains quite a lot for the beginner and into more advanced aspects such as CSS, _javascript, perl, and many others depending on how far you want to go.

can any1 help via msn please?

reply to post by pixiekaram


Hi,

When I first learnd HTML, I found this website to be very helpful. Lisa explains all
The website is aimed at teaching children HTML, and is split into sections that give you a step by step guide to creating your first page. I used this to understand how HTML worked and then went ahead and googled to further my knowledge. The website is kind of old, so maybe some of the tags are outdated, but I think it explains very clearly how HTML and webpage creation works. futhermore the site also has a CSS section, so when your ready you could learn that from there as well.

Hope this helps - good luck!

EDIT: upon rereading theabove site I realised it i now being updated again - so not so old. also has a _javascript section in progress. The above link I gave you is for HTML basics, click HTML link in her tool bar for thestep by step guide to actually writing code.

I'm willing to help. Send me a PM if it's possible, otherwise post in this thread. I'll provide instructions to contact me on MSN or AIM.

I do not suggest WYSIWYG editors for learning html. Those editors add a lot of rubbish to code that a developer would never use just writing it. The bare basics of html and css are very simple to learn. I've been messing with html/css/php code for about 13 years now and I still will find a simple template/script to learn how certain things are done. w3schools is a good resource. For a quick start I suggest download simple html web templates to your hard drive, right click and edit with notepad.exe make simple changes first. then open it from your computer. It doesn't have to be on a web server for .html files, it should open it in a browser. You can easily learn the basics simply by doing this. I think this method would also help you learn to read the code first, which is needed to know before you can write it. As you progress get different templates with different styles/functions, like ones with css.

I would say dreamweaver... Because once you get past WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editing you may move on to scripting and DW is also excellent for that as well..

Dreamweaver MX 2004 is about as old as I would go though.

wow, all this mention of WYSIWYG and MACROMEDIA Dreamweaver I managed not to FACEPALM...

To the OP: UTU me, I am in Fremantle (closer to your timezone than anyone from the US or UK) and have been working in the web industry since the later 90's. Forget Dreamweaver, DW is like Sharepoint; Its just an excuse for bad code!.

There are many good places to learn web in Melbs--but the best place is at your own computer. I had some dealings with RMIT when I still worked HigherEd, so if institutional based learning is your thing, maybe check them out.

Also, dont knock TAFE when it comes to web--I have looked over potential candidates with degrees for candidates with just a TAFE Cert III. Why: because their whole course is devoted to web, and not just one or two units that only go for 13 weeks.

Grab a CMS and play with it--most site owners / administrators these days dont know HTML / CSS / PHP, but they still manage their sites with their CMS software (Wordpress, Drupal, TYPO3, et al). Some CMS software does require a bit of knowledge to set up (TYPO3 isnt great for a noob!), but most are openSource so there ios a whole community of support there if you need it.

oh, and if anyone mentions to you J!--hit them with a cricket bat