Web Design n00b

[Skymon]

Well, I'm planning on becoming a graphic designer(mainly commercial stuff), but I've never really gotten into web design...which would probably be a really really good thing to learn, eh? sweatdrop

But I just don't know where to start, at all. I've tried wetting my feet with code and things but I never seem to GET it. Could you guys help me out with this? What should I start with? What should I do? Do you have any helpful sites? I would appreciate any advice, at all. 3nodding Thanks a lot! You guys are awesome.  

[K. Ueno]

From personal experience, I started out the 'hard' way learning basic html and working my way up, doing all my work in Notepad. I learned Adobe GoLive and that program is great if you don't want to work with the code too much. Dreamweaver is also really good, almost better, in my opinion. Also, learning CSS is practically a must it seems like anymore, but I'm getting ahead of myself. sweatdrop

No matter what, though, learn the basics of html and what the tags do because you'll still work with them a little even if you use those 2 programs I mentioned. You'll need to know code when you least expect it. Just keep practicing with it and reading up on it and you'll get the hang of it.

And make a point of staying current with what's going on with other webdesigners and just design in general.

Webmonkey
Webmonkey has some really good tutorials for webdesigners, and they're pretty easy to understand. I learned how to do frames loooong ago from this site.

http://www.peachie.nu/
A lot of different things here...
I hope this was of some (any) help to ya...  

[GhoSt-X]

Here is one of the most useful sites ive found for learning we coding ...
http://www.w3schools.com/

other than that you can visit Webmonkey.com which has alot of learning tutorials n stuff...

the best was for a designer to start is with a WYSIWYG editor like dreamweaver... or something evil by microsoft like frontpage (i dont really like it although alot of people do)  

[GhoSt-X]

My advice would be on the w3schools site..
learn HTML ... then learn CSS (cascading style sheets, very important for designing online), and then refine ur html by learning xhtml....  

[GhoSt-X]

Nyxx

From personal experience, I started out the 'hard' way learning basic html and working my way up, doing all my work in Notepad. I learned Adobe GoLive and that program is great if you don't want to work with the code too much. Dreamweaver is also really good, almost better, in my opinion. Also, learning CSS is practically a must it seems like anymore, but I'm getting ahead of myself. sweatdrop

I find that dreamweaver is better, go live is only really better if you want better integration in with other adobe products, however you can choose to go wit hthe full marcomedia suite which has fireworks, which can do limited but most of your basic graphic tasks...

and yeah .. you have need CSS .. its a must ...

i find that if you start with handcoding... you will understand things easier later on ... but if you ar ein a rush to learn .. using a full featured editor is more useful ..  

[Chisa]

We should probably make a start on that html tutorial GhoSt... I'll try do it soon 3nodding HTML is fairly easy to learn compared to other languages, so once you get started, it won't take very long to get good at it.  

[Kitsunehime]

The only way to get the hang of it all is practice, I suppose. sweatdrop

DayDream Graphics has quite a few tutorials. While not every one of them is perfectly clear, many of the beginners ones teach the basic gist of things.

You might also try getting a book on HTML. If you'd rather not go out and buy a copy, perhaps a local library has one (a warning though: library copies aren't always up to date).  

[Suubi]

I think handcoding in a text editor is best - because then you really have to be learning ^^;; But I also think a program such as Frontpage can be useful to help with the more annoying coding (like tables - I always cheat w/ FP). On the other hand, FP and Dreamweaver can add some funky coding in at times. Also, if you want to incorporate PHP, a text editor won't destroy your code, whereas some WYSIWYG editors do.


Once you do finish coding a page, it's good to check it on the w3schools site to make sure it's complient ^^

If you learn HTML, CSS is not difficult and XHTML is quite a breeze.  

[GhoSt-X]

haha .. Boo Frontpage ..boo .. .
Chisa will know what i think about front page..
if you want the best of both worlds..
use dreamweavers split view ...

so u can see what you are coding ...
^_- ...
however.. i have been handcoding lately in notepad .. cause my computer has been lagging ~_~

oh and with notepad.. i use a sort of edited version called programmers notepad ...
not much different apart from nicer tabing and colour..
you might not think so .. but colours really do help ^__^
Programmers Notepad!  

[ZedPlus]

GhoSt-X

oh and with notepad.. i use a sort of edited version called programmers notepad ...
not much different apart from nicer tabing and colour..
you might not think so .. but colours really do help ^__^
Programmers Notepad!

When I used Windows, I always favoured HTML-Kit. It's got a lot of really hardcore features like regex find-and-replace, code snippits library, built in file manager and syntax highlighting for a brazillian formats.

On OS X and other Unicies I mostly use jEdit. It's available for Windows as well, but I prefer HTML-Kit to it. I also use SubEthaEdit if I'm just working on a single file instead of a project, as it's faster.

Also, just on another preferential note, I really hate the code that GoLive puts out. If you're going to go with a WYSIWYG editor, I'd recommend Dreamweaver. It's code is a lot more compliant as well as being a lot easier on the eyes.  

[GhoSt-X]

yah..GO DREAMWEAVER! ...  

[Suubi]

I use Winsyntax from Arisesoft.  

[Skymon]

Thanks everyone! I've started messing around with code in Wordpad, and readin' up on some techniques at Webmonkey. I'll check out some of those programs when I get bored of it. 3nodding Thanks again!  

[Grammar Freak]

Some very good books are "HTML for Dummies" and "Web Desine for Dummies". They over lap some, so I suggest you buy "Web Desine for Dummies", it will help you more then "HTML ..."  

[Markleaf]

I have "Web Pages for Dummies", to. It's good but something even better is "Taking Your Talent to the Web" by Jeffery Zeldman. It focases less on what to learn and more on how to design, even though it goes into HMTL and everything else you'll find at a web site. Zeldman knows the web inside out and backwards and is a hoot to read. Despite the title, this book is for anyone wanting to make web pages, not just designers who already have careers.

ISBN 0-7357-1073-2 US$40.00