Complete Newbie At Development. What do I need?

[sashas]

I'm planning to start developing some of my names. Nothing flashy. Just some basic articles (which I'll write) on topics that interest me (Movies, Writing and Music). I do not want it to be something like a blog. More like a site, especially a good looking site.
I have experience with photo editing software, but I'm completely clueless when it comes to web design/development.

So guys, what all tools do I need to develop a website? Besides HTML (of which i have a very basic knowledge), what other languages/tools will I need?

Any help here will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[shockie]

after picking up on some html, read up a bit on css.

then go ahead and find a wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) program, such as macromedia(adobe) dreamweaver, microsoft frontpage, or microsoft expressions web.

the other option is to get already made templates from places like oswd.org, templateworld.com, etc. here is where your knowledge of html and css will be especially useful.

 

[sashas]

what about Joomla? I've heard a lot of good things about that software


and thanks for the fast response Shockie. Won't let me rep you. But appreiciated nonetheless.

 

[shockie]

no prob

you could go with a cms like joomla, but if you're looking to make a lot of mini sites, then it might be troublesome. each joomla site will need its own database, and getting each site to look different from one another can take time too. (there are more css templates out there than joomla templates).

you should also consider the work involved in switching hosts. database backups for each site, recreate database hostnames, etc.

 

[mhdoc]

You might take a look at the Google page creator. Nothing fancy, but the price is right.

 

[Erdy]

You can use microsoft word!

Simply type whatever text you want. Choose font, font size, color etc. If you are familiar with tables then use them. Tables are easy way to create a layout. You can make the borders invisible and use the same layout on secondary pages for the same site.

If you want to add a picture to the word page, on top menu click Insert> picture > from file. When you are finished with the page click File > save as web page.

Name the file "index". Because you seected "save as web page" the file will be saved as a .html file insted a .doc file. At the same location where you have saved the index.html file, Ms word will create a seperate folder containing all images used in that page.

Next, take the folder with images and the index.html and put them inside the folder called "public_html" in your hosting account.

After you have managed to create an online page with ms word you should try microsoft frontpage. Frontpage is smillar to ms word but has more features for web design. If you have a ms office cd, frontpage should be included there. You might even have it already installed on your computer.

Don't try dreamweaver or joomla or wordpress.

 

[Barrucadu]

Don't try dreamweaver or joomla or wordpress.

Why not? Joomla is a CMS, which are kinda designed for making websites with. Wordpress is a blog, and not what he is after, so there was no point mentioning it. From my experiance, Dreamweaver is much easier to use than FrontPage, and generated tidier code.
However, I can't really suggest anything as I use notepad now.

 

[Erdy]

Why not? Joomla is a CMS, which are kinda designed for making websites with. Wordpress is a blog, and not what he is after, so there was no point mentioning it. From my experiance, Dreamweaver is much easier to use than FrontPage, and generated tidier code.
However, I can't really suggest anything as I use notepad now.

Hello Mikor,

I agree that joomla is a great tool. You can create sophisticated websites with joomla. On the other hand I think it is too advanced for OP. If you are new to web design you shouldn't start with joomla. You should start by creating HTML based sites that use tables.

About dreamweaver I disagree with you. I think it is one of the most confusing programs out there. It is especially popular among professional web designers who are good at some degree at coding. I have used Dreamwever a few times and this program is not good for table based design but it is a very good one for CSS based design. Of course CSS and advanced coding is not something you want to learn at the beginning.

Have you worked with tables? I did. I love tables. I can create the most advanced tables with MS word. When it comes to web design tables can take you a very very long way. You should use them and a program like front page is much better than dreamwever for creating tables.

I mentioned wordpress because there are people out there who use wordpress to create websites, not blogs. They are using wordpress like a CMS. I once met a guy who couldn't design a simple website with 3 or 4 HTML pages but he was very comfortable using wordpress.

I told him that I needed a very simple website and he designed me a website with wordpress that uses mysql databese and php. Because I don't understand anything about these I couldn't use his design. I needed something simple that I can alter easily.

 

[bro]

xhtml + css + some basic graphic designing, NO cms recommended if someone is willing to learn basic web designing IMO .. Mogli this design would take couple of hours for an experienced designer so a newbie can manage to do that in couple of weeks with passion to work ..

the best way to learn is to download some free templates and mess with them , play with stylesheet codes , School is always there to help you

 

[WhiteWebServices]

I suppose Word and FrontPage serve a purpose if you struggle with computers and can't find anyone to help you, but I wouldn't recommend either to anyone. Much better would be to learn to build a site using NotePad (which needn't be that difficult), or get help.

All you really need to create a small, good-looking website is some graphics software, a text editor, some knowledge of html / css, and an ftp client. It's only for larger sites that Content Management Systems like WordPress and Joomla are necessary.

WordPress is very user-friendly, and can be used for more than just blogs (just create Pages rather than Posts). If your site isn't commercial, then there are also people who'll help you get it installed for free. You would need a separate installation of WordPress for each site, but WordPressMU can be used for multiple sites.

Joomla is much less intuitive, and when I last looked at it the code it produces wasn't as good as the code output by WordPress (because Joomla relied on tables for layout; please correct me if this is no longer the case). I think it would be overkill in this case anyway.

 

[Zurvan]

If you're planning to create multiple sites, take the time now to learn HTML & CSS. Don't learn how to create table based sites in Word / Frontpage, and then when you want to do something useful, you need to relearn. Learning CSS after getting used to table-based layouts is much harder than learning CSS fresh.

Wordpress would probably do what you want, but it would be worthwhile to write it by hand as well.

 

[shockie]

why tables for layout is stupid: http://www.hotdesign.com/seybold/

in addition to all those points, it's also much better to design using css for search engine optimization purposes.

 

[sashas]

thanks for all the input guys. Really appreciate it.

Rep added to all (atleast to those that NP will allow me to rep!).

I think I'll take some time out and learn CSS and HTML. Its better than fiddling around with FrontPage or Word. I'm very comfortable with computers, so learning CSS and HTML should not be too complicated.

Thanks again.

 

[Erdy]

I have found CSS too complicated because all I wanted to do was to create a few web site with a few pages. It was like learning French just to order a French meal. CSS is for those who are considering web design for long term.

Anyway, if you think you want to learn CSS my suggestion is get dreamwever and get these training DVD's:
http://www.totaltraining.com/prod/adobe/dreamweaver8_adv.asp

It says training for dreamwever 8 but actually the lessons are all about CSS. I got these DVD's from a friend for free and throw them away because I hated CSS.

 

[mwzd]

Easiest method for a noob at web design with some experience in graphic design is Dreamweaver. Design in photoshop / illustrator, export to Dreamweaver, slide and dice, use filter to export to required file type and voila.

Why get into the custom thingie though? Tons of kick-ass templates available for as low as $10 at places. Lots of free CSS templates too - just add graphics. W3C valid XHTML and CSS is mandatory for Web 2.0 entrants. Tough call for a newbie, specially with all the hacks required for cross browser compatibility.

Best way forward - use Wordpress - easy enough to use and easy enough to expand functionality. Tons of available add-ons and W3C compatible templates. Plus a real blog (not splog) creates an added sense of belonging for your visitors.

 

[Erdy]

I knew somebody would suggest wordpress. I knew it.
Mikor didn't I tell you?

Let me explain when or why you would need a website that has a mysql database and php pages. Assuming users can create content (outside a forum area) or you have to add news pages or new articles. In a situation like this where new pages need to be added regularly even by ordinary users then it makes sense to use wordpress, joomla etc.

 

[mis_chiff]

My 2 cents sashas,
I knew absoulutely nothing
about development when I started .
Dreamweaver was all I had in my computer at the time.
With no knowledge of what I was doing, and asking
questions here, I put together my first Health site. By playing around in the dreamweaver, I have learned
alot, but still not enough to start from a blank page.
The templates provided from DW are easy to manipulate to what I want, colors, location etc, not saying it's for everyone...
but me personally being a total n00b when I started, I found it quite easy to understand, and able to pop out mini-sites rather quickly.
And knowing what I do now, I still wouldn't use photoshop (way too
difficult for me) :red: Maybe in the future!
Good luck

 

[Cicero]

Sasha, Id suggest Joomla for those article site or if you want it impler, use wordpress.

If you are planning to build standalone sites, use dreamweaver with a css template :D

 

[Zona]

I would suggest you checkout Wordpress (wordpress.org) and nvu (nvudev.com).

Wordpress is a great tool for beginners. Especially if you want to set blogs.

Nvu is a great open source web authorzing tool.

 

[Cray]

You can just download a template from a template site (http://www.oswd.org, http://www.templatemonster.com) and get Dreamweaver/NVU/Frontpage/Microsoft Expression Web and edit it through that.

You can also use a CMS script - e107, Joomla, Mambo, phpWebsites

If your web host has Fantastico, you can find the Templates section and use one of those.