Why was i not told about HTML?

johnplayerblue

Hey
I have just today found something that put a spark back into computers for me and that is HTML. I've nerver been into web building and the like but today i reliased the fun i could have over the winter months learning html and the art of building a site from the ground up. Can some one point me in the right direction with this project with regard to some good books they may have used and maybe a good link or two. I don't want to use dreamweaver, just me and a pc, notepad and a browser and a good book to learn from. I can't belive i've never given much tought to this idea before but i was more into the networking and pc hardware side of things, i did the ccna about 5yrs ago and also have the A+ and N+ for all their worth as i've never spent a day working on anybody elses network or hardware. The last time i felt this entusiastic about something was when i reliased that two pc could "talk" to each other and 18mths later i had my ccna so this is not a whim and would like some real help and advice please

Zascar

www.htmlgoodies.com

challengemaster

heya there. for HTML tutorials, http://www.w3schools.com is a good place

also, if you want to see your work online, use Geocities. just setup an account(its linked to yahoo, so if you already have a yahoo email, you can just sign in) you can use it as a free ftp(only 15mb, but each .htm file is only 1kb)

good luck

Ruu_Old

I used to do web design sometime ago, basic HTML really, notepad and Internet Explorer. I probably have some notes still around from college, if you want to send me PM I can sort it out for you. I rarely get a chance to do HTML these days, am more the hardware side now.

generalmiaow

If you think HTML is fun, just wait till you discover CSS (or it discovers you)

I second w3schools

elivsvonchiaing

johnplayerblue wrote:

I don't want to use dreamweaver, just me and a pc, notepad and a browser and a good book to learn from.

You are on the right track here... dreamweaver is a pain in the arse to work with!!!

When you know html you can put a page together a lot quicker in notepad!

Khannie

HTML's a great starter language. If you enjoy working with it (and once you have some experience), you should have a look at learning other programming languages (Java is a good second language).

Good luck.

kleefarr

I started messing about with Coffecup free HTML Editor not long ago.
Although it does a lot of stuff for you. I've found it's a good way to learn HTML code.

ScumLord

You probably already know this but you can view the html for any website by clicking view>source in IE. Good way to see how the pros do things.

realblackstuff

Book-wise there are two 'bibles':
HTML for the world wide web, 5th Edition, by Elizabeth Castro.
Includes XHTML and CSS

Javascript for the world wide web, 5th Edition, by Tom Negrino and Dori Smith.

Both books are in the "Visual Quickstart Guide" range from Peachpit Press.
I can't recommend them highly enough!

As for editing, go for an improved version of Notepad. I have been using the excellent multi-tabbed "Editpad Pro" for years! (from www.editpadpro.com)
This and similar editors colour the HTML-coding text, which makes it a lot easier to handle.

johnplayerblue

Thanks for the positive feedback ladys and gentlemen. I've been at it for the last few days now and have to say its the most fun i've had with some very basic but powerfull tools in a long time, don't know if any one had a Vic20 back in the day or something simular but you got a book of code, i think it may have been BASIC? but you would spend days entering code and even longer looking for errors and at the end of all that if you were lucky a little man would run across the screen and you would get a feeling like no other, well thats kinda like what this is for me. I'm like a big child with a new toy.

realblackstuff

Have a look at one of the websites I made, using only HTML, javascript, CSS and one very basic flash-item
www.houseofnames.ie

projectmayhem

while you're learning HTML, check out CSS.. 'tis important with all this web2.0 lark going on

BopNiblets

If you do get a page jumbled together (I'm sure you will!)
You'll need webspace to show it off so you can start looking here: http://www.free-webhosts.com/
(You can do a search for what you need there too)

Plenty of ones offering no ads these days.

And if you do it the FTP way, FireFTP is a sweet FTP extension for Firefox.

Tobias Greeshman

There are hundreds of HTML tutorials on the net, just have a quick search into google and away you go.

Haven't coded in HTML in years, although I remember an editor called Html Fix, it's really easy to use. As already suggested get yourself a free hosting site to host your site, a quick search of google should find you one.

zilog_jones

I'd recommend getting some half-useful text editor - Notepad is beyond gammy. I find Notepad++ very good.

Also, with Debian or Ubuntu it's piss easy to set up an Apache (HTTP) server if you wanna do some proper testing, and possibly go onto PHP, MySQL and other fancy website things.

goose06

http://webmonkey.com/ is a good site

galactus

generalmiaow wrote:

If you think HTML is fun, just wait till you discover CSS (or it discovers you)

I second w3schools

After CSS, you can then go onto JavaScript and then choose from many server-side scripting languages (Perl, ASP etc.). Then its databases. And there's loads of fun to be had with Actionscript for Flash of course!