Just starting web design

steve_

Hey guys iv decide to start studying webdesign, im starting a course in Ballyfermot which involves some web design but not enough to be a well rounded designer id say. The course is two years then ill do a final year in Scotland, by then i hope to be savvy enough to do some freelance and make some money.

My question is where to start? Iv got a subscription to lynda and very much like how they go about teaching. Is there languages to should focus on first more then others? Or take em all on at once?

My plan is to start with HTML/XHTML and CSS, then move onto MySQL and PHP. But i dont even know if this is a good idea. Thoughts and suggestions are very welcome.

steve_

Also just curios as to whether i should look at WYSIWYG editors just yet? I understand they do a decent bit of work for you. Im not fond of cutting corners and id rather know how to code myself as opposed to a editor doing some of the work. Are they a gift or a burden?

BostonB

If you are knocking out loads of similar sites they are handy.

If you want to learn it, don't use them. Once you've learnt then use them.

Where to start? Build a site, get it online and keep improving it.

Evil Phil

Moved from development. As far as WYSIWYG goes, using an IDE is recommended for sure. I'd leave out the WYSIWYG though, learn how to write the code yourself.

Fergaloc

i think you should go with the programming languages you said there, html/xhtml , css , php and mysql

currently in learning php and a bit of html mostly php though
i recommend using PHP and MySQL Web Development (Edition 2 , the one is use) , if its php and mysql you want to learn (im soon going to be learning mysql as well as php)

Codelobster is a great editor for what ever you want to learn

steve_

Hey lads im started html and css there about two weeks ago and things seem to be going fine, im working through two dvds, one from total training and one from lynda.com.

Anyways im enjoying it and things are starting to make sense which im glad about because i was afraid it would not click with me. Plan still remains to do html/xhtml and css for now then php and mysql later. But weirdly enough iv only recently discovered flash. I realize how important flash is now in modern websites, so does this mean ill have to learn action script too in order to use flash properly? Seems like ill never learn all this stuff!! just out of interest do any of you guys find things easier going forward? say you start a new language, would you find it easier seeing as you've worked with other languages before or is a new process over and over?

Pixelcraft

Steve_ you can't do it all. You can't be an excellent designer, flash & php programmer. Pick something, and specialise. BTW, flash has never been less important than it is now

steve_

Yeah i kinda guessed that. Its advice more then anything that i need because i dont know what i should focus on. I feel i need to learn all this stuff because frankly i dont know what can be achieved with what languages. Like i said im doing html/css now at the moment, is this enough to be a proficient web designer?

Creamy Goodness

Fergaloc wrote: »

i think you should go with the programming languages you said there, html/xhtml , css , php and mysql

currently in learning php and a bit of html mostly php though
i recommend using PHP and MySQL Web Development (Edition 2 , the one is use) , if its php and mysql you want to learn (im soon going to be learning mysql as well as php)

Codelobster is a great editor for what ever you want to learn

being really pedantic here but only the highlighted is actually a programming language, rest are markups/style sheet language/database manipulation language.

just annoys me as i've seen plenty of people list these in particular as programming languages that they've learned in college :pac:.

steve_

Duly noted good sir!! Thats my ignorance and lack of knowledge thats showing there.

Creamy Goodness

steve_ wrote: »

Duly noted good sir!! Thats my ignorance and lack of knowledge thats showing there.

it's common enough even for people who have been using said technologies for neigh on 10 years.

my advice would echo what most have said in this thread.

start with html/xhtml/css using an IDE or a text editor that has syntax highlighting examples being editplus/notepad++ on windows or smultron on mac (my personal favourite). if you walk away from this thread doing just one thing let it be what Evil Phil said, do not use a WYSIWYG editor they allow for a quick turnaround but more often than not are a pain, cost an arm and a leg and 9/10 do not adhere to w3c web standards (set of rules you should adhere by when designing websites as they ensure cross-browser interoperability).

get a website online, ask for feedback, improve it.

then start doing some dynamic stuff on this website using php and mysql, small things like say store your contact details in a db, then use php to display them on your website instead of 'hard-coding' (eg. copy and pasting them into the html files) them into the html.

www.tizag.com is a good place to start, moving on to www.sitepoint.com when you get a bit more advanced.

steve_

Thank you very much ill do just that. Iv been using notepad++ since i started and nothing else. Cheers for the advice guys

Pixelcraft

steve_ wrote: »

Like i said im doing html/css now at the moment, is this enough to be a proficient web designer?

Not at all, you're forgetting a vital part - Actual design, learn the theory, grids, typography

cormee

Pixelcraft is spot on in both of his comments, focus on design or development, not both.

And his second comment is something I always wonder about, people seem to forget about the design element of web design. You need to understand form as well as function.