Learning Web Design

[GeeWhiz#1]

Get yourself some decent books. Once you get used to a certain type of language you can pretty much pick up the others a lot quicker. Go via this route > html,css,php,java script then MySQL.

Please don't go down the route of just editting custom CMS themes . Learning how to code is a valuable skill which will set you apart from a lot.

 

[johnmancho]

okay that should be enough information to start learning. Also does anyone know of a good niche finding software that I could purchase?

 

[whathell]

Check out:
- tutsplus.com (Best value)
- http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/ (For Webdesign Principle Perspective)
- http://teamtreehouse.com/ (For Technical Perspective)

 

[johnmancho]

Thank you whathell. Will take a look

 

[johnmancho]

Anybody know a good niche finding strategy/software?

 

[sommax]

better use magento open source it flexible and easy to manage

 

[imperial444]

try to learn the basics working with wordpress and joomla and then go to the bigger things

 

[Cas87]

 

[tilraen]

Just out of curiosity how can you make lots from knowing web programming?

If you are looking for books 'teach yourself visually HTML' and 'teach yourself visually PHP' are both good, easy to understand books.

 

[ErgoProxE]

Thanks but what are the exact steps I should take? I have no clue where to start. I prefer to go through the non-wordpress route.

Old post, aye? Either way, I just had to comment. As I'm sure others may have...

1. If someone is new, and they wish to get used to the whole design aspect of websites, start with WordPress.

2. WordPress-hosted sites tend to do very good with SEO.



Also, I can get any theme, from T.F. , for a fraction of the price. Name your theme and it's yours! ANY THEME. (PM me)

Just thought I'd also mention that last part, because I am considering offering this service on BHW, if it is not available already. $6 Per for premiums. (The ones that reg. go for like $15+) And $3 for any others.

If a Mod/Admin could please let me know if this is an OK service to offer, I may post a thread in the appropriate section. If not, no harm done.
I will give free of whichever themes to 3 reputable peoples.



EDIT* I learned all about coding sites by just doing what we all do as lads, tearing into it and seeing how it functions! E.G. The Source Code. Forgetting killing yourself with book after book, article after article. Get the very basics, then tear into a source code!
Note: Do not just right-click then copy/paste, click and drag down the source, and then paste it into "Notepad+++" , or whatever that one is. Regular Notepad will fuck up the code!

 

[MidKnight]

Anybody know a good niche finding strategy/software?

Best way I can tell you is to get inside people's heads. For example, what is it that you would look for online?

A member here helped me choose my niches by telling me to make a list of the things me, or anyone I know for that matter, would look for whether online or offline. Hair and skin products, movie reviews, etc are some of things we look for, and so do people. You can find your niches this way, or do a search through Google and Yahoo Answers.

~MidKnight

 

[ErgoProxE]

Anyone who thinks WordPress is junk, has no idea what they're talking about, or they don't use 'em much.. or have just had bad experiences.

Yes, SOME WordPress themes CAN actually hurt your SEO. But you know what? ANY poorly coded source can hurt just the same. For instance, let us say a faulty rel=canonical link in its header, pointing to the site's homepage instead of the proper URL for a page or post (Good mate of mine had this happen to him, said that WP was "Utter shit" because his ranking dropped dramatically. After about 15 minutes of examining the source, the prob revealed itself. So what happened? Google got confused, presumably, and skipped half his shit, thus the drop.

Point being:

IF it's done right, you can't lose. WP is being dubbed "unoriginal"? Hardly. The possibilities are ONLY limited by YOUR imagination, it has NOTHING to do with it being WP or not. So please, don't turn this into a Pepsi/Coke debate, cos it's been beat to death. If you fail, it's your fault, not a theme. And I am talking about creating your OWN, not some hack , free p.o.s. you can get off any site that lists them by the hundreds. I mean actually designing your OWN WP theme. Yanno, there is such a thing... they don't all just pop out of think air.

/tl;dr

Just pick up the basics, and then learn as you go. It's what I did, and I have created some kick-ass WP-based sites that could stand up to probably anything anyone else can throw out there. It's not rocket science. People just think it is because the do not understand all the terminology. It's like "Duplicate Content", and how some STILL think it refers to having the same material as someone else; ie jacking their content.

 

[kewinxD]

Pm if you want some help.

 

[ErgoProxE]

Pm if you want some help.

Hey man, we share 'round these parts! =D