Following on from my CIW/Computeach post...a new direction...

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Hi guys, firstly I want to thank you for all of your help and advice concerning the course I was thinking about and geting into web design - it's had a whole world of value to me, and I've got lot's more to think about now.

Taking on board what some peple here have told me, and what I've been told on another forum, I'm thinking now that I migth start from the bottom and teach myself how to start making websites through books, then afterwards maybe look at some courses...

In your opinion what should my first steps be? What exactly should I be looking at learning first??? HTML? Java? Macromedia Flash?

Also, what books would you reccomend? I've seen the Visual Quickstart guides & the ...For Dummies series, so feedback on those and any other suggestions will be very much appreciated.

 

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I'm no webdesigner by any stretch of the imagination and pardon me if I missed how much you already know, but it seems to me that if you knew nothing, you'd want to start with the basics such as html. If you don't know that, I don't know that learning anything else would be as useful. jmho.

 

Great, thanks for that So, it's 1 point to starting with HTML then.... any more input?

Any suggestions on books? (e.g. visual quickstart guides, etc...)

 

Mikey,

I know a few people who build websites and although they praise packages like Dreamweaver they say you still need to know HTML.

I would have thought it is a bit like driving your car. You have to know the basics of how it works to drive on the road.

I think what you plan is good. Learn HTML, learn about the e-commerce in general and start to build sites when you get confident. Then might be a good idea to look at maybe CIW.

Hope this helps you.

 

Maybe this will help:

http://www.htmlhelp.com/

Also, eventually you'll want to learn PHP and MySQL if you plan on serving dynamic web pages.

 

Boyce is quite right.
You've got to have a basic understanding of HTML or XHTML to get started. Some WYSIWYG editors like Dreamweaver generate horribly complex code. I've seen loads of people who are good at using these packages but have no idea what the code does.
I learned to build web pages with notepad and moved on from there. It's easier to do it that way than it is to work backwards.
You can study CIW and do a bit of practical stuff on the side.

 

Fantastic - thanks loads guys I'm really feeling so much more confident now having gotten some opinions and direction from people in the know!

I think I'll get straight out and buy myself a chunky tutorial book for HTML to get me on the road. The Visual Quickstart guide seems like a good clear book to follow - any opinions on that or any other publications?

Thanks for the link too, that's gonna go straight into my favorites for future reference!

Just while were on the matter, I noticed that part of the Computeach CiW course states "issue of Macromedia Studio MX", so I would assume part of the £4200 fee pays for that.... but still, I'll be much happy paying the average £700 for it when the time comes and folowing books.... then maybe onto a college course or something.

Thanks to everyone again, and if you have anymore pointers please slap them down here!

 

Glad to hear you have found the advice useful. Good luck with your studies

 

You got it right there Boyce. I use Dreamweaver a lot but I still open it up in split view (wysiwyg and code) to see what's going on. When you know HTML then you really know what's going on. Get a good HTML editor *suggests Notetab free here* and search the web for free tutorials and so on. Get a good HTML reference book (maybe O'Reilly) or a good site that you might find and go for it.

 

More great info Thanks nugget, I'll keep hold of that link too...