Where do I start?

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Hello one and all.
Great site as I'm looking to get some IT qualifications and was about to go blindly down the Computeach route but have now seen varing feedback so I will be more cautious.
You've also opened my eyes to self study but as the title states I don't know where to start. I'm looking at either web-design or programming, is there anywhere I can get a taster to try to work out which would be more suitable.
I currently work for an IT reseller as Product Manager, with one of my duties running one of the web-sites, I helped with the choosing the design, layout etc but they actual design/programing was carried out by the IT Dept. so I think I can bring a lot of commercial experience to either of these sectors.
Therefore if you could suggest other sites or list of certifications I should aim to get I should be able to track down the relevant training material and go from there, with future posts when I get stuck.

cheers

 

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Greetings, Big Dave. Welcome to CertForums. I can't help with web design questions but I'm sure someone will be along presently who can. Glad you found us.

 

Well, it looks like you have a two-fold obstacle here.

I'm not too up on the webmaster certs, but my understanding of them is that they don't teach you the actual programming knowledge you will need. For this you can either teach yourself or take a few relevant college courses (university?) in the specific languages you need to learn. The certs are a separate matter and there are a couple of them to choose from. I think JohnnyMX has some knowledge of them and he'll most likely be around to answer them fairly soon.

HTH.

 

Welcome to CertForums!

 

Hi welcome to CF

I recently did an Open University course that was an introduction to computing in general. It covered some basic HTML and javascript as very much an 'introduction to programming' in general.

I didn't get a cert out of it but it counts towards a degree and I can now move on to other degree programs after completing that course. There's no obligation to spend thousands of pounds on any particular training route.

I would recommend that course as an introduction to programming using HTML and javascript, the course is M150, there's a full course listing for the Open University here.

There are specific web design and development courses I haven't done that you could look at as well. I'm not familiar with webmaster certs but if you want an introductory course for decent prices with no obligation to spend thousands of pounds and with a very reputable academic institution I would definitely recommend the Open University.


Other than that you might want to look at some tutorials/courses on how to use web development packages like Dreamweaver and see if they suit what you're looking for.

 

Hi mate.
What he said is quite right.
There's not much out there for web design certs except CIW.
www.ciwcertified.com has some more info. The courses will teach you an awful lot, but in order to break into the industry you need some kind of portfolio, it's like needing experience in other areas.
Your CIW certification will show that you know the rules and you understand the business, but it won't prove that you can actually design a web page.
So if that's the route you choose, you need to be prepared to get hold of a copy of Dreamweaver (or whatever) and do a bit of extra work.
Don't sign up for a course and be disapointed when these things aren't handed to you.
Check out their website and see if its for you.

 

Hi Dave - can't answer your questions, but I will welcome you aboard CF. Good luck

 

Greetings Dave

 

welcome to the forums dave!

 

Thanks for all your comments and help, this won't be the last time I will be asking, but we were all beginners once and I hope I will be able to help someone in the near future.

 

Welcome Dave. I see you have had tons of quality advice already.

Best of luck, let us know what you decide.

 

Hi, welcome and good luck from me too!

Web site design has changed considerably over the past five years or so. It strikes me that sites have become far more professional than they used to be. There was a time that anyone with a basic knowledge of HTML could build a web site that looked and functioned quite well but now the competition has upped the ante.

Web site design these days has improved because more people with artistic talent are involved, they are the ones producing the look of the pages. Then there is the underlying code. There is much to learn about that underlying code, be it PHP, Active X, Java etc. Most decent sites these days have active content, they are linked to databases MySQL etc. Also CSS (cascading style sheets) is the way forward. Macromedia stuff is complex too and difficult to master, the same can be said of any software that is considered the best in it's field.

I am not a web site designer now even though at one point I thought I could be, I found that things were moving too fast into areas of programming that I was not familiar with and had no real inclination to learn.

Find out as much as you can about all the various technologies involved before committing yourself or your finances. If you still think it is for you, then go for it!

Good luck,

Pete