Slashdot Mirror
Webpage Building Guides for the Uninitiated?
smilingbandit2 asks: "For the past several months, I've wanted to dive into the world of webpage design. I'm not looking to creative anything cutting edge or even terribly useful, just hobby pages and weblogs that look professionally made. Unfortunately, my knowledge of website design consists of one basic HTML class I took in highschool, about 8 years ago. I feel comfortable enough coding in HTML, but it doesn't give me the results I want, and I know nothing about any other coding languages. Now, I'm not scared of learning new software or languages - in fact, I'm eager to expand my skillsets - but I don't know what to study. XML, Perl, AJAX - nothing but alphabet soup to me. I don't about anything beyond HTML. I'm completely uninitiated in advanced web design. Now, I turn to Slashdot for help. Where should I begin on the path to design enlightenment? What're the languages, programs, or whatever that are worth knowing? Are there good guidebooks, useful websites, or insightful forums? Are formal classes worth a damn? What do you frequently use on your websites? Any helpful advice, generally?"
Good news, friend. XHTML, CSS, and PHP are the three major languages of the web today, and you already know one. XHTML is very, very similar to HTML. One change, for example, is the/>. The reason is that all tags must have a closing tag, like <a> </a> does. Lots of other stuff is mostly the same. The one big change you'll need to make is that all style tags have been dropped from XHTML. No more <b>! You use CSS now. Grab a book on moving from HTML to XHTML. There are lots out there! :)
tag being replaced with
As for programming languages, you'll probably be more comfortable with PHP than Perl. Again, I'd grab a getting started with PHP book and work your way in.
As for programs...I do everything by hand in Notepad. It makes for very sleek webpages, and there's no other way to get full control over your page's code.
Stick with it. I was in your shoes about 3 years ago, and now I do this for a living
ACs are modded -6. I don't read you, I don't mod you, I don't see you. Don't like it? Don't be a coward.
XHTML, CSS, and one server-side language (I like Perl, but use whatever you want) are really all that you need. You might benefit from some Javascript knowledge, but lack thereof won't kill you.
DO NOT hack up CSS unless you must. I've been developing websites, often professionally, for the last 10 years, and I have NOT ONCE needed to use a CSS hack because IE or some other browser is displaying something incorrectly. You can almost always fix these problems using standard XHTML + CSS without relying on hacks, and your code will be more robust as a result.
Browser tests in script are bad; check for functionality rather than a particular browser (quirksmode had a great article on this).
Remember that every new language/plugin that you use in a page shuts out certain groups. Use them where you must, but don't rely on fancy things such as flash for the core functionality of your website.
Use the right tool for the job, even if it's *gasp* a table or iframe. You'll be much faster than those trying to use some long and complex CSS to do something that you can do with a table, and the result will be indistinguishable (and will probably work on more browsers, since tables have been around for so long).
I think it's probably a good idea to have a few "JavaScript tricks" up your sleeve. After all, why make a round trip to the server when something can be done quicly on the client side?
A good web developer knows how and when to do something on the client side or the server side, and can make the two play nice with each other.