HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Hi



I got a HND 10 yrs ago as a graphic designer, but Photoshop was minimal then as PC's not used much. I am really eager to re-learn the fundamentals of Photoshop, and other progs like Indesign, Flash, Dreamweaver etc, and need to learn Html, PHP, CSS etc.



I have a copy of CS3 and looking to get a standalone desktop just to do my design work as a hobby. I have lots of tutorials etc, just need someone who I can ask for advice or who can teach me what to do and where.



I have been working in IT Helpdesk for a few yrs and pick things up pretty quick.



Can anyone help?



I am in Brisbane, cant afford to pay as not working at the moment, but could prob stretch to a slab of beer here and there or something.



thanks

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Your best bet would be to buy a good book as these have been designed to be structured (or at least most) and pertinent.

Also, you need to decide which web technology you want to work with? ASP.NET would be my preference and you might also want to take a look at the new Microsoft Expressions suite, if you want to concentrate on design and not implementation?

Also, you could try downloading Microsoft Web Developer 2008 Express (which is entirely free) and perhaps then try downloading one of the ASP.NET starter kits that are available on the Microsoft website? You will have an instant web-site at your disposal if you do this.

Good luck.

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Great

Thanks for all this, had a few replies elsehwere on forums, as just need someone i can call on for help if i get stuck.

Cheers will give these a go.

:thumbsup:

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Try http://www.bn.tafe.qld.gov.au/course...reers/list.php key in web design for course and all campuses
It might cost a little now, but you get a piece of paper that might help you get a job. Talk to TAFE and the might be able to arrange concessional rates or payment plan. You might even be able to RPL part of the course click on Recognition for Prior Learning link to left of page. All help is provided to students, plus if you do it yourself, there is no certificate to actually prove it to potential employers.

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

I need to create a simple web site that allows a shopping cart and payments thru paypal and bank deposit info.

I have done a basic design so far using publisher 08, but need to add the following.

a cart to link to checkout and paypal/bank

a list of upgrades avail with check boxes that in turn link and add to the cart/checkout

how can i centre my webpage as its 640/480 but always left justify even when i change and save source html to <center>

can i build basics in publisher 07 then save each page html source and reopen using dreamweaver to amend


I have never used dreamweaver or photoshop much before so need time to learn.

please message me with any help/advice/websites that can help.

need site up and running asap

thanks

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

If you want tehnical questions answered try THE LAB forum, maybe?
Or maybe my other suggestion!

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Mate, don't mind helping you whenever I can...I am in IT, and use .net for developing e-commerce sites (which also involves using HTML/CSS/JAVASCRIPT).


just supply me with enough info about what you need, how you trying to get it done and I'll do my best to help...Plus it won't cost you anything ;)

But when I am up there in Brissie, I'll remind you about the beers :eek:

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

There is a useful book called

WED DESIGN FOR DUMMIES.

It is yellow in colour !!

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

All dummies book are Yellow in colours!! :rofl:

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

I have done a basic design so far using publisher 08, but need to add the following.

Dont design in publisher unless you are a sadist. Publisher is more suited to brochures perhaps or documents. CS3 is definately the way to go - even a basic course would be easier than trying to go any further with publisher


a cart to link to checkout and paypal/bank
Maybe at this stage you can get unix hosting with OSCommerce ready to install from the control panel. My guess is that although you want to learn web design, what you really want to do is own a website that you can sell things through. If this is the case, I would stop now as it sounds (and please dont be offended) that you are a bit out of your depth at this stage to be trying to design and implement an ecommerce site. I would get hosting with OSCommerce or similar. Download a template you like freely and then practise modifying it and learning php. I use mainly .net or java but OS Commerce is a good ecommerce starter and could be best suited for your development. Noone needs to develop their own shopping carts unless that is something they are paid to do, these packages are great. X_Cart is another now heavily CSS driven. Paypal etc is built in

a list of upgrades avail with check boxes that in turn link and add to the cart/checkout
One step click and add functionality may require AJAX, at least that is what I would do.

how can i centre my webpage as its 640/480 but always left justify even when i change and save source html to <center>

why is it 640/480. You can use position absolute or float the div left - need heaps more information on this to even comment helpfully, but I am happy to help if you like (or ask the other poster - maybe he has more time than me :)

can i build basics in publisher 07 then save each page html source and reopen using dreamweaver to amend
If you want to end up with a pile of crap that will help you into complete confusion then yes

I think you are taking on too many concepts all at once - do you want to be a developer - if YES then start at the beginning with tutorials and small applications, decide on a language and realise it will take you a couple of years.
Do you want to open an ecommerce site - if yes then download a package and set about learning how to customise it. Take a CSS and relevant language basics course.
Do you want to learn CS3 - then do a course on that. I usually work out all my functionality, am pretty good in photoshop and illustrator etc so I mock something up, get a designer to polish it and then implement it. Or I jsut get a designer to do it because that is not what I do, you need to specialise.

I am not really a specialist though, more an ex specialist, crazed, hacker with memory loss

Hope this helps :)
Viv

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

oh ok i admit defeat sounds like i should give in and forget it now:sneaky:

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

I'm not going to enter into a diatribe on this as there is so much to talk about I would never get to bed.

Simply put, there is a massive difference between learning Web Design and building Web Applications (E-Commerce, Shopping Carts, Catalogues, etc). Personally I would agree with the other posters here and start with learning basic Web Design. XHTML, CSS, DHTML and a little Javascript.

Once you have a grounding in the building blocks of simple Web pages you can apply that to existing open source solutions like Joomla, OSCommerce, etc. Building bespoke skins/themes around these systems which have already had thousands of man hours of development put into them.

There are plenty of software houses out there that make a living out of implementing business websites using Joomla and other open source Content Management Systems for a fee. Mostly they just use their design skills to theme them with the company style guide and branding, but they eventually branch out into creating custom add-ons for these systems too. Which is something you can eventually aspire too, but start with the basics.

Read, try, read, try... rinse, repeat.

Al

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Hey krestsaf

dont give in, just rise to the challenge:) Its not impossible you are just trying to jump in the deep end of many pools. I have taught myself heaps of stuff - the internet is magic.

Do you want to work in web design? What is your motive behind all of this? Career change, need a specific application.

Just figure out what you want to achieve and take the easy path to that.

Viv

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Although it's no denying that learning few basic html is not going to help you with building a fully fledged e-commerce site, it's relative to the desired outcome.

If all you want is to have a site with product listings, a cart, a payment page then you can do this without extensive knowledge of any of the dynamic technologies.
You see because you want to have the ability to update cart, save product info so you can show these to users, you will need dynamic HTML and not static. For this you will need, something, like ASPNET. I mention this and not the other technologies here because that's what I know.

Anyway, you can buy very cheap products that will do exatcly what you need with minimum knowledge. Do a google search for this.

Otherwise you will need some basic Html knowledge, some css for styling and layout, and definitely have recourse to a database and code to get data, show data etc..

Good luck in any case!

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

If all you want to do is establish a single web site with e-commerce, as opposed to learn web development, why not take a look at Joomla! into which you may simply plug in a shopping cart along with a multitude of other ''components/extensions'.

More than happy to help with this.

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

As a beginner interested in starting out in this field getting a grounding in the basics is critical. Walk before you run.

When you feel like running, don't waste your time buying an e-Commerce solution when there are many open source offerings available. This will allow krestsaf to ease himself/herself into the next stage of the learning curve without incurring additional costs. While I have no inherent issue with the ASP.NET based CMS and Commerce offerings out there, the volume of freely available PHP based solutions, sample code and community support would suggest that this would be a more appropriate course of action.

Once krestsaf is prepared to step into the big world outside then I would feel more than happy suggesting .NET (specifically, but not limited to, C#) as a stepping stone into Enterprise development platforms. Microsoft offers the Express line of development tools for free which would make an excellent tooling choice as would Eclipse for Java (any of the varieties although I do like Oracle's).

However, walk before you run...

I'm a senior Enterprise Software Architect fluent in .NET, Java and PHP as well as many other languages and technologies. I'm also an MCSD.NET and have been doing it for over twenty years. Everyone has to start somewhere...

Al

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

I would second that. Having worked with Joomla and Mambo before it (I have even released some rather popular add-ons for them) I can not recommend them enough.

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

.NET only emerged in 2000. Do you mean that you have 20 years of software development experience?

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Yes sir, but I did have an iPhone in 1984 ;)

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

open source rules.

I use .net but only because I have to. I wont admit I love the IDE :)

Viv

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Best of both worlds (well, kind of)... http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

thanks for all the replies (debates)

I was trying to design a site for a friend but in a short time period of which I cant do with the limited knowledge I have so have admitted defeat.

But will def research what u have given me so far in a more adequate time scale

thanks

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Has anyone used, 'Coffeecup' website design software to create their own website?

http://www.coffeecup.com/

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Never give in... You should have seen my first web site :rofl:

But it's much better now, well, at least I think so....

Now waiting for the experts to give me their opinions.... :eek:

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

I am no expert but I have seen many, yours is good mate.

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

Thanks for the comment :thumbsup:

The "Original site, based on HTML", that I mention was not my first one.
That one was a massive improvement on my first attempts, which should indicate how bad my early version were :rofl:

I am however looking at reverting to a htm version, as they seem to open faster than php. But I am going into a steeper learning curve on this now, to try to get the best looks with fast page opening :cool:

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

You got it all wrong. your early versions weren't bad, just your newer ones are better.

Anyway enough trumpet blowing!:D

Re: HELP! Can anyone help me learn web design?
 

I think an important thing to remember is that there is an opportunity for one-(wo)man band web designers in this country that doesn't really exist in the UK anymore. Australia's a long way behind the UK and Europe in web implementation and a solo web designer producing bespoke sites for SMEs can make a good living. In the UK the various roles that all used to be tackled by a single person have become highly specialised, so you get interface designers, back-end specialists, SEOs and all the jobs in between. My missus has been in the game since 1993 and has hooked up with a Sydney based marketing company to offer web services, but she's also getting good local work. In the UK she was forced to work with your specialist coders, not always a pleasant situation.