Mt first Website..

mr tommo

mr tommo

mr tommo

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Im a total beginner when it comes to websites, but I really want to get into it.

I dont understand the codes etc, and Im not willing to go on any courses atm :p (edit: I just haven't got the time right now)

If I was to buy Adobe Dreamweaver, would it be relatively easy to make my first website? Is it the kind of Program I could mess around with and end up half decent at like Photoshop?

Thanks, Tom :)
 
Dreamweaver is not like Photoshop in that the more you play with it the more you learn.
You will need to learn what the code is doing, learn the tags etc. You really don't need Dreamweaver anyway, a simple text pad will do the job just as well.
HTML is the easiest language to learn. My advice would be to play around with tagging paragraphs of text up and styling them in various ways with CSS, you'll be suprised how easy it is :)
 
I disagree, with the above. Dreamweaver has number of very useful features that can make development much faster and easier to manage if you are building small/medium sized static sites. It is however very useful to have a behind the scenes understanding of what the software is doing if you're to get the most out it. You don't "need it", but it beats notepad any day of the week.
 
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Can anyone point me in the direction of some reading material that would be useful then? Think im going to get Dreamweaver software anyway, and try and read up a little bit of coding etc.
 
XHTML - http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/default.asp

CSS - http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp

W3Schools are excellent for people new to building websites. Follow the tutorials [starting with XHTML] and you should build up your knowledge fairly quickly. At least enough to knock up your first website.

As has already been said you don't need Dreamweaver or anything nearly as complicated. Something like Notepad2 [or any text editor with highlighting] is all you'll need while you learn.

I can't see the need for Dreamweaver unless you are building websites professionally. If it is just in your spare time you don't really need the bells and whistles.
 
Ahhh....the auld "Dreamweaver" vs hand coding debacle. :p

I would advocate Dreamweaver. It does exactly what it says on the tin.

I've used it for a while now with no complaints.

Those that say DW is not up to the task and isnt worth using are either:-

1. Genuine web design notepad/hand coding using guru's.

2. Liars.

:p:D

Seriously though, go with what you feel is right and works for you personally. I started out using Namo Web Editor and Frontpage and both were a bit naff to be honest.

DW in its current CS3 form has a lot of potential for a newcomer to web design and a good online community for help and advice.

At the end of the day, if it works for you, go with it.
 
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Draeger said:
I would advocate Dreamweaver. It does exactly what it says on the tin.
Click to expand...
What, weaves dreams? :p

There's certainly nothing wrong with Dreamweaver, but it's just not needed. Hand coding a website gives you far more control over exactly what it ends up looking like and generally produces much cleaner, more standards compliant and cross-browser compatible code than a WYSIWYG editor is cabable of.

Hand coding is also better for beginners because it lets them learn the code that makes their website what it is :)
 
I agree, but it depends on how you want to approach web design and get started.

For some, hand coding is the way to go, but many prefer a WYSIWYG solution. :cool:

I've tried hand coding and fell flat on my face at certain stages, so as I said, I'll stick with what I know works for me, which is DW. I find myself working in the code mode more often than not, but its handy having the "split" option to see whats what IMHO. :cool:

I admit the code that DW throws up is nowhere near as clean as hand coding can be, but again, no complaints here so far as far as validation goes after a bit of housekeeping. :)
 
When you have finished a website there is a good chance the next website is going to be the same in regards to the XHTML structure.

All of the fancy layouts, colours and themes come from the CSS, so once you have a website, you can reuse the template easily enough for the next one. That would pretty much make using Dreamweaver a bit overkill.

I genuinely use a basic text editor with highlighter - gPHPEditor on Linux. I use it for XHTML, CSS and PHP. I find I have great control over all of my code and I know exactly what everything is. I am not a professional web developer and my chosen tools are more than adequate.

However, as I said previously if you are developing professionally and with a deadline, Dreamweaver is an important and powerful tool. I just think it is daft to go and spend hundreds of pounds on a piece of software when you don't even know any XHTML/CSS.
 
Glad Ive sorted this out now then , thanks for the help guys. I just presumed Dreamweaver would be a lot like Photoshop in that messing around = learning, but obviously not.

Going to start looking into some of the links that have been posted because Web Design is something i've fancied doing for quite a while now.

Thanks all :)
 
XHTML bit is really easy. Once you get the general idea it's all pretty intuative. There's millions of references out there too so you wont be far from help.

CSS is the one that will have you scratching your head and swearing at things :D

Easy to learn, bloody hard to master.
 
Or if you want a headstart; I highly reccomend www.oswd.org for properly designed web templates. Well what I mean is some templates are overused or you just look at them and can instantly tell its a template.

Youll get some nice looking designs there and it's all free and will be easy to edit since they all use CSS.

Chris :)
 
Ross1234 said:
try bluevoda website builder. It is free and good for starting
Click to expand...

i was looking at this program. it look pretty good. i've no knowledge of site building either.
i have dreamweaver and tried a few things in it but just got :confused:

if i design in bluevoda will i be able to edit in other programs or can i only ever edit and create in this?
 
Cruiser said:
i was looking at this program. it look pretty good. i've no knowledge of site building either.
i have dreamweaver and tried a few things in it but just got :confused:

if i design in bluevoda will i be able to edit in other programs or can i only ever edit and create in this?
Click to expand...

You can only ever edit in it.

You should really learn properly though.
 
It basically comes down to if you care about the quality of the source code (or at least the effects source has on search engine listings, accessibility, etc).

It's very difficult for a WYSIWYG editor to build clean code when it has no idea of what the final design is going to look like when you first start editing the page - hence you get left with extraneous markup. The only way to get a truly lean, mean, fat reducing website is to hand roll it.

If all you're interested in is how the page looks, then by all means use a WYSIWYG editor.
 
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