What to learn after xhtml/css?

RandomTom

RandomTom

RandomTom

Soldato
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28 Sep 2004
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I haven't done any web stuff for quite a while but I know I'll be able to pick it up in a couple of weeks and my ability to design is much stronger than it used to be, but this isn't enough to take me anywhere.

Whenever people recommend me to use a cms, I always fall at the first hurdle and get lost in all the stuff that they add; such as Wordpress, trying to work round all the PHP and stuff it puts in.

So what should I learn now? PHP? I could go into PHP and be able to master sorting cms's up etc, or head towards javascript or ruby. Personally I don't know what's best for me but before 2010 I need to set up a customised online shop for someone (with say ~2,500 products), if I used a bought one and customised it, would knowledge of PHP be my main hurdle?

Anyway, if you have any suggestions for books/tutorial sites/forum posts, post ahead. Thanks a lot if you can answer this vague ramble that resembles a question somewhere along the lines.
 
Interesting question. I would say that I am only a couple of steps ahead of you on this particular road, but probably far weaker on the xhtml/css (I know how to use them but not what makes a good design/layout ^^).

I have been experimenting with Joomla for a while, so I have a little (not loads) of experience to offer there. I'd suggest

a) Install an apache + php + mysql environment on your PC. XAMPP is nice for early development. Install isn't too complex, there is a setup.exe you can follow, then navigate to localhost and follow through the security setup and note down things like the username/PW you setup for the mysql database.
b) Download and install Joomla. Installation is basically unzip into your htdocs (or create a folder in htdocs) of your xampp installation the download from the site, then navigate to localhost/whereverjoomlais and follow through the steps, and finally delete the installation folder.
c) Go online and find a free, simple Joomla site template. I don't really have a great one to recommend, so I guess a google search comes up with http://www.joomla24.com/ for some cheapy templates. Download one and unzip to a workspace somewhere so you can see how templates are internally structured.
d) Go online somewhere like http://www.oswd.org/ and download an *ordinary* template that someone has produced. Unzip it in a seperate folder and have a look at the structure of this template.
e) Attempt to convert the OSWD template into a joomla template, following tutorials as necessary. This will force you to go through the process of understanding how the template is packaged up, how particular CMS "elements" are placed in the page, and a few little php snippets that are necessary for the template to work.
f) Get used to installing/uninstalling templates in Joomla.

At this stage, you will get a lot of CMS "experience" but you won't have to do much PHP coding apart from a few code snippets cut and paste in the template. The next step would be to try and code an extension called a "module" that simple get dumped into the page... a nice one to look at is the old Google Analytics module, its not so complicated (just putting the google analytics code at the end of the <body> tag).
 
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