Where to start.

[davec]

Hi.

As mentioned in my introduction thread Im new to web design. Having a major career change and I think this is something i'd enjoy.

I pick things up pretty quickly on computers, I use them a lot for recording in my digital studio at home.

I'd be really grateful for any advice anyone could give me as to where to start.

I've just enrolled in a part time college course in Dreamweaver and basic HTML, i've got my self a few books on dreamweaver and web design as well as a couple of tutorial disks.

Any pointers would be great.

[Boro97]

Good Luck With It Mate

[evej13]

davec,
There are tons of tutorials on HTML, Dreamweaver, CSS, etc etc etc. Just google it

And good luck with your career change,
Eve

[Ender]

Hi,

here's a list of photoshop tutorials I found from another forum.

http://forum.site-sift.com/thread11.html

Cheers,
Ender.

[Donna]

If you want to know more about CSS this link is very helpfull CSS Library

[Anthony Ravenscroft]

Don't push the coolness of your software. Clients don't care -- the ones who do can be kinda scary. I've got everything from PageMill to HoTMetaL (which I prefer) to the InDesign suite sitting around. Yet, I also sometimes use Notepad & an FTP drag-&-drop when I need to make a fast tweak.

Learn what CSS is actually doing. Don't lard up your code with "just in case" hooks.

Interview your client fully before undertaking a site. Everyone wants a BMW, nobody wants to bring it to the garage every month. If your code is underspecified, you'll have to charge them for constant under-the-hood rewrites; if it's overspecified, you're exposing them to vulnerabilities.

Don't mess with "just in case" stuff. I had a client who wanted a nice simple site. Then she insisted on scads of XML. She had (& has) no idea what XML is, just that some of her friends extol the wonders.

Read up on ergonomics. Flog this heavily to your clients. Read the Reis books on branding. Point out to your clients that the only thing almost as important as SSL is efficiency on low-speed access, followed by resolution on small screens. If a typical (modal) client goes to your homepage for the first time, exactly how long does it take them to make the most common purchase? I've even found myself cancelling a buy after five minutes of struggling to get to the correct listing -- remind clients at every turn that winning awards for site design does little good if nobody's buying your product.

I know it's been done to death, but the most useful sites have Important Pages listed down the left, & Useful Tools tabbed across the top.

Always always ALWAYS put at least a HOME button on every single page you crank out! I am a Google fanatic, & I often find myself at an interesting page buried deep in someone's website, & I'm too impatient to peel the address -- or, worse, I take the time to peel it & get told "you do not have access to this page." Yep, guess I'm not buying from them, either.

[tillsandstuff]

The college course should be a good idea. Good luck. I've found the best way is to 'suck it and see'. As soon as I'd finished my first web site I thought it could be vastly improved. And so started on another.. and so on.. It is also quite adictive. Jane

[fisicx]

Good luck on the dreamweaver course but (and this is a biggie) do not expect dreamwaeaver to produce top quality websites.

The opposite is more likely - DW will bloat your pages with wodges of unnecessary code that hinders rather than helps you chances of a good result with the search engines.

Try building your first website with Notepad - you will be amaazed how easy it is and it will give you a far better understanding of HTML/CSS.

Another thought - successful designers spend years perfecting their art - the course won't teach you a thing about usability, accessibility, optimization, niche marketing, tagging, web exposure, web 2.0, quality linking and so on. You will have to discover that all on your own!

[CanzDesign]

Hi there fisicx

I wish you all the best in entering the world of webdesign, be warned it's a hard market, there are more website designers online than any other profession. And their are thousands of kids starting everyday, kids that charge $300 for website.

I would suggest you specialise, and then never stop looking and learning.

Lynny Canzdesign

[CanzDesign]

So anyway, how did your webdesign company turn out