Beginning Web Design

[Juvefan]

Happy New Year All, Quick question. My company is going to be sending me to my local community college to learn more about web design so I can update our website. Question is which class should i take? They offer a couple on FrontPage, but I know that FrontPage is now discontinued, they also offer classes on Java, HTML, DreamWeaver and Flash. Any recomendations? I do have a limited amount of VB.Net experience, should I take a VB class and use ASP.Net for the site? It is a simple site that I want to develop, do not need anything too fancy and no online shopping or anything like that. Thanks for your advice

[chrisranjana]

Learning VB.net and creating Asp.net websites seem to be the way to go, although if you could learn Flash too it will be great.

[BrettNooyen]

If your company is spending the money to send you to school, they may be willing to foot the bill for ASP and APS.NET application software. I would stick with simple ASP if it's a small website, it'll be cheaper and easier to grasp in the beginning.

Definitely choose the Dreamweaver program over their Frontpage program, as that program is and will always be a joke to the web community. HTML is essential, but you should be learning that in the Dreamweaver class. If not, take that as well.

Learn to code both with the DW GUI as well as hand coding, preferably hand coding initially.

If it's not overloading your schedule, pop in the Flash class as well. It's a great tool to compliment any web developer's skillset.

Make sure, whatever classes you are taking, you pay attention and learn everything and anything about CSS as well.

w3schools.org is a good site to help you with your studies. Once you narrow down what areas you want to focus on, simply google them and you will get all the help you need.

-Brett

[Charles]

Any recomendations? Save your money and simply read, mark, learn and inwardly digest http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/ . I'm not at all impressed with what passes for "teaching" in this area these days. And neither FrontPage or any other WYSIWYG can do the job properly.

[BrettNooyen]

And neither FrontPage or any other WYSIWYG can do the job properly.

In the hands of a professional anything that allows you to view the code can help you do the job properly.

Agreed of course on the FrontPage assesment.

[Charles]

In the hands of a professional anything that allows you to view the code can help you do the job properly.How much do you want to pay for a text editor? And HTML Kit is free.

[toicontien]

If your business hasn't gone beyond static .html pages for their web site, you might think about going the LAMP route:

* Linux for an operating system
* Apache for a web server
* MySQL for a database
* PHP for a server side scripting language

All the above applications are open source and free to download and install, which makes financial sense as long as those technologies meet your business's needs. Charles was on the right track. Get to know HTML, CSS and JavaScript. You don't need a class for it, and many times the classes teach HTML, CSS and JavaScript from 1998. Vastly outdated and will do you more harm than good in this day and age. The two sites I learned from were http://www.w3schools.com/ and http://www.alistapart.com/, and certainly don't forget http://www.w3.org/. Lastly, it never hurts to brush up on the proprietary rubish that Microsoft has thrust on the Web development community: http://msdn.microsoft.com/.

ALA Primer: A Guide to New Readers (http://www.alistapart.com/articles/ALAprimer)

ALA Primer Part Two: Resources for Beginners (http://www.alistapart.com/articles/alaprimer2)

[Dopple]

I'm not at all impressed with what passes for "teaching" in this area these days.
For some though, a structured learning environment is necessary.
Boredom at work allows me to learn online using free resources but I wouldn't sit down and learn for my own enjoyment at home.

I see your point though about this. My college tutors don't know their @rse from their elbow when it comes to web design.

[drhowarddrfine]

should I take a VB class and use ASP.Net for the site? It is a simple site that I want to develop, do not need anything too fancy and no online shopping or anything like that.If it's a simple site, as you said, then you have no need for VB or much of anything else you mentioned. Study HTML and CSS first. Then get into Javascript. Then you're done. You have no need for .NET, or any of that Microsoft stuff.

[Dopple]

You have no need for .NET, or any of that Microsoft stuff.
Truedat!