Well, friend, the first thing that you need to know is that to be a real web designer you absolutely must learn to code
HTML. There are a lot of programs out there that offer some sweet shortcuts to designing websites, but nothing will ever serve you better or help you appreciate the work you'll do more than writing the pages yourself, in code, one line at a time.
So if you're still interested in beginning you education as a web designer, all you'll need to get the ball rolling is Microsoft Windows' 'Notepad' and 'Paint' programs. As long as you have a computer of your own to work on (because once you start coding, you'll certainly become addicted and monopolize whichever or whoever's system you're using), both programs are available to you by clicking 'Start' --> 'All Programs' --> and then 'Accessories'.
'Notepad' will suffice as your HTML editor, and 'Paint' can handle all your graphics. There not the very best you could start with, but I'm assuming you don't want to spend any money. If this is the case, you've already got everything you need to start designing and you're ready to go.
So Now Here's What You Want Do First:
(You may want to print this out, or something)
1) Open 'Notepad' and copy and paste the 'source code' below into the window that appears.
<html>
<head>
<title></title>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
This is the most basic HTML source code that you can start with. Everything else you'll ever do in web design from here on in will be added or used to elaborate the source shown here.
2) Now, copy and paste this next bit of source between the 'open' body tag (i.e. <body>) and the 'closed' body tag (i.e. </body>).
<p>Coding websites by hand kicks all kinds of a$$</p>
The above bit of source is a simple 'string' of text set between an open paragraph tag (i.e. <p>) and a closed paragraph tag (i.e. <p>).
3) Now what I want you to do is save your work as an '.html' file, which is the standard extension for most viewable files you'll find on the Internet. Click 'File', and then 'Save As'. In the window that appears, click the 'client browsing tab' (down arrow) to browse your computer's files for the 'Desktop'. Select 'Desktop', and in the 'Save as type' section at the bottom of this same window, click the down arrow there and select 'All Files'. Then in the 'File name' section, name your file 'index.html', and then click 'Save'.
Keep 'Notepad' open, but minimize it so you can see your 'Desktop', where your new file should now be saved. Now what we're going to do is view the file, so I want you to double-click the file 'index.html' on your desktop and watch what happens.
Microsoft will automatically call your 'default' browser in to display the .html file that you've created. With that said, you should be seeing a white page with the text "Coding website by hand kicks all kinds of a$$." This page is, for all intent and purposes, a one-page website. It's not online, mind you. But if it were, you'd be able to navigate to it and see your work as it is so far.
To continue editing your work, all you need to do now is keep both 'Notepad' and the default browser open and switch back and forth between the two as you develop your page code further. As long as both programs are open, whenever you make a change to the source code in 'Notepad', save it by simply clicking 'File', then 'Save', and then switch over to the browser and click the refresh button. Because you saved the changes you made in 'Notepad', the browser will automatically show these changes because it has to reloading the file inorder to refresh the page.
Okay, So Now What? Right?
As I've already mentioned: Everything you'll ever do in web design from here on in will be a modification of the work you've just done (if you're actually following through with this set of instructions). So now all you need to do to begin developing more complex, cooler pages is learn about the many ways in which your work can be modified.
I have a small web coding reference that may be of some use to you. The links you'll want to check out there are the 'Paul McFedries' link at the top of the page and the links found on the right under 'HTML References & Tutorial'. They will really help you along as you begin you continue your education in website design.
Regardless of what links you choose, the sites they will navigate you to are choked with information. And never forget about Internet searches. You'll use them more than any other resource to help you figure out how to code things into your pages.
The first thing you're going to want to look up is how to place images on your new web page, and what formats these images should be saved in before they're posted to the web. You'll probably realize right away that you're going to need some server space, and a program to help you put them there. The program that you're going to need is called an 'ftp' client (
File Transfer Protocol). I recommend '
Smartftp' (I believe they may have a free 30 day trial you can take advantage of). As for the server space, just contact me. If you're really intersted, I'll give you some developer space for $5 a month to help you out. This offer is about as good as it gets for developer space, and is it's only available to you. Registering a domain, and all that, comes with...
Good luck, friend,
The Lion.
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