Hello all, looking for advice getting started in web design.

I have a few domains and some ideas of things I want to do with them. Mainly set them up as free sites and generate revenue from advertising, clicks, etc. Maybe 1 e-commerce site.
I want to program and put these sites up myself. Eventually, or rather as quickly as I can do good enough at it, I would love to have my own web business, either full-time from home or part-time "on the side". So those are my goals with this. Don't plan for any of them to be anything really crazy, definately no flash.

My background is in networking, used to do quite a bit of Unix many moons ago, and some Perl/Shell Scripting. Just trying to get an idea of a path to take to get towards my goals.

Honestly, I know of different languages, etc., just don't know enough how to apply what exactly I should be learning and at what stages. There are just so many I don't even know where to begin...
HTML, Java, JavaScript, VB, C/C++, VisualC, PHP, Perl, Python, CSS, Ajax, .NET, XML, DesignWeb 2.0, Photoshop, XHTML, DHTML, J2EE, OOD, OOP...etc etc.

Not too sound ignorant, but just any ideas of a path to start following...maybe a group of certain languages to learn...It's almost like there are so many choices, I don't even know where/what to begin with!

You obviously can't expect to learn everything at once.
IMO a good grounding in HTML/XHTML and CSS is needed before tackling more advanced topics, from there branch out to widen your knowledge base.
There are some excellent resources in the stickies on the various forums here.
Good luck.

HTML and after that,PHP! But it will take months or maybee years to really learn how to make a good website! Just don't give up!!!

Here's an idea - SEARCH THIS FORUM - this question has been asked dozens of times - and there are dozens of answers!

Originally Posted by LadynRed

Here's an idea - SEARCH THIS FORUM - this question has been asked dozens of times - and there are dozens of answers!

Great reply...Thanks for nothing!

If you're not willing to make the the small effort to search this forum for the dozens of answers to your question that have already been posted, then you're not going to make it in the web design business. Don't be so lazy.

Originally Posted by LadynRed

If you're not willing to make the the small effort to search this forum for the dozens of answers to your question that have already been posted, then you're not going to make it in the web design business. Don't be so lazy.

Once again, thanks for nothing. I made the small effort to search. I posted anyway to make the point I have a networking background, and some unix/shell scripting...Because with that being said I may get different advice.

I know if somebody asked me what they should do to get started in networking my advice would be different for somebody that was say a web designer and used to build PCs years ago, vs. somebody that has been a plumber their whole life.

That's all...didn't mean to get you all bent out of shape!

I understand where LadynRed is coming from. I haven't even been on this forum for long at all and I'm getting tired of answering this question. I was starting to think I'd post an article on our blog on it and just point folks there. . . . but that would just give my perspective on it. A forum is a much better place.

I think really, the folks running this forum should start a new section of Website Design Forum for this question.

However, yours is indeed a little better than most ( "I wanna be a web designer; where should I start" ) . . . at least you mention that you have some programming experience and mention that you'd like to program sites yourself (hinting at wanting to become a web programmer/developer more than a designer).

No matter what, you absolutely need to cut your teeth on XHTML and CSS. XHTML is not a big deal; CSS is somewhat more of an art and can get much more involved and challenging, but still something you can pick up well very quickly.

So, as I see it, your real big question here is how do you get started in web programming/scripting/developing for the web. While there are plenty of programming languages to choose from, the lion's share of it is probably PHP or ASP/ASP.NET.

Most folks here are all about PHP. It's a solid scripting language and has the advantage of having a universe of free stuff & cheap hosting.

Classic ASP is very comperable to PHP, especially in the architecture of programming. However, that's fading into history now with the newer ASP.NET platform. The scripting languages you'll need here are VB.NET and/or C#. It's much more powerful than PHP or classic ASP, but it's a bigger learning curve too. Also, not so much is free in the Windows web universe, and really good Windows Server hosting will typically be a bit more expensive than in the LAMP (Linux/Apache/PHP/MySQL) universe.

Of course, if you are going to do anything at all interesting with web programming/application development, you will need to know databases and how to communicate with them (SQL). Again, lot's of diversity here to, but really pretty much a MySQL vs MS SQL universe. In terms of basic database theory, their pretty much the same idea, but they are very different systems. And again, MySQL hosting will be much cheaper than MS SQL as the software for MS SQL servers is pretty spendy, and generally you don't run SQL server on the same box as you're serving websites from, as is typically the case with MySQL.

Oh, and how could one possibly build anything interesting without at least a working knowledge of JavaScript? An absolute must, but not as crucial to get really adept at as with PHP, ASP, VB.NET, C#, etc.

Hope that get's you headed in the right direction.

As for how to decide whether to go PHP or ASP.NET, I'm not sure how to help you sort that out other than to say that if you are looking to earn money developing, there's a ton more dough for ASP.NET in C# than you could ever make doing PHP. Really just simple supply and demand.

Originally Posted by Sean@WMS

I understand where LadynRed is coming from. I haven't even been on this forum for long at all and I'm getting tired of answering this question. I was starting to think I'd post an article on our blog on it and just point folks there. . . . but that would just give my perspective on it. A forum is a much better place.

I think really, the folks running this forum should start a new section of Website Design Forum for this question.

However, yours is indeed a little better than most ( "I wanna be a web designer; where should I start" ) . . . at least you mention that you have some programming experience and mention that you'd like to program sites yourself (hinting at wanting to become a web programmer/developer more than a designer).

No matter what, you absolutely need to cut your teeth on XHTML and CSS. XHTML is not a big deal; CSS is somewhat more of an art and can get much more involved and challenging, but still something you can pick up well very quickly.

So, as I see it, your real big question here is how do you get started in web programming/scripting/developing for the web. While there are plenty of programming languages to choose from, the lion's share of it is probably PHP or ASP/ASP.NET.

Most folks here are all about PHP. It's a solid scripting language and has the advantage of having a universe of free stuff & cheap hosting.

Classic ASP is very comperable to PHP, especially in the architecture of programming. However, that's fading into history now with the newer ASP.NET platform. The scripting languages you'll need here are VB.NET and/or C#. It's much more powerful than PHP or classic ASP, but it's a bigger learning curve too. Also, not so much is free in the Windows web universe, and really good Windows Server hosting will typically be a bit more expensive than in the LAMP (Linux/Apache/PHP/MySQL) universe.

Of course, if you are going to do anything at all interesting with web programming/application development, you will need to know databases and how to communicate with them (SQL). Again, lot's of diversity here to, but really pretty much a MySQL vs MS SQL universe. In terms of basic database theory, their pretty much the same idea, but they are very different systems. And again, MySQL hosting will be much cheaper than MS SQL as the software for MS SQL servers is pretty spendy, and generally you don't run SQL server on the same box as you're serving websites from, as is typically the case with MySQL.

Oh, and how could one possibly build anything interesting without at least a working knowledge of JavaScript? An absolute must, but not as crucial to get really adept at as with PHP, ASP, VB.NET, C#, etc.

Hope that get's you headed in the right direction.

As for how to decide whether to go PHP or ASP.NET, I'm not sure how to help you sort that out other than to say that if you are looking to earn money developing, there's a ton more dough for ASP.NET in C# than you could ever make doing PHP. Really just simple supply and demand.

WOW...AWESOME REPLY...Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much!

I realize HTML is the foundation for everything, and all I've heard from a couple buddies who know slightly more about web design/programming than I do is...'learn PHP' and they know nothing beyond that. But what you gave will be a big help for me to layout a roadmap to getting where I want to be.

So definately brush up the HTML, and get heavy into XHTML and CSS to start with!

THANKS!

I think really, the folks running this forum should start a new section of Website Design Forum for this question.

I don't think an entire forum area is necessary, but a Sticky might be in order.

As for the networking/IT background - I have 20+ years in that field, as well as many years of programming, but I STILL had to start with the basics of HTML and CSS. That is where ALL wannabe web designers must start. I'd also include in there that unless you're going to HIRE a graphic desinger, you also need some design skills and some facility with a graphics program.

css and html errors and which editor would be best for a newbie. I know a little html and css. Have looked at the new frontpage but am getting stuck. I am used to using freewebs.com but their editor doesn't allow as much scope as i now need. I have used their css editor this week and am now learning how to put errors right using w3c to check it. I am really stuck as to what ot do with the html editing as once i start using my own i cannot go back to freewebs site builder. Think its just a bit of a scary big step. Also its an e-commerce site so once the leap has been made i will have to find a new way of updating and adding new products.
Please any ideas as to what i can try to make it as painless as poss!
Many thanks

Originally Posted by dirtbikeparts

css and html errors and which editor would be best for a newbie. I know a little html and css. Have looked at the new frontpage but am getting stuck. I am used to using freewebs.com but their editor doesn't allow as much scope as i now need. I have used their css editor this week and am now learning how to put errors right using w3c to check it. I am really stuck as to what ot do with the html editing as once i start using my own i cannot go back to freewebs site builder. Think its just a bit of a scary big step. Also its an e-commerce site so once the leap has been made i will have to find a new way of updating and adding new products.
Please any ideas as to what i can try to make it as painless as poss!
Many thanks

Well, you're going to have to take the plunge at some point.

The best thing for you to do would be to rebuild in a development environment, either locally or at your web host. This way you can have your "sandbox" to play around and learn without interfering with your production site.

Also, by "new frontpage", I assume you mean MS Expression Web 2. This is a decent editor, and has a low learning curve, so I'd say it's a decent place to start -- just keep an eye on the CSS it writes for you as it has a tendancy to want to write inline styles even when you already have external styles assigned.

start learning html first because that is the tool you will be using for designing web sites with every language you use.

ya, you will have to spend lots and lots of time before your pc to learn many things in online because its a new world your are getting into.
Dont forget these words " Hard work never fails". because everyone in online will first fail and then they release their mistake.

Wishing you the best to luck.

also keep in mind a lot of people use content management software instead of hand coding websites

1. HTML
2. PHP
3. Dont giveup! keep at it !

MaRk