Hello,


I've been trying to learn html and css on my own by just doing it. I spend most of my time on forums trying to figure out how to do something simple or trying to find someone that will show me (do for me) how to do something a little more complex.

It seemed like a great way to learn when I was starting out and didn't know a thing about html but now I realize it only helped me remember the stuff I used often. All the time i'm trying to remember how to do something I know i've done before and I end up going back to look for help with it.

So I've decided to start from scratch and try to learn by studying.

First of all have any of you used lynda.com? I learned how to use dreamweaver and photoshop from there and they also have some classes on coding... pluss you can download all there stuff for free. I'm just not sure if thier coding classes will take you from dumb to pro.

What different methods of coding do I need to know? Html, CSS, PHP, What else? I've been using phpbb forums for ever but I can't for the life of me firgure out how to install mods or use the forums style all across my site.

Are there any online classes you know of that are cheap? I need some structure or guidance. When someone tells me to go to w3.org and learn on my own its like being sent to the world history library to learn about where brunswick stew came from.

Thanks for the advice!

Any advice?

Thanks

Will it depends upon your interest in particular area what niche you are comfortable with, what field is your expertise, the level of competence and skills either you want to make a career or start your own business. IMHO

Excellent question. Sadly there is right way to go. Everyone has to find their own ways... But there is a really easy way to figure some things out so you can generally know what to work on. Go to www.dice.com and enter webmaster. See what skills employers are looking for. It should be somewhat consistent.

Of course there are going to be different types of webmasters.
Some will know ASP, SQL, IIS and Windows Server. Others will know PHP, MySQL, Apache, and *nix. That's generally how it's split. Anyways, looking at sites such as dice will give you a really good insight what you need to know.

As far as school goes... I went to school for something completely different than web development and ended pursuing it. I didn't learn anything from school. I self taught myself everything I know now. I am interning at my county and am learning there the stuff I couldn't do myself. (server management/maintenance for the most part). Besides it gives me a lot of experience and something to put on the resume.

So if you don't like the sounds of school. Open a few websites:
w3schools.com
php.net
google.com (search for tuturials)
(Basically all I use are these sites... sure there are a bunch out there but not necessary) Run through some tutorials, start tweaking everything to create something original. After you got some of the basics down, start a project. Don't worry about failing or succeeding. A fail is only a fail if you didn't learn anything. The experience is what your after.

If you have any questions or just need to bounce ideas off someone, PM me.
Good Luck and have fun with it.

http://w3schools.com/ - great reference

I applied for a web dev job a few years ago when i was a rookie web dev and the requirements were:

HTML
CSS
Mild Javascript
Mild PHP
Graphic Design - Photoshop / Flash etc etc

I would suggest maybe downloading a few css templates for free and playing around with them. Edit them and make "mockup" websites, change things accordingly. I found this was the easiest way for me to learn, but thats me. Although I am a systems/networking guy by trade I also do web dev. There are tons a references online - remember google is your friend.

Originally Posted by MDwebdev85

http://w3schools.com/ - great reference

I applied for a web dev job a few years ago when i was a rookie web dev and the requirements were:

HTML
CSS
Mild Javascript
Mild PHP
Graphic Design - Photoshop / Flash etc etc

I would suggest maybe downloading a few css templates for free and playing around with them. Edit them and make "mockup" websites, change things accordingly. I found this was the easiest way for me to learn, but thats me. Although I am a systems/networking guy by trade I also do web dev. There are tons a references online - remember google is your friend.

Hey, that's awesome. I am/was a networking guy... Didn't intrigue me though. Something about being the guy that does all the technical support and crappy maintenance didn't appeal to me. For some reason I like to type code and be locked up like a psycho inside of a cubicle. (actually i hate being in a cubicle)

How much experience did you have before you got hired? Was the company an older or newer company?

Originally Posted by NewBreed

Hey, that's awesome. I am/was a networking guy... Didn't intrigue me though. Something about being the guy that does all the technical support and crappy maintenance didn't appeal to me. For some reason I like to type code and be locked up like a psycho inside of a cubicle. (actually i hate being in a cubicle)

How much experience did you have before you got hired? Was the company an older or newer company?

Well I didnt take the dev job, being that I knew more about windows networking, vmware, netapp etc etc, my current position as a systems lead pays more. I do a little web design here and there on the side, not a pro but i can get the job done in most cases. I'd like to get something going on the side though, and I'm working on getting a portfolio together. I maintain my companies web site as well as working on a new design for them as well.

I'm also working on a project for local business/resaurant reviews here in MD, as I was looking for reviews on a specific place for dinner one weekend and COULDNT find anything at all. So I figured what the hell, its not like its going to cost me anything really except for time.

If you want to be a free lancer you are going to need a broader skill set.
If you want to work for a company you should probably focus on one
particular area and get to know it inside and out.

In my opinion webmasters don't need to know almost anything about
*nix and very little about webservers like Apache. So I've just saved you some time right there

Personally I've found that I need to find a good professionally written
book to get started on a particular skill or technology.
After that its often possible to use Google or forums like this to get
answers to specific problems.

I think you need to be careful with tools like Dreamweaver.
Too many kiddies think they are web design pros because they can use
WYSIWYG tools. Real men (and women) code by hand.
Is it slower? Maybe at first but when you get to know what you are
doing and start to figure out how to learn the various frameworks
that are already available you can build stuff easily and way more efficiently.

Ask around your local community for volunteer work.
Maybe your local animal shelter would like a website but dont
have the time or resources to build one. Projects like that
add to your portfolio and are good training.

Best of luck.

Originally Posted by TWD

If you want to be a free lancer you are going to need a broader skill set.
If you want to work for a company you should probably focus on one
particular area and get to know it inside and out.

In my opinion webmasters don't need to know almost anything about
*nix and very little about webservers like Apache. So I've just saved you some time right there

Webmaster's generally are in charge of maintenance and security of their server making those skills pretty valuable. I see a lot of jobs asking for skills such as those...
Wikipedia's definition of a webmaster:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webmaster.
OR
google.com webmaster responsibilities.

There may and probably will be multiple webmasters in a company that take more specialized roles in this since it's a huge job though. So being a pro in the server world isn't necessary.

So basically to sum it up your going to be in charge of:
Maintaining content, pictures and front-end code.
OR
Managing the server and server side programming or other technical programming.
Possibly both?

What annoys me is that many webmasters I have met in my time have destroyed layouts I have provided.

a XHTML tableless fully validated design with nice padding and neat images ends up being a 42 error tabled slaughter-house.

IF you're a webmaster, I expect you to understand XHTML and CSS and be familiar with dynamic content and that is enough for me to walk away with closure.

What different methods of coding do I need to know?

Start on XHTML and CSS, master it. Learning PHP or anything more will make you a coder. People hire webmasters to maintain a website and coders to develop further a website. If you are a coder then why waste your time making updates when you can get big money developing backend stuff? Unless of course you are a great salesperson and managed to get a high fee for updating a few pictures and changing a punctuation here and there.

First of all have any of you used lynda.com?

We used Lynda at one company a year ago to get Illustrator training - I found it to be very useful but I just wouldn't bother recommending it unless you had the file subscription and a dual screen monitor but that is just my preference.

Are there any online classes you know of that are cheap?

You need to take some initiative and force feed yourself these websites like w3schools. An online class that is 'cheap' is unlikely to be substantially better than a free resource website.

So unless you're looking to pay good money for a one-on-one tutor which will guarantee you the fast track to knowledge, you might as well just take advantage of this board and the websites available out there for free