[funkyprem]

Originally Posted by hotnoob

i'm just lazy

yes you are

Originally Posted by hotnoob

tables let me think creatively

no they dont

[Hunch]

Originally Posted by hotnoob

tables let me think creatively

Clearly you haven't thought creatively enough to find a better solution.

[meijer7779]

Hi All, I'm new here! I'm a amaeture web designer and can build a basic page with links, tags, etc. You know how it was when you first started. I'm wanting to learn it all and figure out how to do this for a living. Any suggestions.

Meijer

[bjzaba]

Hey! I'm new too! I've been teaching myself HTML and CSS for a while now and and I am wondering what to do next. Learning the tags and the properties is one thing, but do you have any suggestions on finding raw data to try out designing? About the only thing I've been able to think of is a myspace page (dislike the site, and they have a hideous implementation of CSS).

[Sidekick]

Thank you very much for this thread. It was because of this thread I started poking around and learning about using div's instead of tables. Now things have really gotten interesting!

There's still so much to learn, and the links you posted here have been a great resource. So yah, thanks!
~B

[pgo]

Don't think of it as "divs vs. tables".

Use the right HTML for the content - semantics - chunk it up with divs when you need to, and use CSS to make it pretty.

[Sunwukung]

I've just started learning html/css and feel relatively comfortable with the basic concepts - so now I'm looking to try and study another discipline related to webdesign. (I need loads more time to be confident with html/css - but I can get by).

Flash is the most attractive candidate - since being an artist it suits my brainpan (and using art software for years it's pretty intuitive) - but I'm also interested in php for the functionality it would enable me to add to client sites, and also javascript. Of the two latter languages, I'm more inclined to study php for it's practical application in e-commerce -but it's not that pleasant to set up....

Any recommendations which would be better to study?

[pgo]

JavaScript is really becoming an essential tool. I'm still trying to catch up.

Although libraries/frameworks like jQuery are making it much easier.

[haku]

Flash - make your sites look flashy!
PHP - make your sites dynamic. Entirely functional, not visual
Javascript - spice up your sites and add cool functionality. Somewhere in the middle of flashiness and functionality.

Flash is the most likely to appeal to a design based person, where the other two are more likely to appeal to a programmer type person. So look at those and decide which one(s) look most appealing to you!

[Limbo]

...or which would most appeal to your visitors?

[Sunwukung]

To be fair, I don't really have any direct interest in php personally - my personal list of interests would be in this order:

Flash
Javascript
DOM
.
.
.
.
PHP

- but I get the feeling that cart functionality will be a common request, and it's not something I've ever done before so I figured an understanding of PHP would probably be a default requirement for a web privateer.
Still, thanks for the advice. Think I'll tackle Flash first, then worry about JS/PHP decision.

[pgo]

You're doing front-end stuff - JS/DOM is front-end, PHP is back-end. Does it make more sense to continue to focus on the client side or jump over to the server side?

DOM also comes before JS. You can't effectively learn JS without learning about the DOM first!

Plus you need JS to load Flash, so there.

[arsholdings]

makes sense to me... good work

[caroline]

thank you guys,
this is very useful for a noob beginer like me
(its also my first post so hi
so my first noob questions are,
if dreamweaver's not the best program for webdesign what do you all think is?
what do you use?
and what do you recomend for a noob like my self?
any help or thoughts are massively appreciated

[pgo]

Originally Posted by caroline

if dreamweaver's not the best program for webdesign what do you all think is?

Dreamweaver's great. In Code View. The Design View and the Split View are utterly useless. It's basically a fancy $400 text editor. There are free text editors that are just fine (Notepad++ is a great place to start on Windows).

Originally Posted by caroline

what do you use?

On Windows (at home), I use PHP Designer, which is loaded with handy features and a deal at $50 or so. On Mac OS X (at work), I use TextMate. It's OK. Not as feature rich. Also not free.

Originally Posted by caroline

and what do you recomend for a noob like my self?

If you're on Windows, just use Notepad++ to start. It's got lots of nice features and is just the right price (free, open-source).

[caroline]

aha just downloaded notepad++ nice and simple not nearly half as confusing for me as when i first opened up dreamweaver! (not to mention it's free)
thanks for that its as i said much appreciated

[pgo]

From there head over to HTML and CSS Tutorials, References, and Articles | HTML Dog and get your learn on. Start with the HTML Beginner tutorial and work your way through.

[webdevelopernew]

Helpful info, been on html dog before, when I started was clear helpful advise