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WEB DESIGN |
To build a web site you have two options. You can hire a web designer to create the site for you. Or you can learn to do the web design yourself and have greater creative input into how the final product looks. While web design is a skill which takes time to learn, it is possible to learn if you are willing to dedicate the effort. In addition to designing your site, it is also beneficial to learn how to marketing of the site, since this both saves money in paying someone else to do it as well as gives you a more intimate understanding of the performance of your site (how effectively it is being promoted to its intended audience).
HTML
The first thing that you need to learn in order to get a fundamental site up and running is how to write HTML code. HTML is the code language which is interpreted by web browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, etc.) with the directions on how to lay out the pages of your site. It tells the browser where and how to display the text, images, sounds, etc. on your pages. While there are programs on the market which allow you to create pages without knowing HTML code, there are some drawbacks to this. First, the good programs cost money (like Dreamweaver - which costs hundreds of dollars). Secondly, if you don't know the code, you can't go in and fine tune to page which the program has created (since there are often several ways to write code for a specific task, and the program does not always do it exactly the way you want).
Learning HTML is not difficult. You simply need to put in the time. There are many good online and offline resources which can teach you to write code in a short amount of time (see further resources). The most effective way to learn html is by writing and running the code, so it is important to jump right in and experiment. The www.w3schools.comonline tutorial includes a built in coding feature which allows you to write and run your code right on the site as you learn it. This enables you to immediately see the effects of each code tag, which makes learning easier.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Cascading Style Sheets are an extension of HTML which enables the web designer to have more creative effect on the layout of the web page, as well as save time and effort through automating the code writing itself. CSS programming allows you to customize html tags and then apply them to one page or as many pages as you want. Once you can use CSS you will be able to layout your pages and site more creatively, and it will take less time. It is important that you know HTML before learning CSS since CSS is an extension of HTML.
Javascript
Javascript programming allows you to make your site interactive. You can take information from the visitor and then process it and return a response (ex. make calculation, display time, date, etc.). You can also change the layout of the pages in response to what the visitor does. Used together with HTML and CSS this is called DHTML (Dynamic HTML), and adds...
These are the basics. There are more advanced coding languages which you can learn to make your site more professional. They can all be studied using the resources listed in the further reading section below.
Digital Imaging & Graphics
In order to use photographs and/or illustrations on your site you need to use special programs which allow you to create and manipulate the images and get them ready for display on the web. The two basic type of graphic design elements you will be dealing are photographs and illustrations. Both of these elements have software programs which handle their tasks.
There are various companies who make similar pieces of software for specific tasks. These software programs very in price and quality. The Adobe company is one of the higher quality producers of digital graphic design software.
Adobe Photoshop- is an industry standard photo manipulation program. It allows you to use photos from a film camera (via scanning) and/or imported directly from a digital camera. There are a wide range of editing functions which allow you strong creative control over the image in post-production. It also has a "save for web" function which minimizes the file sixe of your photos (for efficient distribution on the web) while maintaining superior image quality. Although this is a fairly expensive program (~$600 US) it is well worth it for the ease of performance.
Adobe Illustrator- is an industry standard drawing/painting program. It enables the production of high-quality graphics for print or web distribution. For web design this program is used mainly to create custom text, buttons, illustration, etc. The price of this software is somewhat high compared to other programs on the market, but the quality justifies the cost (~$400 US). There are some sites on the web which offer free text logo and button creation for web designers. If you expect to do little of this type of graphic design, it may be best to skip buying this software and use one of the less expensive programs (ex. Paint Shop Pro). The basic paint program which comes with Windows on your computer will perform a few basic functions, but it is better to upgrade to one of the more powerful purchase programs which will allow you greater flexibility.
Domain Registration
The first thing you need to establish in beginning to create your web site is your domain name. A domain name is the text address of your web site on the internet (ex. www.transcendingimage.com, www.adobe.com, etc.). This is the name that web surfers will type in the call up your site on their computers. Registering a domain name is simple and requires two basic steps. There is a yearly fee to register a domain, but payment of this fee prevents anyone else from registering the same name. Plus, as owner, you are given the first choice to renew registration of the domain (before anyone else can come and take it). As owner of the domain, you have the right to sell it to someone else if they make you an offer that you think is attractive. It is like owning "online real estate".
One reputable domain registration company is www.dotster.com. They have a low fee ($15/year) domain registration service as well as a search engine which allows you to see if a potential domain is available to register.
The two step process of domain registration is as follows: 1. Search for availability of the domain name on the Dotster site. If you enter a name and it is available, you can proceed to the registration page where you provide your contact and payment info and submit the registration. If the domain name is unavailable, you either cannot register the name, or you can try to contact the current owner of the domain and offer to buy the registration from him/her.
Once you have registered your domain name, you need to open a hosting service account where your web site files will be stored and accessed by web surfers. Web hosting companies rent out space on their large computers which have expensive internet software (ex. database, file, email management, etc.) programs which they have paid for the rights to use (for them and their hosting account clients). These companies strive to provide valuable services to their clients to make the web site management process as easy and productive as possible.
One very reputable hosting service is www.brinkster.com. Brinkster offers an affordable hosting plan with online file management (which allows you to edit site files from any computer which can access the internet). This allows you to manage your site from any online location in the world.
Further Resources:www.w3schools.com - free comprehensive tutorials on all aspects on web design (beginner and advanced). Inline coding section so you can practice as you learn (right at the site). HTML 4 for the World Wide Web - Elizabeth Castro - Visual Quickstart Guide Cascading Style Sheets (The Definitive Guide) - Eric A. Meyer Photoshop 6 for Windows and Macintosh - Elaine Weinmann and Peter Lourekas - Visual Quickstart Guide Illustrator 10 for Windows and Macintosh - Elaine Weinmann and Peter Lourekas - Visual Quickstart Guide
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