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Where do I start

Started by mps69_1999, Mar 07 2007 09:48 PM

22 replies to this topic

#1 OFFLINE   mps69_1999

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Posted 07 March 2007 - 09:48 PM

Ok I'm looking for help, guidance and general advice here.
I've just purchased myself a new domain name and I'm looking to build myself a website.
After spending most of the day searching, googling and researching I've found a somewhere that might suit my needs for web hosting Profuse.
I'm not looking for anything fancy without all the bells and whistle. This is just going to be family website which I might use for my screen shot and comments etc.
There is a a lot things a don't know, like what CGI, PHP, SSI, FrontPage Extensions, Perl, Python, Ruby are. I was hoping to use something like nvu which seems to very easy to start with. I would then just up load the file to the website.
Do I really have to learn all these CGI's and PHP things before I can start?
Do I need worry about what browser I use and other are going to use?
What pit falls should I really avoid?
I know this is going to be a very steep learning curve but I'm sure it will be fun.
Cheers
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#2 OFFLINE   rridgely

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Posted 07 March 2007 - 10:27 PM

To be honest no don't worry about all of the stuff you just mentioned.
Do you know the basics of .html? If not its pretty simple to learn. Here are 2 sites that we used a lot when I took web page design classes:
http://www.webmonkey.com/
http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp

If your going to use nvu you don't have to know all that much but it will help to know the basics when you cant get something formatted just the way you want.

---------

Some things to think about.
1. I wouldn't buy your hosting untill you have your site finished. That way you can get the cheapest package you can find to fit your needs. Also if by anychance you give up you won't be stuck with something you can't do anything with. :P (I've seen it happen many many times. :lol:)

2. You don't have to worry about browsers if your just using simple html. But I have noticed that NVU every once in a while will do some funky coding and the pages will only look right in mozilla browsers(same thing for IE and frontpage.). When I took classes we did the first 90% of the class in notepad so everything looked ok in any browser. :P :(

3. Don't rule out using templates for your first site. There are tons of free ones all over the net and they are relativly easy to use.

4. Take your time and don't rush. It can't get annoying fast, so just remember that you knew that when you started. :P

#3 OFFLINE   Andavari

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 05:53 AM

This is always a good start:
<HTML>
<HEAD>

<font face="Arial, Times New Roman, Helvetica" font size=-1>

   <TITLE></TITLE>

</HEAD>

<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#0000EE" vlink="#551A8B" alink="#FF0000">

</font>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Complexity of incoherent design.

#4 OFFLINE   rridgely

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 06:05 AM

lol so true. :P

#5 OFFLINE   JAGO

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 06:29 AM

View PostAndavari, on Mar 8 2007, 12:53 AM, said:

This is always a good start:
<HTML>
<HEAD>

<font face="Arial, Times New Roman, Helvetica" font size=-1>

   <TITLE></TITLE>

</HEAD>

<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#0000EE" vlink="#551A8B" alink="#FF0000">

</font>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Don't teach him bad habits! /slap /slap!

First of all, start fresh, start modern. XHTML is all lower-case. Secondly, there are some tags to avoid like the plague. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a wonderful implementation, and I suggest you read up on it, as it goes hand-in-hand with XHTML.

The second thing I would reccommend, aside from a bunch of tutorials (W3 Schools really are great), is a good editor. I use ConTEXT (www.context.cx), it's rather awesome.

If you have any questions, just ask.
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#6 OFFLINE   mps69_1999

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 07:37 AM

Thanks for the tips guys.
The web host I was looking at is a free one, but does involve ads. The upside seems to be loads of space and a pretty big bandwidth.
I'll have a looks at the website mentioned. I've got a feeling it's going to be baby steps to start with.
As for the code Andavari...........HAHAHA........I don't get it :blink: but I'm sure I will in time.
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#7 OFFLINE   rridgely

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 03:35 PM

Ut oh, you have more to learn than you can imagine then. :P
That code andavari posted is basically the shell you start with to start a web page. :D

#8 OFFLINE   Andavari

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 05:26 PM

View Postrridgely, on Mar 8 2007, 09:35 AM, said:

Ut oh, you have more to learn than you can imagine then. :P
That code andavari posted is basically the shell you start with to start a web page. :D
Yeah but for doing a family website where he just wants some pictures and stuff I'd recommend using a top to bottom design which is dead simple with a WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get") website creation program such as Nvu if wanting to go the free route, or some inexpensive commercial app (although most commercial one's I've used suck major ass) that's even easier to use than Nvu. However knowing some basic HTML is beyond helpful for fixing what a WYSIWYG editor will screw up or when one won't comply to a change you wish to make - good ole' Notepad comes in handy in the situations.

I would seriously dis-recommend using Microsoft Publisher 98 and newer to create it because it creates butchered, f***ed up code that most likely will not function 100% correctly in Mozilla based browsers and completely forget about it working in old Netscape browsers.

In any event after you've coded your website you can make sure it is without errors, etc., by submitting it to The W3C Markup Validation Service.
Complexity of incoherent design.

#9 OFFLINE   Andavari

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 05:32 PM

View PostJAGO, on Mar 8 2007, 12:29 AM, said:

I use ConTEXT (www.context.cx), it's rather awesome.
The Code templates and many other features have sparked my interest! :)
Complexity of incoherent design.

#10 OFFLINE   mps69_1999

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 08:24 PM

Thanks for your concern guys, it good to know I've maybe got a lifeline I can throw out.
I've made a simple start using Nvu. So far it seems good and informative. I like the fact it can see the html code, and yes i did see the code Andavari used.
I've even got my hands on HTML for Dummies too just to guide me along.
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#11 OFFLINE   Andavari

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 09:24 PM

View Postmps69_1999, on Mar 8 2007, 02:24 PM, said:

I've even got my hands on HTML for Dummies too just to guide me along.
Just basic stuff like knowing how to insert images, breaks, blank spaces, and font styles is very useful. I taught myself HTML years ago, but I don't get into some of the more complex stuff as most of what I do are simple readme files, e.g.; for instance of software I've downloaded.
Complexity of incoherent design.

#12 OFFLINE   rridgely

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Posted 09 March 2007 - 08:25 PM

You may want to check this out:
http://kompozer.net/

Its supposed to be improving on NVU by fixing some of its bugs.
I haven't tried it yet(just found it), but I figured it would be worth taking a look at. :)

#13 OFFLINE   Andavari

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Posted 10 March 2007 - 11:35 AM

View Postrridgely, on Mar 9 2007, 02:25 PM, said:

Its supposed to be improving on NVU by fixing some of its bugs.
Nvu's bugs and refusal to change some things is why I never reinstalled it on this fresh Windows install I have. I've went back to using Metapad and Notepad for making any HTML documents.
Complexity of incoherent design.

#14 OFFLINE   rridgely

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Posted 10 March 2007 - 10:14 PM

Well, NVU is way better than hand coding. :P
I installed this bug fix thing. It seems the same to me, so if it really did fix those problems its a good thing to have.

#15 OFFLINE   fireryone

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Posted 11 March 2007 - 04:00 AM

Quote

In any event after you've coded your website you can make sure it is without errors, etc., by submitting it to The W3C Markup Validation Service.
I just found out that there are a bunch of errors in the template I'm using, maybe I'll get around to fixing them.
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Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

#16 OFFLINE   1984

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Posted 11 March 2007 - 05:36 AM

View Postrridgely, on Mar 9 2007, 02:25 PM, said:

You may want to check this out:
http://kompozer.net/

Its supposed to be improving on NVU by fixing some of its bugs.
I haven't tried it yet(just found it), but I figured it would be worth taking a look at. :)

does it work on vistas, and if not, are there any that do?

#17 OFFLINE   rridgely

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Posted 11 March 2007 - 06:02 AM

I think I saw somewhere that nvu was working. Portable Apps has a portable version of nvu on there. Download that and if it works then I'm sure Kompozer would. :)

#18 OFFLINE   mps69_1999

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Posted 11 March 2007 - 08:18 AM

Funny you should say nvu and portable apps, that's the very one I'm using. I can't stand app that install stuff all over your PC's reg etc. It also means I can continue working on my site at work, from my flash drive. So far I've not had any problems or bugs, but in saying that it's all very simple stuff I'm doing.
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#19 OFFLINE   Andavari

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Posted 11 March 2007 - 02:39 PM

View Postfireryone, on Mar 10 2007, 10:00 PM, said:

I just found out that there are a bunch of errors in the template I'm using, maybe I'll get around to fixing them.
Your website causes scrolling in Firefox to be very jittery.
Complexity of incoherent design.

#20 OFFLINE   Andavari

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Posted 11 March 2007 - 02:41 PM

View Postmps69_1999, on Mar 11 2007, 02:18 AM, said:

So far I've not had any problems or bugs, but in saying that it's all very simple stuff I'm doing.
One thing I'd call a bug, maybe the developers and everybody else wouldn't is when editing and re-saving a page in Nvu it puts blank lines in the code. The problem with that is it causes the HTML documents to grow in filesize over time.
Complexity of incoherent design.
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