Marcel Legros - Play the Game of Life

Here’s day five in my six part series designed to help an absolute beginner learn how to build a web site. If you’re new to computing or you have no idea what skills and tools you need to become a web developer, this is for you. The articles aren’t designed to teach you web development skills; they’re meant to give you a push in the right direction so that you can quickly learn those skills on your own. I hope you find my guide helpful. If you do, please Stumble it, so that others can benefit.

Article Outline

Day One - Tools Required for Website Development
Day Two - Skills Required for Website Development
Day Three - The Most Powerful Learning Secret for Website Development
Day Four - Beyond Basics - Tools That Take Your Site To the Next Level
Day Five - Beyond Basics - Skills That Take Your Website to the Next Level
Day Six - Wrap-Up - Summary of Tools, Skills, Books, and Tutorials for Website Development
Day Five - Skills to Take Your Site to the Next Level

You more than a solid understanding of HTML and CSS to build a successful web site. The difference between a good web site and a great web site isn’t flashy graphics or slick database-driven content - it’s depth.

You need to:

* Understand your topic
* Understand your audience
* Deliver your information, tools, or solutions to that audience in a user-friendly way.
* Give something that is of value to the people viewing your site, make it easy for them to find what they want, and create a compelling reason for your audience to keep coming back.

Learn To Spell Correctly. Use Proper Grammar, and Concise Language.

Ther’s nuthin wurs than reding a web site with horibel speling and gramur.

Make sure you spell-check everything you write. Ask another writer to check your work and edit for improvements.

Often, a word isn’t misspelled, but misused - here is a good post on the most commonly misused words. Make sure your writing is concise - kill all unnecessary words for sake of clarity. Eliminate “weedy” words like “but, well, then, very, and, so, that, just, really, now, was, were, and had” - they’re lifeless and add nothing to your writing. Passive words like “could, should, would, had, were, had, got, was, been” destroy interesting sentences and put your readers to sleep.

Learn to identify weedy words and passive language!

Offer Something of Value

Too many people start a personal site or blog just to tell us how badly their day went or what they ate for dinner last night. I’m not being cruel when I say “I don’t want to see another picture of your cat. I don’t care if you have a strange lump on your elbow and you want the world to know about it. I don’t want to see another page cluttered with inspirational quotes, jokes, and seizure-inducing animated banners.”

Provide valuable content - something worth reading, a tool to solve a problem, or even just your own opinions and feelings. Make us laugh or cry. Make us feel what you’re feeling. Make it worthwhile.

Make Your Pages Easy to Navigate

Design your site so any viewer can navigate to any page they’re looking for, in 3 clicks or less. Provide a “home” link on every page on the site. Make your links visual if possible, and provide simple navigation to every area of your site on every page. Never allow new pages to open into a new window. Never allow pop-ups ads or reminders of any kind - they’re annoying and put your reader in a bad mood.

If I have to click 10 times to get to your article and then I’m greeted with a ‘helpful’ pop-up window, I’m going to go somewhere else.

Keep Your Images as Small as Possible

When you insert images and graphics into your html, make sure you optimize them to be as small as possible. Large image files can cripple a web page and your readers will go elsewhere. Don’t be afraid to use eye-candy and great graphics. Use programs like Photoshop and Gimp to reduce their file size.

Here’s an example - the following image was downloaded from iStock.

The original file size was 252 KB. After resizing and saving it as an optimized jpeg in Photoshop, the file is now 18.6KB. The image will load over 13 times faster because I optimized it!

Make It Easy on My Ears

It’s tempting to include music on your web pages. Music is okay, but never have it automatically load and always give the viewer an option to turn it off. Not everyone will share you musical preference. If I’m surfing late at night, I don’t want music to start blaring from the PC and wake up my family. If you force me to listen to your favorite tunes when I discover your site, I’m likely to go somewhere else.

Avoid Color Schemes That Melt My Eyes

Two intense colors placed beside each other will “vibrate” and cause irreparable damage to your viewers’ mood.

Avoid putting intense, saturated versions of these colors close together: red / green, blue / red, green / magenta, yellow / cyan, blue / magenta, blue / green.

Here’s an example of what not to do. Isn’t this annoying?

Create White Space On Your Page

Break your writing up into short paragraphs and leave room for the eye to relax.

White space gives focus and clarity to a web page.

Avoid Tiny Fonts

Not everyone has 20/20 vision. Even if all your viewers have perfect vision, larger font sizes are easier to read.

Avoid Busy, Distracting Backgrounds

No cloud scenes, repeating checkered patterns, or other noise, please. They’re a major put-off, and make your content impossible to read.

Don’t Let Advertising Dominate Your Content

There’s nothing worse than banners at the top, text ads at the bottom, and ads that pop up when you hover over every word. I came to view your content, not get hammered over the head by advertising. There’s nothing wrong with monetizing your site - just do it tastefully and consider the user experience first.

Use Lists and Numbers

1. People love reading bulleted and numbered lists.
2. A viewer’s eye is more attracted to the numeric version of a number.
3. Use 365 instead of three hundred sixty-five.

Lastly, make your content meaningful and put yourself in your audience’s shoes. Identify the type of people you are writing for and aim to attract those people with your topics and writing style. If you identify your audience and create an environment they feel comfortable with, you’re well on your way to having a successful web site of your own.

I hope you join me for the wrap up in this series. I’ll have it up in a few days. I originally planned to write a summary of all we’ve covered in the last five articles, but I have a feeling I’m going to surprise you with something completely different!

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Here’s day four in my six part series designed to help an absolute beginner learn how to build a web site. If you’re new to computing or you have no idea what skills and tools you need to become a web developer, this is for you. The articles aren’t designed to teach you web development skills; they’re meant to give you a push in the right direction so that you can quickly learn those skills on your own. I hope you find my guide helpful. If you do, please Stumble it, so that others can benefit.

Article Outline

Day One - Tools Required for Website Development

Day Two - Skills Required for Website Development

Day Three - The Most Powerful Learning Secret for Website Development

Day Four - Beyond Basics - Tools That Take Your Site To the Next Level

Day Five - Beyond Basics - Skills That Take Your Website to the Next Level

Day Six - Wrap-Up - Summary of Tools, Skills, Books, and Tutorials for Website Development

Day Four - Tools To Take Your Site To the Next Level

HTML Editors

Once you get a handle on HTML and CSS, there are many tools to help you automate the process of building web pages. They aren’t necessary, but certainly help speed things up for you. There are many HTML editors available - some are text-only while others are WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), meaning you can view the web page while you code it. Here are my top four suggestions, in order of preference:

Adobe Dreamweaver (Windows / Mac) - $399.00 - Dreamweaver is a WYSIWYG editor and handles HTML, CSS, most scripting languages, and also automates the process of uploading files to your FTP server. Dreamweaver is part of the Adobe CS suite, so it really shines when you’re also using Photoshop, Illustrator, Contribute, or Flash. Dreamweaver is expensive but easily my top pick for commercial HTML editors.

TextMate (Mac only) - $59.00 - Textmate is a powerful text-only editor. It might not be WYSIWYG, but don’t let this fool you. Textmate is capable of handling any web language and most programming languages as well. If you’re a Mac user, this is the best text-only editor available.
Coda (Mac Only) - $79.00 - Coda is an easy to use, WYSIWYG editor. The feature set isn’t amazing but it has an excellent interface. If you’re a Mac user and you want a basic WYSIWYG editor, then buy Coda.
UltraEdit (Windows) - $49.95 - If you’re using Windows, UltraEdit is the best text-only editor available. Like TextMate, it handles web languages or programming languages with ease.

Image Editing Software

Even the most austere sites require some use of graphics and images. Images make your site more readable an interesting. Here are two high quality image editing programs for your viewing pleasure:

Photoshop - ( $649.00 - Windows, Mac)

Gimp - (Free - Windows, Mac, Linux)

Photoshop is easily the best in the field but unless you’re aiming for a career in graphic design, Gimp will handle most graphic tasks quite well. If you discover a passion for creating high quality graphics, the high price for Photoshop is well worth the investment.

Content Management System / Blogging or Forum Software

You’re viewing this web page as the result of a content management system. Blogging or forum software automates the task of coding your pages and delivers them to your viewers quickly with a lot of cool features.

If you want to start a blog, there are a few choices for you, but I highly suggest using Wordpress. Forget Facebook, MySpace, or free Blogger accounts. They work, but you’re at the mercy of those websites and their software - if their site goes down, so does your blog. If you want to start a successful blog, you need Wordpress. It’s free, and you can control every aspect of the user experience. Typepad is used by a few high-profile bloggers but you’re locked into a monthly payment plan and it’s not as flexible as Wordpress.

If forums, or bulletin boards are more your thing, I suggest phpBB http://www.phpbb.com/. It’s free and easy to install on your host’s web server. I think vBulletin http://www.vbulletin.com/ is actually better software but, again, it’s expensive at $169.00 for a lifetime license. What is it with me and expensive software?!

Bonus Tools for Mac Users - CSSEdit and Scrivener!

CSSEdit - If you’re interested in learning CSS, immediately download and purchase CSSEdit. We reviewed the Firefox plug-in, Firebug, yesterday. Firebug is extremely powerful but if you’re interested in honing your CSS chops, CSSEdit has many features that Firebug does not. This is an exceptional tool for web developers on the Mac.

Scrivener - I’m writing this blog every day on Scrivener. I can’t say enough about this program - if you’re a serious writer and you want to write the next great American novel, or you’re blogging like me, Scrivener has it all. It’s not a word processor; it’s a writing program. It also lets you collect online links and media so that you can refer to them while you write. It’s truly inspiring. If you’re a writer or blogger and you’re on a Mac, please try it out. It’s a steal at $39.95!

That’s It For Today

Thanks for reading! I hope you join me for tomorrow’s article - Day Five - Beyond Basics - Skills That Take Your Website to the Next Level.

[Read more →]

Today, we’re on part three of a six part series designed to help an absolute beginner learn how to build a web site. If you’re new to computing or you have no idea what skills and tools you need to become a web developer, this is for you. The articles aren’t designed to teach you web development skills; they’re meant to give you a push in the right direction so that you can quickly learn those skills on your own. I hope you find my guide helpful. If you do, please Stumble it, so that others can benefit.

Article Outline

Day One - Tools Required for Website Development

Day Two - Skills Required for Website Development

Day Three - The Most Powerful Learning Secret for Website Development

Day Four - Beyond Basics - Tools That Take Your Site To the Next Level

Day Five - Beyond Basics - Skills That Take Your Website to the Next Level

Day Six - Wrap-Up - Summary of Tools, Skills, Books, and Tutorials for Website Development

Day Three - The Most Powerful Learning Secret for Website Development

The most powerful secret to learn how to build websites, is right in front of you. Your internet browser is your most powerful tool to becoming a skilled web developer. Books and tutorials are great but did you know that you can actually view the HTML and CSS for any website on the internet?

Think Like Reverse Engineer

Reverse engineering means to take something apart to learn how it works so that you can build it for yourself. You can learn to build amazing websites of your own with only three items in your toolbox:

* The Firefox internet browser
* The Firebug plug-in installed on Firefox.
* A website you wish to emulate or improve upon.

Step One - Install Firefox

It’s critical you’re using a quality browser for this lesson - Internet Explorer or Safari won’t cut it. If you haven’t already done so, download and install Firefox on your computer.

Step Two - Install Firebug

One of Firefox’s strengths is that it allows you to add any number of plug-ins to it. A well designed plug-in can add a lot of new functionality to the browser. Firebug is probably the most powerful and ingenious plug-in ever created for Firefox. Watch this video tutorial to help you install Firebug quickly.

Step Three - Find a Target Website

Have a look at this quick tutorial to explore the basic interface of Firebug. It’s so simple, your jaw will drop!

Step Four - Imitation is the Best Form of Flattery

Firefox and Firebug are the most powerful free tools to help you learn how websites are designed and coded. It’s truly amazing the first time you realize you can go to any site, peek inside of it, tweak it, and begin to understand how the designer put it together. If you followed my advice on Day One and Day Two, you will already have begun to learn about HTML and CSS. Now, with Firefox and Firebug, you have the power to learn from HTML professionals, any time of day or night.
The best way to learn HTML is by emulating other designers’ work that you admire. Feel free to copy HTML and CSS from all kinds of sources and keep a personal library of your favorites in a it’s own folder. I highly recommend emulating examples of code from your favorite sites but I do not recommend copying code from an entire page or site and using it as your own. It’s not illegal to copy HTML code but you’ll never learn and improve if you just copy and paste it into your own domain. Imitation or emulation is a powerful learning tool. Copying is just lazy and unethical.

Bonus Step - Firebug’s Baby Brother

A less functional, but useful, feature built into most browsers, can be located on your right mouse button. Go to any website and right-click anywhere on a blank area of the page (without links, images, or ads.) A context menu pops up - click “View Source” (Internet Explorer, Safari), “View Page Source” (Firefox), or “Source” (Opera). A new window appears with all of the source HTML for that web page. This is also a great feature most people don’t know about or utilize often.

You can’t view CSS stylesheets or inspect and edit web pages this way, so I suggest you focus on learning to use Firebug. Go to http://www.getfirebug.com/docs.html and read the Firebug documentation to get the most out of this amazing tool.
That’s It For Today

Your browser is the most powerful learning secret for website development. Satisfy your curiosity. Immerse yourself in the work of others. Go out there and visit all of your favorite sites to see how they’re built; then apply what you learn to your own work. With this knowledge, you’ll become an HTML pro in no time at all.

Thanks for reading! I hope you join me for tomorrow’s article - Day Four - Beyond Basics - Tools That Take Your Site To the Next Level.

[Read more →]

Yesterday, I started a six part series designed to help an absolute beginner learn how to build a web site. If you’re new to computing or you have no idea what skills and tools you need to become a web developer, this is for you. Follow my steps and suggestions and follow the links I’ve provided - these are a wealth of knowledge you’ll need to get started. These articles won’t teach you how to build web sites. Instead, it will teach you what skills you need to learn and where to find the information and resources to learn them. I hope you find it helpful.

If you haven’t read Day One - Tools Required for Website Development, do that first; then come back here and continue along.

Article Outline

Day One - Tools Required for Website Development
Day Two - Skills Required for Website Development
Day Three - The Most Powerful Learning Secret for Website Development
Day Four - Beyond Basics - Tools That Take Your Site To the Next Level
Day Five - Beyond Basics - Skills That Take Your Website to the Next Level
Day Six - Wrap-Up - Summary of Tools, Skills, Books, and Tutorials for Website Development
Day Two - Skills Required for Website Development

Step One - Learning HTML and XHTML

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language.

XHTML stands for Extensible HyperText Markup Language (the X doesn’t mean it’s extreme, or refer to some sort of trans gender inside joke.)

HTML and XHTML aren’t programming languages - they’re markup languages. That means, you take standard text and you mark it up with “tags” your web browser can understand. Tags give your text structure and tell the browser everything it needs to know about your site. In a few days, anyone can learn enough HTML and XHMTL to build basic web page or even a whole site. It won’t be elegant or flashy at first, but as your coding skills expand, your pages will become more functional and beautiful. I learned HTML 5 years ago and I had my first site online about 3 days later.

Here’s an example of what the this sentence looks like to a web browser. HTML can be extremely simple and easy to learn.

Here’s an example of what the last two sentences look like to a web browser. HTML can be extremely simple and easy to learn.

Here are two types of tags surrounding the text. The first sentence is in italics, so we use where italics start and where italics end. We do the same thing for the sentence in bold, except the tags we use are and . Pretty simple, huh?

HTML and XHTML? Why two languages?

XHTML is just a newer form of HTML with slightly different rules for the tags you use. I suggest getting a firm grip of HTML first and then learning XHTML. The two languages are almost identical. Once you learn one, you’ll have no problem learning the other.

I suggest two methods of learning HTML - books and online tutorials.

The best HTML book on the market today is Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML by Eric and Elisabeth Freeman. The publisher is O’Reilly. Pick it up at your local book store or purchase it online at Amazon using the link I provided. A good HTML book is an essential tool and this one is the most thorough and approachable book on this subject for a beginner.

For web tutorials, I suggest HTML Dog. Follow the “HTML Beginner” tutorials and when you feel comfortable, move on the the intermediate lessons.

Another great site for HTML resources and tutorials is Webmonkey. Follow the link, “HTML Basics” in the “Authoring” section of the how-to library.

Step Two - Learning CSS

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets.

HTML gives your web pages structure; CSS gives them style. CSS is a stylesheet language that is written as a separate document from your HTML pages. The CSS stylesheet describes what every element on your web pages will look like. Elements like text color, fonts, size, and background images or colors are all separated from the HTML structure.

Here is a short sample of some of the CSS for the pages on the page you’re reading right now:

p.center { text-align: center !important; }

p.bottom { margin: 0 !important; }

p.unstyled { font-size: 1.4em; }

.flickr_blue { color: #007ae4; text-transform: lowercase; }

.flickr_pink { color: #ff2a96; text-transform: lowercase; }

You can use HTML without ever learning CSS but there is a reason web developers use it. At some point your web pages will grow in size and in quantity. If you want to change the colors or fonts for your site and you use HTML only, you’ll have to manually change each and every tag for those fonts and colors, on every page - this is a major pain in the butt. If you use CSS as a separate document, all you have to do is change the stylesheet once and all your pages change with it. CSS is flexible and a major time-saver. Your web pages will also load faster when you use CSS.

I suggest learning HTML and XHTML first, then progressing to CSS as you become more comfortable coding your pages. A web site without CSS is like life without laughter - you can live without it, but it isn’t much fun.
I recommended Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML because it covers everything you need to know, including CSS. This book has it all!

Both HTML Dog and Webmonkey are good resources for CSS tutorials. Once you’re an HTML master, check out cascading style sheets!

That’s It for Day Two

The resources I’ve pointed you towards will keep you busy for days and weeks to come. Come back to join me for tomorrow’s article - The Most Powerful Learning Secret for Website Development.

[Read more →]

People ask me all the time, “How do you build web sites? How do I learn?”
There are thousands of sites that teach you specific skills and tricks of the trade but only a handful actually walk you through the steps and show you what you need to know to become a web site developer. I’ve written a series of six articles here to help you learn those basic skills. If you’re eager, you can easily be up and running with with your own site in a matter of days.
Building your own web site is rewarding, fun, and easy. If you’re an absolute beginner and you want to learn how to build web sites, this is the guide for you. You don’t need a lot of money to start writing websites. You don’t need to learn computer programming. All you need is a desire to learn.
These articles won’t teach you how to write or design your site; they’re designed to point you in the right direction so that you can learn for yourself. Just follow the steps and explore the links I’ve given, and you’ll be well on your way.
What We’re Going To Learn
Day One - Tools Required for Website Development
Day Two - Skills Required for Website Development
Day Three - The Most Powerful Learning Secret for Website Development
Day Four - Beyond Basics - Tools That Take Your Site To the Next Level
Day Five - Beyond Basics - Skills That Take Your Website to the Next Level
Day Six - Wrap-Up - Summary of Tools, Skills, Books, and Tutorials for Website Development

[Read more →]