pattyflip
Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Posts: 1
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| What skills do I need? |
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I've learned some HTML, which I found pretty easy actually, but I was wondering what other skills should I begin to learn with regards to webpage building.
Should I learn a programming language and if so, which is recommended?
What else should I learn and where can I learn it, possibly for free?
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Mon Dec 27, 2004 12:50 am
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Thermit
Site Admin

Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 272
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Patty,
HTML is obviously the foundation of webpage building, so very good learning that. You may also be interested in learning about images and graphics. A program like Paintshop or Photoshop will allow you to create all kinds of images and logos, very handy for the webmaster.
What type of webmastering were you wanting to get into?
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Mon Dec 27, 2004 2:52 pm
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UnXpected
Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 58
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HTML and PHP
With these, you can do most of the stuffs.
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Wed Dec 29, 2004 2:23 am
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Orion
Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 11
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
I agree that HTML and PHP are pretty much what you hsould look at doing, You can do other things but these two are pretty much a good basic standard to work on. You may also want to add something like MySQL, to your knowledge base to get into the Database & PHP style stuff as well.
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Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:28 am
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Euler
Joined: 02 Sep 2004
Posts: 109
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First learn basic HTML and CSS. Begin using CSS as soon as possible. You'll get a serious advantage on your contemporaries AND save yourself time and frustration down the road.
For example, there are many here who have not yet taken the full CSS plunge. You can still start methodically today and be ahead of most pros within the year. Your advantage is that you won't be burdened with the overhead of switching tracks/philosophies/methodologies. You'll just start the right way.
When you strain against your limits, wanting features beyond the reach of pure HTML/CSS, you should graduate to a group of related technologies affectionately known as LAMP.
Linux
Apache
Mysql
PHP (or Perl, but stick with PHP instead)
Using these, you'll be able to do most anything you can dream up. The levels beyond LAMP disappear into the epic mists of security, transactions, massive scalability, distribution and intellectual property. And then, only on the enterprise scale. In other words, LAMP is all that most dreamers need.
Some never wake from the realm of LAMP, even when their dream grows beyond their expectations. http://slashdot.org/ gets millions of impressions an hour. It's just a stupid perl script, and if you ask the authors, it always will be.
Pattyflip you need some good links, don't ya? Here's a start:
http://www.w3.org/Style/Examples/011/firstcss
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Fri Apr 01, 2005 9:31 pm
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Tomzo
Joined: 12 Mar 2005
Posts: 2
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I don't know if many newbies can tackle PHP, I have very little understanding of it myself, but would like to know if it is difficult to learn?
No one has mentioned javascript, has it gone out of fashion? I must admit I use very little of it. I think for me learning something about CSS has helped to make my site much easier to design and implement, it has also helped save bandwidth by using less code.
Good luck!
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Sun Apr 03, 2005 11:38 pm
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Euler
Joined: 02 Sep 2004
Posts: 109
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Yes, Javascript is no longer in fashion, thank the lord, but it remains a very useful and capable tool in the right situations.
Javascript is unreliable because the visitor can turn it off. Many visitors keep it off because it is a source of popups and malware. Never depend upon Javascript if you want professional results.
Because it relies upon the visitors machine configuration and resources, it might run slowly, cause the browser to hang or the machine to crash.
In some situations, it can enhance the user interface, but you should always provide an automatic contingency for the case where javascript is off.
For instance, you can design javascript dropdown menus that revert back to bulletted lists when javascript is off. That way, it works no matter what.
PHP is simple and clean. Just like anything valuable, it takes some time to get started. It's easy to learn, hard to master.
Most newbies can handle their needs with hardcoded HTML and CSS. Or they are already using someone elses BBS or blog application.
Presumably, one would not attempt to pick up PHP without a need, the interest and the will to see it work. Any person with these traits is ready to begin. Many resources are readily available at wikipedia, google or any scripts provider. PHP is ubiquitous.
Best link for beginner to veteran: http://php.net/
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Mon Apr 04, 2005 9:10 pm
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Thermit
Site Admin

Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 272
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Used the very same just a few days ago to write my first from scratch custom PHP script for someone. Pretty cool forging logic.
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Tue Apr 05, 2005 7:30 am
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Euler
Joined: 02 Sep 2004
Posts: 109
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Dood! Whatcha forgin'?
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Tue Apr 05, 2005 6:19 pm
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Thermit
Site Admin

Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 272
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Oh, wrote a simple custom script for an associate of mine.
Wasn't very long or complicated, just a good exercise for tuning into PHP.
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Tue Apr 05, 2005 9:05 pm
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