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I'm trying to design a website for my portfolio. The thing is I'm a copywriter and don't know the first thing about HTML, CSS or anything of the sort. So please tell me how to design a nice, clean website to display my work. I'd prefer not to pay any money for it too. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 19:19 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 09:28 |
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Will HTML/CSS be enough for a website? Will you be satisfied with static content that looks like it came from Geocities in 1998? Most people go to a university for how to design a clean website, so I doubt you will get much better information than: If you don't know where to begin with web design, head to WordPress and nab a basic template and do whatever you want. You get the option to customize everything, and they lay out the website to be as simplistic and straight-forward for a novice like yourself. If WordPress seems too difficult, you can brush up on any beginner-level tutorials for basic web design; there are a myriad of FREE tutorials if you have 5 months to figure everything out and experiment enough with some designs or layouts you are satisfied with. This will take a lot of time, as you will need to experiment until you are confident that you can emulate your ideal of "nice, clean website" that you're currently picturing in your mind. Otherwise, you could pay someone for doing the design work, and have them show you how to insert text if that's all you're going to update. You will not be able to crank out anything sufficient in a weekend or two. You will need to dedicate yourself to understanding this because you will have to be your own tech support when poo poo isn't working the way you expected. Sorry if this came off as brash, I just don't want you to get the impression that because your website is simplistic, it will be simple to construct.
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 20:04 |
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^^^ Beaten.  Take a look at WordPress and Blogger (Google). They are free and have prefab templates. I'm more familiar with Blogger but both seem to have fairly easy user interfaces. But truthfully, if you don't know HTML, you'll be limited on customizing their templates or if you have to fix something. The graphic UI is nice but sometimes it breaks if you move a bunch of stuff around. I would look up HTML tutorials to at least familiarize yourself with it. Out of all the programming languages out there, it's the easiest to learn. I think it took me a few minutes to get the basics and maybe an hour or two to be comfortable with it. Notepad++ is a handy tool that color codes your HTML tags and lets you know if you missed something (like a closing tag). It's basically Notepad with HTML recognition.
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| # ? Mar 7, 2013 20:11 |
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There are a number of browsers that also function as WYSIWYG (What-you-see-is-what-you-get), notably SeaMonkey. While this will not be sufficient for making an interesting, or even good-looking website, it could be useful for learning the basics about HTML. W3C schools offers a whole shitton of tutorials on everything from HTML to Server-Side scripting. inkblottime posted:Out of all the programming languages out there, it's the easiest to learn. I think it took me a few minutes to get the basics and maybe an hour or two to be comfortable with it. Notepad++ is a handy tool that color codes your HTML tags and lets you know if you missed something (like a closing tag). It's basically Notepad with HTML recognition. HTML is a mark-up language, not a programming language, the key distinction being that programming languages execute in some form, where as mark-up language, quite literally, only markup text. Seconding the Notepad++ idea, but it provides a lot more than Syntax highlighting for HTML (provides it for a ton of languages, actually), but also Find-Replace using extended ASCII character set, regex, user configurable newlines, etc, etc, etc. Edit: If you're not opposed to spending money, I bet someone on SA Mart could whip something up for you.
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 02:40 |
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Ya, do Wordpress. There are hundreds of free themes you can use that are perfect for artist/writer portfolios and stuff. Also, if you do decide to go the SA-Mart route, I
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 03:52 |
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DisgracelandUSA posted:Seconding the Notepad++ idea, but it provides a lot more than Syntax highlighting for HTML (provides it for a ton of languages, actually), but also Find-Replace using extended ASCII character set, regex, user configurable newlines, etc, etc, etc. I love Notepad++. I so wish I had it when I first learned HTML (back when Win95 came out, and Geocities  ), it would have made things so much easier. It was a godsend when I setup an EPUB template (separates HTML into sections for ebooks). But my point was simply that it's as useful for newbies as much as for more experienced users since it breaks down the tagging in a visual way.
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 17:39 |
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DisgracelandUSA posted:
Just wanted to chip in that W3 Schools isn't affiliated with the the W3C, and there is a bunch of stuff thats wrong with their tutorials. More info and alternatives can be found here http://w3fools.com. Also, swing by CoC and check out the Web Design/Development mega thread here : http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=2718078
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 18:47 |
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I'm actually in the middle of basically teaching myself how to do this. I signed up for a HTML/XHTML/CSS course at my local community college and found that I was going through poo poo faster than the instructor was discussing them. This is the book we're using: http://books.google.com/books?id=Be...e%20map&f=false I've already gotten through Chapter 5 (Tables) and have learned a shitload of stuff by doing the Case Studies at the end of each chapter. W3C tutorials kind of suck and that website, as has been mentioned, apparently has a bunch of wrong information though I still find myself using it as a reference occasionally. Anyhow, I bought that textbook for $5 delivered on Amazon. Thats insane. You can use that online version but some pages are missing. The data files are all available on the publisher site as well if you google it. After five chapters, I went from a very basic, outdated understanding of HTML to being able to make some pretty cool poo poo. It still needs some work but I've been working on this page all week and I'm pretty proud of it. http://net.saddleback.edu/hyosafi0/...inhabitants.htm Really once you learn some basic CSS, its all about trial and error and making dumb poo poo so that you actually use the code and see what it does. Its pretty fun really.
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| # ? Mar 8, 2013 19:30 |
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Just wanted to echo that Wordpress is the way to go. There is a Wordpress thread too that you can go to with any questions. You can also usually get someone to make your website for dirt cheap or free if they're trying to build their own portfolio.
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| # ? Mar 9, 2013 13:39 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 09:28 |
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Holy cow dude have you heard of google? Christ on a cracker.
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| # ? Mar 9, 2013 15:46 |
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