Oscar

Nice first site, its a good start. Just looking at your contact form i would personally take out the security caption bit as you want to make it as easy as possible for people to fill in the form. I do know that its there to prevent spam but i just dont think its worth it. Can you not get an email for example hireme@oliverwd.co.uk? i think that an email ending in your domain name is much more professional than a hotmail. overall its good and hope what i said can help to make it even better

yea good points, So there is this local business that has a high street shop as well as a website. I know i could make a better website than the one they currently have so how should i go about approaching them and what sort of price do i give as they probably don't want to spend much on the site? Thanks, Oscar

Hey all, So web design is my hobby as of now and i have never made a site for someone other than my self. I am part way through making a portfolio site but really have nothing to put on it. My question is, should i stop my site and contact some local charities and small businesses and offer them site redesigns ect for free?? I just find that i cannot stop changing my site so im thinking that doing some for people with actual deadlines may give me the kick up the arse i need. Many thanks for any advice. Oscar

Hey all, I'm in the middle of creating my portfolio site and have been looking for a decent javascript banner slider to go at the top. Looking around the web I've not found a decent tutorial and would much rather learn how to make it than buy one. Does anyone know a good resource on this? Cheers for any help guys.

Yep Lynda.com is such a good resource for learning pretty much everything to do with computers. They have at the moment 11 tuts containing PHP from basics to advanced.

I haven't started freelancing yet and at the moment just do this for a hobby. However i think its worth just getting stuck in. With the rate at which the web evolves you could forever be learning new stuff.

Hey there, Good on you for getting your site up and accepting some pointers. I am fairly new to web design so I really don't know everything, however there are a few things that i feel would improve your site: Im guessing that the other pages of your site arent up yet as the links do nothing? when you do have these pages sorted just make sure that each navigation item takes me to a different page. Another thing with the navigation, i would space them out evenly both sides With your contact form I think making all the elements allign would create a better path to completion visually. Im not to sure a back button is needed in your form, you want to provide as little need for thought as possible when someone is filling in their details. The only thing they need to think about is hitting that send button once their information has been entered. I think your homepage needs some more written content, i am a big fan of white space but there needs to be some sort of selling of your self to make me click through your site, if i was a customer, I think i would want to know if your the kind of person that i want to work with before i spend my valuable time looking at your other pages. Lastly I think using a grid system or something to give your site an underlying structure and flow would improve its aesthetics, check out the 960 grid system which may be of help. I hope what ive said has is useful and hope you can build on it . Anyway must say well done with getting your portfolio site up, mine is still in progress and has been for a long time.

Yea thats something i do need to learn really. Im thinking maybe i should learn to use photoshop or fireworks a bit better so that i can add graphics to my site rather than all HTML and CSS. I think that may be whats lacking. What would you recommend, PS or Fireworks? JPWD I will show you my current site once i have finished the layout if you like. Thanks for your comments btw.

Hey all, So i'm trying to get good enough with web design to start free lancing and earning some extra money. I know CSS and HTML OK and can work with them fairly well however I have two major problems. Firstly my sites seem a little bland and boring, the ideas are there and the content seems ok but it never looks as sleek as i would have liked( i'm thinking that learning to use Photoshop could benefit this) and secondly I keep redesigning every time i see a layout that particularly catches my eye or I find a new way of doing something. Im just looking for a little advice on how to overcome these issues, I appreciate any comments you have to offer. Thanks, Oscar