Hello guys.

 

This is aimed at designers/coders of all expertise....

 

I was wondering, how most of you guys learned what you know?

 

Did any of you read up on tutorials and test by design as you went through or study it etc?

 

Cheers,

 

Michael

Hello guys.

 

This is aimed at designers/coders of all expertise....

 

I was wondering, how most of you guys learned what you know?

 

Did any of you read up on tutorials and test by design as you went through or study it etc?

 

Cheers,

 

Michael

 

Hey Michael,

 

There's no better way to learn than by doing, in my opinion.

I'm a C# developer during the day and a freelance web designer by night (just starting out).

 

I'm completely self taught, no formal qualifications, MCSA's or anything like that. The most important resources that I've found are the Forums such as this one (I've only been reigstered a couple of days, but already have found this to be one of the best forums there is for web design) and the Internet as a whole.

 

I find that I learn best when I've got an actual project to get my teeth into.

 

I have a lot of weak points, but through trial and error and research, I hope to get better and if I can pass on anything that I've learned along the way to others, then I'll be so the much happier for it.

 

Cheers.

Hello guys.

 

This is aimed at designers/coders of all expertise....

 

I was wondering, how most of you guys learned what you know?

 

Did any of you read up on tutorials and test by design as you went through or study it etc?

 

Cheers,

 

Michael

 

Heya MG1878 ,

 

Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy it here.

 

I learnt HTML from reading other websites codes. You can do that by selecting "File - Save Page As" and then open the code in notebook.

 

I've recently run into a free site that has an amazing amount of tutorials, examples, explanations - you name it - and it's http://www.w3schools.com/

 

Also back in my earlier days I often looked up HTML help on www.webdevelopersnotes.com.

 

As for CSS I read through CSS for dummies. Dummies books are great for starting from point A. But if you're into getting serious fast maybe start with something like "The HTML, XML and CSS Bible". I think that's the title... hmmm... well there's a list of great books on the forum (click here to see)that you should read through if you have the extra cash.

 

Else try http://www.w3schools.com/ and www.webdevelopersnotes.com as well.

 

This forum is a great place to learn. Read through old posts, go to the tutorials sections, and if all else fails just ask good ol' google

 

Hope you enjoy your quest.

 

All the best,

 

Cari.

Self-taught.

 

I learned by making dodgy anime websites using tables etc.

Ha ha.

 

W3C Schools is the first site I came across when learning HTML & CSS.

 

I did however HTML dog to be well scripted and clearer in description which was I would say as a combination with W3C helped me through...

 

I have got into the knack of "Viewing Page Source" when I see something I like.

 

Just wondered if I was studying the wrong way round!

I started by being thrown in the deep end. Having just lost my job I took on a huge website project (more than 100 pages!) and had to learn HTML & CSS in order to do it.

I had a quick fling with wysiwyg editors, but soon realised I needed to understand the code and write it by hand.

Needless to say, it took me ages to make my first site, but the knowledge I accumulated on the way has been invaluable. Of course I am still learning, and there is a great deal I don't yet know.

I learned almost everything from W3C Schools, and my local library. Practise is the most important thing you can do, that and using this forum

Ha ha.

 

W3C Schools is the first site I came across when learning HTML & CSS.

 

I did however HTML dog to be well scripted and clearer in description which was I would say as a combination with W3C helped me through...

 

I have got into the knack of "Viewing Page Source" when I see something I like.

 

Just wondered if I was studying the wrong way round!

 

My bad! Kinda went under the assumption you were a beginner, after replying here I ran across another post somewhere else where you sounded quite proficient in web building. I could probably learn a few things from you!

 

Keep well,

 

Cari.

Thank you very much terrorsreign, a nice compliment indeed.

 

I am getting it bit by bit, using the resources out there, I have only been hitting it hard the last 10-14 days or so spending hours at a time reading it but alot wasn't going in. I was lying in bed at night with all sorts of codes etc running through my head and was getting very dissapointed when I couldn't remember things.

 

I imagine most designers naturally being able to just sit in a room with a design and code it all from memory not using anything as reference.

 

This forum is very good indeed I must say, I started designing a website myself as I was doing the tutorials and realised that I was approaching the layout design of the site all wrong when I discovered a very informative post on here, the guy who posts the construction of a site from the start and now things are alot clearer now.

 

I stumbled upon this forum by accident and realise how informative it is really.

 

Just like to get an idea of how other people work or how they find it!

 

Michael

Self taught here as well. I just wondered how to make a web page back in 1998, so I researched it on the net and just got stuck in!

Another self-taught one here. I learnt HTML by following really simple and basic online tutorials in 1997, and more recently have taught myself PHP, JavaScript, MySQL and all sorts of geeky techy stuff.

 

However, in my mid-twenties I did go back to college and studied multimedia design. This taught me how to 'design' more than anything else, which is something I'm not sure is as easily taught just by following tutorials.

Self teaching is a good thing.

 

Learning on a job is also a good thing.

 

And contrary to many I'd say education as in *study* is a good thing. Just find a course that teaches Standards and CSS and X/HTML. Also you'll need quality tutors - ideally ones who have experience in web design/development/computer sciences.

 

The advantage of a good study course is it is laid out, follow the course, understand the course and by all means question everything. It helps to have module/assingment deadlines.

 

I've currently just finished a starter mySQL course and about to do a PHP and then Javascript one. Relational database theory as well as code was taught and the series of modules is a coherent whole.

 

Studied design, then got into web stuff afterwards. That was all self taught. I remember making some right crap in Dreamweaver back in the day..

I remember the very day I first became hooked by web design, it was way back when I was a kid and Digimons where all the rage. I was determined to have the best Digimon in the school, so being the only kid with the internet I did a search for "Digimon Cheats" and found an amazing(ly crap!) website on how I could pwn everyone with an uber Digimon. I soon forgot about the cheats and was fascinated by the concept of being able to have a page on the internet that absolutely anyone could look at — so I created an account with Geocities and got making!

 

From there it was too late to turn back, I was hooked and wanted to know more! I started to get serious 8 years ago, when I bought a book on HTML, which still sits proudly (and undamaged!) on my shelf to this day. That book taught me the basics of HTML and website design, and from there my interest grew and I found myself buying more advanced books in other areas such as CSS.

 

You will soon find that books can only teach you a certain amount, so I found that by experimenting with code I could expand my knowledge and interest further. I soon had plenty of questions I needed answering (like why were tables so hard to design with? and why are spacer gifs so awkward!? — *shudder*), so I found myself on various forums — much like this one, that allowed me to bounce ideas of people and get answers to my many questions.

 

From there on it was really a case of practice, practice, practice! I don't think there has been a single point in the last 8 years where I haven't been learning and partaking in the joyous subject that is web design.

 

The most important thing is that you have a passion for the subject, and a desire to learn more. Without this you might as well put the books down and take up something else.

I first started learning around 4/5 years ago when I was around 10 or 11 years old! We had just switched ISPs to AOL and they provided a certain amount of web-space. I was fascinated by this and really wanted my own space so I set about using AOL hometown making Harry Potter, the latest craze at the time, fan-sites!

 

Soon however, my horizons grew and I wanted to build better more personalised sites which the AOL templates could cut, I learnt about html and iframes (now depreciated) and whenever I wanted to further my site in different aspects, I researched it and learnt how to achieve it. So I guess I learnt in a style where I would only absorb info if it applied to me. So if I liked a layout used on a site, I would try to mimic it using the coding knowledge I had. Once I couldn't achieve it, I would take a peek at the code.

 

From then on, it was practice, practice and practice... I kept my experimenting with code and learning new bits n bobs as I went along. I never really learnt from books but gained a lot from experimenting and diving straight in. I once asked a friend to give me a sort of brief which I had to achieve by the end of the week to make a website for him in exchange for a Harry Potter poster! That really put the pressure on as I had to achieve what he wanted in order to get my pay, which adds a motivation!

 

It was only much later I learnt about web-standards and good practice, but my foundations were set with all the knowledge of HTML which made the transition so much more easier.