Hello every one on this forum.

 

iv been coding for some yrs now and i what to start up my 1st business. just would like to know if there is any tips on web site business any one can give and any most.

 

Iv code in HTML, CSS and soom jaza front end and server side in PHP , MySQL.

 

is there any scrips i should have on hand and should i be using a HTML5 Boilerplate. so on.

 

all iv been doing at the moment is righting site for friends that just do the job but know im better at this.

 

the mane problem i have is i cant wright or read that well as im D.......... . Sorry cant spell that word lol

 

Thanks to anyone that can help me out.

 

There's a bitter irony in the fact that "dyslexia" is difficult to spell.

You'll definitely need to partner up with a copywriter, I recommend Anthony of Vivid Copy (he goes by "notbanksy" on this forum). I prefer to deal with clients by email rather than phone so I have a record of anything they say to me, you might be better off doing things by phone, but record all your calls for your records (you're legally obliged to notify private individuals that you're recording them, but if they're representing a company you don't need to).

Thanks for that Renaissance Design

 

I will have a look at "notbanksy" thanks copywrighting.

 

and thanks for the info about email and phones and will take ur advice but i have just got dragon speak so hoping that will help me on the email as phone cost.

 

Thanks

You should use what you like to use

 

Some people like to use boilerplate, others use Skeleton and others use Bootstrap. All these frameworks for CSS work fine and can be used. You need to create your own thing, you might want to build your own CSS framework some day to use for your websites.

 

You also need to build up a portfolio for your clients to look at. Show your best work and tell them what you can offer them.

 

Good luck

Thanks Row

Thanks Row

 

Im making my profile as we speak and will look into the skeleton and bootatraps

 

Thanks

Web design business? I guess you better partner with a designer as well. Better to concentrate on one specialty, and I think yours is coding.

I am doing the same thing at the moment and I have just started a website, I always get my customers to provide there own text where necessary and to ensure that they check the site and advise of any changes.

 

I say go for it and you will probably need to hire people anyway as there is a lot of work out there especially redesigns.

The only disadvantage of using a premade framework is that you won't learn how it all works (unless you take the time to write your own custom CSS), if you end up having to do a fully custom site you could come unstuck .

I don't bother with a framework. I just begin my project by setting margins and padding to zero and implementing border-box method:

 

* {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
-webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing: border-box;
box-sizing: border-box; 
}

 

I find with these more complex frameworks that you just end up overriding these styles anyway which is not only time consuming but forcing the user to load extra erroneous data.

 

I second the idea of getting a copyrighter, it's a must if you struggle with dyslexia.

 

If you're going with responsive designs, which really you should then you will also want to include this:

 

img {
max-width: 100% !important;
height: auto !important;
}

This would stop your images from breaking outside it's parent if it becomes narrow. the !important; stops any other styles added by plugins or the like from overriding this.

You can also apply this to form elements such as text areas etc.

Edited June 8, 201313 yr by rbrtsmith

I'm all for learning so take what you're saying on board. I base my designs on what I've learnt following Chris Coyier's tutorials.

 

this is where I read about the css reset that I posted above (minus the border box method.

http://css-tricks.com/reset-all-margins-padding/

 

I am currently watching Chris's screencasts where he is building a website for a client and he uses the described reset. His finished website is here

http://jeffcampana.com/

I just looked at the source of his css and find he is using the reset there on the first line. Chris knows what he's talking about so if it's bad practice why would he be using it on a clients website?

 

Upon further reading it seems there is a lot of debate for and against using the above vs Eric Myers reset and others. I wouldn't say the method I use is a poor attempt, but I'm happy to listen to why it might be regarded as a poor method for resetting styles.

 

Splitting the items is very easy with percentage widths. Surely 2 columns = 50% 3 columns = 33.3% and so on? using border box to force padding to be inset stops the layout breaking when we use it to space out the elements. From where I am looking at I don't see that as a problem. perhaps when we get to 7 columns we have to break out the calculator.

 

Again a post from Chris's website explains this more fully:

http://css-tricks.com/dont-overthink-it-grids/

 

 

I can, for more complex layouts see why it would be a good idea to use a grid framework. But for a website that is never more than a few columns why bother implementing a complex framework when all what's needed are a few percentages?

 

Edit - Another thing I'll add is that I do use 3 general breakpoints in my designs - small, medium and large which most of the time works nicely. however, some elements require more specific breakpoints so I give it to them. using SCSS it is very easy to implement as the breakpoints can be nested inside the selector.

Edited June 9, 201313 yr by rbrtsmith