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How to make a website the right way for Beginners!

by Beetlesales
14 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |

This is a HUGE series on how to create websites the right way for Beginners. Check it out!

Good luck.
#beginners #make #website
  • Profile picture of the author Beetlesales
    You guy's should definitely check this series out. It was extremely helpful when it come to developing my first power site!
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  • Profile picture of the author shqipo
    That's a common mistake I see across board: beginners jump into building websites without knowing the foundations of design principles, e.g. color choice, usability, etc. etc. etc. which effect the design.
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    • Profile picture of the author Beetlesales
      Originally Posted by shqipo View Post

      That's a common mistake I see across board: beginners jump into building websites without knowing the foundations of design principles, e.g. color choice, usability, etc. etc. etc. which effect the design.
      Very true. However, you can certainly update the graphics as you go.
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  • Profile picture of the author Terry M
    Another big mistake is using the free software that is available and expecting to have full control of the site. I have made several websites and when I first started I found that the HTML editors did not allow me the freedom to make the entire site exactly the way I wanted it.

    The solution for me was to buy Adobe Dreamweaver. It was a little pricey but well worth it.

    Point is: For your first site, site builders are great. Once you get the hang of it, upgrade to an editor that gives you full control.
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    • Profile picture of the author Beetlesales
      Originally Posted by FRTS Safety View Post

      Another big mistake is using the free software that is available and expecting to have full control of the site. I have made several websites and when I first started I found that the HTML editors did not allow me the freedom to make the entire site exactly the way I wanted it.

      The solution for me was to buy Adobe Dreamweaver. It was a little pricey but well worth it.

      Point is: For your first site, site builders are great. Once you get the hang of it, upgrade to an editor that gives you full control.
      When I first started, I used Adobe Dreamweaver :confused:

      I also acquired Adobe Photoshop, Flash and Illustrator.
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    • Profile picture of the author drewhowell21
      Originally Posted by FRTS Safety View Post

      Another big mistake is using the free software that is available and expecting to have full control of the site. I have made several websites and when I first started I found that the HTML editors did not allow me the freedom to make the entire site exactly the way I wanted it.

      The solution for me was to buy Adobe Dreamweaver. It was a little pricey but well worth it.

      Point is: For your first site, site builders are great. Once you get the hang of it, upgrade to an editor that gives you full control.
      Notepad++ is free and gives you 100% control over your site, as any text editor does. Dreamweaver is somewhat point-and-click and it fills in information for you, which to me isn't giving you full control. Dreamweaver is great software, I've used it plenty, but it's best to learn what's going on behind the scenes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Terry M
    I like dreamweaver because it gives you the ability to use the design mode or coding mode. I use the split screen so I can see both at the same time. This gives me the ability to see what the actual code is when I make changes. It has helped me tremendously.

    It is not at all point and click in my opinion. It requires a lot of knowledge, especially to utilize all of the features.
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    • Profile picture of the author drewhowell21
      Originally Posted by FRTS Safety View Post

      I like dreamweaver because it gives you the ability to use the design mode or coding mode. I use the split screen so I can see both at the same time. This gives me the ability to see what the actual code is when I make changes. It has helped me tremendously.

      It is not at all point and click in my opinion. It requires a lot of knowledge, especially to utilize all of the features.
      I see where you are coming from. Adobe has actually improved Dreamweaver with the CS5 edition. The "live code" feature really does fix most of the issues I have with Dreamweaver. Before, what was displayed within Dreamweaver wasn't necessarily the same as the live site.
      I was just saying with a text editor you have complete 100% control over everything because you are the one doing all the coding. But, I can see how Dreamweaver would be beneficial for a beginner that's just learning HTML.
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      • Profile picture of the author Beetlesales
        A "real" developer would update the live site to check improvements as they go along! Hehe..
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        • Profile picture of the author drewhowell21
          Originally Posted by Beetlesales View Post

          A "real" developer would update the live site to check improvements as they go along! Hehe..
          And risk crashing the live site?

          It's best to test on a local server before you actually go live.
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          • Profile picture of the author Beetlesales
            Originally Posted by drewhowell21 View Post

            And risk crashing the live site?

            It's best to test on a local server before you actually go live.
            Let me rephrase. A good developer will create a sub-domain on the live site's server, then upload all files accordingly to that location.
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            • Profile picture of the author drewhowell21
              Originally Posted by Beetlesales View Post

              Let me rephrase. A good developer will create a sub-domain on the live site's server, then upload all files accordingly to that location.
              Or set up a local server to test everything before uploading it anywhere online. To each his own, though. It'd be extra work to tell robots.txt to ignore the subdomain.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rankx
    I created my first site in notepad. It had like 13 pages. I don't like site builders at all, I must have complete control but I'll check this out anyway.
    Signature
    Affordable Web Developer at your service
    Expert at Joomla and Wordpress
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  • Profile picture of the author DGFletcher
    Can I post links yet?

    This isn't my link, but this is what I use instead of Dreamweaver or anything else. I had an HTML editor for awhile and then I found this random website and it has been AWESOME!

    Real-time HTML Editor
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