What to know to be a "Web Designer"?

Basically to be an actual freelancer it depends on the clients you want to attract. Do you want to attract everyone? Then you need to have a good knowledge of HTML->5/CSS->3/ and then move onto Javascript and SQL.
Beyond that you start digging into niches.

PHP = Linux server preference
asp.NET/ = Windows server preference

Things like, Java, Ajax, ruby, Perl, Python etc are more your OS programming languages that CAN be used online if you wish. But they are not the primary goal of the language.

Basically you have 2 options,
1. learn PHP and you will have tons and tons of free open source code you can play with to develop websites with.
2. learn ASP and you will probably get clients willing to spend more money eg. Big Corps. However you will also have limited sample code and typically have to code everything from scratch.

On top of that there are a number of SQL languages these are 'databases'. SQL stands for "structured query language" and is used to query the database. There's the default windows install DB. named... seriously I forgot it's that unimportant.
There's MySQL which is a favorite on the web. PostgreSQL, Oracle, and hundreds of others, some proprietary some open source. But they basically used the same syntax only with slightly varying function calls. Most use the same function calls.

INSERT, SELECT, DELETE etc.

hope that helps.

edit: I'm currently editing this post and adding the list of languages and what they do


AJAX: is group of technologies (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) It contains pretty much the whole group of HTML, css etc. It has it's bonuses and its drawbacks which you can Google if you need more info.

Perl: Perl is a high-level, dynamic programming language. It borrows features from other languages such as C, Sh (Unix Shell scripting), AWK, and Se. Basically its Linux's answer to the best language ever!
Typically used on Linux, however can be on anything and used with MySQL, PostgreSQL

Ruby: Is another high-level "object oriented programming" OOP language that was inspired by Perl and Smalltalk. Typically used with MySQL and PostgreSQL run on Apache Linux Server.

Ruby on Rails: AKA Rails is an open source 'full-stack' web application framework for the language "Ruby".
Used with MySQL and PostgreSQL same with Ruby

Python: (The other language that is a Linux users wet dream) It's basically C with Slacker syntax and other implementations.

C was developed between 1969 and 1973 as a system programming language, and remains popular. Others have come and gone but it remains the most solid.

C++ (pronounced "see plus plus") is a general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. Developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell Labs, it adds object oriented features, such as classes, and other enhancements to the C programming language. Originally named C with Classes, the language was renamed C++ in 1983, as a pun involving the increment operator.

So now down to my actual advice.
I suggest you learn HTML, CSS. You can learn javascript however if you are finding it too difficult I suggest you stop. I believe learning a base programming language will give you the simple understanding of just about every language thereafter.
I know that's a strange request, telling someone who wants to learn web development to learn a base programming language. But I'm not suggesting you learn Assembly Code (which is pretty much 1's and 0's)
I'm suggesting you learn C or C++, C++ will be easier. It's Easier to grasp for someone who doesn't understand programming because it's based around objects, and life in its purist form.

If you can study C++ quite intensely I propose any language you come across thereafter will seem quite easy to grasp. Also there are some really really good resources when it comes to learning C++ for beginners. Even the http://cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ website has good tutorials and great community. But if you can find a local university, or college that does short courses that will be even better.

edit2:
To answer question number 4. If you're like the rest of the population of the world you only need to know how to use Photoshop or pay someone from Fiverr to be classed as a web designer guru. Seriously, most web designers don't know how to program. They use something like Artisteer and think "WOW !!! I can make a ton of money from this!" and brand themselves as a web designer/developer. It sux, but not much you can do about it.

To be a Web Designer, you should learn CMS. You can use Wordpress, you can apply your php skills there. You can read the Wordpress cookbook and develop your plugins and/or widgets. Also you should be able to edit images, maybe some PhotoShop or similar program skills.

If you are gonna go with Web development, you can either go to .net or java for enterprise systems or php (asp is not that much popular anymore) for websites. If you are not gonna develop software, it is not necessary to learn python, c, c++, java or so.

I'm a senior software engineer with computer science engineering, bachelor of science and information systems management, master of science. Web development and SEO take most of my time but I develop enterprise software too. PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, CSS skills are mostly more than enough for Web Design & Development

great ideas......... yes need to learn HTML , CSS , Javascript , sql and more about web design

Is it hard learning how to do design on other peoples design of a site - can you just walk in the middle and take over or is it all universal ? I have had a other person walk in after someone started and told they have to start some of the work over is it true or can someone just jump in and start where they are up to?

I would rather learn from here than give any advice. :-)

Great ideas shared here!

Great forum as a discussion here.hopefully it helps for all web developers.My aim was to be a web developer , for this now i am a professional web designer.It ia not so easy at all to be a web designer.You have to well qualified & very good skills about it.Such as you have to know HTML,CSS,JAVA script,joomla,php,aph,etc languages and also you have to spend most of your time at home.



[

I think additional to learning all these languages, you should try to create websites for small ventures and new companies and develop a little practice and experience. That will boost your confidence, and moreover you will be able to easily identify areas where you are good and those which you need to work on. Then you will be able to market yourself to the best of your skills and ability. Good Luck!

You have to get all knowledge of css, html, and many more. You can go through w3school for this.

Before you actually post anything under "web designer" first check this out...

Web Designer - Responsible for creating Web sites using HTML and Web design software.

In addition to designing a site that is attractive, interesting, functional, and useful, a Web Designer must also ensure that the Web site is easily navigable and accessible to all who may want to use it.

HTML 4.0
HTML5
Web Design Concepts
Web Design for Accessibility
Illustrator
InDesign
Photoshop
Fireworks
CorelDRAW
Flash
FreeHand
Dreamweaver
Dynamic HTML
JavaScript
VBScript
XML
XSL

Now that we've got that out of the way, on to your actual questions...

If you're already learning PHP & MySQL then yeah, javascript is good for added extra functionality but if you're not really strong on css then I would recommend getting a solid understanding of css first and only then start looking at javascript.

If you want to get into more complex languages then you are currently looking at them. I wouldn't mess with any of these until you have a solid foundation on html, css, php, mysql and javascript though.

You need to understand programming logic and object oriented programming as well (which you can learn with PHP&MySQL).

It depends exclusively on your skillset or in other words, in what you are capable of doing.

If you want to have a rough estimate here you go...

I charged about $700 per this site html, css, some php, nothing else. (it should have been more but I honestly didn't have a clue of what I was doing).

I charged about $1,500 per this site just a very basic (and ugly) wordpress site.

And I charged about $40,000 per this site this involved setting up two servers from scratch, a windows server for running MS-SQL and a Red Hat 5 Enterprise server for running Apache and ColdFusion.

The site was built with a very complex setup and installing and configuring everything had to be done from zero.

So as you can see, it all depends on your skillset hope this helps! ;-)

Sergio

Here's what I suggest , learn wordpress. It's easier than coding it and most exciting about it, you will have huge numbers of clients in wordpress field. I suggest go to offline marketing section in this forum and learn how to market your services. Don't just go to freelancer sites as you will not get the best money for your websites.

Start on looking for clients in Craigslist (you will atleast find a minimum of 1 person looking for websites everyday)

P.S. I am a full time wordpress developer for 5 years.

To reply simply, just try to become expert in these two tools

1. Photoshop
2. Dreamweaver

Wow everyone has and opinion! Some great stuff here! If your main goal is to create website for people then you need to focus on learning marketing! Once you get good at marketing let your clients tell you what they want. Network with over web designer and leverage them for what you don't know. You can start now, and began to get some clients.

Uh yeah you need to know how to sell to prospective clients. You now already know more than 90% of your customers. Now you just need to learn how to present and close.

I would rather learn from here than give any advice. :-)
or
just try to become expert in these two tools

1. Photoshop
2. Dreamweaver

If you are going to get into custom development for small businesses you can differentiate yourself from the competitors. I started with HTML & CSS, as those are the core front end. Then I added PHP & MySQL for the backend. I found I needed to be solid in HTML to code in PHP. Then, I studied jQuery so that I could create AJAX apps.

I use my business background to create sites that can be used internally for businesses.

Also, you don't need to spend money on Dreamweaver to start. I was trained on dreamweaver but now use Eclipse EE; it's free and helps you use PHP classes much better.

Go for wordpress..it is a way good & easy CMS....even you can design simple static websites with freely available lots of plugins..

Thanks To all who give such a nice and valuable information put on this Forum and again Special thanks to gcampton.

Web designing is art. If you can think beautiful stuff, you can pen it down using photoshop, coral draw etc. Thats enough to become a web designer, you can also try hands on Html and javascript

I think to make things faster, stick with an CMS (drupal, joomla, wordpress) and learn some php, javascript, css. You should also try to learn and photoshop...

There's a few qualifications I see on every job posting for a basic web designer position.

1. Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
2. HTML, and CSS

I think if you're going to go for an in-house 9-5 job, you have to know these skills.

Others like javascript and php, sql, etc depends on specific skills an employer may be looking for in addition to the basic skills above.

WP is not a designing tool for real design jobs.

It is used mainly as a quick solution for "freelancers" to throw up quick 5 page websites with minimal work and charging $500 for them.

If you get a real job in web design, you will never be looking for a cool theme and then slapping some images around in WordPress.

If anything, you'll be coding up a custom theme with custom functions for that one specific website...and learning WordPress won't help you with any of that except for being familiar with what's what.

I would say that the only things you need to learn are html/css for web design. But keep in mind that those two things are considered "front-end design." Another userful thing to learn is javascript and jquery as those are also front-end. Learning Wordpress, php, or other programming languages are all pretty much "back-end" code meaning it allows your site to communicate with a database.

Now if your goal is to just DESIGN websites you need to know html/css/javascript/jquery and photoshop. If your goal is to charge clients freelance for development as well as design I would suggest learning wordpress extensively or at the very least teaming up with a couple good wordpress guys to change your html or psd files into working themes.