Website Design and Programming Tutorials

SiteInspiration is about getting inspired and I assume (throughout this site) that you know at least the basics of making a website. I created this site to help if you're having a little trouble figuring out what to do next artistically - what colors to choose, where to find images that might work and what would be a great logo design for your new project. So, you've probably noticed there aren't a lot of technical 'how-to make a web page' links in these pages. Until this moment.

Since I am occasionally asked to recommend online resources for folks who are newer to the internet and who would like to learn more about this whole web design thing, I decided a new page would be in order. If that's you, here you go.

The following are links to some of the tutorials that I feel offer the most information with the least advertising to distract you from your online web education.

1.) Web Design From Scratch
A highly recommended HTML / Web Design resource. Many fine articles with clear explanations, and is easily read with minimal scrolling down. This makes each section easily digestable, one chunk at a time. Reading on screen can be tiresome, so each section is also offered and a pdf download for £1.00 GBP (about 2 dollars US). One of my favorite sections is "Goal-Oriented Design". Many excellent thoughts and tips to keep you on track while you are working on your web projects to help you achieve your project goals. This site also contains links to external resources of interest throughout; overall, a highly recommended site to help you learn all about creating websites.

2.) eFuse
A very helpful step-by-step guide to the full creation process making a website. It includes all of the stages of building a site, including the planning stage, an essential but often overlooked aspect of web development. Asks the essential question: why do I want / need a website? This site is geared towards encouraging you to using and purchasing NetObjects Fusion. Although I can't recommend using this application (since I never have and have no experience with it), there simply is so much useful information on this site you can steer clear of the sales pitch if you wish and absorb the rest.

3.) The Bare Bones Guide to HTML
The Bare Bones Guide to HTML lists every official HTML tag in common usage. Version 4.0 of the Guide conforms to the HTML 4.0 specification. You can download the whole guide by clicking on the link off of the front page. The guide has also been translated into many different languages.

4.) About.com Guide to HTML
Here's a site I regularly forget about these days but explore for a variety of different topics. About.com covers the basics well in this web guide, and if you're a beginner, be sure to start off with the 'Tutorials' link first. You will have to contend with their prolific advertising (what is free anymore *sigh*) but you'll find enough worthwhile links and information here that it is worth the visit.

Designer's Tip: It takes more than a few web tutorials to learn how to make an effective web site. If you are designing for your company or to generate revenue off of the internet, you might do better to hire a web professional. Or, go back to school and take a web design course from an accredited institution.

Designer's Tip #2: If you have some familiarity with HTML but you don't understand how to put images together to make a web page, try buying a template and dissecting it. (Make a backup copy of your download first, of course, before experimenting!)

You can learn a lot by deconstructing existing layouts. Choose a reputable template source (like the ones I've listed) to assure yourself you're learning from good source files!