Somebody wanna build me a website?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014




What's the rule on that here? Can we solicit services and such (as long as they don't involve the removal of pants and so forth)?



Maybe we can do some sort of trade out or something? Make me a cool, functioning site and I'll be your logo/illustration monkey for a while?







Short of that, WHERE, exactly, does a print-based dork such as myself go to learn modern, clean and tight website-building?



I'm certainly not opposed to doing it myself (and am, pretty much, joking in the title of this thread), but I don't even know where to begin. I probably know just enough to be dangerous, but not actually productive (story of my life).



I've already got the look in mind (yeah, lots of orange) and the structure mapped out. I've even typed content and all.



Any books, magazines (or better) websites where I can go and learn to do that cool stuff I see everywhere (drop down menus, subtle motion, sound effects when you click something, etc.). I'm reasonably smart, so I can probably pick things up fairly quickly. I just need some of you knowledgeable web types here to push me in some right, useful directions.



Be gentle...
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    http://htmlgoodies.earthweb.com/ is a good site to learn HTML and such..check it out.
  • Reply 2 of 21
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    webmonkey.com is decent.
  • Reply 3 of 21
    amoryaamorya Posts: 1,103member
    Best tip: Don't use cool stuff unless you have to. The only exception to this is if you're doing an 'arty' site - design for design's sake. If the point of your site is to communicate information, then make it as simple as it needs to be.



    I'm working on a redesign for my site at the moment. I'm going right back to basics - it's black text on a white background. The logo's at the top along with the navigation buttons, but other than that there's absolutely nothing to detract from reading the content.



    That's not to say your site will be boring. There's a LOT you can do with careful application of colour and images. Just avoid things like Flash unless there's a good reason for it. In my opinion, the only time sound should ever be used on a website is if you're in a band and want to put some MP3s online.





    Anyway, I can be more helpful if I know what kind of site you want to make, and how much you already know. Do you know any HTML at all? Are you after learning a server-side language?





    Amorya
  • Reply 4 of 21
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Well it's not necessarily an "arty" type of site (I'm not an "arty" type of guy), but it will indeed be an online portfolio/tutorial kinda thing...Adobe Illustrator and all.



    Kinda a two-pronged thing: logos/illustration and a cool section of Illustrator tips, tricks, techniques, etc.



    Somewhere in the middle of all that will be some personal/contact info for me and liberal sprinklings of Apple evangelism and so forth.







    I even was thinking about those blog things, only because I have SO much to say.







    And no, I know enough not to just throw shit in to "be cool", but I want it to have a particular look, style and vibe. I just don't know how that end of it is done.



    A good example of the overall general look I'd like is the site for that cool Danish LCD company that I'm always cooing over:



    http://www.eyegonomic.com



    Just clean, tight and uncluttered. Lots of white space and grays/orange/lime green as little accents throughout. Nothing heavy.







    Easy to find what's what, easy to navigate, nothing to get in the way, etc.



    I'll visit the sites above and set off on a self-imposed "get my act together and learn something" period.







    Thanks!
  • Reply 5 of 21
    stevesteve Posts: 523member
    There's something about the way Scates inserts the smilies in between his paragraphs that just makes my heart go all aflutter.
  • Reply 6 of 21
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Perv.
  • Reply 7 of 21
    stevesteve Posts: 523member
    I'm a perv? I contend that the pinnacle of your eccentricity was in your comments about that toilet-perched PowerBook girl. You and your cats' meows.
  • Reply 8 of 21
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Touché...but she was a cutie-pie.



    Meow.
  • Reply 9 of 21
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    hey pscates, if you are still looking in a couple weeks, i will probably have plenty of time and horsepower to help you out. i'm just hamstrung until i get some serious computer horsepower that isn't under direct supervision and use of my better half. no problem if you need to get working earlier than that, or if it doesn't work out. it'll also depend somewhat on what happens with my work (or lack thereof) in the coming weeks.



    either way, you're a cool regular AI'er, and i wouldn't mind trying to lend a hand, even in just an advisory role. i'm not the best html guy on earth, but i ain't bad, either.



  • Reply 10 of 21
    stevesteve Posts: 523member
    SO YOU THINK THE G5 IS REALLY FASTER THAN TEH AMD 64 BIT DO YOU ROFL OK THERE WELL U BETTER CHECK OUT DIS LINK FIRST



    http://www.tbreak.com/forums/showthr...threadid=19317
  • Reply 11 of 21
    cubedudecubedude Posts: 1,556member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorya

    Best tip: Don't use cool stuff unless you have to. The only exception to this is if you're doing an 'arty' site - design for design's sake. If the point of your site is to communicate information, then make it as simple as it needs to be.



    I'm working on a redesign for my site at the moment. I'm going right back to basics - it's black text on a white background. The logo's at the top along with the navigation buttons, but other than that there's absolutely nothing to detract from reading the content.



    That's not to say your site will be boring. There's a LOT you can do with careful application of colour and images. Just avoid things like Flash unless there's a good reason for it. In my opinion, the only time sound should ever be used on a website is if you're in a band and want to put some MP3s online.





    Anyway, I can be more helpful if I know what kind of site you want to make, and how much you already know. Do you know any HTML at all? Are you after learning a server-side language?





    Amorya




    I think that complicated sites are good, if it is simple to the user.



    Anyways, I'm working on a simple site for a school project(we don't even have to make a site, I just don't like going to Google every time I need to find something that I've already searched for).



    http://homepage.mac.com/ryantann/seaturtle/



    It can take a while to get going, but after that it's pretty simple.
  • Reply 12 of 21
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Steve

    SO YOU THINK THE G5 IS REALLY FASTER THAN TEH AMD 64 BIT DO YOU ROFL OK THERE WELL U BETTER CHECK OUT DIS LINK FIRST



    http://www.tbreak.com/forums/showthr...threadid=19317




    *blink blink*



    WTF????
  • Reply 13 of 21
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member




    I think Steve got momentarily crossed up and meant to the above in response to that idiot troll and his idiotic "the G5 has had it now!" thread (which is now locked).
  • Reply 14 of 21
    amoryaamorya Posts: 1,103member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pscates

    Well it's not necessarily an "arty" type of site (I'm not an "arty" type of guy), but it will indeed be an online portfolio/tutorial kinda thing...Adobe Illustrator and all.



    Kinda a two-pronged thing: logos/illustration and a cool section of Illustrator tips, tricks, techniques, etc.



    Somewhere in the middle of all that will be some personal/contact info for me and liberal sprinklings of Apple evangelism and so forth.







    I even was thinking about those blog things, only because I have SO much to say.







    And no, I know enough not to just throw shit in to "be cool", but I want it to have a particular look, style and vibe. I just don't know how that end of it is done.



    A good example of the overall general look I'd like is the site for that cool Danish LCD company that I'm always cooing over:



    http://www.eyegonomic.com



    Just clean, tight and uncluttered. Lots of white space and grays/orange/lime green as little accents throughout. Nothing heavy.







    Easy to find what's what, easy to navigate, nothing to get in the way, etc.



    I'll visit the sites above and set off on a self-imposed "get my act together and learn something" period.







    Thanks!




    Yeah, the site you mentioned is a good design IMO. It was your mention of sounds that made me suggest keeping it simple. I thought you were going to make one of those all-singing all-dancing flash intro screen nightmares that took 27 clicks to find the text



    This is what I'm working on at the moment - I think it's pretty similar to what you were getting on with "nothing to get in the way".



    Do you know PHP (or some other server language)? If you're making a blog, it'll help you out loads.



    Amorya
  • Reply 15 of 21
    cubedudecubedude Posts: 1,556member
    Even if you don't know PHP or a server-side language, Blogger can still be used. By stripping down the template to the bare minimum, and FTPing it to your own server, you can use SSI's to put it in your main page, or just keep it as a seperate page.
  • Reply 16 of 21
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pscates

    Any books, magazines (or better) websites where I can go and learn to do that cool stuff I see everywhere (drop down menus, subtle motion, sound effects when you click something, etc.).



    If you start from scratch, you might think about doing it right and use web standards. I'm currently updating my html knowledge, too. There's also a book by Jeff Zeldman: Designing with Web Standards. He also makes a nice website with tips for webdesigners. AFAIK, Zeldman was recently assigned to support the Apple Web Team in the upcoming redesign of the Apple Site.
  • Reply 17 of 21
    You might wanna start with the "new" upcomming standards. There is no point in learning HTML4 when you might as well to XHTML and proper CSS1/2 style sheets.



    I can see the benefits of the need to bring these new standards into practice, and this site Here and here actually use the same (x)HTML code, and all that changes is the style sheet.



    A lot of work you might think to put in some simple design effects, but think from the blind persons perspective, by a simple change of style sheet (this, I think, is what the option in safari's advanced prefs tab is for) and the site could be presended in bold black and white, or even read out by the speach engine.



    Hope I haven't waffled off too much.
  • Reply 18 of 21
    rageousrageous Posts: 2,170member
    I'd be willing to help you with the web design. If you want to see some thing I've done, here's a couple:



    rageous.us - My site. (there is more than one page, just look for the nav!!!)

    rageous.us/kj - A simple blog page for my girlfriend.

    onetribe.nu - A site done by a friend and I (and other helpful souls) for his business.



    I can give you more if you'd like.



    If you're interested, let's talk about what you like the site to accomplish and how we could try and pull that off.



    PS - This isn't a business push. I'm looking to help out, so no money is involved here.



    [ edit: feel free to IM me. my AIM screen name is in my profile ]
  • Reply 19 of 21
    cubedudecubedude Posts: 1,556member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gargoyle

    I can see the benefits of the need to bring these new standards into practice, and this site Here and here actually use the same (x)HTML code, and all that changes is the style sheet.





    CSS could be a great thing to the internet.



    pscates, if you plan on having anything that will be on every page, make sure you get a host that supports SSI, or else you'll be doing a lot of copy and paste from page to page. It's not too bad with just a few pages, but once you get past ten, it's becomes very annoying.



    you can IM me too if you like. ryantann at mac . com
  • Reply 20 of 21
    I`m really busy lately but I will try and give ya some help if you want it my AIM is silenti iechos but I`m sure you got all the help you need for now, I specialize in PHP-MYSQL and html-CSS so..
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