Web Design

**Zorgon_Pwns** · 07 February 2007, 05:29 AM

Hey everybody. I wanna learn how to make good websites.

I know quite a bit of HTML but what else do I have to know to make easy to use good looking websites??

Thanks.

**Availor** · 07 February 2007, 01:21 PM

Hello, welcome in.

There is no exact definition of what a "good website" is. It all depends on your website's goal.

If you are creating a game portal then I'd expect to find many interesting links, nice cartoony/tech graphical design and cool scripts and effects.

If you are making a tutorials website then a good website would be a plain long page with text without any annoying scripts, that will be simple to read and easy to print, with very few pictures and graphics, where you can find everything easily.

If you are creating your personal portfolio website then you'll need to show off your skills with fancy scripts, animation, some fascinating plug-ins and all sorts of "show off" stuff.

When you are creating a website you must first think: How easy it is to navigate and find what you want when you're the visitor. Remove everything that might disrupt the attention from what you've aimed for.

There's too much information about good website making, more than I could describe.

My suggestion is: START DOING. In the process of doing you'll find things you can do better.

Best of luck,

Availor.

**jyoung** · 07 February 2007, 05:34 PM

I agree with Availor that doing is the best way to learn.

I am new to web page design too and I found the following site helpful and amusing (pardon the name as I don't want to offend anyone. so I editted it but I think you get the drift) http://www.webpagesthats**k.com/. It shows what not to do.

Also have a couple of books that you may want to check out. "Don't Make Me Think - A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability" by Steve Krug. I found "The Non-Designers Web Book" by Robin Williams (not the comedian) and John Tollett to be helpful on page layout designing.

Also find the http://www.w3schools.com/ site to be helpful

Joe

**Zorgon_Pwns** · 07 February 2007, 10:34 PM

I've been using w3schools.com.

I wanna make kind of a website with some flash games, videos, and funny pictures. What should I learn to help me make a website like this that looks good.

**stlewis** · 08 February 2007, 10:03 AM

My comment would be you need to walk before you run! Flash games... any games... require a huge skillset; first you need the idea, then you need drawing skills, then you need basic Flash knowledge and then you need ActionScript ie programming ability.

First go for a simple static site - using a beginners web page building tool like FrontPage if that helps - and then look at the html it has built. Learn to make web page graphics - with a vector tool like Xtreme, and/or a raster/bitmap tool like PSP. Make sure you learn CSS along with the html.

Then come back and ask for the next step. In six months or so!

**Zorgon_Pwns** · 08 February 2007, 08:09 PM

I'm gonna get the games from other websites that will let me.

I have Dreamweaver on my computer so I'm using that. I have a firm understanding of it.

I wanna make a template in Photoshop but I don't know how to put it onto Dreamweaver.

**Availor** · 09 February 2007, 08:20 AM

That's simple, just draw your template, cut it with the knife tool where you want your pictures to join (the smaller the shapes the faster they will load) and then export for web.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&r...al&btnG=Search

**j-dot** · 05 March 2007, 04:44 AM

Hey, guys.

I'm right there with you! I'm a seasoned veteran of HTML and of "hand-coded" web page creation, and am taking the next step forward: Trying my hand at the Graphic Designer hat.

I'm new to using Xtreeme, and picking it up quickly.. but seemingly not quickly enough. I can create the overall layout easy enough.. and know how to export the sliced images and such to an HTML or Image Map page..

But are there any tutorials on how to do this correctly and efficiently. For example, I'm noticing that when I do the export in Xtreme to an HTML page with a larger graphic as my page background.. the resulting HTML page in 800x600 mode aligns to the left, leaving whitespace on the right and bottom. So, it seems off-center. Stuff like that.

Is there a good step-by-step tutorial that I can read or view (movie) that walks you through creating a graphically rich webpage with flowing elements (look good in 800x or 1024x) and all?

The other thing I was hoping for is a resource that shows you how to use and edit PSD templates for webpages such that you can export a webpage that can be edited in Dreamweaver. I can create the layout with Xtreme easy enough, but text is layered into the graphics on export. How do make editable areas where you can use an HTML editor to change text in the resulting HTML page?

Sorry if this sounds simplistic and easy. but again, you're talking to someone who's new to this.. and is hungry to learn. The Photoshop tutorials are great.. but confusing enough when you haven't used Phtososhop before.. and are trying to blend in new Xtreme Pro features and skills.

Thanks!
-j.

**MarciaB** · 05 March 2007, 08:23 AM

Originally Posted by Zorgon_Pwns

I'm gonna get the games from other websites that will let me.

I have Dreamweaver on my computer so I'm using that. I have a firm understanding of it.

I wanna make a template in Photoshop but I don't know how to put it onto Dreamweaver.

Hi, you can create a template in Dreamweaver (version 8) itself or insert an existing one : Insert - Template Objects - Make Template

**stlewis** · 05 March 2007, 09:00 AM

You need to explore centering, margins and padding in an HTML and CSS book or website... The default positioning in HTML is top/left. As Marcia says, you can create a template in Dreamweaver - and set the positioning there.