timespacette-ga,
To start off, I'd just like to say that if you have any questions,
feel free to ask for clarification until you are satisfied.
I have had a great deal of experience in both website design and
management, and like you, I also did not want to go to school to
learn. Personally, I started by reading internet tutorials and
gradually moving onto books that I borrowed or bought once I had the
basics down. To better answer your question, I'm going to split my
response into two parts, one for becoming a website designer and
another for website management (the two require a different set of
skills)
Website Designer
---------------------------------------
This is what I would recommend starting off with, especially if you
have limited experience with the web. As a designer, it is essential
that you have, at the very least, knowledge of HTML and Javascript.
You must also be a capable graphics design artist. Most of these
skills do not require money or courses to learn (in fact, in my
opinion, most of those courses are a waste of money), excellent
resources are available via the web.
If you do not yet know HTML, W3Schools
(http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp ) provides an excellent
tutorial for beginners. It's method of teaching (by example) is far
more practical then many of the other sites available, which merely
lists syntax without telling you how to use it in a real world
situation. It also has a syntax dictionary to help you find the right
tags to use. Also available in the same place is the JavaScript
tutorial (http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp ) including an
explanation of the object model essential for mastering the language.
If you are serious about learning JavaScript, you should consider this
book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565923928/actionscripinfla/104-3067876-2419916.
With these two languages, you should be on your way. To simplify the
process of writing pages, I recommend Macromedia Dreamweaver
MX(http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/ ) for its
extendability and useablity.
Next, you need to know graphics design. For that, there is nothing
that can really "teach" you design, though there are guidelines that
should be followed (http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/design/ ).
Designing actual graphics requires programs such as Adobe Photoshop
(http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/main.html) or for the less
serious, Adobe Elements
(http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopel/main.html). The former is
practically a requirement of any web designer. The "For Dummies"
series on Photoshop is surprisingly well written
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764516515/qid=1059518998/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/104-3067876-2419916?v=glance&s=books
) and is of much more help then online tutorials.
While this serves as the very least that you need to know to begin
webdesigning, there are many more skills required to become a good web
designer. I will list these briefly and if you want more information,
you can ask for clarification
Macromedia Flash and ActionScript: Extremely prevalent across the web
now, it is a very useful skill. http://www.actionscripts.org/
provides excellent tutorials for learning the scripting language. A
book I used to learn is
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0782141080/actionscripinfla/104-3067876-2419916.
PERL (http://www.perl.com/ ): One of the many scripting languages for
the web. Very powerful, object oriented language that is useful for
writing web applications.
http://www.pageresource.com/cgirec/index2.htm is a good beginner
tutorial on the subject, but a book such as
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0596000278/qid=1059519501/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_3/104-3067876-2419916?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
is much much better.
ASP (Active Server Pages): A part of Microsoft's web servers, useful
in higher level web designing
SQL, Databases: Part of a serious designer's repetoire, important for
designing sites for large companies.
PHP: Another web scripting language, useful to know, but not
essential.
Website Management
---------------------------------------
Website Management is no simple task. For the most part, managing
websites requires the programming knowledge of a Website Designer,
plus a few other things. While there are alot of Windows based
webservers (running IIS), becoming far more prevalent is Unix systems.
Knowledge of Unix is, consequently, becoming very important. Though,
if you are just starting, you can start by installing IIS, or PWS on
your operating system right now and attempt to set up your own web
server. All you need to do is look up "IIS installation" in Help and
Support on the Start menu for details. This will get you started. If
you want to administer a web server though, you will need a book (I
recommend Windows 2000 and IIS 5.0 Pocket
Consultanthttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/073561024X/qid=1059520142/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-3067876-2419916?v=glance&s=books
)
Furthermore, you will need to begin to familiarize yourself with
databases, especially SQL if you are to become a Windows
Administrator. Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Programming is the book that
I used and I found it to be very thorough.
Conclusion
---------------------------------------
Though I have listed many places for you to learn, if you have any
questions, feel free to ask. However, I must also say that the best
teacher, of all of these, is experience. Surf around the net and find
nice websites and analyze their design (http://www.2advanced.com and
http://www.thebestdesigns.com/ ) are good places to start.
Good luck, its no easy task.
-Tox-ga |
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