Web Designing

[dellowwarren]

Hi guys,

Been looking into taking up web designing as extra cash but so far i have gotten thru HTML and CSS without a error as i did compu-typing in high school and basically that helped me so much with understanding all the coding already

Still so much to cover and i only have covered the very basic's which i would love to know is it fairly easy or what to get jobs as it being so hard to get my mrs a job??

[debrooker]

being in software development since the age of 10, its not really the knowing the syntax of a language that is key, as these evolve constantly its how you solve a particular problem, and whether the solution produced meet's a client's expectation.

as with everything in life, you'll need proven commercial experience - no serious employer would take someone on without this, unless they were volunteering. Web development is particularly challenging as no two browsers (IE, firefox, Opera etc) behave quite the same, and the nuances of these come with experience and a lot of it.

whilst i'm all for one trying to improve their skills and indirectly their lot, its a competitive market and the reality is that you will find it extremely difficult. A lot of people are now asking for computer based degrees as a start (e.g. degree in computer science)

having said that, he who dares...

have you got your own website up and running, there are a bunch of peeps on this forum who would be able to provide feedback etc?

sorry if this sounds negative, but I get a lot of people coming upto me thinking that this is easy money - its not

[450man]

I have been a software developer for over 30 years and web designer, developer, host and webmaster commercially for the best part of 15 years I find the prospect of someone with no experience at all thinking that they can produce web sites commercially quite surprising.

It isn't about learning HTML, CSS or any other language. The real key to developing good web sites is knowing the business, knowing the customer or target audience and understanding marketing and design. All these aspects are combined together to create a site that meets the owner's requirements. The biggest problem is that most customers that come to me to create a web site doesn't know what their requirements actually are because they don't understand how the web works and how people use the web. I have to use my experience to guide them through it all.

So, any Tom, Dick and Harry can create a web site and a lot of people can make it look smart. But to produce a site that does good and not harm to the business is not so easy.

I am not saying don't do it! I am saying if you are serious, get trained and get some experience first so that you understand the internet, web, email, DNS, TCP/IP, search engines and how they work (big topic), internet and affilliate marketing, eCommerce (even bigger topic)... and then lastly, you need to know the languages such as HTML, CSS and PHP.

I hope you don't take this as a snub. I don't mean it like that at all. But creating a web site that is worth a company having is a lot more than HTML.

If you have a site and want my profession opinion (FWIW) then PM me :smile: I'll help where I can :smile:

[dellowwarren]

[QUOTE=debrooker;950992]being in software development since the age of 10, its not really the knowing the syntax of a language that is key, as these evolve constantly its how you solve a particular problem, and whether the solution produced meet's a client's expectation.

as with everything in life, you'll need proven commercial experience - no serious employer would take someone on without this, unless they were volunteering. Web development is particularly challenging as no two browsers (IE, firefox, Opera etc) behave quite the same, and the nuances of these come with experience and a lot of it.

whilst i'm all for one trying to improve their skills and indirectly their lot, its a competitive market and the reality is that you will find it extremely difficult. A lot of people are now asking for computer based degrees as a start (e.g. degree in computer science)

having said that, he who dares...

have you got your own website up and running, there are a bunch of peeps on this forum who would be able to provide feedback etc?

sorry if this sounds negative, but I get a lot of people coming upto me thinking that this is easy money - its not[/QUOTE]

To be honest I really took up web designing as I am currently on a brilliant idea for something that has bothered me for some time now and there is non of it out there, well there is but very basic and can only get how to not like bam here is a place and now do it

Like I said I am still in training phase and have not even started building/coding just yet, its like trying to fly a heli with not knowing the basic's right

As for like you say with regards to having degrees but at this moment its for a for my own creation and fun, not even wanting to make money out of it really so really no adverts blah blah blah lol

no really nothing is easy money and you are right even like trying to win the lotto, you gotta spend alot to win something same as for learning alot over time to get something or somewhere

[450man]

It is difficult to get into this as a career. You have to show a talent for it before anyone will look at you. However, it is not impossible. If you can teach yourself to a high level of skill and then demonstrate that you understand what it takes, for example by building your own site, then sometimes you can get in without a degree. You would need to be exceptional though IMO.

[trillian]

One thing you might do is have a look at Odesk or Elance and see some of the programmers and their completed jobs and if you see a niche that you think "hey I can do that" you can create an account and bid on a job that comes along, maybe do a few really cheap to get some good feedback and some experience.

But you will also see there's a crazy amount of talent out there waiting to do the work.

I have been doing web design, graphics and general IT stuff for our company for 13 years now and other types of programming for about 5 years before that and I have a range of strengths and skills I do well and for anything else I'll go to ODesk and hire someone just for a particular task.

You can also just buy a license to some very nice website templates and WP themes on themeforest (not to mention all the free themes in WP already) so it's less about html or coding these days and more about how it's all used cleverly to meet the client's goals. ---- BTW, if you're good at cool graphics and can lash together some slick website templates or WP themes you can sell them on Themeforest -- the good ones can easily sell in the thousands of copies at $30/$40 a pop, so there's money being made but there's also some serious work that goes into those, it's top-drawer stuff.