Making a webpage Options

[Scary]

Hey

How on earth can u make a good looking webpage? I can only ever seem to get a blank page with words links and a picture on it
I would something neat, good looking and realatively small (Did you design this website yourself Ali?)
What does this Invision Power Board thing do?

[usr.c]

The key thing is to start drawing up designs on paper before even opening up your web editor. Like they say, when you want to work out a Math(s) problem you don't go running to the computer screen.

Get a few ideas rolling and then try them out one a time and see which looks best. You don't have to be an expert (I'm no expert) to get a killer website. If you love your design, choice of colors and how everything looks on a page then that's really all that counts.

I designed the site but not the forums. It's a free download

[Paul]

Remember to stay away from Java, Flash, Javascript and DHTML on your first website, and keep things simple

[j-rah]

The key thing is to start drawing up designs on paper before even opening up your web editor.

This part is especially crucial. I developed a website for one of my buddies when he was starting one of his bands. Once you have a basic idea of what you want each page to look like i.e. Navigation, Other Links, Pictures all you need to do is go off of that template and just figure out what colors and fonts you want to use.

This is a website that I did for the band
http://www.geocities.com/ilovesimplyput

One thing that i especially like (and like to see on other websites) is a first page that is quick to load (a splash page)

This post has been edited by j-rah: Feb 3 2004, 04:06 PM

[usr.c]

This is a website that I did for the band
http://www.geocities.com/ilovesimplyput

I really like that style of design where the layout is simple and illustration-driven. When I was at S&S (advertising firm) in the summer they had a successful series of ads with a similar theme. The whole page would be white except for a simple hand-drawn illustration in the center and some text at the bottom. Lovely!

"My hobbies are breathing and collecting dust"

[Scary]

So...if i download this thing then it will make the forums for me but not the rest of the site? If that is so then how did you get them to look so alike?
I dont really want forums just a main page and then others branching off.

[keno]

...how did you get them to look so alike?

Stylesheets, it's all about the stylesheets.

You can learn about them here http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp

I'm not the greatest graphic designer so in addition to Ali's and J-rah's suggestions, I also check out as many web sites as I can and try to find things I like or don't like. Combine that with a little of your own creativity, and wham, a web design. Then 10 minutes later you decide it sucks and you do it all over again...or is that just me.

Some places to check out.

http://www.coolhomepages.com

http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

[usr.c]

Then 10 minutes later you decide it sucks and you do it all over again...or is that just me.

True

[Aberdeen]

I guess your coding in HTML? I just put an Invision Board on a site. If I didn't know HTML I would not be able to do much to the board at all. Whats more I have again discoverd a need to learn PHP. That is some mighty powerful stuff.

If you want to learn HTML this is a good site: W3Schools*edit - just realised Keno already posted this link - it's a great site - edit*

There is stuff on CSS there aswell. I started using CSS a few weeks ago ... I will never go back to <font> tags.

This post has been edited by Aberdeen: Feb 7 2004, 09:00 PM

[Scary]

Hey

I'm pretty good with HTML now, it's just i dont think i have the time to learn this CSS or PHP. I now think i'm going to just create an fairly ordinary page. Then maybe when i get better move to something more advanced.

[Aberdeen]

Not sure how far you are with HTML - but if you know <tables> then CSS is no trouble at all. <tables> were about the last thing I learnt to code by hand.

[usr.c]

Same here. CSS is definitely the way to go (unless you're feeling a bit adventurous and want to dive straight into XML and XSLT).

[PC Plodder]

IMO, more important than any of the above is a good easy-to use WYSIWYG editor. I used Namo WebEditor 5.5 to produce the website PS02 and PS04 solutions.

This post has been edited by PC Plodder: Feb 25 2004, 02:28 PM

[Aberdeen]

more important than any of the above is a good easy-to use WYSIWYG editor

LMAO

[snapplehooligan]

Quoting Aberdeen

QUOTE (PCPlodder)
more important than any of the above is a good easy-to use WYSIWYG editor

LMAO

My $.02 on the use of WYSIWYGs...

WYSIWYGs are valuable tools, they cut down on hand coding html. There are many who feel that coding html is the work of a brute. They're especially helpful for the artsy types too, I know designers who have beautiful ideas for web pages but no knowledge of how to implement those ideas - these people benefit tremendously from WYSIWYGs. ...it's an age old debate, but I say using a WYSIWYG editor doesn't make anyone any less uber l33t in my book

I personally use Dreamweaver to do the static design work for me, and code the Javascript and ASP needs of my sites manually. Dreamweaver's power is quite awesome - it does have the features to do even complex database management.

Cheers
Ryan