|
| One Hour HTML -
Learn the language of the web in just 60 minutes. |
Some Places to Go For More Information
by Anthony Stai
If you feel like you know quite a bit about web design now, but
you’d really like to explore the details a bit more, then this is
the article for you. As web designers are, by their nature, very likely
to be web users and website owners, there’s a wealth of
information and discussion forums on the web, all free to read or
participate in. I’m going to give you a few websites that are my
first port of call when I have a problem or I’m curious about
something, in the hope that they’ll be useful to you too.
W3Schools (www.w3schools.com). A great resource, with free tutorials on
everything from HTML to CSS to ASP. It offers a ‘try it
yourself’ editor that lets you edit example code and see the
results straightaway, as well as comprehensive language references. I
go to W3Schools first when I forget the name of an obscure CSS property
or wonder if there’s an HTML tag suitable for a certain purpose
– they’re all there.
A List Apart (www.alistapart.com). A web magazine for web designers,
it’s very good for ‘how to’ articles covering more
complicated subjects, especially when it comes to CSS. The writers at A
List Apart are very good at working around CSS’ shortcomings and
offering practical workarounds and solutions that you can take and use
on your own website.
Digital Web Magazine (www.digital-web.com). Weekly pieces on issues
relevant to web designers, with a focus on web design and
accessibility. It tends to be especially good for reviews of the latest
web design books, and analysis of current trends.
The Web Style Guide (www.webstyleguide.com). If you’re a writer,
you need to read The Elements of Style, and if you’re a web
designer you need to read the Web Style Guide. It is, essentially, an
online book, giving best practices for many different aspects of web
design. If you’re looking for general strategies, it’s a
very good read.
Webmaster World (www.webmasterworld.com). An excellent place to watch
for the latest news relevant to webmasters – if something is
going on with a search engine, or there’s a new advertising
service out, then Webmaster World will have the news, as well as lots
of comment and analysis from people who run big, successful websites.
Well worth checking daily.
About Web Design (webdesign.about.com). A resource that mostly sticks
to the basics, but covers all of them, and covers them well. If
you’re trying to do something that seems like it should be quite
simple and you’d like a step-by-step guide, About Web Design is a
good place to go.
Web Design Bits (www.webdesignbits.com). Web design tutorials with a
focus on those big, difficult to use programs, like Flash and
Photoshop. Especially good if you’re trying to achieve advanced
effects in Photoshop without having to learn it inside out. The
tutorials linked to are off-site, making it a good way to find other
useful web design websites.
Web Design Forums (www.webdesignforums.net). A pretty comprehensive set
of forums about web design, and a very good place to go if you’re
having a problem that you haven’t been able to solve for
yourself. As long as you take the time to find the right forum to post
your question in, you should find the people there helpful and
knowledgeable.
The Site Wizard (www.thesitewizard.com). This site has a sprawling,
categorised set of web design articles – if you want an article
about something, you can probably find it here. It tends to be
especially good if you’re looking for a guide for how to do
something with a specific program.
SitePoint (www.sitepoint.com). Although it can feel advertising-heavy,
SitePoint is a good resource for articles about web design. The
articles tend to be slanted towards online business and other ways of
making money online, although there are plenty of design tricks there
that would be useful to anyway. They also have a very active and useful
set of forums.
The W3C (www.w3c.org). Finally, it’s worth giving a mention to
the web’s official standards body, the W3C. They have the
authoritative copies of the specifications for open web languages like
HTML and CSS. You can also take a look at the working groups, who are
working on the future of the web right now.
About
The Author:
Anthony Stai invites you to
take your
website to the next level. Get one of the best Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) books on the market for Free! Learn the techniques
that differentiate the amateurs from the pros. Get your book at http://www.makemoneyonline4you.com/seo.html
|
|
|
|
Web Information
Online