suggestion for starting my own web page

[tikal26]

hey:
I would like to get some suggestion on what to read, research or tutorials available for newbiews like me. I am trying to make my own website. I study architecture and want to put my portfolio online. Many of my classmates use flash, but I think that flash is overaated and sometime it seems a bit much. I think most times is overwhelming. I have beign lookng at oswd.org and like their css stuff it seems to me like the way to go, bu I can't find any good tutorials. Well all you help would be apreciated.

[prammy]

www.w3schools.com

Your best bet is to look at sites you like and go through the html code.

[tikal26]

thanks:
I have alot to learn

[GazaM]

Like prammy, I recommend you simply find tutorials on the web and look at the source of some nice *Standards Compliant* websites... I have gone from being a total beginner, not knowing 'anything' to being very comfortable with xHTML and CSS making websites. The website htmldog (http://www.htmldog.com) helped me out a lot at the start and I still go back once in a while now to check out the CSS property and HTML tag reference pages (which list pretty much all tags/properties and explain what they do) when I'm stuck.

I'm currently completely re-designing my website with all I have learned, and by far the hardest part is the graphic design bits, but I like creating graphics... I'll post my new website in my sig once I get it completed and get a proper host.

In the meantime check out webcréme (http://webcreme.com), you are guaranteed to get a LOT of ideas looking through some of the sites listed. Not all of them are standards compliant, some are Flash too, but it will give you tons of ideas for the graphic styles of your site etc. CSSReboot (http://www.cssreboot.com/) is also cool to check out, it involves a lot of sites creaters re-coding their site to be fully standards compliant using CSS and HTML instead of whatever Quirky way they did things before, check out the source of some of those pages to get an idea of just what is possible using CSS and HTML (hint: everything).

<edit> Forgot to say, learning xHTML and CSS will not take long at all, it took me maybe a month of on/off dabbling with tutorials etc. to get comfortable with it... but the great thing is that there are 'always' new techniques' to learn and the new CSS 3 standard is in the development stages afaik and there have been some really nice new proprosed features in it, so you are guaranteed to always have some things to learn and make your site better optimised / more accessible.

[raublekick]

I'll echo what everyone else said.

Also, check out this site: http://www.dezwozhere.com/links.html

I used that as a resource, because it's got lots of articles of various skill levels. Start off just reading all of the beginner stuff. I found this site after I had been doing web stuff for 2 years, and I was even in a job doing HTML templates and basic ColdFusion stuff when I found it. There will be lots of repeated info, but I think the beginner articles do a great job at giving you new views on CSS.

[tikal26]

thanks I have about a month off until next semester in which I am going to learn and make my site as soon as I have something I'll post for you crits.
thanks for your replies.

[M3ta7h3ad]

I'd avoid flash mainly because its a royal pain in the **** to update, and to view.

I'd also have a ganders over at OSWD (http://www.oswd.org) - Open Source Web Design, and see what the folks over there come up with :)

There are some great designs there and they are free to use. Great to look at for ideas, and also to view some well structured standards compliant code.

[Sanne]

Speaking of web standards, I would like to recommend visiting the wonderful Css Zen Garden (http://www.csszengarden.com/). This site shows what can be done with different CSS style sheets, but always the same underlying HTML. It might give you some design ideas as well.