So I am interested in learning how to create a basic functional webpage. I have little coding experience, more graphic design stuff, and I don't know exactly what I should learn in order to do this. All I want is a normal looking functional page with nested content and the ability to slap an attractive GUI on top of (which I can create but don't know how to technically implement). I'm not as much interested in pre-formatted type stuff unless it really has the options to turn it into something that looks professional. I also am interested in how a site can accept payments/donations for a service or an item. I know there are third party systems for this (paypal etc), which ones are good for what?

So my quick question is: What should I look into in order to make this happen? Are there any good resources you guys know of for free or cheap?

Thanks a ton for your expertise.

pb.fcnz

Canada101 Posts

January 30 2013 10:13 GMT

Drupal.

sob3k

United States7572 Posts

January 30 2013 12:10 GMT

What is your opinion on good hosts?

Tobberoth

Sweden6375 Posts

January 30 2013 13:07 GMT

You should learn HTML5, which is THE basis for all webpages. It's really easy to learn and there's like a billion different free tutorials online. www.w3schools.com is a good start for any web development.

After you have HTML5 down, you should learn CSS which is what lets you do the whole layout and design deal.

Once you have that, you already know enough to make perfectly functional good-looking webpages. If you want to go more advanced from there, you can learn Javascript to get some client scripting going, then if you want to make a full-on web application, you could learn some form of server code framework such as PHP, ASP.Net, JSP, Ruby on Rails or Django.

Deleted User 135096

3624 Posts

January 30 2013 14:20 GMT

^^ That. And about hosts...there are sooooo many of them that are comparable to one another but make sure you are picking the right package for your needs (bandwidth, domains, etc...). I personally switched to Bluehost recently, and I'm pretty happy with them so far.

obesechicken13

United States10467 Posts

January 30 2013 17:25 GMT

About hosts, I've mainly just used sitegrounds and it's been fine. They do have a referral program, but you should just find a friend on a different host if they have a referral so you both can get a few weeks free. You can't go wrong with sitegrounds though. Good reliability (which most hosts have), customer support, and loads of tutorials.

I do not recommend getting GoDaddy hosting. I've heard only bad things about them.

With regards to what Server side language to use: if you have any C experience PHP will be easy to pick up and get working out of the box.
Ruby on Rails is becoming more popular than it was a few years back but only supported by certain web hosts. It's object oriented which makes defining objects far easier than in PHP.

CSS is what you use to make the layout of your page good.

HTML is for static content on the page.

Javascript is for client side scripting. I never learned much javascript and used bad coding practice inserting PHP everywhere in my pages -_-. For the most part you can get away with using JQuery Libraries to make great UI things like menu bars and hover popup content. You will be able to find tutorials as well on form submission without having to refresh the page.

I don't recommend you use a CMS like Drupal because they're really a black box. There's a lot of code in them, and if you already have a design in mind then it may be easier to just download a template for just a from scratch web site. Less code = less abstract stuff you won't understand.

Can you draw out a diagram of what you want your site to look like?

ulfryc

Germany115 Posts

January 30 2013 18:43 GMT

On January 30 2013 22:07 Tobberoth wrote:
You should learn HTML5, which is THE basis for all webpages. It's really easy to learn and there's like a billion different free tutorials online. www.w3schools.com is a good start for any web development.

After you have HTML5 down, you should learn CSS which is what lets you do the whole layout and design deal.

Once you have that, you already know enough to make perfectly functional good-looking webpages. If you want to go more advanced from there, you can learn Javascript to get some client scripting going, then if you want to make a full-on web application, you could learn some form of server code framework such as PHP, ASP.Net, JSP, Ruby on Rails or Django.

Yes, learn HTML + CSS first. They are both super easy and little to no programming knowledge required. But: These only let you create static web pages. Meaning you can display content to the user but the user can't interact with it (no comments/payments/user accounts).

To be able to do that your website has to be dynamically created by the server. So additionally you will have to learn a server programming language. There are many different out, there which you can choose: PHP, Perl, ASP.Net, JSP, etc. These require you to do actual programming, and can be a bit harder than HTML/CSS (but not really that hard). I'd recommend learning PHP as it's the most commonly used now adays.

I wouldn't really recommend learning Javascript too soon. You will have to have some experience on how HTML/CSS work to use it right. All you can do with it is interactive eye candy which is really needed for the functionally of most websites (drop down menus, loading content without reloading, popups, etc.).