Re: OT - Help Me Become a Web Master!

See you below under quoted text. RnR talked about the marketing
aspect very well, so I won't talk about that.

On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:33:03 -0400, "Von Fourche"
<Khonakong@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Well, this might not be the best group to ask but I know I will get
good answers here so this is the best group to ask my question, so...

This is a good group to ask, but I do encourage you to ask a group
more specialize for web development because you will likely get a lot
of good input.

After buying a domain name and domain space and getting my weather web
site up and running, and after reading the first few chapters in a basic
HTML book, I'm starting to think it would be fun to design web sites
professionally.

What is the URL of your weather site? I'd like to check it out.

What I want to know from all you is - what does it take to become
a professional web site builder? What would I have to master besides
HTML?

Basic HTML barely scratches the surface. You would need to know
advanced HTML in order to design a professional web site. Someone
else who responded mentioned graphics.

For a lot of things it can be painfully hard to do something simple.
To make a button change color or light up when the mouse goes over it
is usually a Java Script event. You need two diffferent pictures of
the button which are enabled depending on whether the mouse is over
it.

A lot of web site design is knowing tricks to use. Tables are used a
lot for the overall structure of a web page.

For a multi-page web site, you would likely want some consistent HTML
on all the pages, such as navigation links or a footer. You can hard
code it on all the pages, or use a tool to help (like Dreamweaver).

Also, you would need to learn CSS.

I've been told web site construction and the programming languages that
go with
them like JavaSCript, Java, PHP, ASP and PERL, do not have much science
or math involved. No science, chemistry, physics, mathematics involved
would
be great!

Hmm, I guess I would agree that science or math are not involved, for
the most part, but the skills for an interactive web using the
languages you mention still come from the same side of the brain.
JavaScript should (as someone else mentioned) run on all of the
different browsers (for a public web site) -- IE, FireFox, Opera, AOL,
Safari, and some others. You would need to code to the lowest common
denominator, or check what browser is being used and run code specific
to that browser.

Java is a full-fledged object oriented language mostly used on the
server side now. It is a HUGE undertaking compared to HTML to learn
Java, Java Server Pages, frameworks like Struts, and the methods to
compile and test. PERL is a very interesting language that is fun but
hard to pick up. I could go on about ASP(.NET) -- they are all much
harder to learn than HTML.

HTML really looks like cave man writing to me. Not too complicated. I
was
looking at some basic Java and Pearl books in the bookstore tonight. I only
scanned them quickly but the language looked similar to HTML - more cave
man writing. Of course I only scanned these books quickly so I could be
wrong
about that. But still, it sure didn't look like rocket science. I'm
positive that
if this stuff is not rocket science, has no mathematics or science, and if
explained simply, I can conquer this stuff and most importantly enjoy doing
it.

Well, when you get more into it, you'd probably classify it as "rocket
science". Learning the language is only part of it -- learning the
object model and frameworks takes a lot more effort than the language
itself.

?When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you are only
halfway there?

Is there a need for web site builders or have all the jobs been shipped
to India?

I have no desire to go back to a university but there is another state
technical college in my area that offers computer courses.
Tonight I e-mailed asking
what web site courses and degrees they have to offer.

Definitely go to the technical college (or university, what's the
difference?) and take their HTML classes, JavaScript, and language
like Java, C#, or VB.NET.

Yep. I know, I'm getting over my head right now. I've never 100%
designed
my own web site, have only read 160 pages of a 600 page basic HTML book, and
now I want to become a professional web site builder. But, it sure sounds
fun
talking to doctors and dentists and other businesses and building web sites
for them
for money!

Thanks!

I say go for it and follow your heart and dreams. Put yourself fully
into it. That will give you the most enjoyment, regardless how it
turns out. Do that with all your dreams and eventually one of them
may come true!

And don't forget --

?It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey
that matters, in the end? (Ursula K. Leguin)

-- Journey
.