==== Web Design ====

**xARGONx** · 03-22-2011

Here is a guide to learning any Web Design language. I know from experience, I know 5 of them...

Steps to learning web design languages.
1.) google w3schools and go there (its a website so i cant post w/o getting banned). Use W3Schools website (w3schools dot com) to learn the basics of HTML and CSS.
2.) Download Abobe Dreamweaver CS5. This allows the Drag/Drop portiono of web design... but if something wont work the way you want it to - it helps to know what is happening in the actual source code (which is why you should know HTML/CSS)
3.) Once you have a basic layout of a website, determine what it is that you want to jazz it up with. Animations? Cool popups? Custom Forums? Login/Register? Custom IRC Chat? The next language to learn depends on what you want to do...
Animations: Make animations in Photoshop/Flash Pro CS5 (.gif) -or- make .png/.jpg/.bmp/.gif(single-layer) images and use advanced CSS and JavaScript to bind them into an animation based on a JavaScript timer/event trigger.
Popups: There are three types of popup windows that are popular in web design. These can all be made with JavaScript. They are the "alert" function, the "prompt" function, and the "confirm" function... read about specifics on each one's uses/purpose/how-to on the W3Schools website.
Forums: This is mainly PHP/SQL and portions of JavaScript... W3C cant really help on this one - but look up things like PHPNuke and PHP Forum Design... there's some really nice tutorials out there.
Login/Register: This is a combination of PHP, JavaScript, and SQL - and can get difficult if you don't know what you're doing. But, it IS worth the trouble... you can do anything from a "Members Console" to a "Web Store" to a "Coin System" when you have a members database behind your website. If you decide to do this - i'd do it early on.... get the scripts working BEFORE you start making content-specific pages.
IRC (Internet-Relay Chat): IRC chatrooms use PHP/SQL at their base - to store and print information from/to the database which is connected to the chatroom. For usernames, you can either use a PHP Members system (see above) and <?PHP echo $_SESSION['username'] ?> whenever the user posts a message (the action would be onsubmit). Alternatively to PHP Members System for the usernames, you can use the JavaScript Prompt feature to set the user's name upon entering the chat. However, i'm not sure if youll be able to do a 'ban' function if the user breaks the rules. In addition to the input/output of messages, the IRC chat is connected to a special type of JavaScript which allows live updating pages without the need to refresh the page. These special javascripts are called AJAX scripts.

My Credentials:
- HTML5 Certificate, W3C
- CSS2 Certificate, W3C
- JavaScript Certificate, W3C
- PHP Certificate, W3C
- SQL Certificate, W3C
- C++ AP Exam passed (college)
- C# Sub-Course passed
- C Sub-Course passed
- I have designed my own programming language called DDX, and a business: Descent Designs (web/graphic/game design)...

*** If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about Web Design, please feel free to contact me VIA Private Message - i am on MGPH every day and i check PMs every day ***

P.S.: The best way to learn a programming language is to just apply it. Refer to the W3Schools guides while you program - google code examples. The key is understanding what is actually happening - What am i typing that makes something happen? If you focus on it - you can learn a programming language every day if you tried (i actually learned most of HTML and CSS in 1 weekend, JavaScript the next, and PHP/SQL the next - all while taking C++/C# courses at my school).