HTML 102...

[mousme]

So... I know how to code very basic stuff. Links to things and whatnot. But besides that, I suck at html, and yet I'd still like to do stuff.

More to the point, I'd like to build a small, humble website. I've tried using a book to learn (several books, actually), but over the years I've come to the realization that I'm one of those people who can't learn from books. I have to be shown, and then I have to practice. I can't do the autodidact thing. It just doesn't work for me under most circumstances. I need a starting point. After that, I'm fine. I can read tons of books on the subject at hand and advance like nobody's business, but if no one shows me the basics, then I'm at sea.

Is there anyone in Montreal willing to put up with the frustration of showing me how to build a website for an afternoon or two?

I'll be eternally grateful, and I'll even feed you, or something.

Anyone? Anyone at all? Bueller?

Comments

[longpig.livejournal.com]

Make sure they teach you the joys of stealing code from other websites! B)

[ai731.livejournal.com]

raises hand Me! Me! I'm pretty good at the basics, though they've expanded the standards a whole lot since I learned HTML, back when the wibbly-wobbly-web was very young :) So long as you don't mind learning how to do it "by hand from scratch" rather than "here's how to use this software to make web pages". 'Cause I only know how to do it by hand.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Yay! Perfect! :D

We can discuss the details, say, at brunch. You free to come this Saturday? I'll drive. ;)

[ai731.livejournal.com]

Ack. Not free this Saturday. Going amplifier shopping with owldaughter. We could discuss after band practice...

[mousme.livejournal.com]

After band practice sounds fine to me.

[wolflady26.livejournal.com]

Have you tried using a template? I've downloaded one, because I _can_ code my own website, but I'd like to have a place to put my resume and so on that looks professional, but I don't have the time right now to build a professional-looking website from scratch. So my point is, they look and sound like a great, fast way to get a site online, but I haven't actually tried it myself. Doing a search for something like, "free web site templates" will find you a gamillion options.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but my problem is, I like to understand what I'm doing. Otherwie, when I'm trying to change something in the template that I don't like, it screws everything up and I'm powerless to fix it.

Take, for example, the number of times I've mangled the look of my LJ page. ;)

So, yes, templates are good, but only once someone has taught me to understand what they mean.

[wolflady26.livejournal.com]

Heh, the LJ things completely confuse me, too, and I have built a site from scratch *lol*. I really hope the template I downloaded won't be as complicated as LJ's. =8-o

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

Using "view source" and flipping back and forth between the HTML and their webpage is an excellent way to figure out how people do things. And, erm, "borrowing" bits of code and putting it on a blank page of your own is a time-honoured method of learning how what bits of code do what sort of things.

Having someone to talk you through the basics in a couple of hours can help too, if that's your learning style. And you can't deny that Jan's remarkably conveniently located. :)

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is a good way of doing things, but I need someone to talk me through the basics first. Otherwise, things make no sense to me. I also need to be shown, hands-on.

I can't learn the basics through a book, or through an on-line tutorial, because I need to ask the proverbial "stupid questions" all the time. I need someone who'll be patient and not look at me like I'm an idiot from Mars, or who'll look at me like I'm an idiot from Mars but who'll still answer the question. ;)

It's just the way my brain works.

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

And huzzah to knowing that and not repeatedly trying to do it another way and frustrating yourself.

[larabeegirl.livejournal.com]

Well I can't go there to help you Phnee but I can tell you how I learned. I knew nothing about HTML when I build my first page. So I cheated of course and I downloaded a program called Macromedia Dreamweaver where you can use an interface to include tables, images, background, change fonts and all that crap without having to code anything. And like it was suggested you can flip to the code to see what you did in HTML and back to the design. I did my first page like that.

I still use Dreamweaver today, I have to edit the html very often but I don't need to worry with starting from scratch, everytime I need to build a site and I have tons. So even if you find someone to teach you the basics, I recommend Dreamweaver to you or some other program like that. It helps and you can fiddle with the design and see the changes in the code, I learned a lot that way.
Sabrina

Well darn, I'd love to take you up on that.

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

I'm good with code, but I'm just one of those people who can't put together a theme and develop all of the content necessary to make it worth doing something with my code knowlege.