Web design

WGA Member Joined: 2004-09-19 Posts: 473

Ok... does anyone know of a good book that I can teach myself enough about web design to update the Hedgehog Welfare site and it's internet store? Or... is there anyone willing to give me a crash course? We are having major problems with the person we have working on it now. The changes we gave her in January are still not done. It's time to take matters into our own hands.

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:52 am

Decrepit wrote:

Ok... does anyone know of a good book that I can teach myself enough about web design to update the Hedgehog Welfare site and it's Internet store? Or... is there anyone willing to give me a crash course? We are having major problems with the person we have working on it now. The changes we gave her in January are still not done. It's time to take matters into our own hands.

While I'm no expert, I learned by using my browsers web editor (which is more like a word processor than you may think) then I read "HTML for Dummies"which helped quite a bit. After that I was able to read most code on a page and make edits to the raw code.
If you have money to burn the computer program "Dreamweaver" is a nice program which acts again a lot like a word processor (but what you write it puts in to HTML code). That said I'm sure some real HTML folks will chime in to add much more helpful information.

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 8:32 am

If you don't have money to burn, try downloading Netscape. And, like Lostby7 sasys, read "HTML for Dummies".

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 8:33 am

tyedyeskyguy wrote:

If you don't have money to burn, try downloading Netscape. And, like Lostby7 sasys, read "HTML for Dummies".

Netscape is where I got my start; its web editor was very intuitive to use.

WGA Member Joined: 2004-09-19 Posts: 473

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give it a try.

Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 6:28 pm

Everything depends on how much money/time you have...

If you don't have a lot of money you will spend a lot of time.
If you don't have a lot of time, you should plan on spending some money and paying someone to do it right.

Best HTML (and other web authoring languages) info resource is Here. The interface is a bit clunky and is written by guys with absolutely no personality; but the info is all there.

My HTML Editor is relatively easy to use (slight learning curve involved), free, and is WYSIWYG. Nvu

WayTags.com Shopping Cart is Zen Cart. Zen Cart is one of the finest free Shopping Carts around. There is a fantastic support network via print (The Zen-Cart book advertised on their front page), FAQ's, Forums, and tutorials. Zen Cart also is open source so there are plenty of user contributions that improve the overall product.

If you are going to be teaching yourself, better invest in a good coffee maker, bean grinder and a comfortable computer desk chair. The time involved in learning what needs to be done can be tremendous.

As I understand your OP, you have two goals. One is to update the site. Another is to get the store running. It looks as if you've already got a "functioning" store on the site, so Zen Cart may or may not be your answer. If you decided to go that way, though; let me know as I'd be happy to help you out... I've become quite familiar with it Very Happy

. As for updating the site itself; an HTML editor and a good basic HTML book and resource site (see above) should get the job done.

Good Luck!

WGA Member Joined: 2004-09-19 Posts: 473

Thanks for the input. I will have plenty of time to putter around on the computer the next 8 weeks since I will be living in a hotel while away training for my new job.