Confused & frustrated

[msmitch]

Hello, I'm new here to the forum. Hope someone can offer some insight. I've been working towards graduating for web development, design and programming. I know a lot of designers put a lot of hard work into their sites. Aside from them, I keep coming across postings from "newbies" that have created their first layout. No education, little to no knowledge of html, and they are all awsome sites. Very proffessional. Am I missing something, are they templates? Should I just give up on college?????

[tgreer]

You might like this blog entry: http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry376.html

Someone who can slap together a site using pre-built templates and tools isn't a programmer, and a "site" is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to web-aware applications.

[msmitch]

Thanks, I enjoyed the blog entry. So it is more or less a case of 'I created a web page therefore I'm a designer etc'. ;-) I totally agree with the creative side, an artistic background of some sort is vital to design an appealing site in all respects. But I'm still left wondering, are there more templates than individual creation here on the web? Most seem to come across with the same look/feel. Is it wrong to throw in something fresh and still look proffesional? At times I really wonder if all the studing, expense etc is worth it. And then I look at the bigger picture, templates are fairly inexpensive, but wouldn't 'my' creative side be lost??

[tgreer]

In my opinion, Google has been the ruin of the web. By monetizing content (which they don't even own), they've created an incentive to put up sites quickly, on the hot topic du jour, strictly to get traffic and therefore ad revenue. In fact, we call these "MFA", or "Made For Adsense" sites. It is nothing for some folks to own dozens of domain names, with every site looking virtually the same, yet spanning all sorts of different topics.

Then you have the SEO snake-oil salesmen, another industry prompted and inspired by Google, all selling the idea that with just the right magic incantation, plus their special insight into the inner workings of search engines, you could be the next internet millionaire.

So, yes, I share your concern about the state of the web and whether it's worth it to truly LEARN about it in the current climate. I would focus instead on general computer science/programming. The skills you learn there translate to the web.

The climate is shifting, slowly. While Google is still the giant, their practices are generating considerable backlash and anti-Google sentiment.

[codejunkie]

Hello, I'm new here to the forum. Hope someone can offer some insight. I've been working towards graduating for web development, design and programming. I know a lot of designers put a lot of hard work into their sites. Aside from them, I keep coming across postings from "newbies" that have created their first layout. No education, little to no knowledge of html, and they are all awsome sites. Very proffessional. Am I missing something, are they templates? Should I just give up on college?????

Many of today's webmasters and programmers have been self-taught. That said, one of the best programmers I ever ran across had no "sheepskin" for his resume for the really good jobs. 'Self taught' carries very little value with CEO's scanning applicant resumes. On the other hand, by finishing your university training, and making sure you include all phases important to the secure management of a large system, you will have a good fighting chance against the other applicants for the jobs you may want. Especially with good grades in significant fields.
Think of it this way; fini$h college = get$ more dough. :)
At least, that's mho.

[GreenDay2001]

Hello, I'm new here to the forum. Hope someone can offer some insight. I've been working towards graduating for web development, design and programming. I know a lot of designers put a lot of hard work into their sites. Aside from them, I keep coming across postings from "newbies" that have created their first layout. No education, little to no knowledge of html, and they are all awsome sites. Very proffessional. Am I missing something, are they templates? Should I just give up on college?????

Templates are also created by web developers only. So when you become a web developer you could also create your own templates and sell them:p

[happygeek]

The great thing about the web, and therefore web development, is that it is so big, and still expanding of course, that there is an opportunity to make money for anyone who actually grasps it firmly enough.

[jbennet]

my 1st web page i wrote in pure html tags using notepad (i was 7)

[happygeek]

I still do that, using NoteTab Pro.

Mind you, I am no web designer as anyone visiting my site will be happy to confirm :)

[Dani]

From NotePad to NotePad Pro ... look where technology has brought us in a decade.

[jbennet]

loo notepad is the best, if you go to any webpage that is writte using say, word theres so much unnecessary crap in the source (see it by doing view-source in IE7) whereas with an editor you write what you need and only what you need

[jbennet]

e.g

<html>
<body>
<head>
<title>The title is not displayed</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>This text is displayed</p>
</body>
The content of the body element is displayed in your browser.
<p>
This paragraph
contains a lot of lines
in the source code,
but the browser 
ignores it.
</p>
<p>
This paragraph
contains      a lot of spaces
in the source     code,
but the    browser 
ignores it.
</p>
<p>
   My Bonnie lies over the ocean.
    My Bonnie lies over the sea.
   My Bonnie lies over the ocean.
  Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me.
</p>
<p>Note that your browser simply ignores your formatting!</p>
<p>
The number of lines in a paragraph depends on the size of your browser window. If you resize the browser window, the number of lines in this paragraph will change.
</p>
<p>Paragraph elements are defined by the p tag.</p> 
<p>
To break<br>lines<br>in a<br>paragraph,<br>use the br tag.
</p>
 
<h1>This is heading 1</h1>
<h2>This is heading 2</h2>
<h3>This is heading 3</h3>
<h4>This is heading 4</h4>
<h5>This is heading 5</h5>
<h6>This is heading 6</h6>
<p>Use heading tags only for headings. Don't use them just to make something bold. Use other tags for that.</p>
<h1 align="center">This is heading 1</h1>
<p>The heading above is aligned to the center of this page. The heading above is aligned to the center of this page. The heading above is aligned to the center of this page.</p>
<p>The hr tag defines a horizontal rule:</p>
<hr>
<!--This comment will not be displayed-->
<body bgcolor="yellow">
<h2>Look: Colored Background!</h2>
<b>This text is bold</b>
<br>
<strong>
This text is strong
</strong>
<br>
<big>
This text is big
</big>
<br>
<em>
This text is emphasized
</em>
<br>
<i>
This text is italic
</i>
<br>
<small>
This text is small
</small>
<br>
This text contains
<sub>
subscript
</sub>
<br>
This text contains
<sup>
superscript
</sup>
<pre>
This is
preformatted text.
It preserves      both spaces
and line breaks.
</pre>
<p>The pre tag is good for displaying computer code:</p>
<pre>
for i = 1 to 10
     print i
next i
</pre>
<code>Computer code</code>
<br>
<kbd>Keyboard input</kbd>
<br>
<tt>Teletype text</tt>
<br>
<samp>Sample text</samp>
<br>
<var>Computer variable</var>
<br>
<p> There are special tags for adresses</p>
<address>
Donald Duck<br>
BOX 555<br>
Disneyland<br>
USA
</address>
<abbr title="United Nations">UN</abbr>
<br>
<acronym title="World Wide Web">WWW</acronym>
<p>The title attribute is used to show the spelled-out version when holding the mouse pointer over the acronym or abbreviation.</p>
<p>This only works for the acronym element in IE 5.</p>
<p>This works for both the abbr and acronym element in Netscape 6.2.</p>
<p>
If your browser supports bi-directional override (bdo), the next line will be written from the right to the left (rtl):
</p>
<bdo dir="rtl">
Here is some Hebrew text
</bdo>
Here comes a long quotation:
<blockquote>
This is a long quotation. This is a long quotation. This is a long quotation. This is a long quotation. This is a long quotation.
</blockquote>
Here comes a short quotation:
<q>
This is a short quotation
</q>
<p>
With the block quote element, the browser inserts line breaks and margins, but the q element does not render as anything special.
</p>
<p>
a dozen is 
<del>twenty</del> 
<ins>twelve</ins> 
pieces
</p>
<p>
Most browsers will overstrike deleted text and underline inserted text.
</p>
<p>
Some older browsers will display deleted or inserted text as plain text.
</p>
<p>
<a href="lastpage.htm">
This text</a> is a link to a page on 
this Web site.
</p>
<p>
<a href="[URL]http://www.microsoft.com/[/URL]">
This text</a> is a link to a page on 
the World Wide Web.
</p>
<p>
You can also use an image as a link:
<a href="lastpage.htm">
<img border="0" src="buttonnext.gif" width="65" height="38">
</a>
</p>
<a href="lastpage.htm" target="_blank">Last Page</a> 
<p>
If you set the target attribute of a link to "_blank",
the link will open in a new window.
</p>
<p>
This is a mail link:
<a href="mailto:[e-mail]?subject=Hello%20again">
Send Mail</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>Note:</b> Spaces between words should be replaced by %20 to <b>ensure</b> that the browser will display your text properly.
</p>
<p>
This is another mailto link:
<a href="<A href="mailto:[e-mail]?cc=[e-mail]&bcc=[e-mail]&subject=Summer%20Party&body=You%20are%20invited%20to%20a%20big%20summer%20party!">Send">mailto:[e-mail]?cc=[e-mail]&bcc=[e-mail]&subject=Summer%20Party&body=You%20are%20invited%20to%20a%20big%20summer%20party!">Send mail!</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>Note:</b> Spaces between words should be replaced by %20 to <b>ensure</b> that the browser will display your text properly.
</p>
<p>
Each table starts with a table tag. 
Each table row starts with a tr tag.
Each table data starts with a td tag.
</p>
<h4>One column:</h4>
<table border="1">
<tr>
  <td>100</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h4>One row and three columns:</h4>
<table border="1">
<tr>
  <td>100</td>
  <td>200</td>
  <td>300</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h4>Two rows and three columns:</h4>
<table border="1">
<tr>
  <td>100</td>
  <td>200</td>
  <td>300</td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td>400</td>
  <td>500</td>
  <td>600</td>
</tr>
</table>
 
 
</body>
</html>

parts of this taken from w3schools excellent turtorial

[goodboy18]

Dude, just because you see all this nice sites built by newbies, doesn't mean they built the template or programmed the script. There are so many free nice templates and scripts on the net now, that basically anyone, even my grandma can build a top notch site. As long as you know how to use frontpage or any of the web build programs, you can make a great site.
So no, I don't think you're wasting your time in college. I'm planning to learn the same thing as you. That way I don't have to pay programmers to write me a script.

[GreenDay2001]

Dude, just because you see all this nice sites built by newbies, doesn't mean they built the template or programmed the script. There are so many free nice templates and scripts on the net now, that basically anyone, even my grandma can build a top notch site. As long as you know how to use frontpage or any of the web build programs, you can make a great site.
So no, I don't think you're wasting your time in college. I'm planning to learn the same thing as you. That way I don't have to pay programmers to write me a script.

Exactly.

One thing, learning isn't wasting time and learning this would help you to make your own pages. Making web pages is really full of thrill, exitement etc...(atleast when it is your first one).:)