College courses for website building

[jeff600]

I want to know what classes I should take and what I should major in (computer science?) in order to have the skills necessary to make an income online by offering a service (like stevepavlina.com) but I have no programming experience with computers. Can someone help? Thanks

[Minsc]

Some technical stuff you will need to learn in order to run a website well(not sure about college courses):

-How the internet works.. What your computer really does when it loads up a webpage. (what the server does, )
-About different protocols and how you use them, HTTP, FTP, and SSH are three, although you'd want to know about SMTP(?) and POP3 if you're also running an email server, ect.
-You should be comfortable using a text editor like notepad. You might want to get an IDE. Also, you'll need to know some HTML.
-Some programming knowledge would really help. You don't have to be an adept programmer for web development but you'll need to know something. You can outsource programming work but it will cost you money and you'll still need some knowledge to make sure you hire a good programmer and he builds a well-written site. (HTML isn't a programming language. Javascript and PHP are, for example)
-Some SEO knowledge.
-Technology used on the web.. What client-side and server-side languages are, HTML, image formats, video/audio formats, actual HTTP servers(Apache/IIS), ect.
-How to write for the web, usability, good web design..
-Technical knowledge about computers... Files and the filesystem, speed factors, ect.

You could get away with not learning most of that but it would help you run your website well, or to get started, what to look for in a host, making your site easier to use, ect. They won't make up for knowing what you want your site to be about and providing value, which is what's important, and you'll still need some marketing knowledge, ect.

What do you want it to actually be about? It shouldn't take too long to learn enough to get a site up and running(maybe a few months to learn the basics of everything on that list and start up a site, but you could actually start one right now)...

[jamestl2]

While all colleges don't have the same class offerings, you may want to look into information studies and technology courses, (That's what I'm majoring in). Maybe along with one or two business courses.

[Dwane J.]

Here are some good resources

Free Online Course Materials | MIT OpenCourseWare

OpenCourseWare Consortium Home

[mellom]

I'm a full time consultant doing Web Development (Mostly Microsoft tools - VB.NET, ASP.NET, SQL Server). My road here was taken through CIS (Computer Information Systems). I would strongly suggest you find a program like that, rather than CS.

Computer Information Systems is more hands-on and practical. For people like myself who are not into math and theory, it's a no brainer.

Good luck.

[CStrunk]

Marketing, FTW. Maybe a MIS (Management Information Systems) course also. My college offered and MIS class in Web Development. Also, try some Rhetoric classes. I'm taking one next semester on Consumer Culture and it will touch on blogs, so I am excited.