help for a newbie?

[laur_454]

Hello there!

I am a technology newbie (and probably forever will be). This area is NOT my forte. However, I purchased a site through SBI last year and its up and running, but I don't care for the look and feel. I bought a book on HTML programming and it was like trying to read Latin for me. Any suggestions on how to learn quicker? I just feel totally in over my head and my website is about fashion and beauty and therefore the aesthetics are very important to me. I've heard something about "Dreamweaver?" or something like that.... Is that the HTML writing program that I need to purchase? And what do I do with it once I get it?
Please remember when replying, I am a technological virgin. Baby steps please, thank you!!

[Jcs]

Hello Laur_454,

I don't have suggestions for you to learn it quicker. When you really want to understand something, remember that there are no cutsies (scrubs!).

With Dreamweaver you basically have two views. The design view and code view. The design part is WYSIWYG, What you see is what you get. In the design view you work directly with visual elements i.e. a picture itself instead of:

<img src="path_to_img.ext" />

In the code view you can adjust your site on HTML level. You can do much much more with Dreamweaver but I doubt you need it right now .

If you look at this picture you'll see what's called a "Property Inspector" window. You can adjust objects by changing the values there. You see the W and H? That'd adjust the width and height. In code that would translate to:

<img src="path_to_img.ext" width="x" height="y" />

You can also view both (design and code) windows at the same time to get a sense of what goes on. Mind you that Dreamweaver isn't cheap. Around $400 I believe. Amazon.com: Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual: David McFarland: Books seems a popular book for learning Dreamweaver if your budget allows it all together. Adobe's documentation is a good start as-well.

Don't expect to be a guru in this (or anything else) in just a month. Books like *Learn subject x in 21 days* really are scams, you'll only have a superficial understanding of the subject.

You can of course build everything by hand with no additional cost. Either way you'll have to learn your latin .

Good luck!

[lasti]

I don't know anything about SBI but could you install a blog like wordpress?
Have you experimented with HTML or just read the book?

[robertanthony]

Have a look at Website Builder you dont need HTML experience - you get a free trail.Aesthetics are good with hundreds of design options to choose from.

Rather than spending time on learning code etc you could get your site up and running very quicky - sitecube will also answer any questions you have they have customer care that works - email and phone.

[Jcs]

Sweet jesus are all those Site Cube sites in flash? My god, *cries*.

[laur_454]

Originally Posted by robertanthony

Have a look at Website Builder you dont need HTML experience - you get a free trail.Aesthetics are good with hundreds of design options to choose from.

Rather than spending time on learning code etc you could get your site up and running very quicky - sitecube will also answer any questions you have they have customer care that works - email and phone.

It seems perfect... So basically i can just synch it with my SBI site? More or less copy and paste my design onto SBI's site building tools?

Hopefully while this is happening I can begin the process of learning Latin, and maybe in a few months be able to change the site yet again exactly to my liking? I mean is HTML really that hard? It seems impossible, but then I hear people tell me that I will get the hang of it.

[Jcs]

You're whole website would be in flash. You can't do anything useful in combination with SBI, afaik.

Can't believe you actually think Site Cube looks perfect. I'm well shocked . Ahwell, if it works for you .

[InterfaceLeader]

Originally Posted by laur_454

Hello there!

I am a technology newbie (and probably forever will be). This area is NOT my forte. However, I purchased a site through SBI last year and its up and running, but I don't care for the look and feel. I bought a book on HTML programming and it was like trying to read Latin for me. Any suggestions on how to learn quicker? I just feel totally in over my head and my website is about fashion and beauty and therefore the aesthetics are very important to me. I've heard something about "Dreamweaver?" or something like that.... Is that the HTML writing program that I need to purchase? And what do I do with it once I get it?
Please remember when replying, I am a technological virgin. Baby steps please, thank you!!

Learning HTML isn't that hard from scratch. Essentially, everything you do to change the appearance has a tag. On the simplest level, to make a line of text bold you would put <b>bold text</b>

Everything works on that same principle, and it will give you a much much better understanding of what is going on with your website that any software. Better code = better search engine rankings + more accessibility + faster loading = more business.

Alternatively, rather than spend $399 on Dreamweaver, you can hire me to make you a website for half that