I want to learn how to make a website and photoshop?

SeanMadd

So I've been wanting to create a blog/website(whichever) for some time now but the thought of trying to create one frustrates me. Can anyone give me some websites or something where I can learn how to make websites(preferably easily!:D)? I know I could use blogspot or wordpress but I want a real website. And yes, I know I could just google 'how to make a website' but the results are overwhelming and I don't know which to choose, so I'm asking what helped you build a good-looking and functional website. Not looking for buy any books or anything, just websites on how to. Also, what will I need to know? I know websites are made with CSS or HTML or whatever(It all seems a bit complicated to me), but do I need to know that to run it? *Oh, and how can I practice making websites, without paying €10 or so to buy a domain?

Also, if same thing again with photoshop. I have GIMP but don't really know how to use it. Just want to be able to create good graphics and banners etc.

Willbbz

Also, what will I need to know? I know websites are made with CSS or HTML or whatever(It all seems a bit complicated to me), but do I need to know that to run it?

It's pretty straight forward and worth knowing.
Check out www.w3schools.com

As for photoshop I find if there's anything I want to make I'd turn to youtube tutorials to see how other people do them and how they use certain tools to get an idea. Probably not the best way to do it but it's alright I guess

Zascar

You can do some pretty impressive stuff with Wordpress, don't discount it so easily.

www.lynda.com have some great video tutorials, also youtube.

Essien

+1 for Lynda.com

They have a mountain of excellent tutorials on pretty much anything you would want to know about web design.

JessAnderson

http://www.w3schools.com is the best place you should go when it comes to this matter for both beginners and experts.
But for beginners, focus only to the basic HTML tutorials and some CSS or you'll easily get lost.

You can also try out some free services first like webs.com then play around with the free templates from what you have learned from w3schools.

Download XAMPP or similar to have a webserver on (and only accessible from) your computer. W3schools is the best place to start, as mentioned. Learn HTML, CSS, to develop static sites. You'll need PHP (or similar), javascript/jQuery to do the dynamic stuff andyou could leverage the built in functionality of a content management system like Wordpress/Joomla/Drupal to avoid reinventing the wheel. It's a lot to learn, but the right thing to do if you're serious about learning this stuff.

Photoshop costs a lot of money - so you're not going want to shell out for it if you're worried about a tenner for a domain. The Gimp is perfectly adequate to get you going, and there are plenty of tutorials available http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/

Be prepared for lots of headaches and lots of fun.

edit: Have a look through the tuts+ family of sites too - oodles of tuts.

OctavarIan

W3Schools is not a good recommendation.

http://w3fools.com/

Much better places to learn from are Google, Opera and the W3C.

Lynda also do good tutorials, but they are less up to date.

As for books, Designing With Web Standards is an excellent resource.

W3Cschools is an excellent resource for beginners. I find the content of that W3fools site pedantic. W3Cschools has been running for a long time, and has a large volume of information freely available. How many web devs got their start there over the years?

There are going to be a few mistakes or out-of-date statements on any site with it's volume of content. The site in general is sound and teaches the basics with best practices in mind.