Starting out as a web developer

silvine

HI,

I'd lie to train as a web developer. Can you advise which web site host I should consider I'd like to use Joomla or Drupal.

I'd also like an area where I can test my websites without publishing them.

Where can I go for online tutorials?
Are there any other things I need that I haven't considered?

I have a Mac, smartphone and relatively good IT skills. I regularly update the website in work.

Thanks

Dave!

silvine wrote: »

HI,

I'd lie to train as a web developer.

Hopefully that won't be necessary! Let's keep it honest

silvine wrote: »

Can you advise which web site host I should consider I'd like to use Joomla or Drupal.

There are a whole variety of options for cheap hosting. I suggest you go with some shared hosting package. Shouldn't cost much. You'll need PHP and MySQL installed. Many shared hosting providers also have applications like Joomla/Drupal/Wordpress available to be installed with a few clicks. That might suit your purposes.

silvine wrote: »

I'd also like an area where I can test my websites without publishing them.

Most hosts offer domain aliases so you can see the site before it's published at the 'real' domain.

silvine wrote: »

Where can I go for online tutorials?

I suggest the Internet!

Do you know any web development at all at the moment? I suggest you start by Googling for recent (last 2 - 3 years) tutorials on the following:

HTML
CSS
Javascript
jQuery
PHP
MySQL

Look through web development blogs and aggreggators such as smashingmagazine.com, net.tutsplus.com, etc., as these have good articles and tutorials.

silvine wrote: »

Are there any other things I need that I haven't considered?

I have a Mac, smartphone and relatively good IT skills. I regularly update the website in work.

Thanks

Sounds like you've got it all covered!

You should probably look into installing and configuring a local Apache installation and working on the site locally before migrating to a host. This tends to be the way development work is done. As you're on a Mac, you might use MAMP for this. Search for:

Local joomla development mac
mamp joomla installation
installing mamp mac

etc..

silvine

Great thanks for the tips. I have Synology NAS too and I've installed Joomla. I'm working through the tutorials now. Is this the most appropriate CMS for a beginner?

Is there a point in doing a course or I can teach myself ? I'm not really interested in the coding end of things (at least until I figure out how to create a website).

ChRoMe

silvine wrote: »

I'm not really interested in the coding end of things

... thats what being a web developer is.

silvine

I meant web designer!

I want to able to use CMS platforms to create websites. I installed Joomla and there's lot of templates which seem to make it easy to design a site. Basically, I enjoy adding and updating the website in work and I'd like to be able to do more myself, rather than contacting a third party.

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silvine wrote: »

I'm not really interested in the coding end of things (at least until I figure out how to create a website).

wordpress.com

smcelhinney

A web designer still needs a relatively good knowledge of code (HTML/CSS/JS) and the ability to read and understand some client-side programming concepts (PHP or Ruby, Java).

Are you sure you dont mean a graphic designer/content manager/web author?

Editing sites in a CMS or DreamWeaver is NOT web design/development, its content management.

silvine

How long does it take to learn HTML/CSS/JS?

Should I have a good head for numbers?

KonFusion

silvine wrote: »

How long does it take to learn HTML/CSS/JS?

Should I have a good head for numbers?

No offence, but every time I hear someone ask "how long does it take to learn XYZ?" it makes me want to smash my head off a wall.

It's completely subjective.

I would highly recommend that before you ask any more questions, you do a bit of research into what a web developer, web designer, content manager etc is.

Not only would it benefit you greatly, but it would also benefit those that contribute in this forum, by not having them churn out the same information that has been given so many times before.

I'm not trying to be rude, I'm trying to give honest advice.

If all you want to do is create and edit a website using a content management system (such as Joomla or Wordpress) then that's fine, there is a wealth of information out there to do that.

One great site is lynda.com - check out it's joomla tutorials here

If you want to learn some HTML/CSS/JS basics, check out code-academy - It's free.

tricky D

KonFusion wrote: »

No offence, but every time I hear someone ask "how long does it take to learn XYZ?" it makes me want to smash my head off a wall.

It's completely subjective.

Couldn't agree more. Learning the basics is pretty easy, but there is never an end to learning stuff like html, css and the like. The top of the learning curve is very long and unending with all sorts of nuances, browser issues, etc.

Then there's all those tricks of the trade beyond the likes of html, css etc. which you won't always get from a course, book, whatever.

Jim2007

Dave! wrote: »

As you're on a Mac, you might use MAMP for this.

Actually I find BitNami offer a better set of stacks for testing web environments.