If a designer was to begin now to learn webdesign, how would u suggest that he should begin? What applications should he learn to create a website? I guess there are many apps for this purpose, but which is the best in terms of providing a professional site both technically and design wise?
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learning webdesign
- Thread starter zoran
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Simple. Start with learning HTML and CSS, followed up with Javascript. Get a good editor such as Visual Code or Atom. You will also need to set up a local development web server (Mamp or Xampp, for example). Learn about Git (GitLab and/or Github), and when you feel reasonably familiar with HTML, CSS, and Javascript, pick one of the popular frameworks to expand your front-end dev knowledge (Vue.js, React, Angular,...).
Also get to know about SVG and how it can be used for different purposes.
MDN is a good starting point: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn
Also get to know about SVG and how it can be used for different purposes.
MDN is a good starting point: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn
Wix and similar online "services" (there are quite a few) provide you with pre-built templates, and they (in my opinion) milk users who haven't got a clue. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you are at all interested in having full control over your designs and integrating those in your sites these can be severely limiting.
And installing Wordpress on your own server for free with a pagebuilder plugin will give you far more control and costs far less - the free versions of Elementor, Beaver Builder, or Siteorigin Page Builder already allow for a lot of experimentation.
Other options are Pinegrow, Sparkle, and other visual web page building desktop apps. There are plugins which will convert PSD files to web pages, and plugins that export InDesign pages to web pages or even mobile apps (In5 is a good example).
If you are unwilling and/or have no time to learn the basic languages of the web, you may get by with some of these visual tools. Generally at a price, of course. It is the reason why designers will often work with Sketch, and then hire a font-end developer to convert the Sketch designs to a working site.
To be entirely honest, it takes at least a year of good solid learning and web coding experience before you will be able to become somewhat competent. If this is not an option, investigate some of the above-mentioned options out there. Just be careful of all those web services out there, and really do your own research.
WordPress is a fun way to get started. Avoid wordpress.com, though: that only offers a severely limited version of WordPress unless you pay, and requires a monthly fee to unlock the customization features and access to plugins.
Instead, I suggest a free WordPress account at altervista, which is a free hosting service that is actually quite good, even though it is free. No adverts, and a fully functional free web hosting to get familiar with hosting and WordPress.
Sign up for a free WordPress site here:
They are an Italian hosting company. You get a free subdomain and will have access to all WordPress features to test the waters. Don't expect lightning speed performance or loads of server space, of course. Altervista's free accounts are meant to test the waters.
Then install a page-builder plugin such as Elementor, SiteOrigin Page Builder, BeaverBuilder, or SeedPod, and start building layouts. If you need full control over styling in a visual way try free visual CSS styling plugins like SiteOrigin CSS or invest in a commercial plugin like CSS Hero.
I would stick with SiteOrigin's Page Builder, CSS plugin, and additional widget plugins which are all free. The others restrict features more or less depending on the plugin, and require a (rental) fee to gain access to all features.
To "start from scratch" with a basic website sans styling in WP, install a blank starter theme, install the SiteOrigin plugins, and begin building pages with Page Builder, and styling elements with their CSS plugin. Search in the theme screen for "starter" or "blank".
Instead, I suggest a free WordPress account at altervista, which is a free hosting service that is actually quite good, even though it is free. No adverts, and a fully functional free web hosting to get familiar with hosting and WordPress.
Sign up for a free WordPress site here:
Sign Up - Altervista
en.altervista.org
They are an Italian hosting company. You get a free subdomain and will have access to all WordPress features to test the waters. Don't expect lightning speed performance or loads of server space, of course. Altervista's free accounts are meant to test the waters.
Then install a page-builder plugin such as Elementor, SiteOrigin Page Builder, BeaverBuilder, or SeedPod, and start building layouts. If you need full control over styling in a visual way try free visual CSS styling plugins like SiteOrigin CSS or invest in a commercial plugin like CSS Hero.
I would stick with SiteOrigin's Page Builder, CSS plugin, and additional widget plugins which are all free. The others restrict features more or less depending on the plugin, and require a (rental) fee to gain access to all features.
To "start from scratch" with a basic website sans styling in WP, install a blank starter theme, install the SiteOrigin plugins, and begin building pages with Page Builder, and styling elements with their CSS plugin. Search in the theme screen for "starter" or "blank".
It is no easier with Worpdress unless you use a theme builder such as Elementor, Beaver Builder or get a theme like Avada or similar that you can customize whatever way you want. All you are actually doing is creating the 'look' without coding anything.
If you want to actually build themes from scratch in WordPress you will still need to learn HTML, CSS, some Javascript and PHP.
