Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

beginner web designer

May 7, 2013 10:01AM PDT

what is the best way to start learning how to build websites? I have already bought a book on html, css, and javascript and I have watched several videos on youtube but I don't know where to go from here. please help and thank you.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Not how I started.
May 7, 2013 10:08AM PDT

I used a web editor and put it up on a web server. Ta Dah!

The way you're going about this is either going to frustrate or have you react as if you took a sip from a fire hose.
Bob

- Collapse -
reply
May 7, 2013 10:15AM PDT

im trying to learn how to be a web developer professionally in fact that is what im going to school for but I would like to learn all that I can on my own thanks for the post but do you have any other suggestions?

- Collapse -
Then keep going.
May 7, 2013 10:23AM PDT
- Collapse -
Experience is one way - but we all learn in different ways
May 15, 2013 10:53AM PDT

Bob's absolutely correct - the more you DO (Yoda's mantra "There is no try.."), the more you're feel comfortable and the more you will find yourself feeling knowledgeable. Experience will be your best teacher.

We ALL learn in different ways - some people are visual, audio or kinetic (hands-on) learners. You will need to decide what works best for you.

I work in a web hosting company, and I'm surrounded by designers, coders and all-out geeks who just love the web. I've heard about how some people started with notepad (like me), and others who are purely designers working through Photoshop. One thing that I have noticed though, is that you should not forget about your FREE resources out there. Google webmaster tools, Chrome's option to inspect elements or Firefox's Firebug. Those two tools alone allow you find a page and dissect it - even experiment - you can make changes to the pages on the fly just to see what may happen.

Try using Chrome's Inspect Element option - go find your favorite website and then see what they're doing using the inspect tool. It's another way for you to learn about how things tick on the web.

Have fun!