What should I learn first?

I'm planning on starting to learn some type of web design. But there's a bunch out there. So I was wondering what people would suggest I should learn first that will MOST benefit me?

One of my friends said I should just learn CSS because HTML is becoming obsolete in a way and CSS interacts with it? Any advise?

 

I think everyone should learn their first or second site in notepad. This will teach you how to clean up after junky CMS coding. Im not a big fan of just using a CMS if you dont understand how it works, not a great SEO approach. Mind you, most folks will laugh about coding in notepad, that is mostly for the stone ages, but most people don't know much about good clean coding either.

 

html is really easy to learn and css is the same, i say start with learning those two so that you know the basics.

 

Ive always coded in notepad

I am 17 years old, I used very very very minimal HTML about 5 years ago (mainly to create fake sites to steal peoples passwords for online games, yeah i was a bad 12 year old...)

I had a lot of experience in java and such and about 4 months ago I started php, i can do raw php coding to make cool scripts and such...its layouts and design i am not good at

Layouts and stuff is very important, I started looking at css last week, it isnt too difficult and it all makes sense

depending on what you want to do wth the design, do u want to design raw templates to sell/fit pre made code in?

I dont use plain old notepad
For windows, use Notepad2, it is notepad with syntax highlighting, it highlights brackets nad everything
Now I currently use a mac, and I suggest the app Smultron, both are free

 

So should I learn CSS first then? Won't I pick up HTML as I go along with CSS? Or do I NEED to know the HTML in order to get started with CSS?

 

HTML will never become obsolete because no html means no website Everything you see at a website is eventually html code, so learning it is vital. Then you would also want to learn some CSS too of course. You may check these two tutorials below about learning both :

http://website-creation-tips.com/index.php/2009/06/24/a-beginners-guide-to-creating-html-pages/

http://website-creation-tips.com/in...ng-css-to-customize-the-look-of-your-website/

 

The order in which you should learn to keep it simple is.

HTML
CSS

Then if your interested I would move on to PHP.

I used to teach classes on html, css, xhtml, dreamweaver, etc, etc. and I always gave my students 2 sites right off the bat.

w3schools.com - Some of the best guided tutorials on the web.

gotapi.com - The absolute reference guide IMO because it pulls from all the major players. W3Schools, HTMLHelp, etc.

Good luck and Happy Learning

 

Thanks for all the information guys, I'll definitely be looking into it all. Appreciate it much.

 

Yes i am also new to this and were searching all this newbiee information. Really thanks for the help and giving so much helpfull information to start with it..

 

As others have said, HTML = obsolete? Far from it! If I was you I'd learn HTML and CSS side by side, because the two often interlink with each other, and so learning them side by side will allow you to come to grips with the links and how to use them most effectively together to get the results you're after.

 

Learn what HTML Stands for then the rest will follow...i guarantee

 

CSS cannot work without html. you need to link or place the css to a html file. I would suggest-- 1. html 2. css. 3. photoshop 4. php if you want to make themes for cms'.

 

You need to learn HTML first before CSS. They go hand-in-hand. Then learn xHTML, but keep in mind, HTML5 has been in development for awhile.

Whoever said HTML is going to be obsolete is a moron.

 

Also make sure as you are learning, you are designing with divs and spans and not tables. Layout with tables is definitely not the way!

 

Learn HTML. If you need to work with XML then learn how XML can be shown on a web page as XHTML. And I don't mean "I have an RSS feed on my page" because that doesn't require anything more than HTML. If you write real XHTML know that your Javascript will be different than what you can use in HTML. Unless you are taking real XML files and doing all sorts of things with them, including showing them on a web page, and even then it doesn't work in IE, what benefit does anyone get from XHTML? The seXy X, baby!

HTML is the absolute basis. CSS is nothing but a pretty dress. A pretty dress in a town where you usually can't go out naked. So you'll have to learn CSS of course.

Javascript and image editing are also entirely optional. They are also dressing on the page. Learn how those things enhance a working, correct web page before trying to add them in.

You can learn in any text editor, but if you think you want to do this for any real length of time, learn a real text editor. Something like vi or emacs. They take time to learn, so see it as an investment. An expensive one that will make you very, very fast at coding anything at all.

Back-end languages like PHP are fine but then you might as well have your own server to learn from, so get one and learn Apache (since it's still the most popular server; there are also many other types), HTTP Headers and the modules like mod_rewrite and about forms and requests and how not to break the Back button! Those things are back-end, not front-end. The part of the website you see is the front-end. Many people are only front-enders or only back-enders. You are not required to know anything back-end to make a website, however the kinds of websites who don't do more than GET from a server are usually purely informational. If you want to work for a company that makes web sites, they often have a back-end group already.

If you learn both front and back, you'll be pretty valuable as an employee. If you also know MySQL, XML + XSLT, and at least one graphics-editing program, you are getting very valuable. If you are a graphicsy person and find that interesting and important then make sure you know at least one raster program (Photochop, Gimp) and one vector program (Illustrator, Inkscape) (and there are programs who can deal with both, or can do 3-d, etc sorry Fireworks fans I've never used it).

Now you're starting to reach "website engineer" (ppk's term I think). The next step after that is likely godhood or something.

 

That was one of the explanations i think i've ever seen. Thanks so much for it. I'll re-go over the HTML then move on to CSS. I already know photoshop, just need some more practice with it. Once I get that underway I'll probably go php.

 

1st learn html... it is basic of every thing.. CSS is just a part of html where u learn to give design to webpage whereas html helps u to place contents of in page... 1st is html and 1ce you have done with html it will hardly takes 4-5 days (max) to go through CSS...

 

Who told you HTML is becoming obsolete? CSS is nothing without HTML...

 

Try HTML and CSS first, it's good for your basic, before you advance to PHP, Perl and many more.

 

You can learn them at about the same time. I did. You can build and decoration your kitchen kinda concurrently, but of course you can't hang curtains on a house without a foundation (that doesn't stop people from trying though).

Some crusties recommended this book to me and others, and I found it valuable, so I'll pass it on:

Build Your Own Web Site the Right Way Using HTML and CSS
by Ian Lloyd.

The first edition is old enough to be sitting in a public library. The second edition is newer if you want to buy a book and want the newest/freshest out there.
You learn basic HTML and CSS, pretty much concurrently. Don't go through the book trying to build your own web site while going through the book. Build the one the book has you build (bubbleunder.com), and THEN try making your own.

Second book, also old enough to be free:
HTML Utopia: Designing Without Tables Using CSS
by Rachel Andrew and Dan Shafer

Starts out with HTML and CSS basics (unfortunately both books use XHTML, which is fine, just know it's not "really" XHTML), and then about half-way through the book gets interesting: doing CSS layouts. You're given some HTML (including a nice example of a semantic, valid table used properly), and a PSD (someone's layout drawing), and you're shown how to do that. Oen column? No columns? Two columns? How to keep the footer down if you're floating the columns? It was very nice. After those two books I learned the rest online, like most people do. You need enough of a basis to understand what you're seeing in online tutorials etc. These books give it to you. You learn by doing, and while I only read the second book (and only build half of the bubbleunder page), they both assume you are doing-along and are not "read-only" books. They have piles of code in them. You can either copy them yourself or get them from an online code repository, and then play with them.