KillerSites Blog

Web Design

The Web Design Process in 4 Steps

June 9, 2014

Hi,

Web design and development keeps evolving and in the last few years, they’ve been in fact merging! Yes, if you do web design these days, you have to learn:

  • Coding: HTML, CSS, HTML5 and CSS3
  • Basic programming: PHP, JavaScript
  • Web design frameworks: Bootstrap and JQuery

That all said, the web design process can be distilled into the following 4 simple steps:

  1. Sketch out a design, choose structure, choose colors. You would use Photoshop here a little.
  2. Slap it into bootstrap.
  3. Add behavior with PHP, JQuery and JavaScript.
  4. Deploy

You are done and so am I … for today!

Stefan Mischook
killerSites.com

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Burnt-out Web Developer – and his return.

June 5, 2014

stefan mischook

Hi,

Web development can be an exciting game but it is also all-consuming – you cannot casually code. You cannot casually write good software while listening to tunes. You must be 100% there or your code will suck. Burnt-out developers are not uncommon … and I was one.

How to Burn Yourself Out

I loved to write software, it was something I would do even on Friday nights! It sounds really bad now but at the time, exploring a new Java library or building out a new module to some app, was exciting to me. The weekdays were for writing commercial code and the weekend was for playing with new code.

I still remember seeing the first members on my dating site posting profiles and sending messages. It was great fun. You start with few messages here and there being exchanged, then hundreds and (to my amazement) soon thousands!

… I eventually shuttered that growing dating site because I was not interested in making big money with it; it was just a hobby site for me, a vehicle to learn with. Maybe I should have left it running!? I think all the swingers posting profiles on there made me shut it down … not sure now, it’s been 15yrs.

I could tell you about many other similar projects/sites … but I think you get the idea.

The burnout Formula

You get burnt-out when you go too deep, too long and too fast into something. After years of code, code and more code … I was burnt. So for several years after, I did everything/anything but technology. It was sometimes almost painful for me to even pay attention to KillerSites, KillerPHP or any of the other sites/communities/apps I developed. The people were great but I just didn’t care what was going on in the tech world.

Interest slowly builds again

I don’t know why but starting a few years ago, my interest in technology slowly started coming back. Slowly. Psychology is a strange thing and any number of hidden variables can play into your mood. So for whatever reason(s), my interest is coming back and for the first time in years, I find myself learning a new language … it just seems like fun to me again.

Stefan Mischook
Killersites.com

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Web Hosting Company Paying for YOUR Web Developer Training

May 18, 2014

Hi,

About once a year we run a deal with Fatcow hosting, where Fatcow will pay for 80% of your web programming training and slash 60% of your hosting cost!

Why?
They hope that you will renew next year.

Some details:
Basically, you have to cough-up $23.15 (one time) + $3.15/month (60% discount from their normal price) for the first year of hosting. You are not obliged to renew. This deal gets you the hosting package + the Complete Web Programmer package – this normally goes for $99.

If you want to learn web development, this is as good a deal as you can get!

Check out out:

http://www.killervideostore.com/killer-offers/

Thanks!

Stefan Mischook
killerSites.com

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Top 10 Web Design Teaching Tips!

April 24, 2014

lightbulb

Hi!

This blog post is for teachers teaching web design and programming … but if you are learning HTML and CSS (or any other language) many of these tips will be helpful to you too.

Let’s start with a teaser:

1. Start with an Easy Language:

Don’t use hard to understand languages like Java, C#, C++ to teach beginners programming or code! Stick to simpler languages like  HTML and CSS and then move to say PHP or JavaScript. Once your students have a grasp of basic coding and programming concepts, then you can move into the more complex languages … if you need to!

2. Don’t teach A to Z:

Teaching people to code has a lot more to do about leaving out the non essentially elements of a language. Don’t cover every nuanced aspect of the HTML link tag, don’t cover all the ways a method can be created in PHP … leave out the less often used aspects of a language and save it for later. Just expose your students to the key aspects of the language, just enough so they can move forward.

If you want the other 8 tips, follow this link.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook
killerSites.com

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The Best Way to Learn Web Design

March 28, 2014

studioWeb

I try to start with the point of the article whenever I can … so what is the best way to learn web design and web programming?

In a nutshell:

  • You want to as quickly as possible, get past the basic concepts and basic code principles. Too many courses these days concentrate too much on too many details.
  • Once you have that minimal knowledge, you should be building actual projects!

I’ve been teaching web design and programming for over a decade now and have been teaching for about 20yrs – give or take. And I can tell you that without a doubt, the best way to learn web design and programming is to build.

… With each site that you design, your skills will jump. With each dynamic database driven website that you build, your skills will jump.

Finishing the Job is Key

It is important that you complete projects. For some reason, leaving something half done, just doesn’t seem to have the same learning impact. That’s why smaller mini projects are great for learning because big projects take a long time to finish.

With that in mind, our Complete Web Designer training package follows these principles … which only makes sense since we created all the courses!

PS: If you want a DVD/USB hard copy sent you, we do that too.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook
www.KillerSites.com

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What Learning Web Design has done for me.

March 9, 2014

stefan mischook

Hi,

I built my first website in 1994 for my import/export business – I needed a cheap way to reach people in Europe and Asia. At the time, the Web was very new to most of the world … in fact, I had one of the first websites with photos!

Becoming a web designer and programmer:

By 1996 I was a full time web designer taking on web design contracts. In those days though, the Web was just really starting to heat up; I still remember having to go into meetings with prospective clients, having to explain to them what the Web was! A typical question I got:

“How is the Web thing going to help my business?”

Financial Freedom with Web Design:

Becoming a coder has had many major positive impacts in my life:

  • Improved my ability to think logically.
  • Taught me how to organize and create complex things.
  • Opened my mind to abstract ideas – I could understand things that once totally confused me.

… In many ways, learning code and programming, is like doing pushups for the brain! That said, I have to admit that the #1 thing that learning to code brought to the table, was financial freedom and choice.

You see, when you get over that learning hump that can scare so many people away from programming, you will unlock earning power that you probably never imagined.

In a nutshell:

Learning web design and programming almost guarantees high paying jobs and lots of work.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Mischook
killerSites.com

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Code is Key in Modern Web Design

February 21, 2014

lightbulb

Hi,

Let’s get to the point:

The days of only using web design programs like Dreamweaver (and not knowing any code) are pretty much over … if you want to be a professional web designer.

These days, web designers need to learn code and a few different coding languages, to be able to effectively build modern websites.

… The good news is that it isn’t that hard with the right training.

Which languages do you need to learn?

In the order of importance:

  1. HTML
  2. CSS
  3. JavaScript
  4. PHP

This may seem like a lot but the good news is that you DON’T have to be an expert in everything … you just have to have working knowledge of these key languages and know how to work them together.

Studioweb makes learning code easy!

If you are serious about developing these skills, take a look at my interactive video training system Studioweb.

Used by public schools, career centers and community colleges to train their students, you can take advantage of this self-paced learning system that will gently guide you towards total nerd glory and domination!

🙂

… As an added bonus, you can get certified with the same certification used by schools!

If you have questions, feel free to contact me:

Stefan Mischook
KillerSites.com

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