One question that is put to me from time to time is:
“… how can you budget the amount of time it will take to build a website?”
This can be a tricky thing because there are so many factors involved:
Ultimately, you will have to learn how fast it takes YOU … to build a website.
I can’t stand articles that make you read two pages before getting to the point. With that in mind, let’s look at how I think css code should be organized.
In a nutshell: css code should be divided up into at least 4 separate pages:
How about we call this the ‘killer’ css structure.
🙂
Before I go into the details of what each css file contains (if it’s not already obvious), I want to quickly cover WHY you might want to use this basic css structure for all your websites.
Floating around the universe, are certain universal principles that transcend disciplines. I would like to explore a few of them here, and talk about how they can be applied to web design.
The Three Master Principles
#1 Simplicity
This is such an important principle, that it can easily be made into the top three web design principles, just as location is to real estate:
– location
– location
– location
… we could say the same thing about simplicity in web design:
– simplicity
– simplicity
– simplicity
The important thing to take to heart, is that your web sites should be designed to be as simple as possible. You want to keep it simple for two main reasons:
The simplicity principle applies to design, structure and the code.
What do I mean by ‘structure’ of the web site?
I am simply referring to the URL structure. So we are talking about directory structures, page names etc. I’ve detailed this in my article on intelligent paths in websites.
I think the other two (design and code) are self evident.
… Now let’s look at principle number two:
I’ve released another video tutorial on Dreamweaver CS3 where I look at the three ways Dreamweaver gives you to edit web pages.
Video: Dreamweaver CS3 Editor Views
You can find all the Dreamweaver CS3 videos in the Dreamweaver section of killersites.com:
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com
Killersites.com is an old site, nearly 12 years old now!
Over that time (as we added more articles and tutorials), our directory structures and file naming styles changed as conventions changed. So now I have a huge mess to clean up.
… There is a lot of information buried in killersites.com that people just don’t find.
🙁
Fortunately, over the last 12-13 years of building websites and web applications, I’ve been able to figure out the best way to organize a website:
In this article, I discuss how to create an easier to maintain, more user friendly website by way of using intelligent paths.
–
So what are ‘intelligent paths’?
I’m talking about URL structures of course! So that means a few things:
… Let’s go over the details.
I’ve released part 2 and 3 of my videos on building your first web page with Dreamweaver CS3.
Video: Building a web page with Dreamweaver CS3
You can get quick access to all the Dreamweaver CS3 videos on this page:
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
Hi,
I just released a new video tutorial on Dreamweaver CS3. In this video (part 1 of 3) I walk you through the process of building your first web page with Dreamweaver CS3.
This video targets people new to Dreamweaver and people new to web design.
The video: Build a web page with Dreamweaver
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
After a few years of (I must admit) pure laziness, I finally started to work on a new set of Dreamweaver CS3 video tutorials.
… But, to be fair to myself, I wasn’t in a hurry to upgrade my Dreamweaver MX videos since the differences between CS3 and MX are really minimal … most of the changes are ‘under the hood’.
What is new about Dreamweaver CS3?
Dreamweaver CS3 is Adobe’s first official release of the software (Adobe just bought Macromedia) and so Dreamweaver CS3 now has the Adobe look and feel that is consistent across all their products including, Photoshop CS3, Illustrator CS3 etc …
Beyond that, the following things stand out:
… There’s more for sure, but those are the things that stand out for me.
Hi,
I just released a few CPANEL video tutorials that are targeted at people who are new to this popular web hosting management software.
What is CPANEL?
CPANEL is a web based program (runs in a web browser) that hosting companies provide to clients so that clients can easily edit things about their web hosting account:
… And a lot more.
You can find the collection of videos here:
So far, this is what I have up:
– Setting up email with CPANEL
– Using File Manager in CPANEL
– Uploading web pages with CPANEL
– Setting up MySQL with CPANEL
If you have any suggestions regarding any other topics, let me know.
Stefan
www.killersites.com
A common question I get from people, is whether it makes sense to go to college to learn web design?
I’ve talked about the web design profession in other articles. Yet, as you will see in the following email I recently got, I haven’t dealt with all the issues regarding web design and education:
Hi Stefan,
Anyway, I am interested in web design. I am in the middle of trying to figure out whether I should go to my local community colleges for courses in HTML, photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc … or an actual art school for graphic art/ web design. Of course cost is a factor.
I am a mother of two, and my work schedule needs to be flexible. I am very creative and have a great eye for design.
My question is, which course of action you recommend? How much education is necessary? Is a degree necessary, if so, what type? associate, bachelors, certificate?
What are the salary potentials in web design working for yourself and for outside companies (I have research outside company positions advertising 40k – 50k, is that realistic?)
I’m not young, (a youthful 44) and I really need to do something in the form of a career for myself, other than taking care of everyone else.
Thank you so much for your time-
Sandy
