In today’s fast-paced virtual world, more businesses than ever are working and thriving in the online space. And connecting with friends and family is easier than ever; no matter where in the world everyone is, all it takes is the world wide web to bring everyone together.
Wouldn’t you love to learn website creation and be a part of all of the excitement with your very own site?
Whether you’re building your own website for a business or wishing to learn website creation for personal or educational use, the following three resources will teach you all you need to know.
1. Lynda.com
Lynda.com is a leading online learning company that can help everyone from a basic Internet dabbler to an advanced, seasoned code writer with a full line of educational video segments. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in the hub of the web realm, Silicon Valley. They also have locations in San Francisco, London, Graz and Sydney.
The company offers individual, corporate, academic and government subscription services that allow the end user to access an unlimited number of educational videos in English, German, French and Spanish languages. Users can even create their own custom playlists to better organize courses they want to utilize at their own pace. Courses at Lynda.com also are programmed to be available on either a desktop computer, a tablet or even a mobile phone. Users are able to switch back and forth between the media without ever skipping a beat, a major plus in today’s multi-media-driven world.
Another valuable benefit of being a member of Lynda.com is that new courses are added weekly, so users are able to continue their education on a rolling basis. Some of the best courses for those wishing to learn and develop as a webmaster are:
- Creating a First Website in Dreamweaver CC 2015 with Paul Trani
- WordPress and Genesis DIY: Small Business Website with Carrie Dils
- Web Design Fundamentals with James Williamson
2. Web Maker Training (training.webmakerprototypes.org)
Powered by Mozilla, Web Maker Training is the latest initiative in crowdsourcing… this time, crowd-sourced learning modules. Mozilla is committed to helping everyone understand the basic mechanics, culture and citizenship of the web, and they are committed to helping educators and others teach vital web literacy skills. All courses are free, open source and powered by a global community.
Participants are able to choose their own level of participation, whether it’s through the entire series or only with individual learning modules. All that is asked of the participants is a commitment to pass on what they’ve learned in the online “Community.” The most beneficial courses for someone wishing to learn how to create a website are:
- Building Together: The Design Process
- Building: Design and Accessibility
- Coding, Scripting and Collaborating
3. A List Apart
A List Apart is the ultimate resource for people who make websites. The site explores design issues, development progresses, and hurdles, the meaning of web content and also specializes in web standards and best practices. This site is the premier collaboration of articles and informational research guides for the web designer/developer.
Interestingly, this site started as a mailing list in 1997. By 1998, the website was launched quite apropos. Organized into helpful “topic” areas, the site has several very helpful places a new web designer can visit. The “Code” section discusses both front and back-end development for the web, mainly using open web standards. Markup, style, scripting, and server-side techniques and technologies are covered. Cross-browser
HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, frameworks and preprocessors are also covered. Creating websites and applications, optimization and performance, and even hacks and workarounds are taught and explained.
The “Content” section talks about strategy for all types of media: desktop, mobile, tablet, etc. The section also delves into how important writing and communication on the web are in building trust with end users. Design is discussed insofar as how it pertains to sites that are specifically set up for web readers.
Finally, the “Design” section boasts a huge number of resources regarding brand identity, art and visual communications, site layouts, typefaces, graphic design, photography and more. Also discussed is the wide variety of tactical approaches one can take when designing a website and the influences and trends in our modern world today that are driving website design.
In conclusion, there are a huge number of resources for those looking to create their own website. These are the three best available, so start learning today.