Websites - Software and getting started
 

I want to do a modern website with CSS style sheets and whatnot..

what do you guys recommend to get started??

My friend said she uses Javscript? in plain text coding using emacs.. but she said that it's kinda hard to update due to the javascript and stuff??

I would like to make my site have features such as at this site:

http://www.slickdeals.net/

What other software can I use? And is this javascript? Should I use javascript to make my site look like this?


Thanks

You should probably use Adobe Dreamweaver to build the webpage -

That webpage uses a combination of PHP, Javascript, and possibly some ASP.

My guess is that if you didn't know that Javascript was used in the construction of that webpage, then you don't know Javascript -

Javascript and PHP are two languages that aren't easy to simply pickup and build a webpage. What experience do you have?

CSS is fully supported in Dreamweaver.


A list of apps for building a webpage:

An FTP program
Adobe Dreamweaver
Adobe Photoshop or something similar for graphics
The knowledge of knowing multiple markup and programming languages

Good luck!

Is this a cleverly disguised advertisement for that linked site?

Awesome, thanks alot for the starters info.. I actually used Dreamweaver in 2002 when it was still owned by Macromedia.. but I sucked at it..

Yea I want to make one for my student club.. and no, it is not an advertisement LOL

The webpage you referenced is using PHP. Realize that sites will use PHP or ASP, and very rarely if ever, both. You don't want competing scripting languages such as those two going at it.

You might look on Google for some free apps to do your webpage design in, graphics, etc. Its been a while since I've done anything remotely in the area of webdesign, but I know the free software exists. Look for something free in the graphics department too, because you don't want to buy a full copy of Photoshop at $600 and then have to take on the learning curve just to be able to use it if thats not your main focus. However, Dreamweaver I would agree with, though not free obviously.

The webpage you linked to also uses a complete backend system with SQL of some sort. Do you want to go that far? I would tell you to look at some sort of Content Management System (CMS). There are MANY to choose from and MANY of the top rated ones are free. http://cmsmatrix.org/ will have a lot of comparisons for you.

Free software:
Nvu (free alternative to Dreamweaver)
The Gimp (free alternative to Photoshop)

For learning and reference, I find www.w3schools.com invlauable

Also, take a look at Joomla! You may find it gets you very far with little work.

ooh just took a look at joomla and the cmsmatrix website.. thanks for the links and info!