designing a web site

[Bodgit]

I have just signed up to lycos and registered a domain name and the basic hosting package. i want to create my own site can anyone point me in the right direction to learn how to do it anmd explainms things like php, mysql etc

thanks

 

[GUJUm0deL]

nice1, well before you can go and start learning languages to program your site, you should come up with a idea for a website. What kind of a site do you want to have? What will you offer that might want your users to keep coming back again and again??


_{Reality continues to ruin my life...}

 

[Bodgit]

it will mostly be used for photos of house renovation, partys etc that friends and family can view or post

 

[hithere]

you might want to look at sites similar to what you want to put out on yours to get ideas on layout. You can then take the best bits of each and create your own identity from that. You'll find that some layouts will work better than others and (I'm sure) you'll find some things that are annoying. One thing to keep in mind when you do get around to actually programming the site is to keep it visible to everyone. there are tricks that can be used in some browsers/versions that are not available in others. view your site with multiple browsers to be sure that it doesn't "look weird" or "behave weird" in others. i.e. not only view in IE6 but also in Netscape and earlier versions of both.
you should probably also remember to avoid "flashy" stuff if your intent is generate business from the site. while animated gifs are "cool" to kids, they are distracting to most professionals.
one other thought I just had, you may also want to visit sites that are photo galleries and see how they are laid out if your emphasis is going to be on the pictures.

hth
mb

"Where's the Ka-Boom? There's supposed to be an Earth-shattering Ka-Boom!"
Marvin the Martian

 

[viol8ion]

Be aware of the fact that if you are using Lycos free site that you will likely be limited on scripts that you can run.

if you plan on having others upload to your site, you will need to have access that they do not give on the free sites, and a knowledge of ASP, PHP or CGI scripting.

If you have full access to your server as far as scripting and permissions, then there are many free scripts out there in any language that you want. First you need to find out what the server supports. If it is an Apache server, for instance, then you can't run ASP. If it is IIS, then ASP may be your best choice.

When in doubt, deny all terms and defnitions.

http://www.wuli.com

 

[jrbarnett]

Nice1

There are a few sites that do custom web based photo albums that you can use for free, and give you a few hundred megs of disk space for a limited cost.
eg

http://www.fotki.com,

but others are available.

John

 

[MrLenehan]

Hopefully I can push sites here.

http://www.php-forums.net

provide help and useful basic how to's on PHP, Apache, MySQL and DHTML.

Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't go to yours.

 

[GUJUm0deL]

nice1, instead of using lycos's free webhost which might riddle you with ads and limited scripting resources, go to

http://www.1and1.com

Up until Jan 2004, their offering a 3 year FREE webhosting services. Including MySQL, ASP, CGI, etc. Only thing missing is Coldfusion with MSAccess support.

_{Reality continues to ruin my life...}

 

[jrbarnett]

You can get many free professional HTML site designs from

http://www.oswd.org,

which you can use as is, or adapt for your own use.

John

 

[Bodgit]

John,

It looks like one of the best deals around at the moment but is only open to the states and i am in the u.k. The lycos site i signed was not the free one i get 50mb space, 1gb bandwidth and it supports php (which is what i don't know how to use). Are there any idiots guides I can download to html or php that can get me started with the basics bearing in mind that i am completely new to this

thanks

 

[viol8ion]

http://www.php.net/

This is THE site for PHP resources... everything you will ever need to know is here, including links to books, etc.

There are also a few good sites with PHP scripts already written that will do whatever you could dream of.

When in doubt, deny all terms and defnitions.

http://www.wuli.com

 

[JillC]

Nice1,

I came across this tutorial the other day - written in clear and easy language and seems to be well structured:

http://www.developer.com/lang/article.php/900521