Posted by Stan McCann on 02/28/06 19:55

"deaducky8" <deaducky8@earthlink.net> wrote in
news:JqTMf.4427$F56.335@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net:

> Hullo to everyone out there. I'm still young but when I get older I
> want to have web design as a career.. The reason of this post is to
> get some opinions of whether I should start thinking of a new line
> of work or pursue my dreams. I've made a few websites (they're not
> very good) using some of my knowledge of HTML and CSS and I'd like
> it if people would look at them and tell me what they think. Just go
> to: www.freewebs.com/the_three_sisters/ or
> www.freewebs.com/jessiduckysgrafix/ and reply what you think. Should
> I stuff my nose in more books? Should I start reading other books
> for girls my age?? Should I stop reading books in general??? (I'm
> joking of course)
>
> Thank you in advance!

You're welcome.

You joked about not reading books, but maybe you should take that
seriously since all HTML/XHTML books that I have looked at all teach,
not HTML or XHTML, but to use a transitional doctype and many
deprecated elements and attributes. I still want to know what people
think they are transitioning from when they are creating brand new
pages.

Read this newsgroup and maybe some others dealing with HTML and CSS.
Get to know the people on these groups; it doesn't take too awfully
long to figure out who knows what they are talking about and who
doesn't. Pay attention to those that you determine know what they are
talking about.

Although I put down the books, there are many out there that could be
helpful if you keep in mind that they are still teaching 1995 style web
development, not 2006.

Looking at only your "sisters" page, you have plenty of forgetting to
do. For instance, forget <div align=center> as the align attribute is
deprecated. Learn to use CSS for layout.

You'll need to learn about graphics. I notice you are using .bmp
files. That is not a file type good for the web; it is a very large
file that would be much smaller if served as .gif, .jpg, or .png
instead. Those are the three graphic file types recommended for usage
on the web.

You said you are young but don't say how young; your school may have
some classes for web development and/or design. But once again, as I
said about the books, some teachers teach just from books so could also
be teaching 1995 methods instead of 2006. Don't argue with your
teacher; just be aware that you may want to do some things differently
than what is taught.

You'll need to learn about scripting. There is both server side and
client side. Some (many?) turn off client side scripting; as people
struggle against spyware, I think more and more people are more
concerned about security and taking steps against it which can include
turning off javascript.

Don't give up, I do think there will be a future (although who knows
what what it'll be like) in web development. Begin with the current
standards, then keep up with the new stuff coming. That doesn't
necessarily mean to immediately embrace every new technology, but be
open to learning about it.

Pursue your dreams.

--
Stan McCann, "Uncle Pirate" http://stanmccann.us/
Webmaster, NMSU at Alamogordo http://alamo.nmsu.edu/
Now blocking Google Grouper posts and replies.
http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html

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