Site Design and getting fresh ideas

Hi so i’ve got two question. I wanted to know what everyone thinks of finding websites (from say stuff on electronics) and reproducing them, with just HTML and CSS. And also what are some tricks I should know when creating copy sites, so they work internet explorer. For example using text align on parent elements to center stuff is one I know.

Hi,

If you are just starting out you should focus on learning HTML & CSS.
http://code.google.com/edu/submissions/html-css-javascript/ might help you get started.

It’s ok to copy a site for learning, but if you’re creating something to sell I suggest you start on paper and then post in the CSS forum here if you don’t know how to achieve something. There are lots of bugs in IE to get your head around but plenty of people willing to help.

If you create a site don’t copy it, make a totally new design etc… I hate copy sites that have same images etc. For marketing it’s very bad and the future of your sites. But yeh designing with CSS is easy, some new images … And IE gives you probably many headaches… Tabels are more stable for browsers, but today design uses only CSS, sometimes want to ask is it always correct… use css if you need help type something into search “css align” etc, gets a good tutorial. etc

I think that is a great way to learn how things work and I’ve done it myself for learning purposes. But ripping-off someone else’s design is wrong. Using an existing site as inspiration is fine. Ripping them off and tweaking the images, HTML and CSS just enough to avoid copyright infringement is wrong.

hi everyone, sooo what are some common bugs in EI, simple ones?

A quick internet search for “IE rendering bugs” will produce plenty of results like this. You’ll find more than enough to keep you busy. :slight_smile:

A couple of caveats. Coding with CSS is not particularly easy, though it’s easy to get started. Tables are not more stable in browsers than stylesheets.

exactly CSS is not easy beasue there are so many ways to present the pages, especially for it to work in all the browsers.

If you want to make the best of your website, you must have basic knowledge at least in html and css. Just spend a couple of hours of watching some tutorials or any other theories with regards of starting and learning for a step by step web design.

Is is adobe fireworks still something web devlopers are utilizing. And would you say it’s worth learning?

If you are starting in web design, learning CSS and HTML is not as hard as it once was. One main reason was IE 6, and you no longer need to support it. As for Adobe Fireworks, some people prefer it to Photoshop/Illustrator, so it may be a matter of a bit of research and preference on your part. But stay away from Flash.

In general, learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It really isn’t that hard, and there are tons of resources (like Sitepoint!) out there to help you out!