Web Design Links & Resources
As you may have read, my formal training has fairly little to do with programming, classic design, or really anything related. However, through generous, thorough and intelligent references, I've been able to teach myself quite a bit in the past few years.
If formally trained, you may know about, or even authored some of these sites. If that's the case, thanks! Seriously, your generosity has gotten me to the point I am today.
If you are in the process of learning, I'm excited for you. It's a tough, but rewarding journey. Here are some resources I've found helpful:
Programming Help
- W3 Schools A must visit if you are looking for solid tutorials or simply to brush up on basic concepts for several types of Web programming.
- Max Kiesler - Ajax Examples There are a ton of sites now dedicated to AJAX (Asynchronous Javascripting and XML), an exciting programming method that is used, amongst other things, for smoother, more dynamic web sites. This site in particular provides many good examples and tutorials.
- Google Code A nice repository of information and tutorials on how to integrate Google features into your Web site.Yahoo and Amazon, amongst others have similar sites.
Design Concepts and Showcases
- Webcreme A really good display of nice site design possibilities. Updated daily.
- Web pages that Suck A really good display of bad site design possibilities. Updated daily.
- Stu Nicholls - CSS Play Good examples of features created only with HTML/XHTML & CSS programming.
- Open Source Web Design A repository of free, open-source web designs and styles. Really helpful if you're looking for examples as you learn different aspects of design.
Tools To Shorten the Learning Curve
- The Web Developer's Handbook
- Firefox The award winning free and open-source Web browser. If you haven't heard of it, now you have. Go get it! The ability to customize and add extensions (a few of which I've included below) really makes browsing much more enjoyable.
Firefox Developer Extensions
- Firefox Web Developer Toolbar Adds a menu and a toolbar with various web developer tools. Too many features to list, this is an indispensable tool when designing and testing a site.
- Fangs Renders a text version of a web page similar to screen reader output. It helps developers rapidly find accessibility issues.
- IE Tab Allows you to easily see how your Web page displayed in Internet Explorer. Also useful if you are on a site that is mistakenly programmed only for IE. This is a great tool for web developers, and common users alike.
- Firebug FireBug lets you explore the far corners of the DOM by keyboard or mouse. A great help when developing more in-depth applications.