This is the 10th anniversary design of my website. My very first web page went live in 1996 and the rest, as they say, is history. IIRC, there have been five major designs that I've used in the past for this site. Of course I didn't have the foresight to perserve those old versions for posterity. Oh well, live and learn. You'll just have to take my word for how far I've come as a designer.
My first site was just a full page with a pretty background, some text, and a couple of cool clip art images. I've gone through all the phases; under construction images, MIDIs, frames, tables for layout. I cringe now to think of how bad my code used to be, but hey, at least I never used a WYSIWYG editor. ~_^
Over the years I've learned HTML 2.0 thru 4.0., XHTML, CSS, and even a little bit of Javascript. Most of what I've learned I mined from the Internet. Here are some of my favorite web designer resources.
- W3Schools Online Web Tutorials: At W3Schools you will find all the Web-building tutorials you need, from basic HTML and XHTML to advanced XML, SQL, Database, Multimedia and WAP. All W3C standards compliant.
- css Zen Garden: See the simplistic beauty of CSS in action and be inspired to new web-design heights. My current site is loosley based on the Mozart design.
- The Dynamic HTML Guru: This is the site that first got me interested in DHTML. Simply amazing - a must see!
- A List Apart: Explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a special focus on techniques and benefits of designing with web standards. One of my favorite sources for tutorials.
- Boogies Jacks Web Depot: My favorite web masters resource. Boogie Jack's tutorials (HTML, CSS & more) make even the most complicated subjects easy to understand. He also offers a great newsletter for Web Masters called "Almost A Newsletter" filled with wonderful tips and for web design and life in general - check it out!
- Colors on the Web: Whenever I need to pick out colors for a new web site design I go here. Spin the Color Wheel to find inspiration or, if you have a main color in mind already just plug the hex code into the Color Wizard to make picking out accent colors simple and painless.
- Listamatic: is where I learned how to build the navigational menue I use on this site. Learn how to turn a simple HTML list into a script-free dynamic menue that's super light and runs on any standards-compliant browser and downgrades nicely.
- Ann-S-Thesia: In a word (or two), eye candy! Ann-S-Thesia's turtorials are where I learned how to make the full border backgrounds (which I no longer use here) and also where I got the background for my banner.
- JavaScript Kit: Lots and lots of JavaScript goodies - beginner & advanced tutorials plus many cut-n-paste scripts that are free for personal use. Also DHTML & CSS tutorials.
- The Ultimate Counter: The free web counters that I use on all my web sites. The Ultimate Counter has hundreds of styles to choose from - check it out!
- GirlieGeeks: Is a site for women who work in, or who love, technology. Whether you're a fully fledged GirlieGeek Guru, or just starting your journey to geekhood, this site is for you!
