Resource for developing a website

Question

Hi, Can anyone recommend resources to learn how to develop websites, as opposed to web applications?

I am looking to develop a website for a consulting company to be precise. I would be more interested in best practices for creating the layout of a website (user appeal, eye candy, not an eye sore)

Thanks

-M

Answer 1

Here's your first port of call.

Answer 2

It really depends upon the language you want to use, your current skill sets, who's going to maintain the site, what OS the site will be hosted on etc etc.

I suspect you need to narrow down your question.

What do you mean by web site rather than web application? Are you talking about the dynamic nature of the content or somethign else?

update

If you're looking for discussions on design of websites (visual design, UX etc) then I'm a great fan of Smashing Magazine.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/

It doesn't often speak about MS technologies (ASP.NET etc) but it's a great place to see discussions and papers on "what makes a great website". Some recent examples:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/05/15/optimizing-conversion-rates-its-all-about-usability/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/05/14/non-profit-website-design-examples-and-best-practices/

Subscribe to their RSS feed and see what those colouring-in people get up to.

Answer 3

simply the best I have seen for this.

I would also - since I have just been reminded of it use

http://www.webmonkey.com/

http://w3schools.com/

Answer 4

http://www.w3schools.com/ is a good start.

Answer 5

http://www.w3schools.com/

for purely informational sites, html, and css will probably be plenty, though I think I would reccomend using wordpress if you're just trying to put content on the internet

Answer 6

Unless you're artistically inclined, I recommend purchasing or contracting the template design to someone who is skilled in this area.

For $60 a year, you can have unlimited downloads and unlimited use of all the templates at the following site: http://www.dreamtemplate.com/

There are many more here: http://www.templatemonster.com/website-templates.php

Answer 7

I remember Web Master World being a decent Message Board covering all aspects of web design.

ps. been a long since i've been there

Answer 8

If you speak German or French, http://www.selfhtml.org is quite a good resource.

Otherwise, I would recommend http://www.w3schools.com/ or http://htmldog.com/. Both are very good as they really go deeply into the matter and tell about standards from the beginning.

Answer 9

sitepoint.com

Their best content is packaged in their books, but their articles are good, too. Covers design best-practices and web standards, but also has good tips on the business of web design and managing clients.

Answer 10

You may want to look at the alistapart website.