Topic #1 - Web Design Resources

Whether you are wanting to build a website as a personal hobby or as part of your job learning how to build web pages can take some time and alot of patience.  Before we start building web pages let's take a quick look at the resources that you are going to need.  Just like any other job or project you have to have the necessary tools to get the work done.  Below is a list of what you'll need to get started:

Web Design Toolbox:

• Text Editor
• Browser

These two are really all you need to start building web pages right away.  There are a few others that I did not mention but we'll worry about those later on down the road.  Now let's take a closer look at the two individually as a way to find which tools work best for you.

Text Editor

I actually like to call these HTML editors because HTML or XHTML to be more precise is the language on which web pages are made.  There are several text editors out there that allow you to type text that is recognized as HTML.  One text editor that I should tell you to stay away from completely is Microsoft Word. (It's just not a good editor to use when creating web pages, trust me.)

If you are using a Microsoft operating system there is however a program that comes installed with every Windows O/S out there.  The program that I am talking about here is Notepad.  If you are not sure where to find it click the Start menu, then Programs or All Programs, under the menu that comes up look for Accessories and click on it.  Finally click on Notepad to open it.

Notepad is a good program when it comes to designing web pages but it's not the best out there.  Even though Notepad is free and is available on all Windows platforms it does have its downfalls.  The first that I'd like to mention is the fact that it does not have line numbers.  You may question the importance as to why line numbers are needed and here are a couple of reasons why:

• Having a program with line numbers makes it easier to go back and edit at a later time
• If you are wanting your web pages to look professional, correcting errors in your text is a whole lot easier if you have a program with line numbers

Another feature that is missing with Notepad and one that also comes in very handy is the color coding of tags.  Tags are used basically to tell the document that you are working on exactly what you want it to do.  For example the <p> tag is used to begin a paragraph.  We'll learn more about tags at a later time but for now just know that by having an editor that automatically colors your tags is very useful as it makes it much more difficult for you to make any mistakes.

Those are just a few things that are missing when it comes to choosing an editor that works best for you.  Just remember, Notepad is a decent editor to use but there are other options out there. Mac users I didn't forget about you.  The program that you would want to use that is equivalent to Notepad is a program called TextEdit.  You'll also find it installed on your operating system.

Now let's take a look at our other options out there when it comes to choosing the right editor that works best for you.  If you are looking for free editors a good place to start is by doing a search on HTML editors or you can click on the link below for a list of the top 10 free editors out there.

http://webdesign.about.com/od/windowshtmleditors/tp/free-windows-editors.htm