I'm a complete beginner.

[ProspectDotNet]

I'm not asking for help in specific areas, just giving a list of things I need to know. I will take the answers and try to get to learning.

What languages are recommended?

PHP/HTML?

Is Apache the webserver? Is that what I need?

MySQL is that a language also, or something else?

If I've left anything out please enlighten me as to the exact things I should seek to learn in order to develop a website/forum. I'm not asking for a handout I just need a little guidance.

[InsideSin]

HTML, CSS, and if you are building a forum PHP. I'll edit this later with some links.

EDIT:

Action Plan
1. Learn HTML - Use http://www.w3schools.com/html/DEFAULT.asp
2. Learn CSS - Use W3schools.com for this too, or get the book Sams Teach Yourself CSS In 10 Minutes



Ok now you should have the skills to create a GOOD, PROFESSIONAL looking website. So, now you should create a website.

EDIT 2: http://w3schools.com/sql/default.asp here you will get a description of SQL (MySQL, etc)
3. Learn JavaScript and add some nice interactive features to your website - Use http://www.w3schools.com/JS/default.asp

Now you should have a really nice looking website, with some nice interactive features, once you get some users you will want to think about learning the following.

4. Learn AJAX to create some nice web applications - Use http://www.w3schools.com/ajax/default.asp
5. Learn PHP and create a forum for your website - Use http://www.w3schools.com/PHP/DEfaULT.asP

Now you have a successful website, congrats. You will be able to sell ad space, sell products or whatever on your website and you will be able to make a nice income.

6. (Optional) Learn Flash to add some REAL nice effects to your website - Use http://www.w3schools.com/flash/default.asp FIRST and then use http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/fla...rials.html when you get better.

Achievements
Ok a year on let’s see what you have achieved:-

*A website with active users
*The ability to create great websites
*A good income from ads
*You know 5/6 languages

That is quite a lot to achieve in a year.

Good Web Design Practices and Tips

1.Sense of Flow or Openness

One of the biggest challenges that many web designers have is to make their website attractive to the eye, so potential users don't leave as soon as they enter the website because the design is horrible.

Tips for good website flow and feel

• Don't make a thousand different pages that your user has to click through before finding what he/she wants to find.
• Don't use JavaScript alert messages.... they are annoying.
• Avoid using flashy ad's they can draw attention away from your site and be a nuisance to users.
• Make your content easy to read, don't make your users squint in the same regard don't make your text to big.
• Use professional looking images (transparent PNG images give a nice feel)*
• Remove broken links (W3school has 2 broken links on their website here)
• Add a customized Error404 page (more information here)

*Thanks to Etheryte for indicating the following:
Actually, using transparent .png-s is a bad habit, it's much better to slice up your webpage right and have every image have a full background. The reason for this is that some browsers (mostly that means outdated ones) have trouble showing transparency correctly. A potential customer is a potential customer, no matter how old the software they use.

But despite this I still think that it is a good idea to use these PNG images, because 99% of users out there are using a newer browser and perhaps it is better for the 99% of people using newer browsers to benefit than for the 1% of people to benefit. He does make a valid point though and you may want to take in to consideration what he said when you are designing your website. -Holyjoely.

2. Optimizing Pages for Smaller load time

When designing a web site it is very important that your user doesn't have to wait long periods of time for a page to load or they may eventually leave.


Ways To decrease load time

A few ways you can decrease your web sites overall load is by

• Compressing Images before uploading to server with programs like these for Windows: HVS GifCruncher and JPEG Wizard and for Macintosh: GraphicConverter.
• Compressing your files before uploading to server this will decrease the overall disk space used by your file
• Avoiding cumbersome background images(this also usually gives a more professional look)
• Optimize your PHP/ASP/JavaScript so that it will take up less space while still accomplishing the same task
• Using CSS when mass code is needed (such as large tables)
If you need to insert a large navbar/body image you can avoid excess loading by.


• Breaking up the images into several smaller ones this decreases load time because it allows multi-threading.
• Removing any Flash(Flash is a no-no when trying to avoid large loading times).
3. Secure and Test your website always

Tips To Testing your website

• Ask Friends, split up the work (especially if the websites large).
• Make sure to test your website more than once you may have accidently done something to cause the page to stop functioning correctly.
• Follow links that lead out of your site, the website's owner or host may have brought down the site. (Useful Tool for checking links)
Why Secure your website?

Securing you site's documents, images and database is extremely important because of 3 major reasons
• User's will not trust you enough to give information about them.
• This stops Hot linking, Rogue Bots and users from stealing your bandwidth.
• If you have private information on your server/database it is important you keep it private

How do I secure my website?

There are Several articles on this forum and below are a few other ways.

• Stop Users from getting a directory listing
• Stop Hot linking
• How SSL works and whether you need it
• What is XSS and how do I protect my website?
• 'Secure' File Uploading
• Ways to be secure with PHP
• How to ban with HTACCESS
• Help Prevent Spammers
• Prevent MYSQL injections

Features that will Improve your Website even further
Improving your website is extremely important, it doesn’t matter if you get 10 or 10,000 views a day, the better your website is and looks the more people will want to use it. For example, why do people use Google? Well, it is an effective, fast search engine that does exactly what it says on the tin. It is also nice and simple so people who are new to computers (or the internet) can use it easily. The following few tips are sure to improve your website and therefore gain more traffic.

Quicker Page loading time
If you are using CSS that can be properly organized without putting too much effort, use an internal style sheet(s) they are faster. Also, they it’s easier to edit with php if you need to make multi-browser compatible WebPages.
If you have extra time to spare working on your site, and several images you can increase your website load time by pre-loading images with JavaScript. This allows the website to load the images during the HTTP request instead of after.

More Ways to Increase Website Flow
If you are a skilled coder, a way to increase website flow is by adding an in-sight search engine. This allows users to access information they are looking for without having to search the entire site. If you do not have the programming skills required to build and structure a website search engine you can make a site map.
Sometimes users get lost within the content of your website and they want to start over, give them that ability by putting links on everyone of your web-pages that leads back to the main page or the site-map.

Search Engine’s
Search Engine's are possibly some of the most used tools on the internet, they are extremely useful tools they allow you to search for answers to a question, find restaurants, look up YouTube videos and many other things. Therefore having your website put onto as many search engines as possible is essential for bringing in traffic to your website and potentially making money of these users.

Getting Listed
Google has a FREE service that allows you to sign up your web site called Google Analytics when you have registered it will give you a code to put at the end of your WebPages code, this will allow Google to Track the amount of hits you have received. It will allow you to watch the amount of users who have used your website ext...
After Signing up for this service invite friends from other websites or in real life to visit your website, not only may you receive new users but you will receive more individual IP's (boosting your Google Rank).
Find ways to advertise your website via other website (ads, links), make sure these websites have a good rank. This will mean everyone from Google looking at the other site will also see your site.
Protecting your websites files/stats from Search Engines

Search engines are great.. but without specifying what links you do or don't want the search engine to follow you can potentially lead traffic away from your site. Also, if you forget to tell search engines not to list a directory of files from your website it will and this can lead a potential security risk to hot linkers/download bots/hackers.
Learn how you can limit search engines searches by reading this.

This is just a repost from HF by Holy, I take no credits for this AT ALL.

Here is a link to his SEO thread

Get a good quality hosting and domain registar. I advise you to keep your hosting and domain seperate.

EDIT 2: http://w3schools.com/sql/default.asp you can get a description of SQL here. Just look in tutorial section in the language you are interested in and look at the description.

[ProspectDotNet]

Thank you, I would really like to learn and create something of my own.

[Grizzly]

Look into starting a forum. Depending on what exactly you want a lot of times things don't require any php/html knowledge. It'll help you learn as you go though.

[ProspectDotNet]

Look into starting a forum. Depending on what exactly you want a lot of times things don't require any php/html knowledge. It'll help you learn as you go though.

But doesn't HTML and PHP help to make it more the site more dynamic?

[bsdpunk]

PHP and javascript are the dynamic parts of the website. I don't use php at where I work to write the back end, I use perl. PHP is probably easier to learn as your first web language. Wamp will install everything you need:
http://www.wampserver.com/en/

I learned on php, it's probably why I ended up with perl, because they are similar.
PHP does the backend dynamic stuff like, submitting a form to the database(mysql). As where javascript does the client side dynamic stuff, like animation or any of the AJAXy stuff like refreshing parts of the page.

[immi]

I would suggest you that if you are a really noob then start first of all with HTML and CSS , then move to PHP. If you done that and hold on all commands, then javascript is very simple for you.

Apache, well its a server Yes.

My SQL in my humble opinion is not a language, it runs with database programing instead.

[Grizzly]

Yes, it's all PHP and xhtml/css. However, it will give you a working idea of what everything does, especially if you install the software on a subdomain from your actual site, like test.domain.tld. However, to get it set up and running it really doesn't require much knowledge, and you can always ask for help in the forum software section. I'd recommend MyBB as you have a member of the MyBB support staff that is a member here, and several members that are quite knowledgeable about it.

[ProspectDotNet]

Yes, it's all PHP and xhtml/css. However, it will give you a working idea of what everything does, especially if you install the software on a subdomain from your actual site, like test.domain.tld. However, to get it set up and running it really doesn't require much knowledge, and you can always ask for help in the forum software section. I'd recommend MyBB as you have a member of the MyBB support staff that is a member here, and several members that are quite knowledgeable about it.

I would like to eventually have a forum but for now I just want to be able to create websites. I can use that to make extra money while I'm in college.

[immi]

Well, as I said, you just have to learn HTML and CSS at initial stage, then move to another language