DH Templates

Question about web design, HTML, CSS...?

Ok im 16 and i do HTML and CSS coding in my spare time. I am planning on majoring in Computer Science in college, and im just doing this fro fun. Problem is i know the tags and stuff but i cannot make any good looking websites. They all look really amateur and stupid! This site here: http://www.opendesigns.org/preview/?template=421 has a cool web design. but i cant seem to make any of those! And i really want to! Can somebody show me a tutorial somewhere or tell me a good book to get - on making websites that are appealing to the eyes and don't look like something i made in 10 minutes?! Addition: i dont want to use dreamweaver, i kind find that "cheating". I mean, i looked at the code fro the site above, and i knew all the tags, but its putting it together in that manner thats getting me, i dont really understand how to make a website attractive. I mean, ugh!

Public Comments

1. Practice makes perfect. But if you really want to make a superb site without all that tedious coding, use something like Dreamweaver, it allows you to visually create websites with, maybe also a graphics program like Photoshop or Fireworks. Edit: Cheating? What kind of sissy @$$ are you?
2. Your problem is probably related to either your taste in colors or the lack of beautiful pictures. If you look at that website again you can see that it is simple, what makes it appealing is the colors, organization, and pictures. Here is a book from Barns & Noble that you might find useful: "The Principles of Beautiful Web Design" http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Principles-of-Beautiful-Web-Design/Jason-Beaird/e/9780975841969/?itm=2
3. send me an email at pm.cristi@yahoo.ca (.CA) and i'll help you with webdesign tutorials and ebooks
4. For a website like that, there are a few things needed to make it look perfect. 1. Tables, tables, tables. Tables are your FRIENDS. Be sure to specify widths and heights of tables and cells. 2. CSS :hover In the web page in your question, the links change color when moused over. This can be done by: a {color:#0000AA} a:hover {color:#00FF00} 3. position: absolute If you can't get a object where you want it to be, you can use this in your CSS code. Then just specify the top and left of the object.
5. That page was not made with tables. Tables used for layout are evil. Use them only for the purpose they were intended for, which is displaying data in tabular form. Look at the source code of this and other templates. Play with them to see what changes do. Go to CSS Zengarden to see what css can do for a little file, download the html file and some of the css stylesheets, and start playing with it. http://www.csszengarden.com/ You haven't said anything about graphics or artistic background. Some people just get that part of it, but many people study graphic design to understand what looks good and what doesn't, and why.
6. Its a trick really... I mean your site doesn't look terrible (please, please don't use iframes anymore, after being said) Otherwise the site is fine. You are just needing to learn art and graphics which you your skill not one is perfect at it because art is many different styles that's why we have galleries full of paintings. Basically what I am saying is know your abilities and don't let it stress you out if you aren't "the best" keep trying at it takes a while. No book or even the internet will ever help you because its a puzzle there are millions and unlimited ways of accomplishing the same exact thing.. I just self taught myself the hardest part is marketing it people want more from you then themselves these days.