Please nairalanders and professionals in the house, this is a cry for help from an aspiring webmaster. Knowing fully well that the journey to being a web programmer starts from HTML> CSS> JavaScript> Server side(php/asp,etc). Now i am through with CSS but before moving into JavaScript, i intend to use my combined knowledge of HTML and CSS into real practical use ...at least get to design a home page for my website(I have a commercial site for car advert and sales in mind for a start)

The real issue now is i cant seem to knit all the theoretical knowledge together to achieve this, i don't even know where to start and i don't want to jump into JavaScript without using what think i know already(what's the use of the knowledge if cant apply it)..I have knowledge of HTML tags, how to create links, tables, css rules,etc(i read them from a web tutorial e-book and tried out the examples) but putting it all together to make my homepage is an issue; arrangements, layouts and all.. i have this feeling once i can scale through this "programming block", the road to being a webmaster gets clearer..

I hope we dont just read this and ignore, i need help and and i don't want to get a stage where i have to abandoned it out of frustration, i really hope we understand my plight and come to my aid with resources, useful links, advice on the way forward... or maybe we can start with what are the essential components of a home page and how do i put them together with my knowledge of HTML and CSS

Summarily, Present stage: HTML + CSS + confused on how to use the combined knowledge to build my first homepage... WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD?...

since you know css and html, the way forward is to get a paper and pen and draw your conceived webpage structure. Just sketch every building blocks the way you want them to appear and after that you can now use your html and css knowledge to do the actual building of the page elements.

onyengbu:
since you know css and html, the way forward is to get a paper and pen and draw your conceived webpage structure. Just sketch every building blocks the way you want them to appear and after that you can now use your html and css knowledge to do the actual building of the page elements.

thanks for the quick response... first, i really dont get how to put together the structure (sounds lame but true, maybe I am not so sharp after all), and then the structures i keep seeing on sites that i try to replicate(for practice purpose) seem like what they didnt use css + html to do because none of what i know works to build them...or maybe material i studied wasnt comprehensive enough

..., say i want to use html and css to build home page for a car site..what exactly are the basic components of the page, what would it look like and how do i apply html +css to bring it to fruition. Please consider me a child still learning how to walk...and it may appear that i require to be spoonfed a bit..again, your detailed clarification on this matter would be highly appreciated

what you do is when you learning, don't just be reading and not practicing IMMEDIATELY. you need to start applying what you have learnt by READING and start CODING.

START BY REVISING ALL YOU HAVE READ AGAIN. THIS TIME, AS YOU REVISE, PUT TO PRACTISE 'IMMEDIATELY'.

I can also put you through. if interested , my details below

Mobile/ whatsapp: 08133884165

BBM: 2BB63350

dwebdesign:
what you do is when you learning, don't just be reading and not practicing IMMEDIATELY. you need to start applying what you have learnt by READING and start CODING.

START BY REVISING ALL YOU HAVE READ AGAIN. THIS TIME, AS YOU REVISE, PUT TO PRACTISE 'IMMEDIATELY'.

I can also put you through. if interested , my details below

Mobile/ whatsapp: 08133884165

BBM: 2BB63350

The material I used came with sample codes per tag or subtopic treated, which I followed through to the end thinking I'm good to go till I decided to code my first home page and I realise I just couldn't..'all appreciate your help and mentorship sir.adding you up asap,thanks again!

engrrichie92:


thanks for the quick response... first, i really dont get how to put together the structure (sounds lame but true, maybe I am not so sharp after all), and then the structures i keep seeing on sites that i try to replicate(for practice purpose) seem like what they didnt use css + html to do because none of what i know works to build them...or maybe material i studied wasnt comprehensive enough

..., say i want to use html and css to build home page for a car site..what exactly are the basic components of the page, what would it look like and how do i apply html +css to bring it to fruition. Please consider me a child still learning how to walk...and it may appear that i require to be spoonfed a bit..again, your detailed clarification on this matter would be highly appreciated

No I dont believe you are not sharp. Its just that you haven't grasped the idea behind it all. Its like a child learning to ride a bike. You can teach him/her balancing all you like he/she will continue to fall until the whole idea of balancing on 2 wheels hits him/her like a lightning and it will all become very clear and in matter of days or even hours you dont need to teach him/her the balancing techniques again though he/she will still need to learn speed application, sharp turns and other maneuvers but the balancing part is done and dusted for ever.

Now if you did learn about html and css, you need to understand that those divs and spans and <p> and others are just blocks. So when I said make a sketch, those lines in the sketches are the divs and other elements you have been practicing how to style in your classes. You need to get the blocks to take their shapes and positions first b4 you start to style them.
Therefore when you want to start creating a webpage, you need to figure out the structure you want in your mind, draw it on paper and then start positioning the structures in terms of height, length, floats and others before you ever think of coloring or even inserting images and texts. This is for you as a beginner, you can do it other ways if you have been grounded.

Now the reason those sites you try to replicate doesn't seem to be built on html+css is because you are imagining them as a painting and not as BOXES first. When I said boxes I mean the divs and other html elements. I term them boxes here for you. The secret is all in those BOXES! When you see a glossy looking webpage, just think of the boxes first and think of where each is placed because at the end of the day, it has to be the boxes. The boxes are always there and you are not seeing them because they were not given borders. The structural difference between many webpages is the placement (positioning) of these boxes first and then how they are styled.

I will illustrate with a sample car website homepage below. The first image is the website as it appears to the "public" while the second image is me predicting the building blocks (boxes) of the same page. Now you dont have to wonder again if they built it with css because with the red lines, I have just shown you they did. Even if their own boxes are not placed exactly where I placed mine, you can replicate the website with ones I sketched. With your knowledge of css you should be able to place these boxes the way they placed it on the page. If you cant, then your problem might not be what I think it is.

How I wish you're close to me. Would love to have you as a student cos I've seen your zeal to learn. Anyway the teaching thing is not what I can do online cos of the time it'll consume cos of typing. I hope you learn as fast as you can.

@onyegbu, thanks so very much for this eyeopener...your explanation meets my exact situation and my eyes of understanding have just been more enlightened..and I guess I now know where the problem lies,was never thinking in terms of boxes until now, one final question before I get to work,
In building the structures, what HTML tag's mostly used; the <frame> tag, <table> or the <div>…, and please don't mind my seemingly "dumb" questions because I know that is what it might seem to a professional reading this...a mouth that fails to ask for help will never grow

Thanks again for the time you took in helping a brother solve a problem...your advice was priceless,.
.

donsheddy1:
How I wish you're close to me. Would love to have you as a student cos I've seen your zeal to learn. Anyway the teaching thing is not what I can do online cos of the time it'll consume cos of typing. I hope you learn as fast as you can.

You right about the zeal sire...@ times I wonder what have doing with my time all this while, but then Like they say it's better late than never...
Enjoyed the little have been able to know so far,and I wouldn't feel fulfilled stopping half way, the goal's to be a webMASTER sire and I won't stop till I get there,the reason I came here for help's to seek answers to this obstacle impeding my progress.
I really wished I was too and maybe I just might be, are you close to pH by any chance? Coz that's my present location ...but if you not,wouldn't mind having your contacts too(bbm/whatsapp) so I could be asking some petty but equally necessary questions that won't take too much of your time...thank you so very much sir

engrrichie92:
@onyegbu, thanks so very much for this eyeopener...your explanation meets my exact situation and my eyes of understanding have just been more enlightened..and I guess I now know where the problem lies,was never thinking in terms of boxes until now, one final question before I get to work,
In building the structures, what HTML tag's mostly used; the <frame> tag, <table> or the <div>…, and please don't mind my seemingly "dumb" questions because I know that is what it might seem to a professional reading this...a mouth that fails to ask for help will never grow

Thanks again for the time you took in helping a brother solve a problem...your advice was priceless,.
.

It has to be divs. Years ago people do most ofthe building blocks with tables but apart from performance issues, divs gives you more options.

Now, there are situations where you use <p>, <span> and others and by convention, each of these have place and purpose but you still can achieve the same purpose with any of them. All you need is to know the css properties to assign to each one and thats where your css lessons comes into play.

search our signature link for a comprehensive book on css.

In my opinion, open BBB.com or CNN.com and try to replicate their homepage.

focus on CSS and particularly on the margin, padding, list-style,float, position and background Selectors

try out different stuff like color combinations with time you'd get very firm.


you can use W3schools for quick reference.