WAHM Forums

Hi everybody,

I will like to learn to become a freelance web design. For few years I have been studying by myself HTML and CSS. I am somewhere in between at the knowledge level. I realized to be able to earn money from web design you need to know more programs than those two. But it is very overwhelming because there are so many, and I want to learn the right ones for the job. So my questions is what programs you know or you think I will need to know to become a good web designer? Do you know any web resources that I can go too and can help me in the learning process? Or where I can try to get a job as a beginner web designer?

Also I was wonder how much income a freelance web designer earns?

I have experience with computers and knowledge of internet marketing too. Actually my degree is in business. But I will love to be home with my kids and to do this.
Thank you so much for reading my message and for any suggestions you may have

A degree in business should definitely help you get organized and earn money at this!

You're on the right track learning HTML and CSS first, it amazes me how many "Web Designers" don't know the basics of HTML and CSS. Primarily the programs I use are Photoshop and Dreamweaver. I occasionally use ImageReady, Illustrator and Flash, but you can get by without those. Avoid a lot of editing programs because the code they make is messy, which can cause unpredictability. Don't even use Dreamweaver in Design Mode, but I like it in Code Mode because it colors and auto-completes the code. When you're comfortable with HTML and CSS, try to learn at least the basics of javaScript, and, if you can, also pick up PHP and mySQL later on, that would be beneficial.

Also learn how to customize Wordpress. Some people put a little too much faith in it, there are things it can't do, but for a beginner it should take care of any website you take on. My favorite theme is Tweaker3, it's extremely customizable if you know CSS. There are lots of general instructions for customizing Wordpress on the Wordpress website, but it doesn't tell you much about individual themes because those are not designed by Wordpress. One trick that helps me figure out what line in the style sheet is controlling a particular element, I take a screen capture of it, paste it in Photoshop, sample the color, then run a search in Dreamweaver on the style sheet for the hex code of that color. Most likely it will pop right to it (though there may be several elements that use the same color).

When I was new in the business (and even sometimes now) I got a lot of information from forums. I learned a lot more about HTML, CSS, javaScript, PHP and SQL from forums than I did in college. For the most part, if I needed to do something that I wasn't sure how to do, I would Google it... chances are that somebody somewhere had already asked and answered my question on a forum. And don't hesitate to post here, there are several experts that frequent this board.

Here's a good article I found about marketing: The Web Marketing Checklist: 37 Ways to Promote Your Site (http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/checklist.htm)

Oh, and if you end up using Wordpress, the SEO plugin by someone named Yoast is really good for analyzing your pages.

I agree with Liz about Dreamweaver and Photoshop. I usually use DW in split mode, so I can see the code and the page.

If you want to be able to offer some level of print capability, you can use Illustrator also.

Dreamweaver, Photoshop and Illustrator are all pretty expensive, but Adobe has started a subscription service, which makes using these far more feasible when starting out.

You can also get a month free trial, so you can learn for a month, and hopefully earn when you have to pay. ;)

Good point about Illustrator. With the newer versions of Photoshop, Illustrator isn't quite *as* necessary, but it's still a good tool to have and know. I started out way back with version 6 and there have been *major* improvements. And there's much more cross compatibility between the two, nowadays.

I also use split mode in Dreamweaver, but it's not *quite* true to what you'll see in a browser. A quick F12 or CTRL+F12 gives you a preview in a browser, though. Much better than how I learned... Notepad and a browser!

I want to take some classes on web deign to become a free lance web designer what kind of classes can I take online? if you could let me know about this I would appreciate it.

Thank You,

Julia Bowman



A degree in business should definitely help you get organized and earn money at this!

You're on the right track learning HTML and CSS first, it amazes me how many "Web Designers" don't know the basics of HTML and CSS. Primarily the programs I use are Photoshop and Dreamweaver. I occasionally use ImageReady, Illustrator and Flash, but you can get by without those. Avoid a lot of editing programs because the code they make is messy, which can cause unpredictability. Don't even use Dreamweaver in Design Mode, but I like it in Code Mode because it colors and auto-completes the code. When you're comfortable with HTML and CSS, try to learn at least the basics of javaScript, and, if you can, also pick up PHP and mySQL later on, that would be beneficial.

Also learn how to customize Wordpress. Some people put a little too much faith in it, there are things it can't do, but for a beginner it should take care of any website you take on. My favorite theme is Tweaker3, it's extremely customizable if you know CSS. There are lots of general instructions for customizing Wordpress on the Wordpress website, but it doesn't tell you much about individual themes because those are not designed by Wordpress. One trick that helps me figure out what line in the style sheet is controlling a particular element, I take a screen capture of it, paste it in Photoshop, sample the color, then run a search in Dreamweaver on the style sheet for the hex code of that color. Most likely it will pop right to it (though there may be several elements that use the same color).

When I was new in the business (and even sometimes now) I got a lot of information from forums. I learned a lot more about HTML, CSS, javaScript, PHP and SQL from forums than I did in college. For the most part, if I needed to do something that I wasn't sure how to do, I would Google it... chances are that somebody somewhere had already asked and answered my question on a forum. And don't hesitate to post here, there are several experts that frequent this board.

Here's a good article I found about marketing: The Web Marketing Checklist: 37 Ways to Promote Your Site (http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/checklist.htm)

Oh, and if you end up using Wordpress, the SEO plugin by someone named Yoast is really good for analyzing your pages.

Julia, there are so many online classes...choosing a good program will really depend on what you need.

Do you need something accredited? Look for that --- sessions.edu is one, though there are many more, and I think sessions.edu is expensive. I just recently saw a community college that had what seemed to be a decent online program, though of course, I can't remember its name now.

If you're good at learning on your own, you can find lots of free training and instruction too. This site has some training for free -- W3Schools Online Web Tutorials (http://www.w3schools.com/) Later, you can pay for examinations and get one of their certs.

Some sites such as Open Source Web Development Tutorials - Dev Shed (http://www.devshed.com) have free tutorials also.

If you're using Adobe tools, Adobe has tons of online training resources.

Lynda.com is a site devoted to offering technical training on a monthly subscription basis.

I am fixing to start online classes to become a web designer and I am wanting to become a free lance web designer once I finish my degree. How do you go about finding jobs online as a free lance web designer? Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Julia Bowman

Hi everybody,

I will like to learn to become a freelance web design. For few years I have been studying by myself HTML and CSS. I am somewhere in between at the knowledge level. I realized to be able to earn money from web design you need to know more programs than those two. But it is very overwhelming because there are so many, and I want to learn the right ones for the job. So my questions is what programs you know or you think I will need to know to become a good web designer? Do you know any web resources that I can go too and can help me in the learning process? Or where I can try to get a job as a beginner web designer?

Also I was wonder how much income a freelance web designer earns?

I have experience with computers and knowledge of internet marketing too. Actually my degree is in business. But I will love to be home with my kids and to do this.
Thank you so much for reading my message and for any suggestions you may have

Jonelle

Monday I start classes with the Art institute of Pittsburgh online. They have some good classes on it and I will be getting an associate degree.




I want to take some classes on web deign to become a free lance web designer what kind of classes can I take online? if you could let me know about this I would appreciate it.

Thank You,

Julia Bowman

I am fixing to start online classes to become a web designer and I am wanting to become a free lance web designer once I finish my degree. How do you go about finding jobs online as a free lance web designer? Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Julia Bowman

So many advertised work at home jobs are not what they seem, so be very careful applying for them. I seem to recall a few members on this forum posting legit jobs on the telecommuting category.

Hand-in-hand with web design goes marketing. If you're not a "marketing person", do learn some of the basic marketing techniques. I found a good article that lists out a lot of things experienced designers know, but it's nice to have it spelled out: The Web Marketing Checklist: 37 Ways to Promote Your Site (http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/checklist.htm)

I've also been able to pick up a little bit of overflow work from other designers right here on this forum... but you can't count on that on a regular basis.