[P1] Website development for amateurs?

[Larry Kollar]

> From what I've seen so far, it seems that the best way for an amateur 
> to put
> together a do-it-yourself website is through templates. Is this how 
> Mozilla
> does it? Is there another source for small business website templates? 
> (And
> thanks to Harry, Brian and Alexandre for their helpful posts.)

The entire web is a collection of templates! :-)

Find a web site whose design you like, and copy it. Using Safari, File 
-> Save As will do it. You could also use View -> View Source then 
copy/paste to another file. Once you have it, open it in your editor 
and make changes as needed. Start with simple, clean layouts (if you 
can find any these days) and avoid stuff like frames and Javascript at 
first. Once you understand what's happening, you can get fancier if you 
like -- just remember, don't bury your content under a bunch of glitter.

In the long run, you'll be better off understanding HTML and CSS so 
you'll be able to go beyond what a graphics-based editor can offer. I 
personally like http://www.htmlhelp.com/ for their tutorial and 
reference material. Also, Robin Williams's "The Non-Designer's Design 
Book" is mostly print-oriented but offers insights that easily carry 
over to online design.
--
Larry Kollar    k  o  l  l  a  r  @  a  l  l  t  e  l  .  n  e  t
"The hardest part of all this is the part that requires thinking."
-- Paul Tyson, on xml-doc