Web Hosting Sites

So finding a web host is a challenge that should be undertaken with careful consideration. If you are planning to run any sort of e-commerce website, it's important to know whether or not the host supports that. Here are three sites that support e-commerce, PHP, MySQL, and at least 50MB of hard disk space:

Just Host

This site offers it all! It also boasts an extremely competitive price.

Hard Disk Space	Unlimited
Scripts Accepted	CGI, Ruby (RoR), Perl, PHP, MySQL
E-Commerce Ready	Yes

 

Web Hosting Pad

These guys cost a little bit less than Just Host, but boast the same, if not more features.

Hard Disk Space	Unlimited
Scripts Accepted	Fantastico, PHP/ Perl/ Python, MySQL, more!
E-Commerce Ready	Yes

 

iPage (Seriously though, enough with the "i" names)

This one has my favorite layout. Its site is well-organized and it makes it easy for the user to navigate, while having mostly the same features of the other two.

Hard Disk Space	Unlimited
Scripts Accepted	MySQL, PHP
E-Commerce Ready	PayPal Integration, Choice of Shopping Cart, and a Free Online Store

A few web text publishing techniques I’ve found

     If you have ever been browsing the internet doing research or looking anything up at all, you will likely find several sites that are “lacking”. Many sites use bad English to start, but even bigger than that, you will find that many of these sites are just boring; they don’t catch your attention. They don’t pull you in the way you might expect from a site that should be teaching you new things. In this posting, I am going to go over a few different techniques that might be useful to you in your web publishing that I have found through my own research on the web:
     First off, write the way you would talk. No one wants to read a monolog; it’s just boring. Be yourself, write naturally, and the reader will feel more natural reading it (Writing Well for the Web).
     Second, don’t be too wordy. The problem is that, yes you wrote in your own words, but most people have the tendency to talk too much. Get your point out then shut up! It doesn’t take a lot to say what you mean (Writing Well for the Web).
     Third, people don’t want to read a textbook, they want to skim and get it over with. Write in “bite-size” chunks so they can skim and get what they need (Writing Well for the Web).
Fourth, you’ve heard it, KISS, keep it simple, stupid. Some people just aren’t as smart as you! Keep it simple so you can address any audience who may come by your web page. If you use big words and phrases that only you and a select few others are familiar with, you’ve handicapped your site.
     Finally, Write about something that interests you! If it interests you, that will show through and it will interest your site visitors. The more passionate a person is about a subject, the more passionate the readers will become. Passion is conveyed through the message.
     I hope that some of these techniques help you and give you more success as you find your way in the world of web development!

Works Cited
Writing Well for the Web. 7 December 1996. 6 March 2010 .

Some CSS tutorials...

The first CSS tutorial I’ve found is http://www.html.net/tutorials/CSS/
It gives step-by-step directions on how to perform the various functions of CSS. Easy to use and easy to find what you need.

The second is http://htmlhelp.com/reference/css/quick-tutorial.html
A very basic tutorial on CSS but it sends the user in a good direction.

The third is http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/20/50-new-css-techniques-for-your-next-web-design/
It is not so much a tutorial as it is a site that gives you some cool tips and techniques for CSS.
Enjoy!
-Gary

Web Research

The first site I've found in my search for a decent XHTML tutorial is Sitepoint.com. This tutorial is geared toward a person who has never written a website of any sort. If someone wanted to know how to write very basic web pages, I would send them here. This tutorial taught me first how to show a hyphen by using the &shy attribue and it also elaborated on the pre tag, which is one I have not used much in my web development.
The second site I found is w3schools.com. This is kind of a cool site geared toward beginners. It goes through XHTML almost like a text book. It gives the history, the how-to, and details on each step. I would definitely recommend this site to a beginning web developer. This site taught me both how to validate an XHTML document and also taught me modularization.

WOW!

Ok, so the World Organization of Webmasters may not be a "Wow" statement, it's still an attention getter. As a student, it only costs $29 to join, and it is a great resource for those who want to share information with other web developers as well as those who are aspiring web developers. On October 24 – 27, 2010 there will be an event called Adobe Max 2010. This event sounds awesome for anyone who wants to become any sort of developer. I would definitely go to something like this. If you’re a member of WOW you’ll even receive a $400 discount off of admission. That in itself makes membership worth the cost!
Three ways WOW can help in the career of a web developer:
1. Provide the necessary certifications to give developers the extra edge needed in the marketplace.
2. Provide courses for the continuing education of web developers so that they keep up to date with an ever-changing web-world.
3. Provide advice for those who may be stuck on a project and help people better understand their own profession.
Overall, this is a very useful organization that really helps people get to where they want to be as a web developer.