Looking for advice...

[motormount]

Funny how after 15 years on the trade,my first question on a prepress forum is not about print...

So after trying to get into packaging-without much success-,while watching the printshop i work for declining day by day,I decided i should give it a try with ''the web''.

I see-mostly read about to be honest- a lot of former prepress operators moving on that way-even here there is a section about web design/development.

Problem is i wouldn't know how or where to start.


I'm not a designer.

I can design a leaflet,or a poster,i can even draw-pencil or wacom- but this is not my job.


I don't code.

I troubleshoot software and hardware problems on the shop,but i'm not a programmer.

Plus there isn't any web related activity where i work- except from fb but i don't have an account 


So,if you're kind enough,how did you get there?
-from prepress to ''the web''-

Where a prepress employee could be good at a web oriented business?
Design ? Development ?Cleaning the dust from the servers?

And why a company wouldn't hire a designer,or a developer on the first place and choose an ex-prepress operator?
   
Any answers given-even those not asked- will be held of great value,along with maybe where and what to start reading/practicing on...

Thanks in advance!

[Tracy]

I would start taking a class, there are lots of free classes
in my area, prolly yours too.

[gnubler]

Oops, I didn't even know this section existed. Hanging out in The Bar too much.

Sorry to say, motormount, you're kind of doomed like a lot of us are. You can get into web dev (two of here are into it, myself and Joe) but you'll probably hate it more than prepress. There's A LOT to learn, it is forever changing, and the industry is populated with douchebags who just live for the internet 24/7. You sound older, and you probably won't like it.

[Skryber]

Boss just asked me to build a website yesterday. It felt like a demotion. But whatever floats your boat. Take classes or I'm sure you can find basic online tutorials to start.

I did this in college as it was part of my multimedia degree. It was the only part I didn't like.

[gnubler]

Boss just asked me to build a website yesterday.

I love how "they" just assume because you do graphics that you can build an entire website. Most people with a brain can probably pull off a Wordpress install, but that's only Step 1 and there are about 87 other steps after that. Wait til the site gets hacked and you have to start all over again.

[gnubler]

Take classes or I'm sure you can find basic online tutorials to start.

It doesn't need to cost anything to learn the basics. Both Joe & I are self taught. Go through the online tutorials until you have the basic knowledge of HTML & CSS and how websites even work. You also need to learn about hosting, browser compatibility, hacks, security, domains, etc.

Rumor has it most jumpers off Golden Gate are former web designers who just couldn't take it anymore. You are better off becoming a truck driver or a farmer.

[motormount]

You sound older, and you probably won't like it.

More than sincerity,i like quick answers-what time is it in the states btw?-

I'm only forty,i consider myself a quick learner-who doesn't  :-P - but i'm really not like 24/7 on the net-got four kids a bicycle and a trashed bike to take care of -

Then since prepress-as we know it- will soon be as necessary as ''letterpress''-they rime too-,i think i can lower my expectations...

ps do you need verification for every post?

ps2  What is the name of Adobe's Page Layout application?

[born2print]

It is between 11:40 and 4:40 depending which part of US
Adobe Indesign

[Joe]

I would start here:

http://www.htmldog.com

I'm not a coder or a designer by any means but I do edit a few .html, .css, and .php files and occasionally a MySQL database. I like to start with software like either Joomla for complex sites or Wordpress for more basic sites. Both are free and to get started you can use one of the free web hosting sites to install into and get your feet wet. But as gnub says there is lots more to do than just installing but most of it requires little or no coding and a little design.


No, you only have to do the verification for the first 5 or 10 posts. I forget which but it isn't many. The Adobe Page Layout app it asks about is InDesign.

[motormount]

It is between 11:40 and 4:40 depending which part of US
Adobe Indesign

lol,it won't accept pagemaker-neither are we come to think of it-

[gnubler]

What Joe said. htmldog is good, I have used it. There are a million resources online. W3C Schools is the big one. I also bought a few tutorial books to help with learning advanced CSS, but that was about 10 years ago when people still used books.

A couple years ago I looked at the offerings at my local community college for "web design", just out of curiousity. Steer clear of anything that mentions "Dreamweaver" or similar "design a website" program. They are absolutely useless in modern web development. As Joe said, Joomla and Wordpress are both free installs and will allow you to build any type of website. Once you get into add-ons and extensions is when things go wrong. Shit, things usually go wrong even during the initial install.

Don't do it!

[motormount]

I would start here:

http://www.htmldog.com

I'm not a coder or a designer by any means but I do edit a few .html, .css, and .php files and occasionally a MySQL database. I like to start with software like either Joomla for complex sites or Wordpress for more basic sites. Both are free and to get started you can use one of the free web hosting sites to install into and get your feet wet. But as gnub says there is lots more to do than just installing but most of it requires little or no coding and a little design.





No, you only have to do the verification for the first 5 or 10 posts. I forget which but it isn't many. The Adobe Page Layout app it asks about is InDesign.

Thanks  Joe!

-just kidding about the second question,i 'll check the htmldog(!!!) site tommorow!-

Thanks all for answering! 

[Farabomb]

Welcome Motormount! 

We're all in the same shitty sinking ship. Printing is drying up and management seems to think just because you can make print files work you can do anything computer related. 

[dubstep]

A beginner's cheatsheet for web development: http://www.bentobox.io/

[born2print]

Thanks dub! bookmarked