Which version of HTML should a beginner learn?

Question

I want to launch a small business and sell products from my site. I eventually want to learn to use Dreamweaver as well. Any recommendations?

Answer 1

There aren't really "versions" of HTML you need to worry about since it's a language and not a software program. You may have occasionally heard of HTML with version numbers like 1.0, 4.0 but it doesn't really matter with HTML. All you really need to be concerned about is writing good clean browser compatible code, and avoiding tags which are deprecated (bits of html that are no longer recognized/approved by some browsers). To stay on top of that it is best to find a good book or website that lists the html tags and their browser compatibility.

You are starting out right though... learn html and THEN learn Dreamweaver. It will give you a good foundation to start with, and you'll be able to go into and edit your Dreamweaver code.

To learn html, I'd try a supervised course first (an online class, or at your local community college) just to have someone handy to answer your main questions. Then just dive in with self-teaching yourself by buying a couple of highly rated books or using online tutorials.

Then move on to Dreamweaver- it will seem a little scary at first, but less so if you've already learned html. Adobe has good tutorials you can use with Dreamweaver, and of course there are whole online Dreamweaver communities for when you get stuck.

Good luck.

Answer 2

I'm not sure what you mean by "which version". I think you mean, which development product.

Although the previous poster said to learn HTML, which I don't disagree with, it doesn't cut it any more. I learned HTML when it came out, but ultimately had to move to a program to do it. It's just too much now.

DreamWeaver is what I used, and you would probably do well with it. What you need more, though, are probably classes in graphic design and user interfaces. If not, pay someone. It'll get you a more professional product, and it may be cheaper than you think nowadays. You can do all the HTML you want, but if you don't have graphic design skills and aren't working with a graphic designer, you can throw it all away. I've been doing this stuff for a living for decades, but if I have a real product or something I have to promote, I have no qualms about hiring a graphic designer for a few hundred bucks or whatever. I'm decent at art, but it's not what I do for a living and I accept that. If you really want to launch a product, at least get someone to do the artwork. In fact, you could cheap it out and get a college student to do it "for experience"; if they're a graphics art major, you can probably still get a good result without spending much.

Alternatively, many sites - and I don't really do this side of it for a living - but I know many sites have templates. If the real point is to just sell a product, go to Yahoo or GoDaddy or something like that and set up a site with their template. Get it up and running. You can improve it later - right now you want to sell product and hopefully your product speaks for itself.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I would start with basic HTML code only, then move on to the programs that make it easier to design. You should have a solid base so you can look at the code itself, not just the graphical representation of it.

Answer 4

Go straight to learn XHTML.

http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/

You can use Adobe Dreamweaver software to try out and advance your XHTML skills.

http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/

Answer 5

Start with basic xhtml and css. This site has good beginner's tutorials:

http://htmldog.com

Answer 6

go to html tutor and go through the online tutorial

Answer 7

try you see in www.pasarmedia.com
there a lot of example of template to make website and nicely to all beginner