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Old 06-06-2006, 10:28 PM   #1 (permalink)
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My little dent in the web....

Hello. My name is Rob, I am going into the 10th grade and I am 14 years old. I am a certified "Information Technology Assistant" aka an assistant web designer. I have created a new web design business in the last week: Apex Web Development
This was just a little intro about myself, and I am happy to find this site.

PS- How do i set up a paypal account?
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Old 06-06-2006, 11:21 PM   #2 (permalink)
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hey Rob! another Floridian!!! come to UF

I believe you'll need a bank account to set up your paypal account. I used mine at least... also tied it to a credit card.
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Old 06-06-2006, 11:25 PM   #3 (permalink)
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Oh my...oh my. Where to begin?

Keep in mind that what i'm about to say is constructive critism. You're young and have a lot of learn... so i will try to point you in the right direction.

First off, your website is reminiscent of a 1996 aol webpage. Visible frames, unreadable text & graphics, horrible color schemes... even an html error on the front page. I'm suprised you don't have a midi playing in the background.

The only customers you're going to attract are dead broke ones. Maybe some family or friends that haven't the slightest clue how the web works, but any quasi-legitimate business won't take you seriously. Clearly, they're getting what they pay for. What you charge for a professional site, i charge per hour.

But to be honest, i was in the same boat as you. When i was in 10th grade i remember starting my own website (this was like 1997) and i made the same mistakes as you. Granted, i had a better eye for design because i've always been an 'artist' but nonetheless, at that age one needs serious practice, especially in a new media like the web.

Now, if you're a one man show, you're probably going to design and well as program your clients sites.

Firstly, you should get better at design. There are tons and tons of photoshop tutorials out there. (and i know you're using photoshop because of the render -> clouds / fake satin trick you got going on in one of your backgrounds) Way back in the days of Photoshop 4.0, this is how I learned how to use the program. I just kept doing tutorials and tutorials and practicing until the program became second nature.

Second, you need to drop the 1996 style of web programming and learn how current websites are designed. yes you can still design them in notepad, but there are standards and validations, xhtml and html 4.0 today that really need to be learned if you're going to consider yourself professional. You can do some primers at htmlgoodies.com, but once you find yourself comfortable with html, learn how to use CSS styles. this will add a dymanic element to your programming and design. Stop using frames as they're ancient history. pick up some PHP if you can (simple include functions) to pull the same menu style, or use tables at the very least.

third... develop some artistic skill. learn how color schemes work, find out what makes pretty sites "pretty." and all that. blue isn't a bad color to base your site off of, but the intense saturation in some of the graphics throws the eye off tremdoundsly.

that's about all i can write for now. keep practicing. hopefully by the time you're good enough to be competition i've retired to something new
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Old 06-06-2006, 11:39 PM   #4 (permalink)
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Man that website reminds me off the stuff I made when I was your age
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Old 06-07-2006, 12:08 AM   #5 (permalink)
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something to consider...

I never owned a computer until i was 14... so you're off to a great start if you're already experimenting with the internet.

keep playing with it.. its fun and will hopefully pay off years from now.

maybe install wordpress and play with it... theres a section that allows you to edit the theme... you can learn a lot from trial and error there... i know i did.
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Old 06-07-2006, 01:02 AM   #6 (permalink)
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btw, how do you become certified?
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Old 06-07-2006, 10:38 AM   #7 (permalink)
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Old 06-07-2006, 11:50 AM   #8 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sicnarftea
btw, how do you become certified?
I became certified by getting straight A's in my Web Design class all year, at the end i got a letter in the mail and a certificate that i am a certified Information Technology assistant.
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Old 06-07-2006, 11:58 AM   #9 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tekmoney
Oh my...oh my. Where to begin?

Keep in mind that what i'm about to say is constructive critism. You're young and have a lot of learn... so i will try to point you in the right direction.

First off, your website is reminiscent of a 1996 aol webpage. Visible frames, unreadable text & graphics, horrible color schemes... even an html error on the front page. I'm suprised you don't have a midi playing in the background.

The only customers you're going to attract are dead broke ones. Maybe some family or friends that haven't the slightest clue how the web works, but any quasi-legitimate business won't take you seriously. Clearly, they're getting what they pay for. What you charge for a professional site, i charge per hour.

But to be honest, i was in the same boat as you. When i was in 10th grade i remember starting my own website (this was like 1997) and i made the same mistakes as you. Granted, i had a better eye for design because i've always been an 'artist' but nonetheless, at that age one needs serious practice, especially in a new media like the web.

Now, if you're a one man show, you're probably going to design and well as program your clients sites.

Firstly, you should get better at design. There are tons and tons of photoshop tutorials out there. (and i know you're using photoshop because of the render -> clouds / fake satin trick you got going on in one of your backgrounds) Way back in the days of Photoshop 4.0, this is how I learned how to use the program. I just kept doing tutorials and tutorials and practicing until the program became second nature.

Second, you need to drop the 1996 style of web programming and learn how current websites are designed. yes you can still design them in notepad, but there are standards and validations, xhtml and html 4.0 today that really need to be learned if you're going to consider yourself professional. You can do some primers at htmlgoodies.com, but once you find yourself comfortable with html, learn how to use CSS styles. this will add a dymanic element to your programming and design. Stop using frames as they're ancient history. pick up some PHP if you can (simple include functions) to pull the same menu style, or use tables at the very least.

third... develop some artistic skill. learn how color schemes work, find out what makes pretty sites "pretty." and all that. blue isn't a bad color to base your site off of, but the intense saturation in some of the graphics throws the eye off tremdoundsly.

that's about all i can write for now. keep practicing. hopefully by the time you're good enough to be competition i've retired to something new

Thanks for the help. about getting php, i dont have a job (exept for this one) and this one really isnt looking too good(lol) so I have a free site, with no SQL stuff, which sucks. again, thank you for the help.
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Old 06-07-2006, 12:31 PM   #10 (permalink)
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At his age I used to use PHP coding and was awarded the 'Best Web Developer' in an Inter-school competition!
Apex you seriously need to revamp your website. It is totally unprofessional!
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Old 06-07-2006, 04:33 PM   #11 (permalink)
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I say lose the visible frame, remove the backround images, change the logo (good old photoshop emboss/outer glow), and possibly a white backround. This will make the site more professional looking.

Also, you sent me down memory lane looking at my old websites on archive.org
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Old 06-07-2006, 05:00 PM   #12 (permalink)