So about 6 months ago I got this job as a web designer. For 98% of the time I’ve been doing just that, web design. A few other things here and there but that’s not my point.
I get really excited when I learn something new or have that “eureka” or “oh THAT is how that works” moment. I can say that in 6 months I have learned a metric crap ton of stuff, mostly through trial and error. I also have to say there is a lot left to learn. I really want to work on my PHP/MySQL skills.
WordPress has been a great test bed for some theme modding as far as CSS goes. I even went back to a site I designed at work some months ago and found I’d learned better ways to code things between then and now. So the site that isn’t quite live yet is already in v2.0, haha!
Code can be fun as it can be frustrating. Mix in that I do have to design Flash on occasion. Flash isn’t like riding a bike. In Flash you UIOLI … uh, I made that up. It means Use It Or Lose It. I teeter on the verge of losing it right about the time I use it so I’m keep it at least rudimentary enough to accomplish what I need. I do not have any desire to become an expert in Flash. Simply too much to try and cram in. Ideally, at this point I’d like to become well versed in what I’m doing currently.
The CSS guide by Eric Meyers is super awesome for reference, history and basic concepts. Thanks Boot! I’ve done a lot of web searches for other guides as well and I always like to look at designs over on Web Cremé. I do find a lot of those designs are a bit much sometimes.
I still firmly believe a great design can be accomplished with minimal coding. Some designs I’ve come across that look superb have a stylesheet that is just quagmired with lines of code. I try to build things simple first and if more complexity is needed, add it in slowly.
I am by no means an expert but I’m here and I’m doing my job and learning. In the volatile world of wide webs, we’re always learning.