How To Make Websites

Do you want to make a website, but don't know how to do all the techie stuff...or know just enough to make a super-crappy site? If that's you, check out Don't Fear the Internet, a video series that teaches you basic HTML and CSS, using a Wordpress blog as the basis for your new website. (HTML and CSS are two of those mildly techie things you'll learn. It won't be hard. Heck, I'm typing HTML in Wordpress right now!)

Here's the trailer to give you a sense for how low-key this thing is (the "girl and guy" are Jessica Hische and Russ Maschmeyer):

And here's the first real installment (great quote: "If we never closed our tag, the rest of our lives would be lived in a permanent state of 'lunch.'"):

I really enjoyed this intro paragraph shown above each video on their site:

Are you a print designer, photographer, fine-artist, or general creative person? Do you have a [expletive]y website that you slapped together yourself in Dreamweaver in that ONE web design class that you took in college? Do you not have a site at all because you've been waiting two years for your cousin to put it together for you? Well, we're here to help. We know that you have little to no desire to do web design professionally, but that doesn't mean that you want an ugly cookie-cutter site or to settle for one that hasn't been updated since Hackers was in theaters. Through short tutorial videos, you'll learn how to take a basic wordpress blog and manipulate the css, html (and even some php!) to match your aesthetic. You'll feel empowered rather than crippled by the internet and worst case scenario you'll at least end up having a better idea of how professional web designers turn your design dreams into a reality on screen.

Find it all at Don't Fear the Internet. Start at the bottom.

(Via Laughing Squid.)