Hello All,

I Posted this is in the new member area but realized it probably belongs here.

I could use some help from you guys if you don’t mind.

First, I have been using Computers since 1992 so I am not a novice. I have built every computer I own so I am pretty good at figuring out the various problems that arise.

Ok- Here’s the deal.

I am in a position of having to create and maintain a Web Site for my wife’s Real Estate business ( I am not going to run the server, a hosting company will handle that).

I have read several thousand pages on HTML and XHTML and have a pretty good understanding of the basics. Although I will admit Cascading Style Sheets is a complicated subject.

Her site will require Flash intros, java effects, etc.

I decided to try to learn Frontpage before moving up to the Macromedia Suite of products. And I have read about 1500 pages on Frontpage so far.

It suddenly occurred to me today while I was trying to figure out how to manipulate a Web template on Photoshop to put into Frontpage, that I probably have another thousand pages of Photoshop to read too. Not to mention a thousand on Corel and eventually a few thousand on Dreamweaver and Flash.

I must admit that I have a whole new respect for all you Website designers out there. This has become a very complicated subject.


The advice I need is the following:

I am assuming that you would probably need a good understanding of a simple program like Frontpage before you could ever hope to comprehend Dreamweaver and Flash?

The Web Page I am designing in Frontpage will never see the light of day but I figured I would learn the easy stuff first and then tackle the hard stuff.
Is the best way to proceed or am I just wasting time?

I am assuming that to understand Macromedia products you would probably need a reasonable amount of prior knowledge.
Is this true?

Also, I own Coreldraw 11 and Photoshop and am starting to count up the thousands of pages ahead of me to learn them too.

Years ago when I read HTML 1.0, Website design could be confined to one book. Now this is more like getting a College degree with a long list of subjects to master. The problem is I don’t have the course outlines.

I realized today that I could spend the rest of my life reading and never get around to actually making the Website.

I realize I am getting an advanced degree here and I am not looking for the minimum subject matter. But since I have committed to do this it would probably be helpful to know what I really need to learn.

I just need someone to drop a stack of books on front of me ( regardless of how tall) , and say, “ Here, learn this!”.

I would appreciate any help you guys can give. I am not afraid of the work or the time it will take, but I do need to make sure I am heading in the right direction.