PW for complete newbies ? Not really...

[Fred]

Hi,

my motivation is to create a personal web-site, an hybrid between a blog and educational page. However, unlike most of the users here, I am:

- completely new to web-design

- don't know how to code and I'm not familiar with PHP or HTML terminology, not even mentioning CSS, API, etc.

- never designed a single web-site in my life

- have only basics in IT/scripting/editing (MatLab and some basic linux scripting, because of my scientific background)

As I was looking through tens of different CMSs available throughout the web, which I could choose from (besides Wordpress, since I did not found it very structured), I found the results of ProcessWire very nice and simple -> looking at some completed web projects.

So, it has been 1-2 days since a successful PW installation on a web-server. Structure of PW seems very logical, which is great, but...

...as soon as I would like to create some custom page, and create a new template to it...I always end up with an empty template file (.php) and don't really know, how (and what) to write into it (As mentioned before, I have no PHP or HTML skills).

I had trouble to find some useful tutorials on Processwire. The documention part on PW site is not so great as well. And although there are some handful useful Youtube videos, it always ends in the php editor !! 

I was unable to find any example templates (or just part of the codes) to copy + paste them, so I can get them to work for my template files.

The question: is there a way to design a web-site with PW without the knowledge of PHP, HTML   or   should I just call it a day, and go for some other WYSIWYG open-source CMS products, for example like GetSimple CMS ?

Thanks for your input!

[Jan Romero]

is there a way to design a web-site with PW without the knowledge of PHP, HTML or should I just call it a day

If you’re able to take a little time to learn basic HTML and PHP, I think ProcessWire will be a great choice for you. It is very beginner friendly in that sense. However, if you want to pick a ready made template and only add your own content, you will find the wealth of options much greater with other systems.

There are so called site profiles for ProcessWire, which provide you with a ready-to-go starting point for your site. You can choose one during the installation. They’re a great resource for learning how to work with ProcessWire. Just open one of the template files and have a look.

The thing is that HTML/CSS and PHP are entirely independent of ProcessWire, which is why you probably won’t find tutorials that teach you both at the same time. Your best bet will be to learn at least basic HTML and CSS from an independent resource (there are plenty in every possible format and medium). I wouldn’t bother with PHP and webservers just yet. In fact you can probably take your first PHP steps directly with ProcessWire. But HTML is pretty much a requirement first. After all, you will use PHP to generate HTML code.

Just don’t be scared and start simple. Create a text file on your local computer and start copying some HTML tutorials.

[teppo]

Hi there, Fred.

The answer to your question is "no", I'm afraid. You just can't build a site with ProcessWire without knowing any PHP, HTML, CSS, etc. at all. You can install one of the pre-built site profiles, though, if that's good enough for you.

ProcessWire is a very good platform to use while you're learning these thing. If you're point is that you don't know these things yet, but would like to learn, then you're in the right place. I'd suggest browsing the net for some proper HTML tutorials first, though -- I'm in a bit of a hurry here, but I'm sure we can find something for you if you're interested.

On the other hand, if you're saying that you don't know them and don't want to learn either, you'd probably feel more at home with a "website builder" than any actual CMS product. (I've heard good things about Wix and SquareSpace, but there are many others out there too.)

Hope this helps a bit!

[diogo]

I think it always works with real life examples.

If you see a book with the title "Cooking for newbies", you expect it to have a long list of pre-made products and the indication of the supermarkets where you can buy them? Or you expect it to have a section where you are taught the basics (like making different kinds of dough, basic sauces, cutting vegetables) and a second section with some recipes where you can make complete dishes by using those techniques?

I would say it's the second. Because "Cooking for newbies" teaches you how to cook. If you're not interested in learning how to cook, you have of course the option to buy a pre-made pizza, and that's completely fine, but for that you don't need a book...

[PhotoWebMax]

Welcome Fred!

Quick question: do you intend on acquiring all the building blocks to website success so you can learn, continue to grow and build several sites in the future? Or are you needing to build a single site just for yourself and then return to a normal life? This is one of those forks in the road. 

If you really want to do this then I would put Processwire (or any CMS) aside for the moment and focus on building clean static HTML pages first. Basic HTML is just that, very basic. There are tons of resources to get you started here. Learn how to create your <head> section, body, title, headlines, paragraphs, DIVs, Classes, Lists and page links. These are the very basic building blocks. Learn how to build pages using these elements and learn how to use the W3C.org HTML Validator to check your work. Then comes learning CSS: how to create an external style sheet that controls all the presentation of your HTML docs. All the layout, colors, typography, open space and design goes into your CSS file. A single CSS file will control all of this for all your HTML docs. This stuff is not hard to learn and it can be good fun. Get a folder (no server needed) of HTML pages (with links from page to page) and CSS working and then start with deploying your CMS of choice. Procceswire is an excellent choice for this critical step. 

Once you can do all this then building templates using Fields and the Processwire API is the next step. Knowing some PHP is a great help here, but like me (and many others) you can begin using Processwire while knowing zero PHP. One of the GREAT things about Processwire is that it is very designer friendly. You can mold just about any custom site vision and design into a working Processwire site. 

If you only intend on creating one single site and then moving on then I would consider getting direct help. It might cost you some money but it will save you a ton of time. Only you can decide how much personal investment you want to bring here.

But the Processwire community is simply awesome. A lot of folks here have amazing programming and design skills. Don't let that intimidate you. Even rocket scientists struggle with coding this stuff when its new to them. 

Good luck!

[nghi]

For a complete beginner who wants to build a website through a GUI. I would recommend wordpress.org. Selection of pre-made themes and you can do quick css edits and programming edits live (lol). A ton of good plugins like ACF for development & SEO to optimize your site. 

Wordpress also got a lot better with roots + grunt. If you're serious about developing on that platform.

Otherwise Processwire is very easy to use for developers but you'll need a bit of programming experience when building the templates. Everything else can mostly be done with the gui in the backend.(building tables, fields, etc)

[Joss]

Just to keep you at ProcessWire before in you end up in the Mire of Drumlapress, if you are happy to learn, the PW is really not a bad place to do it.

The problem with the others is you will put a site together but you will not learn a thing.

However, I can be of a little help here:

http://processwire.com/docs/tutorials/but-what-if-i-dont-know-how-to-code/

Now, this starter is not teaching you about html and css, but to be honest there are thousands of great resources out there that will get you started very quickly. However this tutorial is aimed at anyone who hasn't done a thing like this before. 

It is long-winded and detailed, but I have tried to keep it fun and explain EVERYTHING.

So, go and play. 

PS: I suggest a jug of strong coffee to go with it.

[PhotoWebMax]

PS: I suggest a jug of strong coffee to go with it.

Sometimes a whisky chaser helps as well...

[pwired]

Fred, I lost counting but so many other good threads have answered your question already.

This thread is only one of them. Go dig the forum and find those other threads and your

question will be answered in a much wider spectrum. Here is a head start:

https://processwire.com/talk/topic/4173-grouped-forum-posts-links-articles-tutorials-code-snippets/

[OrganizedFellow]

Hi,

my motivation is to create a personal web-site, an hybrid between a blog and educational page. However, unlike most of the users here, I am:

- completely new to web-design

- don't know how to code and I'm not familiar with PHP or HTML terminology, not even mentioning CSS, API, etc.

- never designed a single web-site in my life

- have only basics in IT/scripting/editing (MatLab and some basic linux scripting, because of my scientific background)

How do you learn best?

• A: Following a tutorial and following along and coding/copying/pasting?
• B: or disassembling things and learning how they work and fixing them again? scientific background?!

If you are B (like me) then the best way to learn is to "View Source".

See something cool you like on some site?

You can most likely just right-click > view source.

HTML at its simplest is fairly simple to learn.

Here's a great tutorial I recommended to a friend the other day: http://learn.shayhowe.com/advanced-html-css/

---------------------------------------------

The following is take from my collection in a G+ post:

https://plus.google.com/+JaimitoAleman/posts/9dKb4rJszAu

I've been developing and designing for the web for several years now.

One question I come across many times (on G+, blogs and other forums): Where can I learn HTML/CSS/JS?

Someone always recommends W3schools.com, and I always reply with:

W3chools is a poor resource for learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.

I could go into great detail why, but these guys go a pretty good job of it.

W3fools.com

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Here are some of my favorite alternatives to W3Schools.com for learning HTML/CSS:

01. http://reference.sitepoint.com/css

02. http://reference.sitepoint.com/html

03. http://reference.sitepoint.com/javascript

04. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs

05. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/learn/html

06. http://learncss.tutsplus.com/

07. http://diveintohtml5.info/

08. http://www.html5rocks.com/en/

09. http://www.cssplay.co.uk/

10. http://www.htmldog.com/

11. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/html

12. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/css

13. http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/htmlcss

14. http://css-tricks.com/

15. http://www.coursehero.com/courses/11/Intro-to-CSS/#intro

16. http://www.coursehero.com/courses/13/Intro-to-HTML/#intro

17. http://learn.shayhowe.com/advanced-html-css/

18. http://hub.tutsplus.com/categories/development/tutorials/webdesign-11906-the-best-way-to-learn-css

JAVASCRIPT:

01. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/learn/javascript

02. http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/javascript-ajax/the-best-way-to-learn-javascript/

03. http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/javascript-combined

04. http://www.coursehero.com/courses/41/Intro-to-JavaScript/#intro

05. http://superherojs.com/

06. http://jqfundamentals.com/

PHP:

01. http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/php/the-best-way-to-learn-php/

02. http://php.net/manual/en/getting-started.php

03. https://phpacademy.org/

04. http://www.coursehero.com/courses/5/Intro-To-PHP/#intro

05. https://tutsplus.com/course/php-fundamentals/

06. http://net.tutsplus.com/sessions/codeigniter-from-scratch/

07. http://www.codecademy.com/en/tracks/php

08. http://www.tizag.com/phpT/

09. http://www.tutorialspoint.com/php/php_object_oriented.htm

10. http://dochub.io/#php/

11. http://overapi.com/php/

12. http://www.phptherightway.com/

GIT:

01. 

02. http://git-scm.com/book

03. http://try.github.com/

04. http://sixrevisions.com/resources/git-tutorials-beginners/

05. http://overapi.com/git/

06. http://rogerdudler.github.io/git-guide/

07. http://ndpsoftware.com/git-cheatsheet.html

08. http://www.wei-wang.com/ExplainGitWithD3/

If you should have any questions about HTML/CSS/JS/PW, then this is the place to ask.

I've found this community of weirdos members to be the most helpful and courteous of all the communities I've been a part of.

Best of luck to you and welcome to ProcessWire.