: Web development and tips for building a website and the advantages of using HTML 5 in the site I am trying to make a website for my college, and the program starts from jan 13 and we get

@Murphy175

A framework that I like quite a bit is Twitter Bootstrap. And HTML5 Boilerplate is something I will probably include in every project in the foreseeable future.

I am currently using the 'Roots' WordPress theme which incorporates both.

Included with HTML5BP is Modernizr, which itself includes the HTML5shiv which allows older browsers to properly display HTML5 elements. PrefixFree.js is well worth looking into as well.

So yeah, I use HTML5 (with shiv), CSS3 (with non-CSS3 defaults), JQuery, and Modernizr for polyfills on all current projects...that said, that's a lot of ground to cover in 14 days.

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@Courtney195

If I can also put in my 2 cents, I'd like to say that initall's advice is a great starting point. You really need to know what you're trying to develop before you decide on architecture.

Is this just a "marketing" site? Do you know what the college's vision is for this site (ie. do they want to cater to mobile platforms, as well as your desktop users?)?

Is this going to be updated on a regular basis? If so, what level of expertise do you expect editors to have in order to make those updates? (hint: if updates are expected to be regular, and it's going to be left in the hands of your average office worker, you probably want to implement some form of content management system, such as Django, Drupal, RefineryCMS, etc.)

Your architecture decision should also be informed by knowing what technologies are supported by your college's IT infrastructure. If you design a site in Django, but they don't support Python at the same level that your site requires, you're out of luck.

Keep in mind that site refreshes in a college setting are not always quite as common, unless you have a particularly forward-thinking administration, so what you design, if you want it to win, should be designed with flexibility and maintainability in mind.

HTML5 and CSS3 are good tools to consider, but it is more important is to understand what you're trying to build, so you can choose the tools that will fit the need, rather than just trying for a laundry list of currently-popular techniques.

If I could get every new web app developer to read one thing, it'd probably be 37 Signals' "Getting Real" which is available for free to read: gettingreal.37signals.com/index.php

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@Sarah324

There are many advantages of HTML5. I am giving 10 major points here:


Mutuality
Improved Semantics
Consistency
Fulfill the need of Web application
Client-side database
Geolocation support
Offline Application cache
Improved Accessibility
Elegant forms
Cleaner markup / Improved Code


So it is better to use HTML5 instead of flash.

Thanks

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@Cooney921

What a nice, crowd-sourced way of the college to save money. Well ;-)

Make a list of the requirements and refine it to the absolute needed core minimum.

Look for a Development Framework. Don't invent anything from scratch. Concentrate on the functionality. Take the time to install 1 to 4 frameworks and go through the basic examples offered by their introductions or examples.


Django/Python: www.djangoproject.com/ Symfony/PHP: www.phpframeworks.com/php-frameworks/index.php?id=3 Zend/PHP: www.phpframeworks.com/php-frameworks/index.php?id=1 Ruby on Rails: rubyonrails.org/

Choose one. Look for modules or plugins the frameworks offer for rapid setup of authentication, social plugins, uploads and simple listings with pagination. Use them.

Look for a CSS Framework or free HTML templates. Don't invent anything from scratch.


960 Grid System 960.gs/ 960 Grid fluid-fixed: gumbyframework.com/ YAML: www.yaml.de/ Blueprint: www.blueprintcss.org/

Update to your comment:

Choose a new IDE/Editor only if you don't have one you're already familiar with. Learning a new one during a tough project schedule might waste some time (if you're already a vim or emacs pro, well, you're fine). But if you like a GUI: Take a look at Zend Studio (for PHP) or PyCharm (for Pyhton). They can speed up your development and notify you of common problems with syntax.

What else? Just start, wrong decisions are part of the game :-)

Good Luck!

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