just wondering

[anarchojoseph]

I've been reading / applying alot of what I've been studing here at w3schools. I have been reading alot of ebooks on the topics of html/class/xhtml/xml, yet I still ######. I know what things mean yet I ###### at structuring a new site. Is anyone familiar with this? I learn and learn yet I still ###### lol Maybe I should write about I want to do on paper? I can study and study but I just never get to where I want to go.Maybe it's my agenda? I'm thinking about doing projects for $$$ and creating unique sites that will rank high in google pr. Is that a bad mindset?

[real_illusions]

While its good to aim at making websites for a living..it takes alot of time and effort.We were all rubbish at it some point, just some of us are now slightly less rubbish :)Just keep on practising, you never stop learning in this industry as its constantly evolving. You'll get to where your going someday, by which time the indutry has shifted and you have to change your goals again :)Dont give up though, just keep going and if your passionate about it and good enough, then you will achieve your aims

[boen_robot]

I'd say thinking about the cash from the get go is indeed a bad mindset. Try to make web site for yourself or for someone else... for free. Don't be hasty. Whenever you reach a point as to "how do I...", reread the appropriate chapters in the tutorials/references/books, and try to adapt what they say to your site.Keep in mind that looking up references is not shameful in any way - No programmer remembers all function names and prototypes. No designer remembers all color codes.... they all look them up. The only difference between an experienced and non experienced web professionals is that an experienced one knows what (s)he wants at any given point.

[jeffman]

Because the web is still quite new and experiences very rapid changes in technology, the path to becoming a successful, paid web professional is still less clear than the path to becoming, say, a data analyst. There is certainly nothing wrong with planning a career in web design/development, any more than there is anything wrong with planning a career in home construction. As with any career, though, you need to take a serious look at your abilities and interests as early in the process as possible. You may need to decide that this thing is not for you, or that you are more talented at certain aspects of the process than others. Or that you simply need more time to make a responsible decision.I think we would all be able to offer better advice if you explained more clearly what it is you find wrong with your current projects. Pages can #### in many different ways. Getting a firm grasp on the rules is relatively easy. Training yourself to think in the kind of logical fashion required for programming (e.g., JavaScript, PHP) is another thing. From a design perspective, developing a good sense of proportion, balance, color, and so on also goes way beyond the rules, and for some people it just never happens.There are also time-tested techniques for doing things that are rarely discussed in textbooks but are the foundation of many conversations that take place in communities like this board. They are best learned, in my experience, by being an active participant in such communities, and then by trying them out.

[anarchojoseph]

thanks. do you recommend any books? or? maybe I'm missing some good info

[GhosteX]

I've been at it for more then five months and I still have issues. But that's ok, I know if I persist I will get better and better at it, no skill will come to you instantly unless your super talented, but the truth is talent doesn't actually play a big roll, only willpower and determination will see you through.That said, as for books, I found some books published by Wrox fairly helpful, such as the "PHP5, Apache, and MySQL Web Development" fairly useful, which provides some more in depth info on the subject compared to W3C's straight forward approach. If you got the option, I'd get the newer PHP6 edition of that series as I believe the PHP5 one is a little dated, (but still relevant and useful). Also, CSS Mastery is pretty cool as well.

[Synook]

The O'Reilly series is quite nice too.PHP 6 isn't out yet.Also note that the W3C is a purely informative organisation and does not attempt to "teach" developers how their standards are to be implemented (besides by, well, writing the standards).