But how can you go and make your website a reality? In this article, we’ll help you find out how you can code a website from scratch, and what tools you can use to make this happen.
What Do You Need To Know To Code A Website?
If you want to code your own website, you’ll need to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These are the three essential coding languages that you’ll need to learn.
HTML is used on a website to structure the webpage, while CSS describes the presentation of the webpage. Javascript is then used to make your website interactive.
To code your own website, you’ll need to spend a multitude of hours learning these coding languages.
However, this is still not an easy feat for a beginner. This is why nowadays, you can also use website builders to create your own website. This is an easy way to design your own website without knowing how to code.
Thankfully, there are also Content Management Systems that have their own frameworks for building your own website, such as WordPress.
In the case of WordPress, you can still build your own website from scratch, but you’ll need to know how to code as well. If you do wish to code a website from scratch, you will need to know your way around HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
With that in mind, let’s begin.
As a general rule, before you start coding your website, you should ensure that you have content available to go. You should also be aware of any domain names that you wish to use, and make sure that they’re available.
Website Coding From Scratch
To help you learn how to code, I recommend W3C. W3C has a myriad of resources on how you can use coding on the web. It has everything you need to know, and also informs you on the importance of accessibility on the web.
If you need to consult any resources, you can check there.
Before you start on your website, you’ll need to know a few things. In order to write your base HTML code, you’ll need a text editor. I would recommend Notepad++ for Microsoft users, and TextMate for Mac users.
HTML Base
HTML is used to build your website from the ground up. The basics of your HTML tag will consist of the <html> tag covering your entire document.
The <head> tag is used to determine features not necessarily on the page but will include elements such as your <title> and references to your style sheet. Essentially, it contains all the references and styling.
After you close your </head> section like so, you’ll insert the <body> which will consist of everything on the page.
It is divided into a separate <section> which will include an <article> this will then include a <p> which will be the separate paragraphs used. Between your <p> and </p> you can essentially put your content wherever you want.
If you have any content, put it in between the <body> tags.
For your home page, you should name it index.html. You should always include what language your website is before you make a new line for your <head>. You can do this by inserting <html lang=”en”>.
If you want to insert any links to your pages, you should make sure that all of your pages are set up in a separate HTML file in your folder.
Using the <a href=””> tag, you can insert the name of these files within the apostrophes, as that will be where the link goes. You then end this by titling the page and closing it with an </a>.
You can list all of these in a navigation bar using the <nav> tag. As with the majority of these tags, make sure you always close them by inserting a forward slash when you type the tag again.
Once you make your own base for this site, make sure that you use CSS to present it in a more professional manner.
Using CSS
Make a separate stylesheet using a separate CSS document on your text editor. You should typically title this file style.css. Then, you can insert colors, backgrounds, and apply boxes to make the style of the website pleasing to the eye.
CSS is much more complicated than HTML and does require a lot more learning to understand. In comparison, HTML is far easier to learn, as it is essentially organizing how your basic structure is set out.
To refer to your stylesheet in your index.html page, make sure that you insert <link rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css” href=”style.css”> which will link you to your CSS file.
Unlike the other HTML tags, this one will not have to be closed with a forward slash.
Once you’ve added CSS and HTML to your web page, and inserted all of your links, you should be ready to upload your web page online. To do this, all you need is your domain and a place to host your site from the ground up.
Final Thoughts
There are numerous ways to learn how to code online. If you’re struggling to understand the W3C, one of the next best ways to learn is through online learning.
There are numerous websites that are dedicated to teaching people how to code. Books and forums are also dedicated to the subject.
Truthfully, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to learn how to code, but using online lessons can certainly make the process easier if you’re struggling.
But always remember to use W3C as a valuable resource. Once you learn how to code, you should be able to build your own websites from scratch in no time.
However, don’t be disappointed if you have had difficulty coding your website, as this is why website builders exist.
Hi, my name is Justin Shaw, I started my career with a Masters in Computer Science but found writing to be my forte'.
I'm now the Principal Tech writer for GshiftLabs.com as well as a few other well known publications. I help make the complex world of Tech-Jargon easy to understand.
