Frustrated. Doing freecodecamp.org, finished most of it, but cannot for the life of me build something from scratch

HTML-CSS
1

Hello everyone,

I find coding very fascinating, so I took the first three courses on freecodecamp.org titled: Basic HTML and HTML5, Basic CSS, and Applied Visual Design. So, I thought that I could apply what I learned by making something in Visual Studio code; however, I just realized that I suck. I definitely am able to pass each little “segment” in the courses, but I cannot for the life of me start building something because I have no idea what to put anything. So, I thought I would download a template from w3schools.com and this is the template I downloaded (see below at the very end of this paragraph). My first question is this: where would one even START when they were building this code below? In which order do you start building this? Any help would be greatly appreciated as it’s something that I really really want to learn. I feel like I am stupid lol

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>W3.CSS Template</title>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.w3schools.com/w3css/4/w3.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Raleway">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/4.7.0/css/font-awesome.min.css">
<style>
body,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {font-family: "Raleway", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif}
</style>
</head>
<body class="w3-light-grey">

<!-- Navigation Bar -->
<div class="w3-bar w3-white w3-large">
  <a href="#" class="w3-bar-item w3-button w3-red w3-mobile"><i class="fa fa-bed w3-margin-right"></i>Logo</a>
  <a href="#rooms" class="w3-bar-item w3-button w3-mobile">Rooms</a>
  <a href="#about" class="w3-bar-item w3-button w3-mobile">About</a>
  <a href="#contact" class="w3-bar-item w3-button w3-mobile">Contact</a>
  <a href="#contact" class="w3-bar-item w3-button w3-right w3-light-grey w3-mobile">Book Now</a>
</div>
<!-- Header -->
<header class="w3-display-container w3-content" style="max-width:1500px;">
  <img class="w3-image" src="/w3images/hotel.jpg" alt="The Hotel" style="min-width:1000px" width="1500" height="800">
  <div class="w3-display-left w3-padding w3-col l6 m8">
    <div class="w3-container w3-red">
      <h2><i class="fa fa-bed w3-margin-right"></i>Hotel Name</h2>
    </div>
    <div class="w3-container w3-white w3-padding-16">
      <form action="/action_page.php" target="_blank">
        <div class="w3-row-padding" style="margin:0 -16px;">
          <div class="w3-half w3-margin-bottom">
            <label><i class="fa fa-calendar-o"></i> Check In</label>
            <input class="w3-input w3-border" type="text" placeholder="DD MM YYYY" name="CheckIn" required>
          </div>
          <div class="w3-half">
            <label><i class="fa fa-calendar-o"></i> Check Out</label>
            <input class="w3-input w3-border" type="text" placeholder="DD MM YYYY" name="CheckOut" required>
          </div>
        </div>
        <div class="w3-row-padding" style="margin:8px -16px;">
          <div class="w3-half w3-margin-bottom">
            <label><i class="fa fa-male"></i> Adults</label>
            <input class="w3-input w3-border" type="number" value="1" name="Adults" min="1" max="6">
          </div>
          <div class="w3-half">
            <label><i class="fa fa-child"></i> Kids</label>
          <input class="w3-input w3-border" type="number" value="0" name="Kids" min="0" max="6">
          </div>
        </div>
        <button class="w3-button w3-dark-grey" type="submit"><i class="fa fa-search w3-margin-right"></i> Search availability</button>
      </form>
    </div>
  </div>
</header>

<!-- Page content -->
<div class="w3-content" style="max-width:1532px;">

  <div class="w3-container w3-margin-top" id="rooms">
    <h3>Rooms</h3>
    <p>Make yourself at home is our slogan. We offer the best beds in the industry. Sleep well and rest well.</p>
  </div>
 
  <div class="w3-row-padding">
    <div class="w3-col m3">
      <label><i class="fa fa-calendar-o"></i> Check In</label>
      <input class="w3-input w3-border" type="text" placeholder="DD MM YYYY">
    </div>
    <div class="w3-col m3">
      <label><i class="fa fa-calendar-o"></i> Check Out</label>
      <input class="w3-input w3-border" type="text" placeholder="DD MM YYYY">
    </div>
    <div class="w3-col m2">
      <label><i class="fa fa-male"></i> Adults</label>
      <input class="w3-input w3-border" type="number" placeholder="1">
    </div>
    <div class="w3-col m2">
      <label><i class="fa fa-child"></i> Kids</label>
      <input class="w3-input w3-border" type="number" placeholder="0">
    </div>
    <div class="w3-col m2">
      <label><i class="fa fa-search"></i> Search</label>
      <button class="w3-button w3-block w3-black">Search</button>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="w3-row-padding w3-padding-16">
    <div class="w3-third w3-margin-bottom">
      <img src="/w3images/room_single.jpg" alt="Norway" style="width:100%">
      <div class="w3-container w3-white">
        <h3>Single Room</h3>
        <h6 class="w3-opacity">From $99</h6>
        <p>Single bed</p>
        <p>15m<sup>2</sup></p>
        <p class="w3-large"><i class="fa fa-bath"></i> <i class="fa fa-phone"></i> <i class="fa fa-wifi"></i></p>
        <button class="w3-button w3-block w3-black w3-margin-bottom">Choose Room</button>
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="w3-third w3-margin-bottom">
      <img src="/w3images/room_double.jpg" alt="Norway" style="width:100%">
      <div class="w3-container w3-white">
        <h3>Double Room</h3>
        <h6 class="w3-opacity">From $149</h6>
        <p>Queen-size bed</p>
        <p>25m<sup>2</sup></p>
        <p class="w3-large"><i class="fa fa-bath"></i> <i class="fa fa-phone"></i> <i class="fa fa-wifi"></i> <i class="fa fa-tv"></i></p>
        <button class="w3-button w3-block w3-black w3-margin-bottom">Choose Room</button>
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="w3-third w3-margin-bottom">
      <img src="/w3images/room_deluxe.jpg" alt="Norway" style="width:100%">
      <div class="w3-container w3-white">
        <h3>Deluxe Room</h3>
        <h6 class="w3-opacity">From $199</h6>
        <p>King-size bed</p>
        <p>40m<sup>2</sup></p>
        <p class="w3-large"><i class="fa fa-bath"></i> <i class="fa fa-phone"></i> <i class="fa fa-wifi"></i> <i class="fa fa-tv"></i> <i class="fa fa-glass"></i> <i class="fa fa-cutlery"></i></p>
        <button class="w3-button w3-block w3-black w3-margin-bottom">Choose Room</button>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="w3-row-padding" id="about">
    <div class="w3-col l4 12">
      <h3>About</h3>
      <h6>Our hotel is one of a kind. It is truely amazing. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam.</h6>
    <p>We accept: <i class="fa fa-credit-card w3-large"></i> <i class="fa fa-cc-mastercard w3-large"></i> <i class="fa fa-cc-amex w3-large"></i> <i class="fa fa-cc-cc-visa w3-large"></i><i class="fa fa-cc-paypal w3-large"></i></p>
    </div>
    <div class="w3-col l8 12">
      <!-- Image of location/map -->
      <img src="/w3images/map.jpg" class="w3-image w3-greyscale" style="width:100%;">
    </div>
  </div>
 
  <div class="w3-row-padding w3-large w3-center" style="margin:32px 0">
    <div class="w3-third"><i class="fa fa-map-marker w3-text-red"></i> 423 Some adr, Chicago, US</div>
    <div class="w3-third"><i class="fa fa-phone w3-text-red"></i> Phone: +00 151515</div>
    <div class="w3-third"><i class="fa fa-envelope w3-text-red"></i> Email: mail@mail.com</div>
  </div>

  <div class="w3-panel w3-red w3-leftbar w3-padding-32">
    <h6><i class="fa fa-info w3-deep-orange w3-padding w3-margin-right"></i> On demand, we can offer playstation, babycall, children care, dog equipment, etc.</h6>
  </div>

  <div class="w3-container">
    <h3>Our Hotels</h3>
    <h6>You can find our hotels anywhere in the world:</h6>
  </div>
 
  <div class="w3-row-padding w3-padding-16 w3-text-white w3-large">
    <div class="w3-half w3-margin-bottom">
      <div class="w3-display-container">
        <img src="/w3images/cinqueterre.jpg" alt="Cinque Terre" style="width:100%">
        <span class="w3-display-bottomleft w3-padding">Cinque Terre</span>
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="w3-half">
      <div class="w3-row-padding" style="margin:0 -16px">
        <div class="w3-half w3-margin-bottom">
          <div class="w3-display-container">
            <img src="/w3images/newyork2.jpg" alt="New York" style="width:100%">
            <span class="w3-display-bottomleft w3-padding">New York</span>
          </div>
        </div>
        <div class="w3-half w3-margin-bottom">
          <div class="w3-display-container">
            <img src="/w3images/sanfran.jpg" alt="San Francisco" style="width:100%">
            <span class="w3-display-bottomleft w3-padding">San Francisco</span>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
      <div class="w3-row-padding" style="margin:0 -16px">
        <div class="w3-half w3-margin-bottom">
          <div class="w3-display-container">
            <img src="/w3images/pisa.jpg" alt="Pisa" style="width:100%">
            <span class="w3-display-bottomleft w3-padding">Pisa</span>
          </div>
        </div>
        <div class="w3-half w3-margin-bottom">
          <div class="w3-display-container">
            <img src="/w3images/paris.jpg" alt="Paris" style="width:100%">
            <span class="w3-display-bottomleft w3-padding">Paris</span>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="w3-container w3-padding-32 w3-black w3-opacity w3-card w3-hover-opacity-off" style="margin:32px 0;">
    <h2>Get the best offers first!</h2>
    <p>Join our newsletter.</p>
    <label>E-mail</label>
    <input class="w3-input w3-border" type="text" placeholder="Your Email address">
    <button type="button" class="w3-button w3-red w3-margin-top">Subscribe</button>
  </div>

  <div class="w3-container" id="contact">
    <h2>Contact</h2>
    <p>If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask them.</p>
    <i class="fa fa-map-marker w3-text-red" style="width:30px"></i> Chicago, US<br>
    <i class="fa fa-phone w3-text-red" style="width:30px"></i> Phone: +00 151515<br>
    <i class="fa fa-envelope w3-text-red" style="width:30px"> </i> Email: mail@mail.com<br>
    <form action="/action_page.php" target="_blank">
      <p><input class="w3-input w3-padding-16 w3-border" type="text" placeholder="Name" required name="Name"></p>
      <p><input class="w3-input w3-padding-16 w3-border" type="text" placeholder="Email" required name="Email"></p>
      <p><input class="w3-input w3-padding-16 w3-border" type="text" placeholder="Message" required name="Message"></p>
      <p><button class="w3-button w3-black w3-padding-large" type="submit">SEND MESSAGE</button></p>
    </form>
  </div>

<!-- End page content -->
</div>

<!-- Footer -->
<footer class="w3-padding-32 w3-black w3-center w3-margin-top">
  <h5>Find Us On</h5>
  <div class="w3-xlarge w3-padding-16">
    <i class="fa fa-facebook-official w3-hover-opacity"></i>
    <i class="fa fa-instagram w3-hover-opacity"></i>
    <i class="fa fa-snapchat w3-hover-opacity"></i>
    <i class="fa fa-pinterest-p w3-hover-opacity"></i>
    <i class="fa fa-twitter w3-hover-opacity"></i>
    <i class="fa fa-linkedin w3-hover-opacity"></i>
  </div>
  <p>Powered by <a href="https://www.w3schools.com/w3css/default.asp" target="_blank" class="w3-hover-text-green">w3.css</a></p>
</footer>

<!-- Add Google Maps -->
<script>
function myMap() {
  myCenter=new google.maps.LatLng(41.878114, -87.629798);
  var mapOptions= {
    center:myCenter,
    zoom:12, scrollwheel: false, draggable: false,
    mapTypeId:google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
  };
  var map=new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("googleMap"),mapOptions);

  var marker = new google.maps.Marker({
    position: myCenter,
  });
  marker.setMap(map);
}
</script>
<script src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=AIzaSyBu-916DdpKAjTmJNIgngS6HL_kDIKU0aU&callback=myMap"></script>
<!--
To use this code on your website, get a free API key from Google.
Read more at: https://www.w3schools.com/graphics/google_maps_basic.asp
-->

</body>
</html>
2

You are not alone with this feeling and definitely not the first to feel this way. I would recommend finishing the entire responsive web design course before truly starting a project. I just finished the course myself and began starting projects before finishing everything and looking back, definitely was not formatting or coding everything correctly. So I decided to tame my excitement and focus on getting thru everything before applying it in the projects. Once I did that, all the things that you mentioned, I finally learned and understood the where and why.

So to put it shortly, finish the segments, take your notes and then do the projects. It all comes together, but only if you finish the ALL segments

3

Hi @mcmichaeltyler93 !

Welcome to the forum!

It is great that you want to start building projects, but you are still in the early stages of learning and haven’t learned all of the fundamentals yet.
So it is completely normal to struggle to build your first project.

I agree that you should finish learning the fundamentals first by completing the responsive web design course.
If you want additional practice, you can go through some of practice projects from the new project based curriculum.

After that, start by building small projects so you understand how all of the pieces work.
The 5 certification projects at the end would be a good place to start.

Then you can start to build on complexity.

I would hold off on building this kind of stuff until you have finished the steps I laid out earlier.
I promise you will be able to build this kind of stuff, but it is best to ease into it.

I also think doing some of those practice projects in the new curriculum will answer a lot your questions you have about this w3 schools example you showed us.

Hope that helps!

4

I’m a newbie like you, but I think you might be getting a bit ahead of yourself. I think it would be good to finish the entire HTML/CSS course first. Do all the practice projects at the end and get the certification. The practice projects are designed to slowly build up in complexity. They give you plenty examples and little hints and tests that you need to pass, but at the same time you build everything from zero. It’s a nice middle ground.

I was happy with the stuff I was able to build by the time I got to the last project, although it still was pretty simple. Be patient and follow the curriculum, I think that will be best.

5

I think I just have a problem retaining the information AFTER I pass the little tests at the end of each “explanation”. Thanks for the tips though. (:

6

That is because you haven’t had a lot of practice yet.
that is completely normal for all beginners.

After a few months of building stuff then you will remember a lot because of the constant practice and repetition.

7

2 posts were split to a new topic: Help with src url

8

Totally relatable. As others said, keep working toward finishing the RWD curriculum. Do google/duckduckgo/etc for things you don’t understand. And practice, practice, practice! Are you doing through the regular RWD course, or the Beta one? I went through the regular one and it was a good start; I’m excited to work on the Beta when I get more time.

If you are doing the Beta course, check out this YouTube series (This is session 1) put out by Class Central that ran a bootcamp for it:

I attended a bootcamp for the Javascript one and it was super helpful and I heard good things about this HTML one.

Good luck!

9

Thank you so much! I appreciate you sharing that video

1 Like
10

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