Having problem doing the projects

#1

Started learning about web development two months ago… I love the coding part and doing the challenges, am relatively okay with HTML, CSS and JS but I get stuck on the projects mostly because I lack the imagination of coming up with the contents and design… I thought of trying to do just the minimum requirements but very hesitant as i want to do it right and at least put on a good effort for every project so that at the very least it pleases me… how can i present my work to a potential employer if i myself who did it isn’t pleased with it, right?

so i just want to ask, if anyone can share their work process on coming up with contents on their project or any web project… is there any workflow that you follow or tools that could assist?

#2

Hi,
I can give you some tips.

  • Keep practicing programming every day for a short time periods, not all day long.
  • Try to copy some websites that you really admire. You can learn a lot that way.
  • Read some books on HTML , CSS, and Javascript.
  • Create websites that are useful to you, something that you would use everyday like a weather application.
  • Find a way to check your code for errors from within your text editor as you are typing.
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#3

Yeah, a lot of coders aren’t good at content and design. It’s worth learning about design, but you also don’t have to freak out about it. A lot of it you will just pick up over time. Just do your best and accept that that isn’t your strength. (Like me.)

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#4

Starting the projects and meeting the minimum requirements is a good start.

Styling? Yeah, that’s the hard part. So for the tribute page you’ve met requirements. What do you think would make it look good? You’ve visited pages on the web so think about something you may have seen somewhere and come up with a picture in your mind, write down some ideas and try that style.
The form. Meh, it’s a form. You can add a few things that give it a bit of a flourish but again it is a form.
The tech doc page. For me I thought of other tech doc pages I’ve seen and used and written in my career so for me I just wanted something utilitarian.

I could go on and on but you get the point.
Start out by just doing the projects. As you gain more knowledge you can always come back to them and update them if something new hits you.
You can meet the requirements and decide that you have a totally off the wall design that you want to do and while it may not meet FCC’s user stories it may be a project/page that you may want to showcase to a potential employer. In that case you may have two forms. One that meets requirements, one that you showcase.

Make projects, have fun.

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#5

I always had same problems, what worked for me is to create some visual help.
I’m an artist on other things (I make some awesome stuff on leather, carving and that kind of things) Also I’m good with html/css/js but creating my own designs for web was painfully for too many years.

So I tried a lot of things for “activate” my designers brain, read a lot, copy a lot, but at the end what make in my case enlighten that spark is what I call “visually playing with vectors” hehe.

Just take some pics from internet and start to play with them on inkscape (gimp or any graphic software should work) . You know, drawing some shapes, add text and pictures and play a bit creating layouts or whatever. Until I’m satisfied with what I have. Usually playing with different layouts gives me some good ideas.

For some people drawing things on a paper helps too, I use vectors because is what I feel more comfortable, method doesn’t care too much, what really cares is real time visualization of the elements, layouts, colors, etc…

And the best of all is at the end you will have an image template, very easy to code later!

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#6

Thanks so much for the tip! :smiley:

#7

Such great advice. I do need that reminder to “just do it” …sometimes i tend to overthink things that i sometimes fail to notice that it has paralyzed me. Thank you!

#8

Ooh I’ll try this one out, am a visual person so I think this will help a lot… I used to be creative but I lost it when I started corporate… I sometimes dwell on how to rekindle that spark… Still on the search… Thanks for the tip, very much appreciated.

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