Tutvid

In the past I've constantly been playing around with Dreamweaver, playing with colors, ideas, templates and then I tear it all down. I'm never satisfied with my set up. When I went to class last Wednesday I realized that I really should have had more to show, but the truth is I keep stalling.
I originally began with an idea about a Language pathfinder- I began to write up some text but then got tired of that idea and switched to an idea about LIS new students. Originally, I was just going to play with colors as I go along but I spoke to a friend about Cascading Style Sheets. She said they helped with her design and layout throughout her whole site.
I remember reading about these things in the book, which tells you what they are but not how to make one. Some of the websites that were provided through the course might help me a little further with this, but honestly I really enjoy video tutorials. I like seeing all the images on the screen.
I found this one website and tutorial called Tutvid http://www.tutvid.com/tutorials/dreamweaver/index.php These tutorials are all very clear and helpful.
Right now I'm finishing up the last bit of my content and this next week I will spend working on a solid design.
I have figured out how to make banners in Gimp but am still experimenting with all the color effects- I like the Render option.
There is still a long way to go but I'm more confident. I know that website construction is not that hard but its just so tedious and time consuming. I constantly walk away thinking if I start now I'll just get sucked in or I'll get frustrated when I can't figure out how to do something. However, I'm happy to say that the tutorials have calmed my nerves.

Caving in

After all my plans to post on my USF website address I have finally changed my mind. This website will eventually fade away, so I might as well purchase a site now so that I can advertise myself well on my resume.
I've considered a few and investigated the book's suggestions. Most of the book ideas were priced at $4.95/month with sites like Brinkster but cheaper reliable web hosting sites exist.
Here is a link by Web Hosting Geeks that list some of their recommendations. The Web Hosting Pad says that it is only $1.99/month but it only offers that rate for someone who buys in for 3 years. I'm tempted but still unsure. There are other sites that offer a year for around $3.50/month. I've included a few other sites with some reviews that have helped guide me to a decision.
b2 evolution
already hosting
top ten reviews

Design

Over the past few weeks we have been reading a lot about design. There is the website's color, texture, font, etc all to consider. In my opinion it is good to establish a primary look that identifies the website yet something that is also easily changeable so it avoids becoming to stagnant. Google seems to master this with their search engine. It seems well known that the google colors are blue, green, yellow and red and white always tends to be the overarching color to calm the user's eyes. Their navigator logo is a big white g surrounded by all these colors, it's familiar. However, they are able to change the look easily with varying fonts and still hold onto the unique google look. It is very well thought out. I hope to establish the same kind of philosophy to my design layout.

For more word art ideas check out www.wordle.net This site allows users to create their own word art by pasting in words. I've presented an example of my word art below that has relevance to words related to my family