Brand New,Project Progress, Questions

[SpeedCuber]

Hey everyone,
I am fairly new to these forums. I have been looking through threads for a matter of weeks, just haven't got around to make an account. All I know is that you guys are very helpful.

Alright let me explain my background around programming.
Little to none. A few weeks ago I had an idea for a website, a website dedicated to helping people solving the rubiks cube. I am very knowledgeable in rubix cubes, as I can solve one in under a minute.
I have always wanted to learn HTML/CSS, and I figured this project would be a good learning experience.

So I have gone through the majority of the Web fundamentals course on codeacadamey. Earlier I borrowed a copy of HTML/XHTML/CSS FOR DUMMIES. I'll look at that later.

I have started on the site, have a pretty basic outline for the site, but I have a few questions for you guys to help me get off to a good start.

So my first Three questions are:

1. So right now I am using boxes to format my webpage. The plan is to have the banner box (Up top) and the Navigation box (Over to the left) Always be the same. Now I could finish it, then copy and paste it a bunch of times, but what if I want to add something..would I have to copy and paste it to every page? Is there a way to link another HTML file to my index, and just have that have the header code? What is the best way to go about doing this?

2. I have no previous expirence with graphic design. I plan to have a few graphical buttons, the logo, and possibly some diagrams. How would I go about getting and or learning how to do these? I do have a copy of Photoshop available to me.

3. I also plan to have an ability to use a stopwatch on the site. What coding language would I program that on? Is it possible for me to use an open source one? It just needs a start/stop and a clear button. Im looking for something basic. Any info will help.

 

[AsheSkyler]

To 1.: Become best friends with PHP include and save yourself hours of headache with copy/paste. The main catch is that any files that have PHP on them will have to be saved as .php files for it to work.

To 2.: Template sites are a good place to start. Glance through a few, become familiar with what works well together or makes your eyes bleed. (Figuratively.) I liked how this article broke down some of the types of layouts.

To 3.: Something like this? JavaScript will likely be your best best. (I guess, I don't know much outside of some HTML and CSS.) Sites like Scripts.com, DynamicDrive.com, and JavaScriptKit are all packed with different scripts.

 

[nullbytes]

I appreciate your intention to learn html and css. You should keep learning html, css and other staffs related to web design. Honestly speaking, you couldn't get those properly in a short period time. Just keep learning with patience.
For your current site, you can use CMS like wordpress to build that. wp is dead easy to use and you will not have to move your plain html site to wordpress in future.