Well if you came here hopefully you do not know much. I was going to make this a list of how to make a general webpage but that has been done before. So instead, I am making something a little less common.

When you go to create a webpage there are certain things that must be done. You have to decide on what type you want to make it: fixed or fluid, a color scheme, and a layout.

Well lets start with whether your page should be fixed or fluid. I prefer to make them all fixed, except for forums. With a forum you can increase the size or decrease it without too many issues. For all other pages, I would make them fixed.

Fixed = A set overall width                 Fluid = A set % percentage is used

You can make a fixed page appear that it takes up more room than it does with a background image, big or a small repeating one.

FIXED

If you have decided upon fixed, bravo! if not well there is still some time to convince you. I am not completely opposed to a fluid website its just in my experience it has not been as useful as a fixed website.

Now you need to calculate a fixed width for your webpage. There is a great blog from Toby Miller about calculating the width for a website.

Here is a simple overview but for a more in-depth look - click here –

Color Scheme

To start off with, get your logo set. You want to build a website around your main colors that you use for everything, not the other way around. So to make it simple get your color for the logo and use a color scheme designer. There are some great designers out there, but one I especially like is this one here.

You are been able choose the main color and it gives you the complimentary colors for your web project. It has a ton of variety and was really well made.

Layout

Lastly, but still important is your layout. 1 column, 2 column, 3 column, left nav, top nav, flash, so many options its very hard. What I like to do when doing a design project is to look at the competition. There are so many people who have done it longer than you that it can be extremely helpful just looking at other people's coding style or methods used. This is how I learned best.

Until I go to write the code for these – Dynamic Drive – has a great set of source code to use as a starting point for either Fixed or Fluid Layouts.