Website Course Overview

Hello Future Team Members,

Welcome to the the Small Biz Dezines Career Training Center’s Website Division. Each year we enroll individuals who desire to become professional web designers into our 1 – 2 year program.

We welcome a limited number of students to our school each year. We are excited to have them as a part of our website program. Together they will learn what websites are, how they work, and how to create them.

Students are trained in real time on the newest, freshest and most sought after methods, tools and platforms used currently in web design. All students also get significant real time experience on working hands on with real client sites as part of our intern program.

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We feel that this is the most comprehensive and intense career/vocational and educational training program for future website designers available online or through any traditional brick and mortar school. Not only do students get trained on the classic elements of web design.

Graduates of our training program can expect to earn $20-30 an hour average on assignments after they graduate from the program. You receive your Website Intern Certification after you have successfully complete all required course curriculum and intern requirements. At which time all of those with higher GPA’s will be offered a full time or part time staff designer position with our benefactor Total Custom Solutions. Others may likely continue as an intern, a part time freelance designer or will be assisted in building their resume and portfolio. Assistance will be provided for job placement or on how to start your own web design business.

NOW AVAILABLE! 100% Tuition Paid Work Study Program

The fee for the Vocational Training Center including all aspects of the curriculum and intern program is about $4,000.00 for the whole year. Payable in 4 quarterly payments. Students do have an opportunity to work at their own pace and receive additional training or assistance from our instructors and Team Members. Added cost for this additional training is usually offset by work study and rarely has to be paid out of pocket by the student. We do not accept or participate in traditional state and federal loan and grant programs. However we do offer a work study plan for those applicants that are accepted into the program and do not feel that they can afford the tuition or want the added experience that the work study program provides. Work study is available to each and every accepted applicant and IS NOT based on financial need. It is the option of the new student to put in more hours in the program or putting in less hours overall and paying the tuition. There are additional perks with the work study program NOT the reverse. It is the belief of this school that the more real world website design practice and experience that a student gets the more they will succeed in the workplace. Our benefactor Total Custom Solutions pays the tuition for the work study student in lieu for the students 10-15 hours per week work study/intern work on real world client websites.

In addition to tuition, the only thing students will need is a reasonable computer and internet connection.

Only the highest ranked students will be offered the on staff positions with Total Custom Solutions. However, ALL others will be granted a chance to work part-time through us as a freelance website designer upon program completion. ALL students are advised and helped on starting their very own website design business after graduation and certificate is in hand.

While we do not guarantee what is traditionally considered a “job”. Most Commercial Website Designers work freelance. However, our sister company and benefactor Total Custom Solutions does usually hire or offer positions to our top students each year. In addition, they offer many of our students the opportunity to take on several freelance projects. In addition, all students who fully complete the course with good grades are given full support and help with a personalized website to feature all of your work and to promote you as freelance designer. The combination of a solid portfolio, internship references from TCS and the proper website our graduates find it easy to find website design work quickly.

Core studies overview

Students participate and study each class section until it is learned, completed and then you will do a test project. Then you will advance to the next level. We have four quarters to the training program. Each Quarter is identified as freshmen to senior level courses. It is expected that students complete this total course in about 1 – 2 full calendar years. However, it is a home schooled program focused on your quality of learning and ability to grasp and learn the material more so than it is based on how fast you get through it. Thus, some excel and complete it in much less while some others take significantly longer.

The classes are comprised of Basic Content Management Training, Advanced Content Management, HTML, CSS and PHP, Training with Widgets, Gadgets, and Plugins.

Freshman Interns will learn and do Advanced Content Management and Basic Content Management lessons. By the time you complete this section you should know how to work with Advanced Content Management Systems such as Joomla, Drupal, and/or WordPress and Basic CMS. You will also be introduced to a few basic and simple widgets, plug-ins and gadgets. The first part of your test final project will be to create four websites using the Basic Content Management System and inserting a variety of code snippets, tables, widgets and gadgets, to show the maximum potential of these basic websites. The second part of your Freshman final test project will be for Advanced CMS and will include the creation of six high end CMS/PHP database driven websites which will include social networks, shopping cart systems, auction websites, community forums, flash photo galleries. When you finish the Advanced Content Management Training, Basic Content Management Training lessons and finish your test projects for each you will advance to being a Sophomore intern.

Sophomore Interns will learn and do HTML lessons. By the time you complete this section you should be competent enough to both build basic HTML, Basic and Advanced CMS websites and more importantly able to make minor HTML code edits or insert code in a variety of template types, existing websites or more likely modify Drupal, joomla and WordPress code to suit your needs. We do this course second in the intern training program so you can learn HTML coding to be used within the CMS websites. Your Sophomore final will be to create four simple custom HTML websites using only Notepad ++. Once you do the final HTML test project you will advance to be a Junior Intern.

Junior Interns will be learning and doing lessons for Custom Style Sheets (CSS ) related Training. By the time you complete this section you should know how to design and add custom CSS to any existing basic HTML website. This will make everything you do from here a bit more custom and dynamic. Your Final Test Project will include creating and designing six HTML/CSS websites. You will also take your four basic HTML websites that you built in your Sophomore class and improve them by adding CSS code to them. Making and giving them an even more dynamic design.

Senior Interns learn PHP Coded Training. By the time you complete this course you should know how to take basic PHP templated websites and modify and insert a variety of HTML, CSS, and PHP code. The tail end of this course will help you understand various subtle yet very important CSS and PHP code snippets. Once you finish the PHP class and do your test project you will be ready to start your Final Project. Now you will also be encouraged to now go over all of your websites and improve them to the best of your ability with everything you have learned in the training program thus far. The Final Project in this course will be to create a PHP website with a very detailed set of information. It is a fun project that transforms into a PHP website before your very eyes.

We reserve the right to modify and alter course material as the school sees fit to stay on top of the most current and comprehensive tools, systems, platforms and techniques. We refuse to be outdated and our graduates enter the field poorly prepared. Each class will be given a grade from 0 – 100. You will be permitted to go back over your existing class or go forward so long as you have a 70% or higher passing grade. Remember, if you are seeking a staff position you will need a final GPA of 85%. Each of the four classes will weigh as follows on your final GPA. No one fails in our school – they get to retake whatever is needed to make sure they have mastered everything they need to be productive after graduation. Work as fast or as slow as needed to grasp every detail of your education.

Freshman – 20%
Sophomore – 10%
Junior – 15%
Senior – 20%
Final Project Rework – 10%
Internship – 25%

We will be using a learning management system to teach you the different levels of training mentioned above. It is very similar to a regular online school. This will be a very fun and interactive environment for all of us learn in.

To apply for one of these coveted positions click here to apply. You will be considered for many reasons. However your ability to explain why you want to be a website designer is important. You should somehow impress or dazzle us so your essay stands out above all of the others. Your financial ability to pay is not a factor at all due to the 100% tuition paid work study program available to all accepted applicants. Your transcripts from other schools, your other life experiences, trainings or community service activities will have some effect in your acceptance. However, Your passionate, heart-filled essay is of the most importance. It can even make us overlook many other shortcomings.

Good Luck,

Sara Daugherty

Instructor/Teacher/Mentor/