How to create a website without using HTML

Learn how to create a fast and awesome responsive website that will work on all devices, PC, laptop, tablet, and phone.

Índice Show

Create a Website with a CSS Framework
A "Layout Draft"
Doctype, Meta Tags, and CSS
Creating Page Content
Semantic Elements
The Navigation Bar
Sections and Articles

Create a Website with a CSS Framework

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A "Layout Draft"

It is always wise to draw a layout draft of the page design before building a website.

Having a "Layout Draft" will make it a lot easier to create a web site:

Navigation bar

Description of the band

Footer

Doctype, Meta Tags, and CSS

The doctype should define the page as an HTML5 document:

A meta tag should define the character set to be UTF-8:

A viewport meta tag should make the web site work on all devices and screen resolutions:

W3.CSS should take care of all our styling needs and all device and browser differences:

To learn more about styling with W3.CSS, please visit our W3.CSS Tutorial.

Our first empty web page will look much like this:

<!DOCTYPE html><html><meta charset="UTF-8"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><link rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.w3schools.com/w3css/3/w3.css"><body></body>

</html>

Creating Page Content

Inside the <body> element of our web site we will use our "Layout Picture" and create:

A navigation bar
A slide show
A header
Some sections and articles
A footer

Semantic Elements

HTML5 introduced several new semantic elements. Semantic elements are important to use because they define the structure of web pages and helps screen readers and search engines to read the page correctly.

These are some of the most common semantic HTML elements:

The <section> element can be used to define a part of a website with related content.

The <article> element can be used to define an individual piece of content.

The <header> element can be used to define a header (in a document, a section, or an article).

The <footer> element can be used to define a footer (in a document, a section, or an article).

The <nav> element can be used to define a container of navigation links.

In this tutorial we will use semantic elements.

However, it is up to you if you want to use <div> elements instead.

On our "Layout Draft" we have a "Navigation bar".

<nav class="w3-bar w3-black"> <a href="#home" class="w3-button w3-bar-item">Home</a> <a href="#band" class="w3-button w3-bar-item">Band</a> <a href="#tour" class="w3-button w3-bar-item">Tour</a> <a href="#contact" class="w3-button w3-bar-item">Contact</a>

</nav>

Try it Yourself »

We can use a <nav> or <div> element as a container for the navigation links.

The w3-bar class is a container for navigation links.

The w3-black class defines the color of the navigation bar.

The w3-bar-item and w3-button class styles the navigation links inside the bar.

Slide Show

On the "Layout Draft" we have a "Slide show".

For the slide show we can use a <section> or <div> element as a picture container:

<section> <img class="mySlides" src="img_la.jpg" style="width:100%"> <img class="mySlides" src="img_ny.jpg" style="width:100%"> <img class="mySlides" src="img_chicago.jpg" style="width:100%">

</section>

Try it Yourself »

We need to add a little JavaScript to change the images every 3 seconds:

// Automatic Slideshow - change image every 3 secondsvar myIndex = 0; carousel();function carousel() { var i; var x = document.getElementsByClassName("mySlides"); for (i = 0; i < x.length; i++) { x[i].style.display = "none"; } myIndex++; if (myIndex > x.length) {myIndex = 1} x[myIndex-1].style.display = "block"; setTimeout(carousel, 3000);

}

Try it Yourself »

Sections and Articles

Looking at the "Layout Draft" we can see that the next step is to create articles.

First we will create a <section> or <div> element containing band information:

<section class="w3-container w3-center" style="max-width:600px"> <h2 class="w3-wide">THE BAND</h2> <p class="w3-opacity"><i>We love music</i></p>

</section>

Try it Yourself »

The w3-container class takes care of standard padding.

The w3-center class centers the content.

The w3-wide class provides a wider heading.

The w3-opacity class provides text transparency.

The max-width style sets a maximum with of the band description section.

Then we will add a paragraph describing the band:

<section class="w3-container w3-content w3-center" style="max-width:600px"> <p class="w3-justify"> We have created a fictional band website. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.</p>

</section>

Try it Yourself »

The w3-justify class justifies the text's right and left margins.

Then create a <section> or <div> with an <article> or <div> about each band-member:

<section class="w3-row-padding w3-center w3-light-grey"> <article class="w3-third"> <p>John</p> <img src="img_bandmember.jpg" alt="Random Name" style="width:100%"> </article> <article class="w3-third"> <p>Paul</p> <img src="img_bandmember.jpg" alt="Random Name" style="width:100%"> </article> <article class="w3-third"> <p>Ringo</p> <img src="img_bandmember.jpg" alt="Random Name" style="width:100%"> </article>

</section>

Try it Yourself »

Footer

Finally we will use a <footer> or <div> to create a footer:

<footer class="w3-container w3-padding-64 w3-center w3-black w3-xlarge"> <a href="#"><i class="fa fa-facebook-official"></i></a> <a href="#"><i class="fa fa-pinterest-p"></i></a> <a href="#"><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i></a> <a href="#"><i class="fa fa-flickr"></i></a> <a href="#"><i class="fa fa-linkedin"></i></a> <p class="w3-medium"> Powered by <a href="https://www.w3schools.com/w3css/default.asp" target="_blank">w3.css</a> </p>

</footer>

Try it Yourself »

The fa fa classes are Font Awesome Icon classes.

To use these classes you must link to a Font Awesome library:

To learn more about using icons, please visit our Icons Tutorial.

The first thing you’ll need to do is select a name for your website. Make it unique to your brand, easy to remember and spell, and not too lengthy. You will have to pay for the ownership of your website’s name, but most domains only cost around $10–$20 per year to maintain. Shop around for a registrar that sounds good to you. BlueHost, GoDaddy, and HostGator are all highly rated.

If you’re not familiar with coding, and don’t have the time and resources to learn, building a website through an open source content management system (CMS) might be the more sensible option. Unlike a website builder, an open source CMS allows you to totally customize your website.

Open source software CMS

The most common open source CMS used for building a website is WordPress. In fact, over 40% of all websites are run by WordPress.1 You can either access this software through your web host, or by downloading and installing it on your personal computer. The CMS itself is very robust, so you may want to dedicate some time to a WordPress tutorial—especially if this is your first time using the software.

Another popular CMS is Webflow. Like WordPress, Webflow is an open source software that allows for total customization. Webflow is also known for having better web design customization, rather than relying on pre-made templates.

Templates and themes

Once you’ve become familiar with WordPress, you’ll need to choose a theme. The theme of your website is the overall look and feel, so it’s important to be selective and choose one that resonates with your brand.

You can create and upload your own template to WordPress, or choose from millions of templates available online. If you choose a WordPress theme, you will be able to totally customize the appearance—colors, fonts, photos, logos, etc.

If customizing your web design (even in an easy-to-use template) sounds a little daunting, you might want to hire a freelance web designer to create a custom template for your website.

Hiring a developer

If all of this still sounds overwhelming, but you still don’t want to use a website builder, you always have the option of hiring a professional freelance web developer to build a website for you. Freelancers may charge an hourly rate or fixed rate, and costs can run anywhere from $500 to $3,000. If you have the means, this route may be worth it in the long run since you’ll be saving time, and receiving a high-quality product.