1: Use framework: jQuery (for animated effects/AJAX), CodeIgniter for backend. Or mootools/scriptaculous if you inclined so. 2: Learn to use CSS selectors effe

1: Use framework: jQuery (for animated effects/AJAX), CodeIgniter for backend. Or mootools/scriptaculous if you inclined so. 2: Learn to use CSS selectors effectively. It changed my world in a day literally. Easy to digest source: http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/html-css-techniques/the-30-css-selectors-you-must-memorize/ http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/html-css-techniques/the-30... 3: Only use fancy fonts for headings, never body copy. 4: If stuck on design, browse famous Web Design Gallery or CSS gallery for blog and current trend design. For corporate or more convensional, i like to pick inpirations from templatemonster.com 5: For backend, best to learn from basic. Type the tutorial codes one by one and understand how it works. If short on time, just focus on CRUD operation. When got more time, learn how to optimize it for speed and maintainability. After that, pick any frameworks that is popular and promising. It will help shortern your development time tremendously. :)