Starting your own Forums
Having been involved in forums as a moderator and forum owner for the last 7 years I have formed my own opinion about the running of forums and their value.
In 2001, I first became a moderator on a forum for persons related to a specific country and the behaviour and in-fighting left a great deal to be desired. The attitude of those who used the forums was bewildering and the outright selfish and inconsiderate manners was appalling to say the least.
Web design in the beginning
Having completed a DTP course (good old Desk Top Publishing) which covered Quark Express, Photoshop and Illustrator; all this on a Mac, a friend asked me whether I would like to develop a website for him while learning to make web sites.

