Final Project

I have learned so much in this class I am not sure where to begin. I loved working with Photoshop and learning how to take a simple picture, turn it into a gray scale picture and then add color to certain objects. I think that is a great feature and tool to know how to use. I also enjoyed learning and understanding HTML. This will help me in my current job as some of the applications that I work with are HTML based.

When building my own website, I started in FrontPage. I chose to use one of the templates in FrontPage as it was similar colors and layout to what I had pictured. I did struggle a little trying to make it fit to my storyboards, but overall it was not unmanageable. I added tables and columns to make the layout suit my needs. Once I was completed in FrontPage, I started my web 2.0 project. I chose Webnode for a couple of reasons. First, there are no ads. Second, I didn’t want to drag and drop as you do in Weebly. In Webnode, I chose a layout design based on the color and initial layout. At first, I was completely frustrated with it because I didn’t understand how to change the initial layout. After playing around with it, I figured out ways to add pictures and text so that they were in the same text box. I like the additional features that the web 2.0 allows you to add, such as a poll. I tried to add a slide show of photos to my home page in Webnode and it would not allow me to do so which was very frustrating. I felt like I had to settle, but overall I thought using web 2.0 was better than using FrontPage. The results of FrontPage are not as professional as a web 2.0 application and the web 2.0 application was much easier to use.

My two websites are very similar as I was able to primarily maintain the original layout, but of course there are some differences. The color in FrontPage is on the entire webpage, whereas in web 2.0 there is a white boarder on either side. I liked the white boarder because it gives it a clean look.

Both of the websites differ somewhat from my storyboard. The FrontPage website is closer to my storyboard than the web 2.0 project. Since FrontPage was more flexible with the layout, since I could add or delete, it turned out very similar to my storyboard. The only thing that I was not able to do in FrontPage was to add a white boarder on both sides. The web 2.0 turned out similar to my storyboards as well, but there were a couple of things that I needed to change, especially on the jump page, due to the layout not being as flexible. Finally, my completed website address is http://www.firstskydive.webnode.com/.

Website Project

I have had some experience with html, but never truly knew exactly what I was doing. I tried to self teach myself by going on-line to look up html language. After taking this class, I know have a much better understanding of html and hope to be able to utilize this in my current job. Fortunately for this class, I don't have to write an entire website in html. With the use of Frontpage, I will begin to layout my first website. It is scary for me to write "my first website" as I am not a designer by any stretch of the imagination. Therefore, I will need to keep in mind the "CRAP" principles and be sure to follow them in order to have a nicely designed website.

About two years ago I was visiting my parents and there was an article in their paper about an woman who went skydiving for her 80th birthday. As my mom was telling me about this article, I informed them that I wanted to do that for my 30th birthday. Both of my parents seemed liked they were slightly shocked by this, but also intrigued. As the time neared for my skydiving adventure, I was afraid to say something to my mom as I wasn't sure how she would react now that it was time for me to go skydiving. I finally decided that I should tell her when I was going to be doing this. She started to ask me several questions about it. I then asked her if she wanted to go and she said she would. I was shocked by this as I would not have imagined that she would want to do this.

The day had come for our skydiving adventure. We were both so excited about this and I was extremely anxious as I had been looking forward to this for some time. The experience was great and I would definitely do it over again. Since skydiving isn't something I do everyday and it is something that interests me, I chose to do my website on this. I think the name of my website will be Skydiving, but I am not completely sold on that yet. Throughout the website, I will primarily be explaining the process of what happens when you go tandem skydiving and explain the learning, the flight and the jump. I will then post pictures of each event along with a photo montage of the entire process. For those that visit this site, they will have a better understanding of what actually happens when you go skydiving. I will have a link to where I went skydiving and some other links to other locations that offer this adventure. I already have it sketched out on paper as to how I would like my website to look. The next trick is to get my website to look like that. I have also started to edit my pictures so that they are compatible for a website. I will probably use Webnode for my Web 2.0 project after I complete my project in Frontpage. I will then have something to remind me of my 30th birthday adventure.

Web Design - Week 4

After class the other night, I realized how easy it can be to create your own website; however, is that necessarily a good idea? Since technology makes it simple for someone to create a website that does not necessarily mean that the creator understands how to make a good website. Did they think through the entire process from start to finish or did they just randomly place pictures, logos and words on a page? There are several things to think about before someone creates a website. For instance, What is the objective of your website, who do you want to attract to your website, what would you like your domain name to be, who will you choose as a server for your website and why is that important? All of those are questions that should be answered before someone creates their website.

Since some creators of websites may not logically think through their design, they could end up with a bad website that people do not want to visit. If the website is for business purposes, the creator may want to think about hiring someone to build their website or they may want to consider learning more about website design. Even though the website might look attractive to them, what does it say to the reader. After all, the reader is the important piece in this equation. For instance, if you have things flashing and scrolling and different colors that might look cool to you, is it too much for the reader to look at. Will the reader actually stop and look at your website to figure out what you are talking about? Probably not, as the reader of a website is scanning it at first to see if it is something that interests them. If the reader has to look for the purpose, they will move on.

If you decide to higher someone to build your website, this could be costly. Also, each time you want to update your website, you will probably need to go back to your designer and pay them to fix something. A website designer may also make the website complicated and not user friendly. That is something that you should be careful of when choosing a designer. Therefore, a designer may not always be feasible. If you have the time to learn about the tools you need to create a good website, it may be worth it in the long run. This way each time you want to update a picture or a link or add a page to your website, you can do it yourself without having to pay someone (assuming that your provider will not charge you to change it).

Something else to keep in mind when building a website is it is easy to navigate. If the website is too fancy or too difficult to navigate, then the reader may move onto another website. Usability is important in website design. There is also accessibility. Can everyone access your website? You may be thinking, yes if they have access to a website. This may not always be the case. What if someone has a disability? Can that person access your website and find it easy to use? This is yet another important concept when developing a website.