Web Design Student
Millikin University

Rachael Cummins

Learning response

User knowledge

I came into this class with never having worked on a Mac computer before, so I learned a lot in this class. Besides learning the basics about a Mac, I was thrown head first into using DreamWeaver. I’ve learned how to use the program quite well and how to create my own website from the beginning using this program. I learned a lot of lingo that is used in the web-designing world. I did not like CSS at all in the beginning but as time went on it kind of grew on me and I once started to use it more the easier it became to design a site and make changes. It really is a great tool if you know how to properly use it. We did a little bit with coding and I had no idea what that was before I took this class. I’ve wondered how websites were put together and how they were actually put on the Internet. In this I learned how to put my work out on the net, add colors, and links. Before this class my user knowledge was zero and now I feel very informed about websites.

Design Knowledge

In the aspect of designing I am not very good. I am not an artist or anything like that; I draw stick people! I was pretty excited that this class allowed me to use photo shop and that I did not have to actually draw anything. I think the greatest thing that I learned in this class was being able to have an idea in my head and actually putting it into a computer and making a website from it. When I first started all of this I thought that bigger was better so I always wanted to use really big fonts and pictures. I guess I thought my message would get across better that way but I learned I was wrong. It's better to use fonts that are smaller so the person looking at your site feels comfortable and can feel the purpose and meaning of the site. I learned the orientation and navigation are essential for web-design. If you want people to understand what your site is it about you need to have clear labels and being able to move around the site easily so the person wants to stay and not run off because there is too much going on.

Management Knowledge

When it comes to management knowledge I think that I had a pretty good understanding of what this was like since I work in business atmosphere everyday. Working on the client case was a lot like working my suppliers. There was a lot of communication that went back and forth. We worked closely with the client to make sure that our group was capturing everything that they wanted on the site. This case required a lot of group work and a great deal of time management. When it comes to group work I am not very fond of relying on other people to do work, I would rather do it myself. But I think that this class forced me to rely on my other group members to get this site put together for our client because we all have different skills and there are things that I don’t know how to do. So I really learned how to rely on others.

Tutoring Knowledge

I think that our class was filled with a wide range on skills and knowledge. It was great seeing everyone come together and help each other when we needed it. It was also really nice to see how everyone has progressed through out the semester and it’s really great knowing that we all helped each other get to that point. I liked the fact that we reviewed our projects to our classmates because we were given good criticism and then helped each other fix our mistakes and make changes that would improve our site.

Hands On Training Tutorial Responses

Chapter 13

Forms are something that I would have to do more than once before I totally get the hang of it but they are really cool and quite easy to make. I wish I would have known about this chapter when we were working on the Mayfly case. This type of form would have been great as an order form and it would have made our site look much better than it did. Most of this seems pretty reasonable to understand but the one area I would need more work in would be were you give them a scroll down or list menu or clicking the button next to what item you wanted. I can make a form but those things I'll need help with. This chapter was really helpful.

client case planning

I think that the English class is looking for a site that is more informative than it is entertaining. They still want the site to appeal to people but they don't want to draw away from the main purpose. They are reading a very strong book and the site needs to show that but it also needs to have color and appeal. They don't any ads and they won't be selling anything online, so I guess they need more of an informational site. The people who stop by and see the site will be doing alot more reading than they will bowsing.

This site goes along with The Great Gatsby. This site shows that its informational and that there will be much reading involved. There are few things for people to be browsing through but I think that people who are coming to this site expect to read more and be informed of the book.
http://www.geocities.com/andrew_dilling/

This site also has to do with The Great Gatsby and this site shows what we are trying to stay away from. There are ads about ipods, message boards, books on tape and many other things that can draw you away from the book and what you are there to do. There is alot of browsing that can be done on this site.
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/

Chapter 11

This chapter for me was part review and part learning something new. Creating a simple rollover was pretty easy and we had alrewady gone over that in class but it was still a nice refresher to see again. The two big things I learned in this chapter were about flash buttons and these special rollover buttons that allowed over text to show up while the mouse was over that button. I've always thought that the flash buttons were really cool and I see that everyone else's website has them but mine and now that I know how to somewhat make them, I'm pretty excited. The buttons that allow other text to pop up was pretty neat also. I'm not sure I'm ready to use all of that but I really like the idea behind it.

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 went pretty smoothly and seemed to make common sense. It was actually kind of cool to see how places make a printer friendly version of their web page. I always seem to use that function but never thought twice of how it was done until now and its pretty neat. The style rendering toolbar was pretty cool. It was nice to see what the page looked like in different places and having all those previews in one handy toolbar on my page.

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 turned out to be more of an easier chapter due to the fact that we've already done some work with tables. This chapter really helped me understand them better and it also helped me solve some of my frustrating problems that I've been having with tables. Inserting pictures and adding different background colors are quite simple now. The one thing that I'm still having a problem with is the spacing. I'm not sure I'll ever completely figure this out. Aligning the text is much easier now and working with tables isn't a pain anymore but is now seen as useful and a great tool to make websites and makes them fun to do. This chapter came into great use with our mayfly case because we are basing our pages off of tables and formatting them. Tables make life so much better. A really cool tool that I learned was about the rounded-corner table. It adds to the site to make it look fun and not so square and clean cut. I like the bubble affect that you get form them and they seem kind of modern. This was a very useful chapter.

Web Design
Links Page Critique

I reviewed Lorin's page:

Orientation:
The purpose of this site was very clear. Online dating was a great choice. This site is was very useful and very diverse. There seemed to be a section for everyone. Her purpose of online dating was clearly stated at the top and there was no misleading to be had. The organization of her site was very nice too. Everything was clearly labeled in a table at the top of the page in a nice table. The links were easy to use and it clearly stated what category the link was taking you to. Every category was then even further broken down. Every category had at least two subcategories to choose from. Every category had its own section of the website and links back and forth through out the page.

Navigation:
It was easy to move through out the site and where you were going was easy to see. Every subcategory had a description of its link and what it was about.The preview before viewing was great. I knew exactly what to expect before I even got there. All of the links worked and were setup well. She had a different table for every category and that helped a lot with moving through out the page.

General Design:
Lorin chose a great topic bc more and more people are using online dating and it really seems to be one the hot things to do right now. She kept a neutral voice and never tried to persuade someone and gave a lot of choices. The background was really neat and it fit the site perfectly. The color or the back ground was nice and it wasn't over baring. You were still able to clearly read what she had on her site on the background. Her descriptions were easy to read and follow. Over all this was a great idea and a very well done site. I think that it would be very helpful to people.

resume critique

good resume http://jobsearch.about.com/library/samples/blhrresume.htm

Bad resume http://www.careers.unsw.edu.au/careerEd/jobApplications/resumes/badResume.aspx

Chapter 7

Typography

This chapter was a continuation of CSS and working with headings and tabs. I have a better feel of how to add text and edit it as well. This chapter didn't seem very difficult but I think the hard part is remembering how to use CSS and making the tabs for them. Editing the tabs was easy and adding font to a list that wasn't already available was pretty easy too. I starting to really like this now that I know how to add and edit the font and what type of fonts work well together and what kind don't. I will say that a lot of my learning has been from trial and error. I've made a lot of mistakes and the book helps as a guide to on your time through the steps but the way I really learn is to just sit down and do it. From doing the exersizes and then going through and figuring it out on my own has really showen in my work and i'm now actually able to help someone if needed. I really liked this chapter and its great to know all of this now b/c working on my asignments have become much easier. It's good to know how to add role over through flash text because last week I didn't know that and I had to do it through page properties instead of CSS.

Chapter 6

CSS and Page Properties

This has been the most difficult chapter of the book so far. Being able to change the color of the background or the font on multiple pages of a website is a great tool. The only thing is, this tool is so confusing. Using the page properties to change the color and font of that page was great to learn bc it will help me with the tasks that I have to do on my own. Knowing where to go to change the color and spacing is a very good tool to know how to use. I also learned how to hide that line that shows up under a link and how to add color when your mouse rolls over it. That was really cool and great to know. I'm a little confused on what all we did when we were exporting and linking external css files. I am totally confused by all the New CSS Rule tabs that we made. I know that the CSS Rule pane contains all of the CSS rules that affect the current document. I made so me many of these tabs that i'm not sure what all they did. If I had to create my own cascading style sheet on my own, I'm not sure I could or know exactly what they did or how to create all these CSS Rule tabs. I'm really confused and over whelmed after this chapter and I thought that I was doing so well and I feel like I didn't understand one thing I did in this chapter.

A Favorite Website:

Web Address: http://xxxxx?

"Site Analysis"
Website Review for J Crew

Orientation

The orientation on this website is put together very well. This site has great color, graphics, and movie clips that really appeal to the visitor. There is bright yellow’s and oranges on the opening page and the colors really seem to match the season. With it being summer the colors really play a part in the website. They have the video clip that shows the people in the park and on the street which gives the person a sense of what to expect from this company and their clothes. They are also putting together an image of what people are like that wear their clothes. They even have sound on the intro which appeals to people. You can tell that there was a lot of work put into making this website and oddly enough this matters to the consumer because no one is going to buy something from a poor looking website. All of this ensures trust in the consumer that they will receive their product in good condition and not be setup for a scam.

Navigation

There are great navigation buttons on the left hand side of the page. As you scroll over them they change in color so you know exactly where you are and what you’re selecting. There are also buttons on the top and bottom of the page. Across the top you have tabs that are clearly labeled such as Men, Women, and Kids. Those buttons also change color so you know what you are selecting. Also on the top left hand corner there in the J Crew logo that shows on every page and allows you to go back to the home page at anytime. When you select a category it breaks it down into sub categories. There are shoes which break down into sandals and heels and at the same time the color changes and you can still see all of the other categories such as pants, shirts, and bags. This site is very user friendly.

Content Quality

The content of this website is actually pretty good. When you select a category to shop from is gives you a picture of every item that falls into that category and that you can buy. You can also click on the item to get a closer view, a change of color, and even a different view of the item. The pictures are really great. The mood of the website tends to be up beat and inviting. The text is easy to read and easy to see over the different colors. All of the links work and take you to the correct place. There isn’t anything misleading or confusing.

Chapter 5

In this chapter I became more comfortable with the properties tool bar. The arrow linking is a great and useful tool. I got a great feel for inserting pictures while using the arrow linking function. I'm really starting to like the tool bars and easy to use buttons on it. The e-mail link, named anchor, and link buttons are great and save so much time and confusion for me. I really like how the name anchor and the link function all work together and how easy it was to make tabs that took you back to the top of the page or to other major topics on the page.

Chapter 4

The importance of index.htm is quite important and helpful. Having this as a default document not only helps create the website but helps the viewer in the fact that they don't have to type more than what is needed.

The title is the name that shows up on the browser and the filename is the actual file that you save on your computer and must have .htm or .html

The assets panel came into great use when we started to insert pictures.

Chapter 3

What I liked about chapter 3 was the step-by-step instructions with pictures. The pictures are very helpful to me since this software is new to me, it was nice to see what exactly was being asked of me to do and to see if I really new what I was doing. This chapter helped me get a better understanding of what the files panel does and its purpose. I also got a better understanding for the property inspector as well.

To create a new folder: Click on the folder you want the "new folder" to be added to and then hold ctrl and click the mouse.

hold ctrl+click= Right Click

This chapter was not as difficult as I thought it would be. I still don't completely understand what all I did in this chapter.

Chapter 2

1) When using the Browser Target Check, how do you know what codes are right for each browser?

2) Why is it important to have so many panels, groups, windows, and tool bars? I'm having a hard time keeping them all straight.

Chapter 1

1) What exactly is coding or code? How do you know what codes to write to get what you want?

2) What is the big advantage of using xhtml over html? Do people tend to like it better?