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Monday, October 14, 2013

Oct. 15 - Web Design Assignment

Please find instructions below for creating a 3-page web site. The assignment is due on Friday (completed before Friday).
  1. Create a new folder called 'Oct15'
  2. Open a new Dreamweaver document and save it into your new Oct15 folder with a file name of Beekeeping Home
  3. Add the content for page 1 (see below the picture of the home page)
  4. Create a div for the #maincontent that is 930px wide, centered (use margin:auto), and a light yellow background
  5. Find a photo (Wikipedia ??) for the banner - photo should bee related to honey or bees
  6. Place the photo as a background image in the #topbanner div (no more than 100px high)
  7. Use an H1 heading in the top banner with the name of your web site (you make up the name - it must bee related to bees)
  8. Create a #sidebar div that is 150px wide for the links on the left side
  9. Create a #rightside div for the text content - margin-left should be 180px
  10. Find a photo for the main text and insert it into the #rightside using 'align right' (there are some excellent photos at Wikipedia.. here)
  11. Create the other 2 pages and link the pages together using the links on the left sidebar
  12. There are some photos at the bottom of this page you may use, or you may find your own using the advanced search in Google, looking for images that the author has allowed you to use.
Here is an example of what the Home page might look like.
Text for Home Page:

Beginning Beekeepers Love Honey Bees

Honey in one of the oldest foods in existence. It has been used throughout history, not only as a food, but as a natural remedy for many ailments and a beauty treatment.

It has been called by many names, including Liquid Gold, the Golden Elixir and the Nectar of the Gods. It’s value has held up for hundreds and thousands of years.

In the Bible, the land of Israel was called the “Land of Milk and Honey” (it is also referred to as the Promised Land… hmmm).

There must be something very significant in milk and honey. By the way, the Israelites did not drink cow’s milk; it was either sheep or goat milk.

Think about the nutritional value in comparing honey and sugar. While both are considered sweeteners, honey is heralded for its amazing goodness while sugar is blamed for many of the problems in our “advanced” culture.

Just think about it. While the purpose of this article is not to give you a scientific analysis of the differences between sugar and honey, you must know that there are major harmful effects of consuming too much sugar. My conclusion is that honey is a food with extremely high nutritional value. Now, does that mean we abandon Starbucks in favor of milk and honey? Probably not, but as you consider your diet you might think about cutting back on the amount of sugar in favor of more natural honey.

And, you may even go so far as to start your own small business or hobby, raising honeybees, or beekeeping. It can be quite rewarding, both nutritionally and possibly even monetarily. Beginning beekeepers are always surprised and excited about the fruits of their labor (the bees’ labor, actually).


Text for Page 2 (Find Honey):

Source of Nectar

When these take off from the hive, they do just visit one type of flower. However, on the next trip out of the hive, the bee might visit a different type of flower. Therefore, most honey is polyfloral, which means the nectar comes from a variety of different flowers. That being said, if there is a large population of a single flowering plant, most of the nectar will be from that plant.

Beekeepers will move their hives around and place them close to fields where they know a particular type of plant is being grown. In such cases, the honey will be practically monofloral. The honey that is produced from a single type of flower is generally more popular.

There is a third type of honey. Blended honey is produced when several types of honey are mixed together purposefully. Sometimes the different batches of honey are even from different countries. This is done because of the desired color and flavor that results.

Beekeepers Encourage The Gathering Of Honey

A bee colony is a very social place. Bees work together very nicely. Scout bees go out and hunt for desirable nectar and pollen sources. The Scout bees are not the gatherers. When they do return to the hive, they do something called the waggle dance. They move around in a figure 8 pattern on the face of the honeycomb. Somehow, the forager bees know how to get to the source of nectar and pollen because of this dance. There is also an odor associated with the pollen, and because of this odor that these no exactly which type of flower to look for.


Text for Page 3 (Taste Of Honey):

The Color of Honey


Most folks are aware that honey is golden in color. When you hold it up to the light, it is quite beautiful in appearance. But it is not true that all honey is the same color. Some honey is as dark as mahogany, while other honey is so pale that it almost appears white. The variations in color are because of the plant source. However, the color can change during storage over a period of time or during processing. Generally, the paler in color that the honey is the more popular it is. However, those who know will choose the darker colors because of the interesting flavors as well as the high amount of antioxidants in the darker honeys.

The Aroma and Flavor of Honey

As mentioned above, not all honey looks the same, and the same is true about smell and taste. Honey that is gathered around citrus groves has a very pleasing and distinct scent, and the sent intensifies as the honey is warmed. Other honeys have distinct tastes as well. The truth is, there are some who consider themselves connoisseurs of honey, similar to Wine tasters.

As you might imagine, the taste of honey differs just as the aroma differs. Honey that is purchased from small independent beekeepers will have a very distinct flavor depending on where the beekeeper placed his hives. However, commercially produced honey may not always have such a distinct taste, because many times commercial honey is a mixture of honeys that are blended together.




Thursday, August 29, 2013

August 29 - graded assignment

Squirrels – GRRR! They’re Robbing My Bird Feeders
Squirrels are wily little rodents noted for being able to outsmart just about anyone who tries to deny them access to bird feeders. Squirrels can walk on wire, jump almost 4 feet straight up, leap 10 feet across, and climb almost anything.
Those little buggers are eating me out of “house and home” (as my Mom used to say). They sit either in or on the bird feeders until all the food is gone, and it only takes them about an hour to clean me out.
My birds are getting skinny!
I’m willing to actually spend some money here, because I know it will save me money in the long run… in bird food, that is.
I’m not going for one of those twirling bird feeders, though.
Here are some ways to foil the squirrels:
1. Squirrel baffles
2. Hot sauce on the bird food
3. Hang bird feeders on a wire covered with spinning plastic tubes
The key is not to destroy squirrels. The key is to be smarter.

(here is the link to the squirrel photo: http://birds-blooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Squirrel-peeking.jpg)

Monday, April 15, 2013

Find A Client ~ Web Design - Monday

Who Will You Serve?

Your mission is to find a client - a person or organization that needs your help.
The main goal is to create a web site where there is no web site or the existing web site needs a renovation.
You may have a parent or relative that qualifies. If so, ask.
Others are out there that don't even know they need your help. Find one.
Here are a few examples:
Once you have a prospect, copy the 5 items below into a Word Document and fill it out. Submit is to wdrasku@comcast.net.

Profile of the Client’s Company or Organization:
1. Company or organization name:
2. Products or services performed:
3. URL (if client already has a site):
4. Client’s mission statement (brief paragraph summarizing their mission, i.e., what they do and for whom and why):
5. Client's goals in having a website:

Any questions? Submit them through the Comments at the bottom of this page.

Day 2

Complete the "customer profile" for visitors to your site. This will help you with design decisions as you work on creating a series of web pages that are attractive and interesting to your visitors.

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1.     Age of probable visitors to your site
·       12 and under
·       13 – 18
·       19 – 29
·       30 – 59
·       60 – older

2.     How would you characterize the level of education that the average customer has attained? Check as many as apply.

·       Attending high school
·       High school graduate
·       Received vocational or technical certification
·       B.A. or B.S.
·       Masters degree
·       PhD

3.     What expectations will they have before they arrive at your site? In other words, what do they hope to find at your site?
4.     What types of gimmicks (give-a-ways, games, galleries, etc) would attract this person?

Email your work to wdrasku@comcast.net 

Day 3


Begin to prepare for an appointment with your new client by doing the following:
  •  design (or redesign) the logo 
  • Decide on a color scheme for the web site
  • Create a mock-up of the home page in Fireworks

When you are confident that you can present your strategy and a visually pleasing home page, email for an appointment - wdrasku@comcast.net.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Create An Evaluation Tool (Rubric)

The Plan

At the completion of this exercise:
  • you will demonstrate your ability to critically examine the quality of a web site by developing a web site evaluation tool.
  • you will be able to communicate to others your ideas about what makes a high quality web site and explain how you would evaluate a site.

Activities

Develop a website evaluation tool. Use the knowledge and perspective gained in the first activity to develop a rubric for measuring the quality of websites. Follow these steps:

Use these three resources: http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/top-30-web-design-mistakes.html, http://www.cyberbee.com/design.pdf, and http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=NewRubric
  1. Pair up and take five minutes to share and discuss the merits and problems of the "good" and "bad" websites chosen in the last activity. One site should be a clear example of good design and one an example of poor design. Discuss specific traits that could be used to evaluate sites.
  2. Join another pair and now, in a group of four, review your lists of traits that were generated in step one. Synthesize the lists to no fewer than four but no more than seven general traits that could be used to evaluate most any web site. As much as possible, make each trait discrete and clear. Combine similar traits. Eliminate redundant, obtuse, or invalid traits.
  3. Once you reach consensus on the traits, decide on a numeric scale to use for judging how well a website rates for each of the traits.
Create and use your evaluation tool.
  1. Use Rubistar to create a rubric for your group.
  2. Each member of your group will now evaluate this web site using your Rubric- http://architecture.rice.edu/ (DO NOT TALK TOGETHER ABOUT THIS EVALUATION).
  3. Once all members of your group have completed the Rubric for this web site, compare your results and discuss the differences. If one person had a radically different opinion about one or more of the Rubric points, have him explain what his reason is.
  4. Reach a consensus for the grade and complete a single rubric for the group.. save it.
  5. Now do the same steps (5 through 7) evaluation for this web site: http://www.alpharettafarmersmarket.com/
Email your completed rubric with the names of those who created it to wdrasku@comcast.net.

 You should now be ready to begin your own web site with a new understanding of how others see your work.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Web Site Development - Assignment For Monday

Overview

The purpose of this lesson is to review what makes a high-quality website. With a partner, you will talk about these questions (then record your answers in a Word document):
  • Why do you feel that some websites are good?
  • Why do you feel that some websites are not so good?
  • Ask at least two other groups if they agree with your opinion?
  • If they disagree, what do they disagree with compared to your group observation?
  • Who is the target audience for a particular site?
  • How might website quality be judged differently across different audiences?
  • Are there some qualities of websites that all audiences would agree are good? What are these qualities?
For many, it is the common practice to plunge in and start right away creating and developing web pages. However, since the goal for this project is for you to develop a high-quality website, we first will spend some time re-exploring our understanding of what "quality" means. This is important because if websites aren't developed with quality in mind, visitors might be unable to find the content or features they're looking for, or they might be unable to access or use these features.  

Users don't give websites many chances. If they don't like a site, they may leave quickly and never return. If they like a site, they'll return to it again and again, plus they'll tell others about it.

In addition to understanding website quality, you must spend some time planning a website before you begin to develop its content. Just as there are pre-writing steps that ought to be done prior to writing an essay, there are pre-coding steps to do before you create a website. Planning ahead will reduce the number of mistakes you'll make while constructing the site. In the work world, this will save you time and money.

Activities

  1. What is a high-quality website? Grab a partner and discuss the questions presented in the Overview section above.
  2. What do the experts say? Visit the websites listed below in the Resources section. Each of these resources provides someone else's opinions as to what constitutes high-quality websites. Which of these resources do you most agree with? Do you disagree with any of these authors' opinions? Do the winners of Webby Awards have features or characteristics that you don't like? Discuss this with your partner.
  3. Become a web critic. Browse the web looking mainly for Informational websites, not games or entertainment sites. Choose one website that's good and one that's bad.
    • Rate each site from 1 to 5 (5 being the highest).
    • Comment on the site's design. Does the site look good? What is the eye drawn to immediately?
    • Comment on the site's content. What seems to be the main purpose of the site? Is the purpose clear?
    • Comment on the site's noteworthy features. How do the features enhance the site's main purpose?
Create a table for your notes which looks something like this:
Name of Website URL Explain Design Pros/Cons Explain Purpose Rating
Good site
Bad site

Resources

Complete The Assignment

Email your document to wdrasku@comcast.net. Make sure you include the names of those working together.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Web Design – Thursday, January 24, 2013

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Create a NEW website called “CSS Template” with a root folder by the same name
Create an images folder as well
You will be using the same content as you used in the last project (coffee, flowers, etc)
Use the “2-column fixed width left sidebar with header and footer” template for all your pages
·       Save your first page as “index.html”
·       Change the background color of the page
·       Change the font style of the page
·       Change the width of the content area to 875px
·       Change the width of the Sidebar to 225px
·       Change the font style of the H1 in the header to something different than the page text
·       Create a header image that has no text and insert it as a background in the header area
·       Put your website title into the H1 tag in the header area
·       Add an image in the sidebar that is 210px wide (this should be different on each page)
·       Add links in the sidebar for each of your 4 pages (these links should be titled appropriately)
·       Add a 5th link to the Wikipedia page where you got your information
Once your index page is done, create 3 more pages similar to the previous project.. make sure your pages have titles that make sense (a title of “page 2” does not make sense)