Module 4, Week 5, Web Design 2

Now that you had an extra day to finish Module 3, it’s time to get moving into Module 4.  Oh, did I mention that we have permission to post your web pages on the Shaw School District Web Site?  Well, we have the OK, but you can only post your work if it is as good as the current District Web page.  And all of you gave those pages very high marks in your discussion.  So any spare time you have should be spent doing more research on your topic and “cleaning up” of your pages saved back in module 2.  In this module we will finally be ready to have our pages ready to post!  Get your research and information current, along with correcting your spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  Hint:  let someone else review your work to double check those web pages!

TODAY is a special day for our country.  It is Veterans Day, formally known as Armistice Day.  The Allied powers signed a cease-fire agreement with Germany at Rethondes, France on November 11, 1918, bringing World War I to a close. Between the wars, November 11 was commemorated as Armistice Day in the United States, Great Britain, and France. After World War II, the holiday was recognized as a day of tribute to veterans of both world wars. Beginning in 1954, the United States designated November 11 as Veterans Day to honor veterans of all U.S. wars. 

Resource:  Associated Press. (1918, November 11). Armistice signed, end of war. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1111.html#article.

Now let’s get going on Week 5—the assignments are due Monday, November 16, 2009.  Please read the information for each module carefully.  And remember to keep the BLOG handy so you can follow the revised instructions to complete your work and get credit for it.

As for placing work in dropboxes, take a screen shot of each KompoZer assignment you complete.  Then you will create a new MS Word document and paste that screen shot.  Finally, save your work as a CORRECT file name (no more than 8 letters) and upload it to your dropbox.  

SPECIAL NOTES:  if your assignment requires you to work on all 5 pages of your Kompozer web site, you will place all 5 screen shots on the same MS Word document.  Be sure to place a page break between each screen shot.  To do that go to Edit, insert page break OR press and hold CTRL and press Enter at each place you wish to have as a new page.

Now for a quick note on file names: review the rules are written below. (This information was covered in Web Design I.)  Failure to follow the file-naming rules in your work, including your dropboxes and KompoZer, will result in NO GRADE until the file name is corrected!

File Naming Rules
Rule	Explanation of Rule
Use all lowercase letters.	On some servers, using capital letters in your filenames will not matter; however, there are servers that read a capital letter differently than a lowercase letter. For example, naming a file Example.htm and then referencing it as example.htm on a UNIX server will not work. You will have a broken link.
Use only letters or numbers—no special characters.	Do not use apostrophes, colons, semicolons, bullets, or slashes. In other words, do not use /, \, &, *, <, >, ', " ;, :, or blank spaces. Do not use a period except when separating the filename from the extension (example.htm not ex.mine.htm). Do use the underscore character to separate words in a web page filename. For example, use 1900_39.htm
All web pages must end in .htm or .html.	The .htm extension is most common on PCs, and .html is most common on Macintoshes. Both are considered HTML files and either is appropriate. The key is to be consistent throughout your site. Do not switch between the two extensions within the same site.
Follow the eight-dot-three (8.3) file naming convention whenever possible.	This convention specifies a maximum of eight letters followed by a period and a three-letter extension. If using the 8.3 conventions, you will ensure that your files will be portable across the greatest number of operating systems.

4.00 Introduction and Task List (15 minutes)

You will learn to use some more tools in KompoZer.  Stay up to date with the assignments!  Concentrate on YOUR WEB DESIGN II work—now is not the time to chat with your classmates OR make up work in other classes!

4.01 Advanced Tool Usage (4 hours) 100 points

This is a very importance lesson on making an attractive web site while using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). 

• Go through EACH step of both tutorials in the lesson.  Pay particular attention to the Cook’s Style and Style Sheets in the first tutorial.  Plan to spend at least 1 hour on this tutorial.  Take notes and review your notes at the end of the tutorial. Ask yourself questions about the material.

• Remember, you will see this material in a quiz at the end of the module.
• Next, explore each of the tabs located in KompoZer’s CSS Stylesheet Dialogue Box.  Take really good notes here because you will be using the dialogue box in the next exercise.  Spend at least 30 minutes here. 
• Now, go to the Section listed as Understanding how Style Sheets work.  Take good notes here—you will see this again.  Then the section on 3 ways to attach a CSS shows you a bit about the next assignment.  Another 30 minutes is needed here. 
• Finally, plan to spend at least 30 minutes on the last section of this page:  Working with Text or Font Properties.  This is a VERY IMPORTANT SECTION.  DON’T Short-change yourself in this section.  Spend the time now—you will thank yourself later!

Now to your 100-point assignment:  after you complete all the steps required for 4.01, take a screen shot of the KompoZer page.  Then paste it to a MS Word document; save the file correctly and place it in your dropbox.  (Review the grading rubric and double check your work to make sure you get the full point value.)  NOTE:  DO NOT TRY TO DO THIS ASSIGNMENT UNTIL YOU HAVE SPENT AT LEAST 2 HOURS ON THE TUTORIALS.

4.02 As we Build (3 hours) 100 points

At this stage in the construction of your Web site, very little has been “built.” With a well written CSS you will establish a solid foundation for your site.  Remember any Web site construction should always be considered a “work in progress.” Modifications and enhancements can always be made to both alter the appearance of your site and assist with site maintenance.

DO NOT RUSH THROUGH THIS ASSIGNMENT!  You are now making your CSS for your website.  Remember how nice the Shaw District Web Site looks?  Well, this is how it’s done.  SO MAKE SURE YOUR WEB SITE IS OF HIGHEST QUALITY.

As you go through the assignment using KompoZer, take screen shots and submit those screen shots for a grade.  (You don’t have ftp capability yet; so to get a grade, you must take screen shots and paste them into MS WORD.)

4.03 Designing with Tables (3 hours) 100 points

The use of tables allows a Web designer to place the components of a Web page in a specified area (cell) which maintains Web page consistency across many browsers.  At this point, you will put all text and images inside table cells.  Read and take notes about the importance of tables and how to make the best use of tables (percent of window vs. fixed length/width).  Note:  rows go across a table; columns go up and down a table; cells are the intersection of a row and column (where data is entered).

Follow the directions to make a “CREATIVE” KompoZer document which uses a table.  You will upload your images and text, then take a screen shot to paste into a MS Word document.  Look at the grading rubric to see if you can get maximum points here.

4.04 (Basic Building Content (3 hours) 100 points

So far, your website from the storyboard you created is BLANK.  But now it’s time to add the text to your website.  You will also apply text styles to your site.

To make this easier, BEFORE YOU START TO DESIGN YOUR PAGES, read through the links at the bottom of the lesson.  These sites will help you make choices about which design elements to include on your page.  THIS LINK DOES NOT WORK:  Ohio University's A Simple Guide to Creating Your Own Web Page.

Now that you have read the material, follow the steps at the beginning of the assignment to change your index pages and the other 4 pages of your web site.  Take a screen shot AFTER YOU COMPLETE each page and place it on a MS WORD DOCUMENT.  Your final MS Word Document will be 1 document with 5 different screen shots separated by a Page Break.  Check your grading rubric so that you can get maximum points.  And remember:  content, grammar, punctuation, and spelling are all important!

BONUS POINTS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:  For extra bonus points this week, post a comment which contains the ACTUAL TIME you spent this week on the tutorials and whether you feel you spent enough time reading and studying the material. 

That’s it for Week 5.  Your assignments are due Monday, November 16, 2009! We will continue Module 4 next week with a really fun assignment!