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Introduction

The purpose of this assignment is to relay viable methodology for learning how to present content over the internet. If I were to teach ENGH 375, I'd probably do it the way my instructor has done: give challenging and specific assignments and be available to answer questions. This method works: it provides for different learning styles while testing students' mastery of the material.

HTML and CSS are basic web languages which tell web browsers how to display content. As with any language, you will become fluent only with practice: there is too much to memorize, so reading about it won't help much unless you have a specific question. For instance, I spent enough time checking this page that I could teach a lesson on hexadecimal color values:

Hexadecimal Color Values:

A Lesson

The human eye percieves color in three basic wavelengths: long [red], medium [green], and short [blue]. Likewise, in html colors, there are three basic channels: #f00 [RED], #0f0 [GREEN] and #00f [BLUE].  #RrGgBb.

Hexadecimal means base-16. The 16 hex-color numerals are: 0123456789abcdef.
f as [ON] and 0, [OFF].    #fff is white [lights Full blast]; #000is black [lights 0ff]. Shades of grey run the gamut between:  for instance, #222 is dark grey and #ccc, light grey.

To mix a color with grey, start with the color, e.g., yellow [#ff0], and decrease the on [f] values while increasing the off [0] values until you get to about #888, which is medium-grey.   #cc8, for instance, would give you a compelling yellow-grey that has probably never been trademarked...

...but nobody wants to read all that. If you use colors enough you will understand how they work.

Thus I would like to focus on fast ("flash") competence. I'll be regurgitating some of what I've learned in this class, and the rest will be my personal expertise. My primary suggestion is to familiarize yourself with the content by using it, so the next page will get down to the nuts and bolts of writing an HTML document. But first, Theory:

Garrett

One of the authors we've studied in this course, Jesse James Garrett, proposes a five-plane approach to web design [For more information, see the following book: Garrett, Jesse James. Elements of user experience, the: user-centered design for the web and beyond. Pearson Education, 2010.]. I don't disagree with him, in theory, but in practice? Who thinks like this? Who doesn't cut corners? I believe, from reading his work, that web design involves synthetic proposition. The "user experience" he refers to imparts an a posteriori focus to an abstract method of data transfer: We started out converting our simple little Word documents into HTML, years ago, but then people realized that the WWW could be an amazing platform for advertising and communication and sales. The web has grown into our minds like a physical space, yet few people understand the basics of how it works.

I am here to say that simple web design is well within the grasp of any individual who has been accepted to university: If you are reading this, you can probably make a better website than the one you're seeing in a matter of weeks [I am design-stupid; I have yet to understand that there are other background-colors besides #000].

Takeaways from the Garrett readings:

  1. Remember the user:don't create websites which will be counterintuitive, difficult to use, difficult to read, etc [the top 3 planes]
  2. Remember the purpose:Think about what your website aims to do, and then figure out how to do it without shooting your website/GPA/career in the proverbial foot [this he calls "abstract" |the bottom 2 planes]

What is abstract is learning how to convey your intent through design. I find this extremely difficult. I'm designing a website for Vietnam veterans, and I tested out my proposed color scheme in a previous module—Grey/DarkBlue/White (seems respectable enough)—and it looked too bookish; somehow it was wrong. But I didn't find anything in Garrett's book to help me actually troubleshoot my problem.

Troubleshooting My Problem:

Actually

Now what I'm doing is looking at a bunch of websites with the word Design at the front of my mind. My uncle trusts me to choose, so I want to do a good job. I found another website which may have been made to commemorate the same Camp, but the design was GeoCities-level dreckitude (they made a banner, but they literally spelled the Camp's name wrong).

I realize that, once you've seen war, web design may seem kind of unimportant. And for the purposes of this website, Usability is the most important feature. But for the purposes of this class, it's something I want to learn. I want the website to have a feeling of dignity. I have two modules left; hopefully I'll get a chance to experiment with some minimalist/"clean" designs like the one shown on the robots.txt site. If my dignity thing fails, at least it'll be easier to read.

Enough about me. The remainder of this site will give:

  1. A guide to reading and navigating the internet, and
  2. top-down HTML examples; use W3Schools for very thorough bottom-up instruction.

Before we depart, a couple key principles you should keep in mind:

  1. Trial and error [did I already say this?]
  2. Visual simplicity
  3. Don't reinvent the wheel: unless it's something you truly want to spend your time perfecting, begin by stealing code until you understand how it works

Since I kind of wrote an essay here, I feel no misgivings as I present the rest of my content visually. But it's didactic: not advisable to design a commercial website this way.