Web Design Notes

One of the ASD Websites that offers a lot of tech info is the Chief Information Officer page.  The district offers a buying program through Organization for Educational Technology and Curriculum (OETC).  You will need to go to their website and have your “Tech Head Employee I.D. #.  Links are below:

Tech Head Employee I.D. #

OETC

One of the first things you will need to do is decide what your purpose is for your website:

1. Do you want to share pictures/stories/etc. and have a website that is “personal?”
2. Do you want to inform your web viewers about a topic/interest/hobby?
3. Do you want to sell something or make a “storefront?”
   • Note:  This is a more complex site and we can initially set up, however, more work may need to happen after the class period to finish.

1. Dreaweaver and Adobe Creative Suite (includes Fireworks, Photoshop, and Flash)

a.  This is the standard for most businesses.  It is used by the Anchorage School District Curricular Departments and Administrative offices.

b.  Pros – Once you learn it is very dynamic and you can really tailor what you want.  Fireworks is the program component that reduces the number of pixels in your jpeg and allows images to load quickly.  Flash lets you create  interactive websites, advertising, games, and mobile content.

c.  Cons – It takes time to learn.  The product does not come with a manual.  However, there is a great manual for sale:  Dreamweaver, the Missing Manual.  That said, you need to be willing to just “self tutor” and try things.  There are great templates to start with and I would recommend using one and tweaking to meet your needs.

2.  iLife which includes:  iWeb, iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, GarageBand, and .Mac (webhosting).  This package is really easy to use!  There are “preset” templates to choose from.  You have to stick with what is offered and choose from the templates.  However, you can add things very easily, by just clicking and dragging.

a.  Cons – You do however, have to subscribe to .Mac at a cost of $99 per year or $65 for educators for webhosting.

i.  If you know how you can save your file to “Domain” and then have the site hosted by by another means.

b.  If you want to work on the site on more than one computer (work at school and then at home) you will need to save to a “Domain file.”  Otherwise it is saved in a format that you can not open or change.

You need to decide what the purpose of your website is.

1. Purpose

Give the most important purpose a “1″, next most important a “2″. Leave those blank which do not interest you at all.

__ To gain a favorable impression from your audience.

__ To provide information.

__ To develop a group with internet users with similar interests.

__ To make available product information.

__ To strengthen brand identification.

__ Other _______________________________________________________

There are lots of sources for free web pages and hosting.  Here are just a few:

1. Google Pages
2. Wikispaces
3. Filamentality

Many blogs provide dialog or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. (Taken from Wikipedia).

Free blog webpages:

1. Blogger
2. Edublog
   • The Edublogger, which is jammed with helpful tips, ideas and more.
   • introductory videos
   • The Edublogs Forums
3. LiveJournal
4. WordPress
5. Bravenet