Finished

This is my last blog post, and I think I might add some extra words here about the project; for me, this course is like a suicide mission. Or it was... I was told I had to work on computers, using technology more difficult than word and powerpoint, which was the extent of my knowledge on computers. The Planning and Research however, was relatively easy. I enjoyed learning about other things on the computer, especially the pictures editing, which I have always wanted to learn. I spent too much time on my Planning and Research, since I did not know about the timings. Thus, by the end of my first year in this project (Year 10, June 2010) I had done nothing but Planning and Research. Problemo Uno.
During the summer holidays, I worked on the designs, creating five basic designs and then choosing the best one with my client. I am quite proud of my designs, or I was until I had discovered at the end of my testing, that it was not good enough.
It was the Implementation that I failed at, in my point of view. I used a professional website maker's template, and he talked me through the steps of PHP and JavaScript. I then used his template and added all my pictures and created the slide show. I asked my client for the information and she supplied a few articles (or the beginning of them) for me.
Thus, I have learned a lot from this project. I cannot say that I enjoyed it very much. I am not a computer fan; I still read, surprise surprise for a teenager in the early 21st century, and don't spend much time on my computer or in front of the TV. However this experience has taught me a lot of valuable skills. The first one is that I shall never create a website for anyone again. The second is that I could, if I needed to.

Evaluation

I have finally finished my testing and am now commencing on my Evaluation. My teacher told me it should be around four pages (or more) so I have a lot of work to do. I think that personally, my project is relatively acceptable, although I think it could be improved with a better design for the blogs and a better filing system. From my survey, I discovered that the majority of people disliked my website because the navigation was difficult for the blogs. I am quite disappointed with that; I spent too much time on my Home Page and left the other pages blank.

Testing

I have worked quite hard on my Testing, however since my end user is not sure about Commercial Use, I have no opportunity to test and thus evaluate my end product as a commercially done. However, I am now almost done with my testing. The next stop is Evaluation.

Testing

I am now going to commence my testing. I require 4 different fields to complete:
1. In House Testing
2. In the Field Testing
3. Evidence of Commercial Use
4. Conclusion
I am now beginning this.

Photoshop

I have now finished one of my pictures on Photoshop. It has a transparent background so that I can put it on my website without the ugly white background.

Website Template

I am going to use a template of a website for my own. I am now adding pictures and text. I am finishing adding the slide show soon as well. I am taking printscreens of the work, cropping them and then putting them on word document.

Making my Website

After much struggle creating the website on my own, I finally went to see a professional website maker, who sat down with me for many hours (many, many hours) and helped make my website with me. As I mentioned earlier, I did this website using the combination of the following
PHP as my scripting language. I also used Javascript for browser interaction like slideshow, HTML for presentation and Sqlite for database for data storage.
About: PHP & Sqlite
SQLite is a database used for storing the data (like comaping with xls). The advantage is I didn't need to create a html file for each content. Whenever I needed to add a new content, all I needed to do was to add a new row (like in xls) in the Sqlite database.
PHP is a scripting language which helps connecting to the database (SQLite) and output the html
Although I had researched Tutorials for Dreamweaver, I didn't end up using any such software (because the professional told me it is for beginners) but I wrote all codes in the text editor (like notepad) I have used PHP & Sqlite to make sure your website is easily maintainable even for the next several years. If I had not used these, my website would be much less interactive (as in, if I used independant html files). Creating individual html pages for each content is very time consuming with so many dis-advantages. For the slide show, I used a 3rd party javascript plugin to generate the slideshow - http://caroufredsel.frebsite.nl/

Technical Skills

Today, after two weeks of working on Dreamweaver, I discovered I had to show all of my working on Dreamweaver by using Jing to capture videos and photos. Since I am almost done, I cannot believe this, and do not know how I shall manage to recreate all of the things I have done so that I may video them.

PHP

Because there are so many dynamic elements required in my website (the calendar, keyword search) it would be much faster for me to use a scripting language called PHP along with HTML and CSS, instead of just HTML. So instead of designing several independant html pages for each event day, we will just build one page to which we can pass the date and the script will dynamically change the result-set of the page. Since I do not have to do a line by line code, it will be faster for me to do it using PHP.

Fireworks vs. Photoshop

03.10.11
Mr. Brown helped me discover that Fireworks was not the best option for editing pictures, advising instead, to use Photoshop as a better alternative. He also helped me decide how I was going to crop my picture, instead of complicating everything by attempting to edit the pixels of the photos.

Analysising Client Comment

After thinking about whether I shall be able to create everything I put on my final design, including everything my Client requested, I realized I would have a lot more work to do. So I am going to download a free trial version of Dreamweaver on my laptop, so I shall be able to work on it at home as well as in school.

Client Communication about Final Design

I have finally managed to organize a meeting with my client. We discussed several areas of improvement for my final design, however overall, she was extremely happy with it, and cannot wait to see it up and running. She would like to know if I can have a circle or a balloon to show when Todays date is in the Calendar, and I said I would try to the best of my abilities to create that.

Initial Checklist

Today I looked over and filled in the initial checklist for Research and Planning, Originality and Creativity and Communications. I also checked the rubric, to identify weaker areas. I am now going to work on the areas that need working on, to make them to a higher standard. I believe I have a lot more work to do.

More Tutorials Needed

After a week on my website, I discovered that I would need more tutorials in order to create a better project. So I have to now research more on how to use Dreamweaver. My Fireworks skills are also greatly lacking.

Starting my website

26.09.11
Mr. Brown helped me set up by website. There was a slight problem, with the fact that the website I had chosen to host my website could not be used in Dreamweaver. So Mr. Brown is helping me set up a Local Folder in Dreamweaver, and I shall create my website directly onto Dreamweaver. From there, I shall begin creating my website.

Finished Creativty and Originality

Now that I have finished my Planning and Research section and my Originality and Creativity section, I shall begin completing my final project. I shall look back to my Planning and Research section and look through my tutorials and website makers and decide which one I shall use.

Justification of using an ICT solution:

I explained why an ICT solution is appropriate, considering other non-ICT solutions in my explanation. I also considered wider (social, organisational, legal etc) implications of providing an ICT solution. I copied this from the Planning and Research Folder, since I had already done this before.

I looked at a series of websites with the theme Newspapers vs Internet News (website 1). We are becoming more and more involved with the internet, using it now, not only to communicate with others and to research, but to stay up-to-date with the world around us. Thus the point of using ICT comes into evidence. People are using ICT more and more now, and my end user wanted to connect with the world around her, by using an ICT product, rather than a less-used product such as a weekly magazine or leaflets. This product, by using ICT, enables users 24/7 use, can be updated daily without hassle and simply becomes more enjoyable to use and easier to work with.

Comparisons and Reflections

I have also started writing about a similar product to my own and have begun to make a comparsion, focusing in detail on the differences and similarities and explaining why parts work and others don't. I am also stating why Ichose to make it the way I did indicating any originality in my design. I will also reflect on the creative and original aspects of my project.

Free Website Hosting

I have now found a free website hosting website which I have now signed up with and will connect it to Dreamworks. I will now commence creating my project.

Creative Decisions

In class last week, using my designs I explained why I had used certain techniques or tools to achieve the final designs. I wrote up about decisions I had made when choosing what material I would use or what patterns or what sound system or what camera. I gave reasoned explanations of my decision making processes throughout the project.

I think I shall remove the logo, because I cannot think of any good, original logos that my client likes. My client agrees that it is better get rid of the logo because there is nothing that she liked. She agreed that with the title in the middle, we didn't need a logo.