Project Objectives:
- Target Audience: Typically 10-35 year olds (maybe older) interested or even uninterested in contemporary digital/online art and art communities.
- Aim of Project: Inform viewers of websites that are available for submitting and viewing art. Educate viewers on how to use these sites and submit their own art.
- Effect of Project: Increase the viewers’ interest in online art and communities.
- Message: Online art is cool and fun to get involved in.
Clever Features:
- Rollover Buttons: In my website i used rollover buttons in the navigation window. I created icons for all the sections of the website to increase the ease at which the site can be navigated and make it more memorable. I used javascript functions that I linked to in the header of each of the main pages (which I also think is quite clever, becuase the script will only have to be loaded once by the browser and kept in cache and then it can be reused for every page).
- Pop-up Windows: I used the JavaScript function for opening a new window for my reviews, tutorials and for this report. This is a great feature I think because it makes the website neater. Instead of having lots of content with 'next page' buttons for the articles, I opened a new, neat page without toolbars etc. and with a nice neat size, but still let the window be resizable so that if you prefer, you can change the size of it.
- CSS: I used CSS for the page layout. Arranging the div's and coloring the page and also adding format to tables and images. I linked to a main css file for my main pages and another CSS file for the pop-up windows. Once again I think it is good to link to a separate CSS file because then it is only needed to load once and kept in cache, lowering downloads.
- Target Windows: When I linked to an external site I used target="blank" to open a new page instead of opening in the same window (especially in the smaller pop-up windows. This makes it so that the previous website is not lost and also, gives back the toolbars for better browsing in a new site.
- Use of Graphics: I created all my own graphics for the website, using Photoshop. This includes the Title image, the footer background and the icons. Give me a pat on the back for my extra effort there :D.
- Borrowed Features: I didn't really borrow any features. However, I have learned quite a bit by examining code made by other people over the years. This includes my knowledge of CSS and JavaScript. I used the W3C website for information on css and a book titled "JavaScript: A Beginner's Guide" by John Pollock to reinforce my knowledge of rollover images.
Self Assessment:
I submitted a rough outline to my tutor via email, and revieced a response something like "If you want any of your pages checked just send then to me". I didn't get around to sending pages, but there wasn't any objection to my choice of topic and outline of sections.
My project page count comes to 15 not including extras such as this report.
All my pages were validated for XHTML 1.0 transitional and are aparently perfect.
All the media used in my project is relevant because I created it especially for the project.
When I uploaded to WebCT it worked just fine :).
I think I have done a marvelous job on this website. Improvements could include: adding more text formatting in the css code, adding a mailing list and create monthly updates (not!) and adding more links. Overall I tried to keep the design very simple and easy to navigate, while at the same time very helpful. I did have some trouble with the rollover buttons for a while, exact copies of code would work in some documents and not in others. Eventually I just retyped the whole thing and finally it worked.