Not sure what you should be doing this week? Check here.
16 February 2005
Today's Topic: Practical Exam
The final (pass/fail) practical will be given today. If you fail the exam, I will schedule a makeup time for you to take a second version during finals week. If you do not pass the second practical, you will not receive a passing grade in the course.
14 February 2005
Sample Practical
The practical exam will require you to create a web page much like this one:
The page will need to be placed in a protected directory; I will provide you with the user ID and password to be used.
Today's Topic: Basic PHP
Everything you can do with server-side includes you can also do with PHP...but with PHP you can do it better!
PHP is a programming language that you embed in your HTML pages, but which is processed on the server side (just like a server-side include). It can be used for a wide variety of things, including processing of form data, inclusion of files, and more.
The web programming class (539/739) covers PHP in great detail, including using PHP to access databases. Today we'll cover just the basics of PHP.
9 February 2005
Today's Topic: Studio Session: Dynamic Sites and CGI
We'll implement some basic CGI scripts, then work with scripts from online archives.
7 February 2005
Today's Topic: Dynamic Sites and CGI
This week's topic is CGI, or the "common gateway interface." This is the interface that allows the web server to run a program on the server, and then return the results of the program to the user. Typically, the program will take as an input the contents of a form--whether it's a simple one-box search form (like Google), or a complex, lengthy registration form.
Before starting on the exercises (which will be a separate post), read Chapter 11 of the Webmaster in a Nutshell book, and the Webmonkey article "CGI Scripts for Fun and Profit."
You should also review the information we covered on forms, since form attributes like "action" and "method" become very important in the context of CGI.
2 February 2005
Today's Topic: Studio Session: Server-Side Technologies
We'll work on implementing server-side authentication and server-side includes.
31 January 2005
Today's Topic: Server-Side Authentication and SSI
Today we'll discuss basic web server operation--what gets sent back and forth between a client and a server, and what's the order of operations.
Then I'll cover how to create an .htaccess file to restrict access to a directory on your site (server side authentication), as well as to create a custom 404 error page, or change the way the server handles various file types.
26 January 2005
Today's Topic: Studio Session: DHTML
We'll work on DHTML exercises, focusing primarily on menuing and navigation systems.
24 January 2005
Today's Topic: Advanced Javascript and DHTML
We'll spend more time on Javascript exercises in class today, including browser detection and page redirection.
19 January 2005
Today's Topic: Studio Session: Javascript and Forms
We'll work through a series of Javascript and HTML form exercises today.
17 January 2005
Today's Topic: DOM, Javascript, and HTML Forms
This is where we switch gears from design to implementation. We'll start with client-side programming using JavaScript, which is used for everything from simple rollovers to complex calculators.
To make JavaScript work consistently, you need to understand the Document Object Model, or DOM, that the browser uses to represent objects to be manipulated (images, form fields, etc).
12 January 2005
Today's Topic: Studio Session: Accessibility and Usability
We'll try to some accessibility exercises, and do some basic usability testing.
10 January 2005
Today's Topic: Accessibility and Usability
Closely related to the topic of standards and appropriate coding is the topic of web site accessibility. We'll talk about different kinds of accessibility, the reasons for building accessible web sites, and some techniques for making sure sites are accessible to all users.
5 January 2005
Competitive Analysis Resources
Yes, you need to do a competitive analysis for your design document.
The best thing to use for that is other academic labs.
Today's Topic: Studio Session: Information Architecture
We'll work through some information architecture exercises today, focused on your group project architecture.
This is a required studio session.
3 January 2005
Today's Topic: Information Architecture
The best web sites start with careful planning, and avoid the "Winchester Mystery House" style of on-the-fly architecture.
The primary difference between 320 and 409 is that in 320 we talk about how to build pages while in 409 we talk about how to build sites. That's the focus of this week's lectures...how to effectively organize and present information in a way that's useful to the intended audience.
15 December 2004
Today's Topic: Studio Session: CSS Positioning and Design
Today's studio session will focus on CSS for positioning and layout of elements on a page.
14 December 2004
Group Assignments
As promised, here are the group assignments. Your first two tasks are to choose a project manager and a name. I'd suggest taking advantage of the studio time tomorrow for your first group meeting.
(If you need contact information for a group member, try the RIT online directory for their email address...if that fails, let me know.)
Group 1
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Ryan Weigand
Bryan Miller
Dave Galvin
Matt Doyle
Dave Morgan
Greg Heerkens
Group 2
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Sean Martin
Ryan Taylor
Brandon Benvie
Jared Balboni
Kent Walker
Regan Messenger
Group 3
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Kevin Kroetsch
John Caligaris
Shaena Bogart
Kenny Johnson
Nick Ward
Jesús Janne
Group 4
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Christopher Welch
Matthew Mikuzewski
James Schmatz
Matt Muoio
Kyle Nikolich
Darryl Williams
Group 5
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Li Chun Yu
Jeremy Clark
Erin Milano
Adrienne Dahler
Sudha Bhat
Nicole LaGrasso
Group 6
-------
Elaine Hackley
Phil Leith-Tetrault
Elizabeth LaFrance
Katie Nemmer
Kara Slezak
Kevin Sweeney
13 December 2004
Group Interaction Tools
On Wednesday, I'll show several examples of group communication tools that you can choose for working in your groups this quarter. They include:
- Group tools in myCourses
- FirstClass conferences
- Password-protected wikis
- Basecamp project management
Whichever option your group chooses, you should make sure you have it in place, and everyone is familiar with login methods, before you leave for break!
I should have group assignments out by tomorrow afternoon...
Today's Topic: CSS Positioning and Visual Design
The table-based approach to layout that you learned in 320/741 (or on your own) was cutting edge back when David Siegel pioneered it back in 1997. But browsers have come a long way since then, and markup has evolved to match that.
Using tables for layout has two major problems. The first is that it ties together content and presentation, which are two components that are best left separate. The second is that it results in bloated, slow-loading code.
We'll discuss the importance of separating content and presentation, as well as the specifics of the CSS box model and cross-browser challenges for CSS-based positioning.
8 December 2004
Today's Topic: Studio Session: Basic CSS
Today we'll work on CSS formatting and creating valid XHTML documents.
6 December 2004
Keeping Up With Class Assignments
Because of the blended learning approach we're taking this quarter, I want to be sure that everybody understands exactly what I'm expecting of them in terms of attendance, participation, and deliverables. So here's a handy-dandy PDF that you can print and save, or simply view online whenever you'd like.
What it boils down to is (a) do the readings before Monday, (b) come to lecture and participate in discussions on Monday, (c) do the exercises for the week by Wednesday, or come to the studio session on Wednesday to work on them, (d) post to your weblog about lecture, readings, and exercises, and (e) make sure you complete and turn in your assignments (and link to them on your blog).
The PDF has longer versions of each of the above, as well as some tips for how to configure MovableType properly for class (enabling trackbacks, adding appropriate categories, etc).
Today's Topic: Web Standards and CSS Formatting
Today's discussion will be on web coding standards, which tend to generate almost as many religious battles as operating system choices.
We'll cover the HTML standards development process, existing HTML and XHTML standards, problems with existing standards, and browser support for standards. We'll also discuss the issues surrounding separation of presentation and content, and the importance of CSS in standards-based web development.
1 December 2004
Today's Topic: Studio Session: Movable Type
In studio we'll install and configure the Movable Type weblog/CMS system.
29 November 2004
ITS Form for Increasing Disk Quota
If you need to increase the amount of disk space allotted to you on Grace (the default is 20MB), you can fill out this form (it's a PDF file; print it out and fill it out in paper form), and bring it to me for a signature. I'll pass it on to the IT office for approval.
Web Developer's Toolbar
I would strongly encourage you to install the very useful Web Developer's Extension, an extension for both Firefox and Mozilla.
It has many features useful to you in your work for this course, which I'll be talking about during class today. I encourage you to install this extension on your own computers, and I've asked our sysadmins to install it on the IT computers as well.
Today's Topic: Course Overview, Weblogs, and CMS
We'll review the course web site, including the syllabus and the course outline. We'll also do introductions, and talk about what makes a web site "good."
At the end of class, I'll do a brief review of basic CSS formatting concepts for students who did not have CSS in their 320 classes.
27 November 2004
Welcome!
This will be where I post readings, assignments, and information about the class.
Use the menu at the top to navigate to specific sections (like the syllabus and the course outline), and the calendar on the left to find materials related to a specific class meeting date.
This class is being taught in a new "blended learning" format--I will lecture on the week's topic on Monday, and Wednesday will be an optional studio session. You can work on the studio exercises on your own time, and/or attend the studio session so that you can work with me and classmates on the exercises.
Only two of the Wednesday sessions are required--the first is the information architecture session, in which you'll work in groups on the architecture for your group projects, and the second is the practical exam the last week of class.
We'll talk more about this format during the first class meeting.