Note: This class agenda is subject to change!

Saturdays 10:00am - 4:00pm
Room K-122 Spring Creek Campus, Plano, TX
Instructor : Darren Dittrich

 1

 January 23, 1999

 

Syllabus

Books & Publications

Software & Machines

Browser Overview

Navigator 4 Toolbar
Communicator/Navigator 4.x

Navigator 3 Toolbar
Navigator 3

The Basic HTML Page
 

Assignments

  • Email Darren
  • Start thinking about your personal page, gather information
  • Read Introduction & Chapters 1, 2, 4, & 6 in HTML
  • Need books?

 4

January 30

 

Netscape Preferences (again)
Review HTML basics


Text Formattting (Ch.3)
Using Images (Ch.5)
  • Read through Chapter 8.
    • Create your version of the John Maeda page without tables.

 4

February 6

 

Review Maeda Assignment

Email Etiquette

  • Reply-to Address
  • Email name
  • A good guide to email etiquette
    • Emoticons :-)
    • _emphasizing_
    • Spam
    • Signatures
    • Enclosures
  • Email virus hoaxes, such as the Bill Gates/Disney hoax

More HTML

  • Page Layout
    • Margins
    • SPACERs
    • Pixel Shims (aka the Single-pixel GIF trick)
    • BG Images
    • BLOCKQUOTE
  • Lists
    • Ordered Lists
    • Unordered Lists
    • Definition Lists
    • Nested Lists
  • Tables Introduction
    • Headers, Rows, and Columns
    • ROWSPAN & COLSPAN
    • Height and Width

Review Project 1 Requirements

 
  • Complete the colored table assignment.
    • Check out the mess we made in class :-)
  • Begin roughing out ideas for Project 1
    • Paper sketches and/or digital comps will be reviewed
    • Another nice example site for ideas

 4

February 13

 

Review and discuss Tab les Assignment
Review Project 1 Comps

Introduction to BBEdit

Even More HTML

  • Tables continued...
    • cellpadding & cellspacing
    • border stuff
    • cell formatting (colgroups?)
    • alignment
    • bgimages (example: CDW)
    • making them fast
      • specify pixel widths
      • break it up
    • Killersites Table Tutorial and the hard return table bug
  • Complete near-final version of Project 1
    • We will review each project in class next week

 4

February 20
  • News: Internet America continues buying spree (Cyberramp)
  • Darren's pick o' the week:

 

Review Project 1 Near-finals

Discuss design and navigation issues
  • Demo your near-final Project 1

 4

February 27

 

Review Project 1 Near-finals

More Links

  • LINK, VLINK, ALINK
  • #Anchors
  • TARGETED Links
  • Other kinds of links (mailto:)

Introduction to Web Graphics

  • GIF vs. JPEG
  • Working with Photoshop
    • Modes: RGB & Indexed Color
    • Type-based logos
      • Image Previews
      • Transparency
    • Photographs
    • Careful! Keep originals in a safe place.
    • Cropping

 
  • Next week: make final changes to Project 1
    • Project 1 will be graded in class.
    • The CommArts magazine will be awarded. :-)
    • Make sure all your links are relative: we may upload to the server.
  • Bring in ideas for final project

 4

March 6

 

Project 1 Complete

 4

March 13

 

Spring Break


 4

March 20

 

Review for Midterm

The Netscape Broken Images and what they mean:

The Inner Workings of the Internet
Eine kleine Web History
How the Internet Works (and all those terrific acronyms)

  • Basic Protocols
    • TCP/IP
    • Layered Protocols (PPP)
  • Basic Services
    • DNS
    • SMTP
    • FTP
    • Telnet
  • Web Servers
    • HTTP
    • HTTPS
    • SSL

 

 4

March 27

 

Midterm!

Discuss Final Project
BBEdit Overview

More on Graphics and Site Design
  • Next week: bring in 2 "killer websites" we can use for template inspiration.

 4

April 3

 

Spring Break


 4

April 10
  • News:
    • Netscape layoffs...

 

Review Midterm...

Review website templates

DreamWeaver Overview

FireWorks Overview
Image Maps

Search Engines
  • Next week: meet with client.

 4

April 17
  • News:
    • Updates to FireWorks and DreamWeaver
  • Darren's pick o' the week:

 

Janine from Volunteer McKinney will be in class from 10:30a-11:30a.

Information Architecture
    Example: volunteercollin.org

Site Profiles
    Example: Dave Siegel's

Starting up a new client website

  • Step 1: Get that domain name!
  • Step 2: Look for similar sites
  • Step 3: Create a potential site feature list (Information Architecture)
    • Complete a site and customer profile
    • Get client approval
  • Step 4: Create a asset list
    • Keep the client apprised of what you need
  • Step 5: Create and update a project site
    • Contacts
    • Documentation
    • Site Development Resources
    • Schedule/Calendar
  • Step 6: Create site comps
    • Front page/secondary page
    • Place on site and email for comments
    • Graphics Workflow (Illustrator <-> Photoshop) and Fireworks
  • Step 7: Create a working template
    • Confirm Logo
    • Color choices (overall colors, link colors)
    • Type Selection

Site Teams/Assignments

  • Liaison Team
  • Content/Editor Team
  • Design Team
  • Template Team
  • Production Team
  • Architecture Team

Discussed in class

  • Royalty-free Stock Photography
  • Idea-generating sites
    • Points Of Light
    • Volunteer Match
    • WatersDesign
    • many others...
  • Add yourself to the class page
  • Create a sample page with Dreamweaver and FireWorks
  • Designers: create site comps.
  • Editors: review/edit content

 4

April 24

 

Review and discuss rough comps (that's right! everyone will be involved...)

Jeannine arrives at Noon

Final Exam review moved to next week.
Final Exam will be given the last week of class.

  • Confirm logo selection
  • Color choices (LINK colors, graphic colors)
  • Type Selection (HTML, graphics)

 4

May 1
  • News:
  • Darren's pick o' the week:

 

Jeannine arrives at Noon

  • Make final design decision for site
  • Begin working on template
  • Look at existing content... obtain all missing assets
  • more...

Review for Final Exam

  • Jeffrey Veen: Library (function) vs. Gallery (form)
  • Seven Deadly Sins
    • Blank Line Typography
    • Horizontal Rules
    • Background images that interfere
    • The Slow Load
    • Illegal use of the third dimension
    • Alias, Dithering, and Halos
    • Paralysis
  • Common web file types and
  • MIME Types, helper applications, plug-ins and servers
  • How GIF and JPEG compresses pictures
  • Cookies (the good and the bad)
  • Top Level Domains and the Internic
  • JavaScript vs Java
  • Seven Deadly Sins
  • GET vs PUT methods (forms, CGIs)

 

Have all content complete... be ready for integration and Q&A.
Take a look at BBEdit Check Syntax and Dreamweaver Cleanup
Be familiar with FTP and Anarchie/BBEdit

 4

May 8
  • News:
  • Darren's pick o' the week:

 

Final Exam... (a short one)

 

Ship our website... www.volunteermckinney.org