After making some serious changes for my Wikitravel page, I've completed my project. The formatting was very tedious and annoying. Everything had to be consistent and match up with Wikitravels requirements for entries. I added a number of attractions and locations to the website that I found to be an important part of South County. I have been there and enjoyed my experience, so I would think other people would want to be part of that experience as well.
I have to upload my information to Wikitravel website, which I heard is a lengthy process. There are a number of minor edits I will be making to the page so it is consistent with the rest of the Wiki format, but I didn't add it to the word.doc since it was as minor as the spacing or appearance of the entry. Now I look back and I wonder if I should have added more locations? There was really no set criteria for this assignment so the guidelines were a bit vague. I think it was more of what we got out of the assignment though. I definitely learned that I can write effectively without the long descriptions and jargon.
I think it's funny that we were in class and people were having edit wars with one another on the site. This can be annoying because what we actually spent a lot of time on, they could be erasing Not fair! Overall, this project was interesting. This was good because it kept everything in order so it was easy to read. It's easy to relate this website to the Ch. we read for today. You can really see what works on a website and what causes difficulty and confusion.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Ch. 6 Basic Design Principles
Ch. 6 in The Non-Designer's Web Book by Robin Williams & John Tollett is a great introductory for those who are new to web designing. They discussed the four basic principles: alignment, proximity, repetition, and contrast, all of which are the most important keys to efficient web designing. Alignment is the structure of the page and discuss the important of having the items line up and appeal to the eye. Alignment makes it easier for the viewer to look at the webpage. It creates order and structure for the viewer to help navigate the page with ease. Don't mix alignments. Inconsistency does not produce an effective display. Limit the use of center alignment because it looks cheesy and unprofessional. With the pictures in the book showing what is effective and what is not was extremely helpful in visualizing the aspect of alignment. Giving simple do's and dont's made it very beneficial for me as a reader.
The next important key to web designing is proximity. Depending on where your pictures, titles, paragraphs, are located on your webpage makes all the difference. Limit your use of spacing, rather format the page to fit around your focal point. Titles are the most important because they indicate what the paragraph is about so by creating identical headings for titles, will create a consistent and organized page.
Also when navigating your webpage keep the pages consistent with repetition. Have the same color usage, alignment, and pictures to identify to the reader that they are still on your site. This will help them navigate much easier and draw them in. You want the reader to follow and understand what your webpage has to offer so keep it simple and organized. By doing this, it helps the reader absorb the information on your site which allows for a successful page.
Contrast is the last key to designing an effective webpage. This goes along with the color usage, font style, and how you are displaying your focal point. Each time you visit a webpage there is one thing that sticks out from the rest of the items on the page. This dominant item on the page is the focal point that draws the reader in. The focal point however, does not draw away from the page, it is a indication of what the page has to offer. The use of color is extremely important. As shown in the book, some webpages used conflicting colors to draw attention. This will draw attention, but if you can't focus on what is on the webpage only the color usage, then it is not a positive contrast. Certain font styles also bring the viewer in to display a focal point. Putting all your headings in capitalized lettering is NOT as effective as it may sound. It looks weird and meshed together.
An important aspect that I found to be humorous, is spelling. haha. You would think that if you are running a professional business and trying to gain viewers or customers, you would double check your work! There has been plenty of times where I have come across spelling errors, but I don't understand why because we have spell check right on our computers.
... After reviewing the important aspects of web designing, it has made me excited to start our next project. I love designing and learning new and effective ways to gain an audience.
The next important key to web designing is proximity. Depending on where your pictures, titles, paragraphs, are located on your webpage makes all the difference. Limit your use of spacing, rather format the page to fit around your focal point. Titles are the most important because they indicate what the paragraph is about so by creating identical headings for titles, will create a consistent and organized page.
Also when navigating your webpage keep the pages consistent with repetition. Have the same color usage, alignment, and pictures to identify to the reader that they are still on your site. This will help them navigate much easier and draw them in. You want the reader to follow and understand what your webpage has to offer so keep it simple and organized. By doing this, it helps the reader absorb the information on your site which allows for a successful page.
Contrast is the last key to designing an effective webpage. This goes along with the color usage, font style, and how you are displaying your focal point. Each time you visit a webpage there is one thing that sticks out from the rest of the items on the page. This dominant item on the page is the focal point that draws the reader in. The focal point however, does not draw away from the page, it is a indication of what the page has to offer. The use of color is extremely important. As shown in the book, some webpages used conflicting colors to draw attention. This will draw attention, but if you can't focus on what is on the webpage only the color usage, then it is not a positive contrast. Certain font styles also bring the viewer in to display a focal point. Putting all your headings in capitalized lettering is NOT as effective as it may sound. It looks weird and meshed together.
An important aspect that I found to be humorous, is spelling. haha. You would think that if you are running a professional business and trying to gain viewers or customers, you would double check your work! There has been plenty of times where I have come across spelling errors, but I don't understand why because we have spell check right on our computers.
... After reviewing the important aspects of web designing, it has made me excited to start our next project. I love designing and learning new and effective ways to gain an audience.
Webpage Design
I personally have experience with designing a webpage and really enjoyed it. I am familiar with some HTML formatting and the codes. It is quite confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it it's really a lot of fun. I took a lot of computer classes in high school where I learned this format, at URI I also took a couple courses that required the knowledge of this format. I know their are currently more updated programs that make designing a webpage faster and easier than using HTML (such as wordpress), but I think if you have the background of knowing HTML the other programs are probably a cinch to learn.
Other experiences I've had in website redesign was an online class I took here at URI called WRT 302, Writing Culture Experience, I had no idea what was in store for since it was titled "culture," but it ended up being a design course for understanding websites. We looked at different webpages and their design layout and analyzed their use of colors, wording, and templates. It was very interesting since I have always enjoyed the aspect of design.
The website that I looked at was Blogger.com. The home page has many options for the user, which makes it a tad confusing for the visitor. This website style makes it harder to complete multiple things at once (unless you open each link in a new window). There are a lot of hidden features that someone who is new to the website would never see. It's not really a user-friendly website/ intuitive to the user. Although, there are many ways to personalize your blog, which is great for the user, I find that it takes a longer time to get to the point of familiarity. I've never used other blogging sites before so I don't know if a lot of them are set up the way Blogger is, but I do know one of the students in our class did her critical literacy on Flickr and she even said that Blogger was a confusing site. Maybe Blogger should consider designing a new layout? The downside to that is for its current users (aka me) might find this even more confusing since I am now familiar with its current layout. On the other hand, I know when I visit a website and it's clustered and confusing viewing the first page, I don't go back. They might be able to gain a wider audience by considering this in the near future, or by making minor changes along the way...
Other experiences I've had in website redesign was an online class I took here at URI called WRT 302, Writing Culture Experience, I had no idea what was in store for since it was titled "culture," but it ended up being a design course for understanding websites. We looked at different webpages and their design layout and analyzed their use of colors, wording, and templates. It was very interesting since I have always enjoyed the aspect of design.
The website that I looked at was Blogger.com. The home page has many options for the user, which makes it a tad confusing for the visitor. This website style makes it harder to complete multiple things at once (unless you open each link in a new window). There are a lot of hidden features that someone who is new to the website would never see. It's not really a user-friendly website/ intuitive to the user. Although, there are many ways to personalize your blog, which is great for the user, I find that it takes a longer time to get to the point of familiarity. I've never used other blogging sites before so I don't know if a lot of them are set up the way Blogger is, but I do know one of the students in our class did her critical literacy on Flickr and she even said that Blogger was a confusing site. Maybe Blogger should consider designing a new layout? The downside to that is for its current users (aka me) might find this even more confusing since I am now familiar with its current layout. On the other hand, I know when I visit a website and it's clustered and confusing viewing the first page, I don't go back. They might be able to gain a wider audience by considering this in the near future, or by making minor changes along the way...
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Wikitravel Peer Workshop
Today we had our peer workshop for our Wikitravel project. These are always extremely helpful and I am glad we have them. The group that I always get is awesome. The feedback is very helpful because they always tell me what I should change and what I should add in place of it. They don't leave me hanging, they have great advice for what would be appealing to a viewer. Because South County already has a Wikitravel website, I will be adding some information and editing what is already posted. One of the main alterations that I am going to add to the website is a "Learn" tab for the URI section. It is found under the "See" tab, but because there is a lot written about it I think it needs its own section. I need to clean up the format and make sure it is consistent with the rest of the site. Some information that is already in a format on the website is not in tandem with the rest of Wikitravel so I will fix that. Overall, I think I have useful amount of information that I can add ti the page to help future tourists.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Finializing Wikitravel
Okay, so this week we need to complete our Wikitravel project. I am doing South County, RI as I mentioned in a previous post. I have good information to add, but I am worried because there are soo many rules to adding to the Wikitravel site! Because I am a Communication major I have taken many advertising classes and I am so used to expanding my sentences using appealing words to draw the reader in. Tomorrow we have peer workshop so this will be a great opportunity to see if I am on the right track.
I was surprised by how much I could add to the Wikitravel. I figured that most of what I could think of was already written down, but not at all! I guess that's the perk for living in this area my whole life. I thought what someone wrote about URI was a bit...well interesting. Since I go to school there I don't really see it as a place to visit, rather an obligation, if you will lol. But the writers make a good point about the Boss Arena and Ryan Center, I don't know about the architectural aspect of URI though. It doesn't seem to me that URI really has a unique appeal to it. I guess that could be directed more for someone interested in that area of study or even someone out of state.
My next post will be discussing my peer workshop!
I was surprised by how much I could add to the Wikitravel. I figured that most of what I could think of was already written down, but not at all! I guess that's the perk for living in this area my whole life. I thought what someone wrote about URI was a bit...well interesting. Since I go to school there I don't really see it as a place to visit, rather an obligation, if you will lol. But the writers make a good point about the Boss Arena and Ryan Center, I don't know about the architectural aspect of URI though. It doesn't seem to me that URI really has a unique appeal to it. I guess that could be directed more for someone interested in that area of study or even someone out of state.
My next post will be discussing my peer workshop!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Nardy and Oday
The article by Nardy and Oday is a very interesting one. Before reading this article I only knew the term ecology as a scientific one. This article took the term ecology and created a new meaning to the word based on todays society. Information ecology is basically described as an environment that uses technology to build a relationship. Many might think this type of environment is a community, however that is not the case. Information ecology is a place where a common desire for learning and growing take place. This place could be a library, classroom or even an online website. Information ecology explains the foundation of exploring the importance of technology. With the growth of technology and its constant use, information ecology demonstrates the complexity and similarities we share with each other through these technologies. Information ecology is broken into components: diversity, coevolution, systems, keystone species, and locality.
Wikitravel is an example of an information ecology. The components of this website are all part of a system. It is a public website for anyone to access. You can visit wikitravel to learn and explore new things or your can visit it to add your own personal knowledge about a place. It is a diverse environment where people take their knowledge and share it with others. The best part of this information ecology is that it is a website. You can access this through a computer with the freedom to update, change, or add information. This explains technology in a nutshell (its constant change of information).
I am part of an information ecology here at the University of Rhode Island. I attend classes with other students in my major and we share the same goal. We are all following the universities criteria to graduate and we all share the passion to learn. We all go through changes together (webmail/gmail) and we are all constantly learning and growing.
Wikitravel is an example of an information ecology. The components of this website are all part of a system. It is a public website for anyone to access. You can visit wikitravel to learn and explore new things or your can visit it to add your own personal knowledge about a place. It is a diverse environment where people take their knowledge and share it with others. The best part of this information ecology is that it is a website. You can access this through a computer with the freedom to update, change, or add information. This explains technology in a nutshell (its constant change of information).
I am part of an information ecology here at the University of Rhode Island. I attend classes with other students in my major and we share the same goal. We are all following the universities criteria to graduate and we all share the passion to learn. We all go through changes together (webmail/gmail) and we are all constantly learning and growing.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Wikitravel
For this wikitravel assignment we have to pick a place we are familiar with and add to the website wikitravel.com My destination is South County, RI. I am from Wakefield, RI but because RI is so small, especially the South County area, I figured I would write about more than one town. There is already a wikitravel website for South County, so I will add information. I think adding a map of South County would help future visitors get an idea where South County is actually located in regards to the rest of the state.
Under 'Get In' it talks about the different modes of transportation, I could definitely add the Block Island Ferry in Galilee. If you click on the link for Galilee it tells you about the ferry, but I think because South County covers most of southern RI it is an important piece of information to add to this specific site. Some of the information needs to be updated due to certain places closing, which I can fix. Under 'Recreational Activities" I would add the bike path. I'm not positive where it exactly starts or ends (I will find out) but it runs right through South Kingstown. You can walk/bike/roller blade/run on this beautifully peaceful trail. It is paved and has benches located every so often. You cross over a couple little bridges that have beaver homes right there! It is perfect for every season. Especially living in NE you will want to get out and see the changes in the seasons. Under 'Eat' I would add in Kabuki, it is a fairly new Sushi Restaurant that is fantastic! I know we aren't supposed to tout on wikipedia, but who says I can't here! I was never a sushi fan, but tried it at Kabuki and love it. I am actually going there this weekend for my friends bday. Perfect place to go for birthdays or a nice dinner, reasonably priced and they're open with full menu until 1am!
There isn't anything written under 'Drinks' so I will definitely be adding in there. You can drink at any restaurant, but if you looking more for the "drinking" scene I would add in Rhody Joe's. It is located off rt. 108 and has pretty cheap drink prices. House margarita are $4 and one of those huge mugs of beer is only $2! Fatbelly's opened up this summer I haven't been, but heard good things. I'll have to check it out. Also the Mew's is a great place to drink - they have 69 beers on tap!
These are just a few additions I will make to the wikitravel page for South County. I am sure there is much more I can add, but I will have to go explore what I already know! I'll drive around South County as a tourist and think "what would I want to see!"
Under 'Get In' it talks about the different modes of transportation, I could definitely add the Block Island Ferry in Galilee. If you click on the link for Galilee it tells you about the ferry, but I think because South County covers most of southern RI it is an important piece of information to add to this specific site. Some of the information needs to be updated due to certain places closing, which I can fix. Under 'Recreational Activities" I would add the bike path. I'm not positive where it exactly starts or ends (I will find out) but it runs right through South Kingstown. You can walk/bike/roller blade/run on this beautifully peaceful trail. It is paved and has benches located every so often. You cross over a couple little bridges that have beaver homes right there! It is perfect for every season. Especially living in NE you will want to get out and see the changes in the seasons. Under 'Eat' I would add in Kabuki, it is a fairly new Sushi Restaurant that is fantastic! I know we aren't supposed to tout on wikipedia, but who says I can't here! I was never a sushi fan, but tried it at Kabuki and love it. I am actually going there this weekend for my friends bday. Perfect place to go for birthdays or a nice dinner, reasonably priced and they're open with full menu until 1am!
There isn't anything written under 'Drinks' so I will definitely be adding in there. You can drink at any restaurant, but if you looking more for the "drinking" scene I would add in Rhody Joe's. It is located off rt. 108 and has pretty cheap drink prices. House margarita are $4 and one of those huge mugs of beer is only $2! Fatbelly's opened up this summer I haven't been, but heard good things. I'll have to check it out. Also the Mew's is a great place to drink - they have 69 beers on tap!
These are just a few additions I will make to the wikitravel page for South County. I am sure there is much more I can add, but I will have to go explore what I already know! I'll drive around South County as a tourist and think "what would I want to see!"
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Peer Workshop
Our class had a peer workshop last week to help with our blog and it was definitely helpful! It is always good to hear someones elses opinion about something because most people can pick up on things you didn't realize. I knew I had to expand on my about me and the description in my enthusiast blog, so they gave me advice on what to add and why. Giving an explanation why makes all the difference. You then can understand their perspective and what they would want to be looking for as an audience. They said my color and picture usage was really good along with the great potential to gain animal lovers. The color I use really expresses who I am because I'm quirky, outgoing, and loud at times :-x lol. But not only was the peer workshop helpful it also made me want to write more in my blog and add what they suggested because they gave me positive points about my blog too! I definitely think we should continue having peer workshops!
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