Website Practicalities
- I really appriciated this week’s reading in Digital History. There were several great chapters with really useful information about building a webpage. In the section on texts and images there was some good advice about considerations you should have before even beginning to build your site. For example, this section detailed the different types of software you could use when building your site. I really had no idea that so many options were available depending on your skill level and the needs of your site. I’m also looking forward to learning how to use Dreamweaver after reading about it in the book. While this section cleared up a couple of basic questions, it also got me thinking more about what I want to do with my site and which software will best serve my purposes. Does blackboard actually have a program that we can use to assist us in webdesign? Or is that just for posting syllabi and other textually based information?
- Another group of questions came to mind in the section entitled Serving your Website. Should I be using my blog space to make a site? Or should I use space provided by American University through blackboard? (actually, do we have a built in webpage space?) If I do use American’s space, for example, does it than disappear when I am no longer a student? There is definitely a concern about the life of my site which I guess will influence how it should be hosted. I also didn’t realize that my internet provider might give me webspace as well. It’s amazing how much space is available on the web for free, especially for users who intend to make only a small site. Owning your own server sounds like it could be an incredible headache.
- I can also see how you could get caught up in all the flashy technology and fun graphic stuff while building a site. (which is exactly what parts of this chapter warned against doing). I don’t even really know how to use most of the fun technology, but just reading the section on multimedia and discovering all the possibilities for a site makes me want to try all of it. Interactive maps of Pearl Harbor and 3D journeys through Egyptian tombs sound way more fun than simply typing in a few facts and posting a static picture. However, I’m sure it is incredibly complicated and time consuming. This could definitely lead to the possiblity of spending so much time on the media that the information on your site is mostly “fluff”. Media could, however, really contribute to the effectiveness of your website, especially if you do need to map out an event. I guess moderation is the key.
As a sidenote: I’m so proud of myself for inserting links into my blog!
February 20th, 2006 at 2:30 pm
You raise good concerns about American Univ. possibly owning the space where you post your Web site. It’s amazing how much the digital world of an undergrad or grad student may be enhanced by an academic institution (access to expensive software, network space, e-mail, etc.), but that disappears upon graduation unless the institution offers its alums similar perks. I’m also curious about what happens to student Web pages hoted by a college or university when the student leaves…
February 20th, 2006 at 8:52 pm
You do have space to post a website through American. You just put your site on your G drive (your drive on the network). The address is like the one that the guy who showed us Photoshop had (eagleone). I’m not sure if the site remains after you graduate, but I’m assuming it doesn’t. However, since we are in school, we get that great student discount on Dreamweaver. When I bought DreamweaverMX, it was only $99, but the guy at the bookstore said the new one is more expensive. If you get Dreamweaver for yourself, if you really want to keep it up, you can use the free space from the school until you graduate, and then move it somewhere else. This is also where saving and backing up your website comes into play.
February 21st, 2006 at 4:32 pm
Very valid concerns about American Webspace, and thank you Linda for the advice regarding it. As another cheap possibility for a place to host your website, I recommend trying to tap old college friends, especially if any of them are/were into computers. I was amazed to find out a number of my former classmates not only had their own websites (not really surprising at all) but also had their own servers up and running with very little on them.