Diane College

Final Evaluation

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:29:32 +0200

I am pleased with the website that I have created, and I believe that it meets the assignment brief. I have created a website for a fictional company called Chicken Inn, encorporating a restaurant and hotel. The website also contains directions to the Inn.

I am pleased with the colour scheme that I chose as the reds, oranges and yellows emulate the firey theme of flame-grilled chicken which I was hoping for. The images that I have chosen add detail to the text, and there is a booking form too.

The validation on the booking form is working, although when the user clicks on the submit button, an error message comes ups highlight an unknown URL. This is because I haven’t included a destination email address within the code as the website is fictitious.

In retrospect I could have been a bit more creative with the layout of some of the pictures in the website, but in all I am happy with the layout and the final site.

Comments

Copyright and security issues

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:16:52 +0200

When uploading files to a host to create a website it is important to bear in mind security and copyright issues relating to the material. When using images and sound/video clips it is important to ensure that you have permission of the person/persons who created the media, or that you are able to use the image without it being illegal. Sources should be referenced where applicable.

It is also important to remember that people visiting the website might try and use the media, or reproduce text contained within it so it is important to put a disclaimer on highlighting what they can and can’t reproduce. If people reproduce media that has been copyrighted, or copyrighted media is used without permisson, then the person doing so would be breaking the law.

It is the responsibility of the person uploading the website to the server, and not the server, to ensure that copyright law is not broken or infringed upon.

When uploading files to a web server one should also give consideration to server security. This is to protect the site from people hacking into it and changing or stealing data, or as a method of hacking into files. If a website just contains infomration pages, HTTP will be sufficient.

If the website that you are uploading is an ecommerce site, or one which involves customers transmitting personal/payment details, you should ensure that data transferred between the server and the website users is encrypted, and that the server has a recognised encryption method. A SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Certificate is an example of a well-recognised encryption method whereby transmitted data is broken down and encrypted at several points during the data transfer, and each time is given a unique key. The data is then reassembled by un-coding the keys.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act it is important to remembet that you are responsible for looking after personal data that people transmit to you, so it is important that security is in place to protect yourself and users of the website.

The server should also have a robust firewall and anti-virus software in place to protect and prevent the spread of viruses and hackers.

Comments

Eliminating errors/problems uploading

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:16:40 +0200

As mentioned previously I had a few difficulties once I had uploaded my website, and had to adjust the file size so that the image was visible.

When I tried to use the website I realised that my hyperlinks weren’t woking and had to go back into Front Page and rectify the problem. I realised that this was due to 2 problems; the first was that I hadn’t created hyperlinks between each link and it’s corresponding page. To resolve this I went to each link and ensured that it linked to the correct page.

The second problem that I had was that when I was creating the website I had initially started to create a home page and saved it under the filename home.htm, however I abandonned this prior to the final version. There were no links in the version.

The final version of the page was saved under the filename index.htm. I forgot this and orginally tried to hyperlink the home link to the page home.htm. When I went to edit the links I realised this mistake and changed the links to the correct filename, deleting the redundant version. The website then worked.

Comments

Why I choose my host

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:52:52 +0200

The reason that I chose geocities to upload my website is that is was simple to use. I have previously created a website and uploaded and hosted it using 100webspace.com. I had difficulties using this to upload my website due to the way in which I had organised the folders containing text and pictures. This made the process difficult and took a long time as I had to edit the html code and change some of the file names so that images were recognised.

I found geocities as it is a service offered by my email/ISP. The service was very easy to use as my email address meant that I already had a user account. I logged onto geocities and all I had to do was browse for my files, and click open. Due to the problems I hade encountered previously I saved all files relating to the website in one folder. I appreciate that with a larger and more complex website this would not be a feasible way of file management and that it would be beter to create folders for different web pages.

Once I had selected all the files and clicked on upload, they were uploaded and my website worked instantly. This was really easy to do and took less than 5 minutes. I would recommend this service due to its ease-of-use.

Comments

Folder diagram-30/06/2008

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:31:56 +0200

I craeted a screenshot of the foldes which I used but have been unable to upload them due to file size. Therefore I have emailed them to the assessor.

Having completed my website, it can now be accessed at www.geocities.com/madwife666

Comments

Uploading website-25/06/2008

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:29:56 +0200

To upload the website, I used a free host through yahoo, called geocities. I was unable to upload this file due to file size limits so have emailec it to my assessor.

When I was uploading my website I encountered 2 problems. The first was that there was no background visible (the background was a jpeg picture). When I checked the file properties I realised that the image was too big and this was why it wasn't displaying. Once I had resized, saved and uploaded the image the background was visible on each page.

The second difficulty was that when I clicked on some of my hyperlinks, an error message appeared saying the website didn't exist. I went back into Front Page and realised that some of my pages were linked incorrectly. I edited these and saved the changes and re-uploaded them. My website now works effectively.

Overall I am very pleased with my website.

Comments

Create website-19/06/2008

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:22:11 +0200

Once I had decided on the theme of my website I then began to create my website. Initially I used notepad to write HTML code for my website, but encountered some difficulties with sizing my tables. Therefore I decided to use front page to create my website as I found it easier to manipulate tables using this package.

I created a 6 page website but have been unable to upload these due to file size limits so have only been able to upload the first 2 pages.

Comments

Storyboard-19/05/2008

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:17:13 +0200

Having created a mood board and decided on the theme for my website I created a storyboard as a basis for the sight.

Comments

Mood Board-12/05/2008

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:07:23 +0200

Having carried out research I then used my findings to create a mood board for my website.

Comments

Research-Country Hotels-05/05/2008

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:06:10 +0200

I have attached the research that I carried out on Country Inns.

Comments

Research-Resaurants-28/05/2008

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:52:09 +0200

Research on Chicken restaurants.

Comments

Preparation-21/04/2008

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:34:34 +0200

In order to ensure that I had the necessary information to fulfill the tasks of the assignment, I have been practising making simple web pages using notepad and HTML code. This had included tables and frames. The topics which I have created websites on are St Patrick's Day, and words from the letters of my name.

Now that I have the assignment brief, the first tasks that I will have to do are research restaurants and hotels and use the information to make a mood board for the website.

Comments

Assignment-24/03/2008

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:29:27 +0200

The assessment for this unit will be solely based online.

The scenario is as follow (has been copied from assignment brief)

Web Man Enterprises is an online company that specialises in web design from development and design to evaluating and marketing. You are currently employed within the company as a designer and promoter of web projects. Most of the staff within the company are employed on a temporary basis as freelancers who carry out and complete jobs acquired by Web Man Enterprises. These jobs are acquired through a bidding system where a job is posted and companies or freelancers bid on the job and provide their credentials and their solutions to the requirements given. The winning bidder then receives the job.

Case Study – Chicken Inn

The following job has been posted on the ‘Freelance For Money’ website:

The Chicken Inn is a popular local restaurant and hotel. They have decided that they want to have a web presence so that customers can primarily view their menu online, place room bookings online and find information on how to find the Chicken Inn. These are the essential requirements of the website, but the business is open to any other suggestions of information that could be provided on the website.

They have no specific designs, layout or colour requirements for the website and are open to all suggestions for improving the basic design and initial requirements. They have done a little research by looking at other restaurants that have an online presence and would ideally like something very similar, but unique to their needs to make them stand out from the crowd.

They would like you to create a template design for the website which would include designs for the menu, booking and how to find pages.

From this brief there are a number of tasks which will need to be completed. I will need to research restaurants (chicken-themed) and hotels, as well as creating a mood board to help me decide on my theme, a story board and then create the actual website.

Comments

Introduction-17/03/2008

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:25:11 +0200

This blog has been created as part of my studies towards the website development unit of the National Diploma for IT Practitioners that I am studying for.

This is the second time that I have tried to create this blog as initially I forgot my username and password.

So far in the unit I have learnt to create simple tables, add text and colour and add borders.

I have also created a mood board.

I was initially having difficulty with using a different blogging website so I have copied and pasted my retrospective posts on here.

Comments