This HTML tutorial website provides examples of how to create basic tags, format text, and add links. This will be helpful when learning how to write your own HTML.
Although we are not there yet, I found this site by Google to be very interesting. The fact that Google lets you play with their code and run scenarios is amazing. The code playground seems similar to what we see in firebug - you edit the code and see an output. It allows for Google to operate on a whole new level and interaction. Allowing people to freely test your code and learn from it, mow that's cool.
It looks as though 2 other people submitted sites on color charts, so variety's purposes, here's a site that provides information on various web browsers. It's a bit of a learning experience -- did anyone else know there is a web browser called Firebug or Opera Dragonfly??
What time on the due date are the assignments due (morn, afternoon, midnight)? I anticipate getting assignments done in advance, but if ever one needed to be tweaked and resubmitted for credit I would like to know the exact time.
My understanding is: do as many assignments as you want, or think you need to do. As for points, doing enough assignments correctly to total 100 points per module will get you an A-. An A- will be upgraded to an A if you show consistent creativity. Only those with an A- qualify for the "Creativity Upgrade". A grade of B won't do it. If I explained anything incorrectly, someone please correct me. My own take on it? Learn code because you really want to learn code, show effort, and try to have some fun with it. :)
This site is a lot "wordier" than others that I've seen...but what I personally like about it is the examples followed by a short description as to what it is I am looking at. I like that (and learn it easier)
Another great beginner's intro to the world of CSS mainly because it provides just as many examples as it does explanations. In addition, it encourages you to try out the code as you go along rather than simply expect to learn by osmosis (which is pretty much impossible with this subject anyway).
Here is a very basic multi-page site dedicated to Walt Disney World. Each of the four theme parks has its own webpage, linked together through navigation at the bottom of the page.
I'd forgotten how hand coding (vs Dreamweaver) can be a time consuming feat! But I survived and it's helping to re-learn basic html codes!
I took my recipe html file and tried cleaning it up. After numerous attempts to fix my code myself, I clicked the "Clean up Markup with HTML Tidy" button. HTML Tidy basically truncated my table-specific CSS and aggregated it at the top. I suppose I'll learn how to do this myself when I begin on Module 2. Instead of changing the original file, I saved a new one to show to the code difference at http://marie.nfshost.com/recipe2.html
HTML Tidy is a lifesaver--as long as you look at the changes and can figure out why they have happened. (It also makes it prettier, if you use the "indents" feature.)
Here is my variation on the Baseball Cards challenge. There are 3 different images to choose from, and the info displayed after submission (as well as the drop down itself) is generated from a database table. If you'd like to learn more about my friends & family, take a peek!
Test your JavaScripting skills using the w3schools.com Tryit Editor. See what happens in side by side windows. Learn the basic formatting of JavaScript statements, blocks and comments. This site seems like a good place to practice, if you know very little about coding JavaScript from scratch.
This is Google's page that explains their Google Maps API. "The Google Maps API lets you embed Google Maps in your own web pages with JavaScript. The API provides a number of utilities for manipulating maps (just like on the http://maps.google.com web page) and adding content to the map through a variety of services, allowing you to create robust maps applications on your website." This is mentioned in Mod 6 and you can learn more about it by going to this site.
webteacher.com has an excellent tutorial for learning JavaScript. It starts off saying that it is JavaScript for the non-Programmer and goes through step by step defining terms such as JavaScript, Object Oriented Programming (OOP), objects, methods, properties, events, functions, alerts, forms, buttons etc. It also has a great chapter on Loops (chapter 5). This site shows examples of code and slowly goes through step by step the structure and components of JavaScript.
Great resource for Web Programming newbies! & Apply your programming skills to build fun things like a Bubble Sort, Numeral Converter, Happy Numbers, Bank Teller, Blackjack Game, 99 Bottles Of Beer and much more.!!
I cannot stress enough how much this site helped me in my course last semester with css and coding. The best part I found is that the example coding can be used and altered to fit whatever you are doing. That way, you see what it should look like and then add your own stuff to make the code your own with how you want the final product to look. I cannot stress enough how much this site helped me in my course last semester with css and coding. The best part I found is that the example coding can be used and altered to fit whatever you are doing. That way, you see what it should look like and then add your own stuff to make the code your own with how you want the final product to look.
I cannot stress enough how much this site helped me in my course last semester with css and coding. The best part I found is that the example coding can be used and altered to fit whatever you are doing. That way, you see what it should look like and then add your own stuff to make the code your own with how you want the final product to look.
That's probably the best way to learn HTML and CSS. And you can actually collect good examples from around the web, since HTML and CSS are always viewable.
As one of my classmates pointed out...sometimes it's easier to learn complicated things when they are "kindergatenized" Here I found a site which appempts to explain PHP at the very bare minimum. I found it to be long and wordy...but I am actually understanding it, slowly.
Module 3 for me is beginning to shape up to be similar to Godfather III. At first I hated both but now I realize their value. OK, in this here bookmarked link, author Vikram Vaswani turns PHP into something akin to a nice novella with excellent screenshots as examples. This tutorial is engaging, friendly and filled to the brim with info.
A really nice, basic resource that explains PHP in a clear and understandable way. It makes a very nice complement to the instructional videos for the class.
I came across this site dealing with HTML through Google. Browsing through, I found it to be great, even for myself, a stone cold beginner to this stuff. It's pretty much a complete tutorial regarding HTML starting from the most basic parts all the way to the advanced material and know-how. In the page itself you will see [Previous] and [Next] buttons which walk you to the next level of the tutorial, down the left side of the page is each part of the tutorial. Hope this helps!
When choosing text and background colors, it's useful to have a hex code chart to make sure you're choosing the color you really want.
I like Webmonkey's chart because the color boxes are a little bigger than most other charts. Plus, they also provide the HTML coding to change the background color in case you forget.
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The Web Developer's Resource
Good call on WebMonkey. That was one of the first sites I ever used when I was learning HTML in undergrad. I loved it! Plus, how can you not love it with a name like that!
This gives you everything you basically need to know about HTML tags, which is what separates one section of code from another. This will be a useful reference for those who are still confused about how to write legible code.
Ha, I didn't see this hiding up here.
It's up to you which (and whether) you want to do the exercizes in the book. The advantage of the book, I think, is that it provides a nice structured approach, it gets you started on the right foot right away, and it focusses on what is important. The downside is that there is some "fluff." Sometime we all need a bit of fluff.
So, the long and the short of it is, if I were in your shoes, I would work through the book quickly. Some of what is covered there is also covered in my lectures. In fact, I think this is the largest amount of overlap I have ever had between a text and the lectures. But I suspect you will need more depth in some cases than you get from the lectures. You might try watching the lectures, and then working through the section of the book.
It's probably too much to actually "read" during a week (yikes) but it is highly skimable. And there will be an opportunity to return to it, as we move into some of the programming.
For challenge webprog-1-b: Question about the syllabus (and a suggestion)
Question: I've been submitting challenges through adding bookmarks on Diigo; however, I used sticky notes on this one. Do you have a preference of how we submit challenges? Thanks.
Suggestion: Very thorough lecture, but in future ones, it might be helpful to mention in computer requirements that Mac users need at least OS X 10.4 to access Firefox, Firebug, etc.
Monica:
Need to bookmark as well as sticky. I find the assignments according to the tag, so if it's not tagged, I won't find it.
Firefox, Firebug, Firezilla, etc. are all available for 10.4 and before. Just google, e.g., "Firefox earlier releases." They may not have the same features as the most recent version. In practice, you can survive without any of these; they are just nice to have.
As for your last question: the grade on an assignment is binary: either you get all the points or you don't. If you didn't, you'll need to send me a note when you redo it, so I can recheck it. If it's still before the deadline, you can rec. full points. If it is after the deadline, you get reduced points.
In the lecture 2-1 (coming soon!) I touch briefly on this. Generally, you just provide a short comment (see the last question on p. 6 of the book) near where you are borrowing code or ideas.
t will be added to the Completed page, at that point, with the associated number of points
I just clicked the Completed page and it failed to load. Is this a page that will eventually be up? Will grades also be posted in Blackboard as well as the Completed page?
For challenge 1-b it says to make sure we bookmark our question. How do we bookmark a highlighted comment? Do we just use the entire URL and you would seek out our question(s)?
Is this the question you are bookmarking? If so, I think the world is going to expload.
Yes, you should bookmark the page you are making the comment on (this one) and be sure to tag it webprog-1-b.
You mention MySQL for the db backend. Can you give a list of what we'd need to download from the MySQL site? There appear to be several options. My brain hurts.
what exaclty is a "shell account". I looked it up on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_provider), but can you try to explain it in English aka understandable terms?
As it turns out, we probably won't need to access a shell account. Basically, this allows you to directly log in to a server computer, and move around it. You generally have shell access to your own computer (on Windows machines, look under accessories or Run: Command; on OSX, the program is called "Terminal.") This is generally the only way to directly run programs or access detailed information about a web server. Otherwise, you are limited to FTP, which really is just used to copy files to and from the server.
Thanks, this actually spawned another question, but relating to Diigo. I had no notification (or none that I could see) or anything that you had responded to my sticky note. Is there something I'm missing or should I just remember to check back. Thanks
Done. It's a pretty quick read. Really, my lectures are a kind of "Cliff Notes" (I guess that's now "Sparc Notes"?) of the book. You won't have a test, but you will find the book helpful in filling in the gaps as you create stuff.
Hi Prof. Halavais. You mentioned in the opening syllabus video that you deliberately designed this ICM class to be an "open course," meaning it is open to others who are not tuition-paying QU students. Why make your class materials part of the "creative commons"? I'm also curious to know how QU officials feel about "open courses."
That's probably a longer question than I can answer. I think there is a mixed feeling about it, and some at QU think we should charge people for knowledge. I guess I'll turn that around and ask: what is it you are paying for when you pay tuition?
When I finally finish paying tuition, I'll have that oh-so-valuable piece of paper that says I have a master's degree, right? Tuition also helps to pay you, my professor!
Well, initially I had planned on doing more of this. In the sixth module, we briefly touch on what's available to a user via the *nix "shell," if those are the sort of commands you are thinking of. But I've aleady packpeddled quite a bit from my initial plans.
What pages of the textbook will we need to read in the first module? Should we do the exercises in the book? Also, can you cite how to acknowledge others' work within code?
Questions re: the course/syllabus:
I just clicked the Completed page and it failed to load. Is this a page that will eventually be up? Will grades also be posted in Blackboard as well as the Completed page?
Second, on the 1-b challenge page it said to bookmark our questions...I'm a little confused as to the expectations. To be safe, I commented on/highlighted on the syllabus page and am now bookmarking the Syllabus page as well. Are we supposed to do both for this challenge?
More of a general question towards the course itself....am in trouble if I really have no prior experience writing code/HTML/web programming? I'm a bit nervous to be honest.
To satisfy challege 1-B, I have asked a good question about the course under the SCHEDULE section. There is a sticky note attached to the words "if any."