Jack’s Online Communication Blog

It is nice to post that the website I have been working on for about a month now is finished!

I think the whole project process went very well. I would attribute most of the success of the website to my advisor. She was extremely helpful with providing me with my information and kept good communication with me. It also helps though that I CERTO for her and I am in the club that I made the website for.

I think having our personal blogs helped make it a success as well. I knew many of the controls for the website and how it functioned so I was able to add things very fast.

I really enjoyed the topic that we had to make our website on. I loved working with my advisor so I have no critiques on the topic of the project. The only critique I had was on time. I felt there was actually too much time given for the project. I liked the phase idea, but I felt that the project kind of went on longer then it should have. I know I finish things generally fast, but I felt that we could have produced a great website in three weeks time or so. I just felt like there was a lot of days where I didn’t have as much to do since I was already done. Some of the phases were short, like Usability. That could have been done in a day, maybe two at tops.

One section of the website that I am proud of it the slideshow I made that is posted on the homepage. I really enjoy using moviemaker and thought it was a nice tribute to this year. The Natural Helpers is one of the few organizations in the school where everyone likes each other and it really is like a little family. So, seeing the seniors leave is a sad time and I think the slideshow reflects our year together.

Another part of the website that I am proud of is the “About Us” page. I liked how I turned it into a FAQ page in the view of someone who might want to apply for Natural Helpers. Since my concentration in this class was Buisness, I felt this helped advertise the website. I was glad I stuck to my concentration when I feel others may have strayed from it.

So, that’s it. The project is over, and I think it came out great!

Natural Helpers Final Project

This week, I put a lot of enhancements on the site. I made sure I added my five images to fit the rubric and all of them are relevant to the content on the page. I also made a slideshow that reflected back on the past year of Natural Helpers which I felt was is a good enhancement. I couldn’t really embed it as I wanted to since we don’t have youtube at our school, but I still uploaded it and it still counts for something. The website is basically almost complete. I also added a few posts and upcoming events to the calendar.

Make sure you watch my slideshow. I think it came out pretty good. I also tried to put pictures in places where it didn’t just look like I pasted any pictures in. I think I got a little creative.

Next week, I plan on having everything finished. I plan on finishing the website this weekend so that it follows everything listed on the rubric. Next week, I also plan on starting my documentation letter to my advisor.

I do not have many current long term goals since the project is coming to a close. I have to add a few more widgets and applications to my website this weekend. Despite that, I plan on making sure everything on the actual website is complete for next Friday. During next week, I am going to work on my documentation.

I do not have any questions about this next part. I think a lot of it is self-explanatory. The only comment I would like to make is that I think my website came out very good and can be very useful next year.

This week, I don’t really feel like I got a lot done for some reason. All of my usability is done. I have a text only and audio posts on my site. I didn’t really want to place much emphasis on the pod cast posts because I don’t feel like it’s necessary for my site, but I let the option be available without much emphasis on it.

Make sure you look at my slideshow or lack thereof. I made a slideshow for my webpage and tried to embed it using the teacher tube code and it’s just coming up as a blank box…any ideas?

Next week, I plan on adding anything to make my web site more socially interactive. For example, I believe we are learning about adding polls, which I want to utilize. I want to work out the kinks in this slideshow to make sure it goes up. I’m also going to print a copy of the rubric off and cross off everything I’ve done so I can see what remains as the due date gets closer and closer.

My complete list of things to do is long. I feel like I could add more content if I dig a little deeper so I might do that. I have to get all the documentation going on the project and try to get this video to work. I will have a better idea of what I need to do when I print the rubric out probably Tuesday night. It just seems like there’s a lot of little technical stuff to try to fix.

My only question is that on the website, under categories, when I click on either announcements or introduction, it doesn’t show the exact post. Like, it shows part of it in standard font, not what I typed it in. Also, it isn’t in this entirety. Any ideas?

Since Phase 2 lasted two weeks, I feel like I got a lot done. I put all of the text content that I worked on with my advisor and made sure any colors I made the text didn’t make the site look tacky. I also added the Google Calendar application as one of my “extras.” So, all of my content is up and I think there’s a good framework to work from.

Make sure you look at the member’s page and make sure that was done properly. I tried to only post first names and last initials for security purposes. I think this is how I am supposed to do it, but you may just want to take a look at it.

Next, I plan on working on the usability. I already included a text only option so I’m a little ahead on usability. However, there is still more content I need to add. I need to add a few more widgets that I e-mailed by advisor about. Also, I want to make my slideshow of pictures. I hope I can get to that on Sunday (right after Prom!) so we’ll see how that works out. It’s definitely something that will take a while to make but I think it will be a good enhancement.

I have to work on Usability next. After that, I have to continue with the phases. I also have to make sure my website is community friendly. I also need to work on the documentation part of this project but that will be in a few weeks so right now I have to concentrate on completing the content portion.

One question I have is that is it okay if I put the member of the club’s last names? Or does something like that violate the confidentiality issue too much? Also, I was hoping I did my links right. I have categories and in each category is one or two links which pertain to the category.

     This week I planned out all the content that I wanted to put up on my page. I met with my advisor and we planned out certain things and brainstormed other ideas to make the website better. I also e-mailed my advisor concerning widgets and what I thought would be helpful. 

      Not really sure what this part means, but make sure you check your e-mail and see that I CC’d you the e-mail I sent to my advisor. 

      I plan on putting all of the content on that I planned out this week. Also, I don’t know if I will get to do this in class due to pages that are blocked, but I will begin to work on a slideshow of pictures from activities that the Natural Helpers do. However, I do need to get the code and stuff so I might begin to work on that the next weekend. 

     There is lots to do. I have to get the content up, make my slideshow, install my widgets, show my website so far to my advisor to look at it…That’s really what my main goals are right now, and after I complete my short term goals will I start thinking about other things that need to get done. I work step by step before I think about my long term goals but I’m 100% accurate that the website will come out just like I envision it to. 

     Are we going to have any more in class time to work with our advisors?