Reflective Statement

For assignment 1 we have been asked to produce a 20- page website specification proposal document for the association Free F’all Climbing.

The client would like to include commenting on some items ad would also like to collect email addresses for email campaigns. There should also be links to the clients Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages. For the navigation section of this site must include these categories (Home, News and Events – including a calendar, About us, Contact and a Gallery).

In the document I have included what the organisation is about (Background); who the majority of users will use the site (Target Audience), site structure (Navigation), suggesting extra features the site may benefit from (Extra Features), information about plugins (Third Party Add-Ons), suggestions of how to may the site accessible to everyone (Accesability) social integration, what framework platform i.e. Static HTML, non-database and database-driven Content Management Systems (Frameworks inc. site maps for each solution) and finally my recommendations for the proposed site (Recommendations) etc. Here is my recommendations for the proposed site.

The site will be produced by using a database-driven CMS system and will include the following

* Main navigation categories – Home, News and Events, About Us, Gallery, Hill Walking and Climbing and a Store.

* A store which allows the client to sell weekend experience packages, photographs and hillwalking and climbing equipment to customers.

* We recommend a route finder tool, a weather forecast widget

* A list (advertisements) to hill walking and climbing clubs so users if there choose can join a club and meet new people

* The client wants to be able to send email campaigns and possibly newsletters to subscribers by using the free version of Mail Chimp.

To make the site accessible to everyone we will include using a font resize plugin available on WordPress called Zeno and underneath images in the gallery there will be a small caption explaining them. The design will be simplistic to create a easy to use responsive interface that can be accessed by various disabilities.

This task has gave me a insight into what information you need to find out about before coming to design the site. If I had to do it again I would change the amount of text in some areas of the document as three is a lot of information on the pages. However, overall I am pleased with my first web proposal specification document.

Third Party Add-Ons

In a section of the brief it says the client may wish to include third party add-ons, in this case I have collected a few examples.

• Google +
• Google Analytics
• Google Maps
•  Mail Chimp
•  PayPal

Google Analytics – a free service which provides in-depth reports where you can track information about the way visitors to your site interact with it, to e-commerce track sales activity and performance.

Google Maps – easy to embed anywhere on your website

Mail Chimp – can be directly integrated with your website so your customers can subscribe to your list quickly and easily (A sign up form). With this you can send up to 12,000 email campaigns to 2,000 subscribers per month for free and view reports to measure the success of there campaigns. You can also connect Mail Chimp to your Facebook and Twitter to automatically post your campaigns on these social networking sites.

These examples will help me when coming to the section of third party add-ons within the specification document.

 

 

References:

Paypal.com. (2017). Faster, Safer & Easier Payments with PayPal. [online] Available at: https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/paypal-popup [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017].

Mueller, G. (2013). The top 5 third-party party tools for your website. [online] 1stwebdesigns.com. Available at: http://www.1stwebdesigns.com/blog/web-design/the-top-5-third-party-party-tools-for-your-website [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017].

Podcasting Hacks. (2017). Podcasting Tools. [online] Available at: http://www.podcastinghacks.com/podcasting-tools/ [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017].

Khan, G. (2009). Show Your Data on Google Map using C# and JavaScript – CodeProject. [online] Codeproject.com. Available at: https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/36151/Show-Your-Data-on-Google-Map-using-C-and-JavaScrip [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017].

Research into Static HTML

Static HTML websites involve a series of HTML, CSS files  [each page of the site is separate HTML files], which are linked together to produce the web page. Basically, static websites have web pages with fixed information and contents [whatever is written in the HTML
code is displayed], this means when anyone visits the site there will receive the exact content as everyone else. Dynamic users from sites such as WorPress can add, edit or delete information by themselves, however, with a static website content on the site cannot change without the developer editing its source code.

Some examples of professional HTML editing software’s you can use to produce static web pages include Adobe DreamWeaver [ designed to create web pages DreamWeaver is a fully featured HTML web and programming editor], TextEdit [a simple, open source text editor located on apple devices] and Microsoft Expression Web [a web design software and HTML editor].

As these can be expensive systems or specific to the type of computer you have or quite expensive [online DreamWeaver costs £205.72 per year], beginners can produce their static website from their HTML files on online website generators such as Jekyll, Middleman, Roots and Hugo. I have listed below some advantages and disadvantages of static websites.

Advantages of static HTML websites

• Speed
• Flexibility
• Ideal for small websites
• Cheaper to produce than dynamic websites

Disadvantages of static HTML websites

• Remains constant [does not respond to the user input]
• Harder to maintain
• There are less attractive and interactive than dynamic websites

This research into static HTML has given me a clearer understanding of what static websites are, what software’s there are available and also highlights some of the advantages and disadvantages of this type of site. This information will help me when I coming to create the HTML framework section of the 20-page specification website proposal document.

An example of creating a Static HTML website on DreamWeaver

References:

Bhalla, A. (2014). Markup language classification, designing static and dynamic. [online] Slideshare.net. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/ankubhalla/markup-language-classification-designing-static-and-dynamic [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017].

Alex, A. (2015). What are some advantages and disadvantages of static websites?. [online] Quora. Available at: https://www.quora.com/profile/Alex-Alex-332 [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017].

Aapkaadsindia.com. (2015). Static Website Design –. [online] Available at: http://www.aapkaadsindia.com/index.php/static-website-design/ [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017].

Altict.com. (n.d.). Static Website – ALT ICT. [online] Available at: http://altict.com/static-website/ [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017].

My Photoshop Classroom. (2013). Adobe Dreamweaver CS6 Review. [online] Available at: http://myphotoshopclassroom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/adobe-dreamweaver-cs6-review.html [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017].

Research into Content Management System [CMS]

Content Management System known as CMS is a system which allows users to manage their content, without any knowledge of HTML on a friendly user-interface site.

Database-driven content management systems use a database for collecting and storing information. Users on database-driven websites such as WordPress, Blogger, Drupal, Weebly and Wix, can add, edit or delete information or content by themselves. However, non-database content management systems known as flat file CMS means data is structured around a matrix of folders or files without any import from a conventional database. Users on non-database systems have limited options, for example, their can add features such as basic search, images, PayPal buttons or Google Maps to their site.

Some examples of flat based file CMS systems include Pulse [Pulse is a has a user-friendly interface which is designed for small websites. Costs $29 per website], Kirby [Kirby is a true file-based CMS that uses Markdown syntax and jQuery inspired API. Costs $39 per website] and Grav [a open source modern flat-based CMS system].

When researching into flat file and database-drive CMS systems I found out that there are more suitable for different projects, for example, database-driven CMS systems can be used for both large and small projects, due to their user-friendly interface design and the amount of features and plugins such as calendars and maps there have. However, non-database driven CMS system is best suited for smaller projects, as there have limited features.

I have researched into Content Management System, database-driven and non-database driven CMS to give a clearer understanding of what these mean. This will information will aid me when I have to create my website proposal for the association Free F’all Climbing [these will be two of the three frameworks for the website specification proposal]. By doing this research it has also enabled me to expand my knowledge into terms associated with web design.

An example of a Database-Driven CMS system    [WordPress]

An example of a Non-Database driven CMS system   [Kirby]

References:

Crimsondesigns.com. (2017). What is a Database Driven Website? Static HTML Website. [online] Available at: http://www.crimsondesigns.com/wordpress/database-driven-website.php            [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017].

Walsh, D. (2016). 15 Flat File CMS’s for Building Fast, Lightweight Sites. [online] Webhostingsearch.com. Available at: http://www.webhostingsearch.com/articles/flat-file-cms.php [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017].

Itwebbrand.com. (2016). IT WEB BRAND – Just another WordPress site. [online] Available at: http://www.itwebbrand.com/ [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017].

Shoaf, J. (2013). Goodbye WordPress: 2014 Will Be the Year of the Flat-File CMS — Type & Grids. [online] Type & Grids. Available at: http://www.typeandgrids.com/blog/goodbye-wordpress-2014-will-be-the-year-of-flat-file-cmses [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017].

TJ Kelly. (2015). WordPress Tutorial: What Your Clients Don’t Know – TJ Kelly. [online] Available at: https://tjkelly.com/blog/28-blogs-8-wordpress-tutorial-clients-dont-know/                                       [Accessed 3 Feb. 2017].

Brief

There are two parts of this task these are completing Assignment 1 research journal on WordPress and creating a 20- page webspecification document for the association called Free F’all Climbing.

For the specification proposal document, the client would like to include commenting on some items ad would also like to collect email addresses for email campaigns. There should also be links to the clients Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages. For the navigation section of this site must include these categories (Home, News and Events – including a calendar, About us, Contact and a Gallery).

I also have to include minimum of three different web frameworks or systems for example Static HTML, non- database driven Content Management System and a Database driven CMS system. Including information regarding the advantages and disadvantages of each system and produce a site map for each which shows the solution of the proposed site for example with static HTML you can’t add certain features or functions. At the end of the document we have to make a recommendation of which respective system and features the new site should include.

This will be a great challenge to do and will give me insight into what planning you have to do before designing a website.