John Keston Classes

Week 1

Session 1: In this class we’ll be exploring interactive design through the use of several excellent software tools. The tools include Dreamweaver and Flash. We’ll also be making use of FTP client software, creating and publishing a website and manipulating digital imagery with programs like Photoshop and Fireworks. For the final project we will be authoring a full website.

We will start the class by using a text editor to create a basic five page website. Dreamweaver is an HTML editor. It does not create Dreamweaver documents, it is used to help you build and edit HTML documents, allowing you to publish content on the World Wide Web.

Before getting started in Dreamweaver it’s important to understand a little about HTML and how websites operate. Therefore we will start by using a text editor like TextEdit, TextMate, or Smultron.

Assignment 1: "Project Portal" Static Web Page
Due Session 1, Week 2 (10 points)

For the official assignment requirements, download the assignment sheet in MS Word format.

This assignment is an introduction to the most basic concepts of building a web page (i.e. hyperlinks, uploading files, creating directories, creating HTML pages in Dreamweaver). It is also the mechanism through which I will grade all of your subsequent assignments. First you will log in to your OLS account and create four new directories within your /htdocs directory. You will then build one web page with links to the new directories you created, and upload the page. This page will be the "project portal" for this class. You are free to use it for other classes too, just make sure to label your assigment links clearly.

Reading Assignment:
Speaking in Styles – Introduction and Chapter 1

Session 2: Today I’ll be demonstrating a couple of ways to produce the "Project Portal" assignment that we discussed last time. We will also start our discussion on XHTML, look at some functionality within the text editors and FTP applications.