Week One (MGDP2050)

This article lists topics for Week One of Web Design and Development II (MGDP2050).

Topics

Browsers

See Web browser.

Browser tools

See Web browser tool.

HTC web creative dot com

The domain

htcwebcreative.com

is available for student use, with some cautions and restrictions.

See: http://htcwebcreative.com

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard tool for transferring files between computers over networks.

Working with FTP is a fundamental skill in this class.

We will start using FTP next week. If you are not familiar with FTP, do your own reading on the subject.

LAMP, MAMP, XAMPP, etc.

Update: this section postponed until Week Two.

LAMP stands for:

• The Linux operating system
• The Apache HTTP Server
• The MySQL relational database management system (RDBMS)
• The PHP programming language, and the Perl scripting language

LAMP allows you to run a web server as a desktop application. This is very useful for web development.

See LAMP (software bundle) for more detailed information.

See also:

• MAMP
• XAMPP
• Getting started with XAMPP

Fundamentals of web design and development

• HTML
• Cascading Style Sheets
• JavaScript

Bootstrap

Bootstrap is a framework for responsive web design.

General discussion:

• Bootstrap (framework)
• Getting started with Bootstrap

Getting started, and download Bootstrap:

• Getting started
• Getting started #Download

Frameworks, libraries, etc.

The difference between a framework and a library is often arbitrary and subject to debate over definitions. Both are software which share common principles and serve similar purposes.

In general, a framework is larger and more comprehensive software, while a library is smaller and does less.

Exercises in-class tonight

Folder structure

Create a folder for your class work.

Download Bootstrap

Download Bootstrap. Put the files in your class work folder.

Make a web page

Make a document named

index.html

in your class work folder.

Make this document a simple web page based upon the Bootstrap template example.

Bootstrap files

Put your downloaded Bootstrap folder in your Local Root Folder.

Bootstrap template

Copy the Bootstrap template example, and paste into

index.html

.

Modify the path to your Boostrap CSS file. (Default template example is not correct.)

Override CSS styles

In your index.html page, add a link to an external style sheet. (You must also create the style sheet.)

Make some visible change to the CSS. This can be a token gesture, like changing the page background, or a more comprehensive set of style changes (which will are required to do by next week, in any case).

Browse your work

Browse your index.html</codee> page. Confirm that your CSS changes are visible.

Save your files for next week.

Show your work to the instructor. A brief glance will do: see the background color, or whatever it is.

Exercises due by next week

Upgrade the template example

Modify your template example to suit your own personal taste.

• This page will become a table of contents, where you will provide links to various other pages that you will create later in the semester.
• It must be readable, but other than that, you are free to style the page any way you like.
• You will re-use these styles with many (not all) of the other pages you create later.
• You may continue to modify these styles through the semester, as you like.
• This is a general test of "can the student modify the default CSS, with readability and some design sensibility, and carry it through to other pages later"
• It is not a specific test of "how much HTML and CSS do you know". Use much or little, as you like.
• This page, and others like it, are "framework pages" -- useful for the instructor to navigate, and must comply with good web design practices, but only a supporting task, not a major exercise.

If you really, truly prefer the default Bootstrap styles because they are to your own personal taste, this is not a problem. Speak to the instructor about alternative strategies, all of which involve the student demonstrating the ability to override default styles in a comprehensive and cohesive manner.

Be familiar with FTP

When the instructor provides FTP credentials, are you able to log in and transfer files?

Review the basics

Anything related to HTML and CSS.

We will look at JavaScript later in the semester. At this point, JavaScript is an advanced topic, not a basic.

Responsive web design

Do your own reading about responsive web design.

We will discuss this topic extensively in the next several weeks.

See also

• Web Design and Development III (MGDP2060)