COMM 260, Principles of Internet Web-Based Design
Class Resources

Commercial web site resources:

World Wide Web Consortium: learn about web standards from the Big Boss. Resources:

• Chart of HTML character entities for special characters.
• Complete HTML tutorial (includes chart of hexadecimal web colors.)
• Complete CSS tutorial.
• Free web page validator.
• Create your own web site, fast! And it's free: www.tripod.lycos.com.
• Font comparison: similar fonts for the Macintosh platform compared with the PC platform.

XHML tutorial. XHTML is a "stricter, cleaner" version of HTML, according to W3C. This tutorial is a bit more formal, requiring you to enroll, and sending exercises by email. The good part is it's still free, and offers you a certificate at the end. I haven't taken the tutorial, but have had good luck with other information from the About.com web site.

Web developer's handbook. An extensive index of links covering just about every web resource available on the web, including HTML tools, CSS tools, color tools, typography, royalty-free photos, JavaScript, blogging, and things I don't even recognize.

Need pictures? I like to use my own, but you may not. While you can't legally nab other people's photos without permission, you can find free photos all over the web. (Try MorgueFile--kind of like your mom's big box of snaps, but hey, free is free.) If you're looking for better quality, but still cheap, Try iStockPhoto: the intro page claims 453,000 lmages, and 7,000 added each week, for a cost of only $1 (low-res) to $3 (high-res).

Ross's resources:

Beginning quiz.

Writing for the web.

Midterm exam review.

HTML and CSS quizzes for review.

What's a gig?

Find more on the web.

Quick info: evaluating a web site; lecture synopsis and checklist.

Final exam review.

HTML exercises:

• Exercise One (practice): see Synopsis Six.
• Exercise Two.
• Exercise Three.

CSS exercises:

• Exercise one: A few properties.
• Exercise two: classes and positioning.

HTML/CSS final exercise.

Need to know more CSS code? Here's a comprehensive alphabetized index of CSS properties.

Dreamweaver exercises:

• Exercise One: Introduction.
• Exercise Two: Using tables.
• Exercise Three: Applying CSS.
• Exercise Four: AP Divs.

Learn more on line! Dreamweaver is a "deep" program, meaning a lot to learn. Here's one free tutorial offered by About.com.

Web writing exercises:

• Exercise One: Rewriting news for the web.
• Exercise Two: Rewriting narrative for the web.
• Exercise Three: Word clutter.

Design exercises:

• Just in time for halloween (or not), the web site design Horror Show!
• Practice ad.
• Critique this home page.
• Web pages that suck.
  • Vincent Flanders' "Daily Sucker."
  • Ten worst for 2006
• Designers' award-winning sites.

Beginning Photoshop for web designers:

• Photoshop Lesson One: Getting started.
• Photoshop Lesson Two: General procedures.
• Photoshop Lesson Three: Optimizing for the web.
• Photoshop Lesson Four: Working with type.

Web credibility: comparing two news web sites.

• The Drudge Report.
• The New York Times.

Lecture Synopses:

• Synopsis One: Internet development.
• Synopsis Two: Roles of a webmaster.
• Synopsis Three: Planning: costs and community.
• Synopsis Four: Planning: purpose and strategy.
• Synopsis Five: Site architecture.
• Synopsis Six: Basic HTML and CSS.
• Synopsis Seven: Extending capabilities of the web.
• Synopsis Eight: Writing for the web.
• Synopsis Nine: Usability and web design.
• Synopsis Ten: Basic design principles.
• Synopsis Eleven: Text and the web.
• Synopsis Twelve: Images on the web.
• Synopsis Thirteen: Accessibility and e-commerce.
• Synopsis Fourteen: Summing up the course: best practices.

"Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught."-- Sir Winston Churchill, British politician (1874 - 1965)

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