Monthly Archives: October 2018

The Ultimate Rebrand (Final Pitch)

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What/why: For my final project, I’d like to create my own personal portfolio to capture all that I’ve worked on thus far in my career. I feel that it would make me more marketable because it’d be much more effective if I put my skills to use and have something presentable for what I learned in this class, rather than just slapping it onto my resume.

I currently have an e-portfolio on WordPress. I’ve also created a niche site on WordPress about the Harlem Renaissance.  The challenge of this project will be to find creative ways to spice up the way I present myself. I could put the basic things I already have on this one, but I want to challenge myself to add some bells and whistles that showcase my new skills.

Goals:

My goal is to incorporate functionality into my portfolio. I want to make sure it is interactive, especially through JavaScript. Another goal not directly related to the design of the site is to explore the options for plugins and gain a deeper understanding of the site.

Modifications:

I will be doing mostly front-end modifications.

  • Include a travel page with an interactive map (I found a plugin that will allow me to include JavaScript when I hover/click on a place.
  • On the travel page, I will also create a photo gallery, similar to the one we made in class.
  • I will create a contact/inquiries form.
  • I will add my social media feeds.
  • I will incorporate the Click to Tweet plugin to allow users to share my content.
  • I will incorporate a newsletter plugin to keep my readers updated.

 

Audience: The audience would mostly be recruiters and colleagues, specifically in journalism. I want to show them that I am a versatile journalist with a diverse skillset.

 

URL will be dajaehenry.com.

Final Project Pitch — Update

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What: I am planning to create an online portfolio. It will include elements such as: an about me, my resume, and photos I’ve taken.

Why: I think creating a portfolio is the most practical option. As a graduating senior it doesn’t hurt to be able to create something that could help me professionally.

Audience: The audience ranges from future employers to random people that could happen upon my site. If this comes out successful I will post it on my LinkedIn, so another avenue for future audience persons.

Tentative Theme: Minimal Portfolio

Track: Probably 99% front-end modifications, with back-end tweaks as needed.

Modifications:

  • Gallery of photos on a separate page.
  • Resume embedded on a separate page.
  • Contact form on the bottom of homepage.
  • Social media linked icons in header.
  • About me page with embedded conquer earth widget (https://conquer.earth/jessodonnell23)
  • Change fonts/theme colors

The Internet is like onions. Onions have layers.

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Learning PHP felt a lot like JavaScript. At points, I got the two programming languages mixed up because of the use of the $ to define variables in PHP and its use in jQuery. I think I’m definitely getting a better feel for it because when I’d slip up on jQuery/JavaScript, I’d be stuck for hours. When I messed up on PHP, most times I knew exactly what I was looking for to fix my mistakes. It also helped that the PHP website tells you which line the error is on.

The PHP lesson also made me notice a concept that I had previously glazed over, thinking I understood. While we used jQuery primarily for interactive purposes and to give us actions with visible results for everything, the PHP lessons in the beginning primarily focused on using data and selecting things out of arrays. On this lesson, the author says we will focus on it as a programming language and not web development. Previously, I didn’t realize there was a difference. I recalled the Codecademy lesson on functions in JavaScript , in which we programmed these functions, but they did not visibly add anything to the structure of a website.

My initial thought after learning more about WordPress was that I need to take it off my resume. What I know about managing WordPress is comparable to taking a French class and trying to speak Haitian Creole. I knew WordPress as the site that hosted my e-portfolio, blogs I once had, and a niche site that I created about the Harlem Renaissance for a project once. I know how to upload content into WordPress using the themes and templates, but I didn’t know anything about hosting a website, which is what I thought (think?) journalists are referring to, after having countless lectures about creating our e-portfolios on WordPress because it’s the industry standard. Now, I know that there are even more levels.

Anotha One – PHP

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I hope you read my title in DJ Khaled’s voice. If not, the reference went over your head. I do know how to spell. Anyway, I can’t believe we’ve been in this class for 7 weeks already. This week we learned PHP basics. This is one of the most commonly used programming languages of today. It’s an interesting language because it can be written in PHP, then the output can be written as HTML. Another interesting thing about PHP is real numbers are called ‘floats.’ I’m proud of myself because I actually caught onto this new language really quickly. Learning PHP would not have been so easy had I not started with HTML, CSS and then JavaScript. I feel like the puzzle pieces are finally coming together. Another thing I want to note is I really liked the website we used for the tutorials. The exercises were fairly short, but easy to follow. It was also helpful that the instructions were written in comments for the exercises.

Thus, my confidence in my coding has increased. This may sound dramatic, but I really feel like my learning this new skill has inspired me to get back to learning. As a senior in college, I’m in a stage where I’m perfecting the skills I need for my desired profession. I’m so hyper focused on that, that I had convinced myself learning any skills outside of that would only be a waste of time. I’ve changed my mind. Having a diverse set of skills makes me more marketable for any field. In the event that I decide to switch gears, I have a whole gamut of skills that can transfer to a number of different occupations. I’m going to keep reminding myself of that as the year progresses. Who knows, I might switch up and decide to go into the tech industry.

Week 7: PHP & WordPress

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This week, it was fun to learn PHP. I was not fully understanding everything that we went over in class last week when we started going over PHP and WordPress.org, but the exercises this week allowed me to really understand these concepts. It was cool to see how the all these languages work together and the similarities within them.

 

Diving Deeper

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I have a love/hate relationship with Codecademy, and this week I really missed it. PHP is very similar to JavaScript (which isn’t my strong suit), so it would’ve been helpful to have Codecademy to provide me with extra examples. The PHP website doesn’t give you hints when you make a mistake on your code like Codecademy, so I was never sure what to fix in my initial code. I didn’t start struggling in the PHP lessons until I had to make a function that returned every number squared. It was helpful to see the screenshots and read the explanations of each task, but at times I struggled with using critical thinking skills to figure out which skill set to carry out.

After reviewing the WordPress site in class, I was shocked at how many websites are built with it. When looking at their themes, I noticed the templates looked familiar to websites I’ve used before. WordPress reminds me of Weebly because they provide templates you can follow to create the website for your needs. It differs because you get more creative freedom by being able to code behind the scenes. Seeing all the different themes got me excited to create my website and I’m curious as to how it will turn out.

Its crazy to think in the last 7 weeks I’ve learned HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and now PHP. It’s interesting to see how the different coding languages interact with each other to create just basic visuals and output. This week I played my favorite game “Snake” on this random website. If I wasn’t in this class, I wouldn’t have realized the game was created in JavaScript. The creator even uploaded a link to his code that led me to his GitHub account. I was amazed that I actually understood some of his coding.

In case you feel like playing here’s the link 😉

http://patorjk.com/games/snake/

Final Project Pitch

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What/why: I’ve tried to think of ideas for the final project since the beginning of the semester. I don’t have a business or a niche hobby that could benefit from my new skill set. So I thought, do what you do best and that’s talk (write). For my final project, I would like to create a site that’s an extension of myself. A blog where I flesh out my thoughts, conspiracy theories, latest hashtags and news of the day. Basically, my finsta in website form entitled, What Is Kyra Even Talking About?, something people around me say on a daily basis. I think this will be a cool way to create a form of content that’s new to me.

Audience:

Final Pitch

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What: For my final project I am building a website for my mother’s event planning business. It’s funny because when we talked about the final project on the first day of class, this idea immediately popped into my head. I remember thinking I might change my mind as we move further into the semester, but my answer has stayed the same. She recently bought the domain, so now all she needs is a website.

Planned Modifications: The website will include a (1) photo gallery of photos from events that she’s done, (2) a contact page, (3) links to her event planning social media pages, (4) blog posts, (5) a mood board for the current season, (6) a section that features her services, (7) an e-mail button that links to her event e-mail, (8) a header image, (9) her logo, and  (10) an about page.

Why: I want to build this website for my mother because I fully support her dreams. She is currently stuck in a job that she is not passionate about. Having to listen to her vent about how unhappy she is has been hard. I’ve been pushing her to step out on faith and just start. She had a logo made, got business cards, and was actually in D.C. this past weekend for an event planning certification workshop. This website will be like my way of encouraging her to move full speed ahead.

Audience: This website will be for my mother’s potential customers located in the tri-state (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) area. People interested in event planning and/or decorating will also be targeted.

Final Pitch

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What/why: As I sat, and thought about what I truly wanted to do as my project, all I could think about was me. I wanted to do something that I knew I would be proud of and have fun making. I have been pushing to start a blog called “It’s not such a Different World after all,” but I have yet to put that plan in action. I think that this would give me a perfect opportunity to start my blog and allow me to create something I am proud of and can call my own. The blog would consist of my home page, abut page, experience at Howard, and other posts I have always wanted to write. I think that this will be a challenge, but I would love to grow the skill.

Audience: