Tag Archives: week4

JavaScript & jQuery: Still Having Trouble

Leave a reply

This week has been very difficult. I still haven’t fully understood Javascript, and then being pushed into jQuery has been difficult. I feel like I am forgetting things I thought I knew about HTML and CSS since we are moving at such a quick pace. The jQuery assignments on Codecademy were much more difficult and didn’t give you the answer after a few tries so you could easily see what you did and wrong learn from it. I found this to be extremely annoying, and unhelpful.

As far as the assignment goes, I am not pleased with my performance. I spent an enormous amount of time on this assignment as well as Codecademy and still haven’t been able to get through them easily, or with understanding. I could never get my code to work completely for my slideshow, and found that very frustrating.

For future classes, I am hoping that we really go through what we need to know for assignments. I felt as though I still wasn’t able to complete this because I wasn’t completely sure of the right things to be plugging in. I understand it is a learn-as-you-go type of class, but I still think that we are going at too fast of a pace to really learn-as-you-go because of the turnaround on assignments and lengthiness of the Codecademy homework. Unfortunately with a full-time job and weekend part-time job I am unable to give this homework the attention it needs. However, when signing up for this class I didn’t realize that the “introductions” were going to be so fast paced and I would be continually spinning my wheels to try and keep up. I hope that in future classes now that we have at least kind of gone over the “basics” we will be able to move slower.

Assignment on GitHub: https://github.com/alliefoard/Gallery-

Nothing Simple About This

Leave a reply

At this point, I have not finished the jQuery tutorial. I also have not managed to put the slideshow together. Despite doing all I can to clean and improve my code I have had very little success. All this time I thought my CSS was incorrectly linked to my HTML because I never saw any of the changes go live. Today I remembered JSFiddle and saw my boring white background turn blue. Victory, yes but still a small one since the title is still justified to the left.

I’m trying to build the slideshow code but even after extensive Googling and doing the courses I’m still having trouble just starting and not copying what w3schools has done. I understand the purpose and uses of jQuery and agree that it can is useful. For the parts of it I understand, I like and can probably write on my own. These lessons did a great job of forcing us to start the code from scratch. It could have been because the structure required for JavaScript, CSS, and HTML are not necessary here.

This week, my post will be very similar to those of my classmates. I do have to say that the class discussion forum has been very helpful. More so than Codeacademy. There is a notification at the top of the lesson that says they will be updating the jQuery lessons. I desperately wish these updates would have happened before we started this course but, oh well. The structure is  dramatically different, the hints are even less helpful, and there is no way to get the code and start again. Sometimes even when there are problems with the code it allows you to advance to the next step.

Developer interview:

For the midterm I interviewed a developer who is relatively new to the field. Tiffanie Johnson works for Forum One and is currently striving towards becoming a subject matter expert in Angular and Drupal 8.

The Challenges of jQuery

Leave a reply

This week, I started out with completing the jQuery exercises for Codecademy, which was really challenging because it didn’t provide the code. I had to really concentrate in order to find it. I worked on it for 8 straight hours.  What is rewarding about code is that when you get it, you feel so accomplished, but what is frustrating is the process. It feels never-ending. I have more respect for web developers’ patience the more that I code.

I am currently on the search for a web developer. I had a lead but he just went out of the country, so now I am scrounging Linkedin for some possible people. I would love to speak with a developer from a major news outlet like the Washington Post or NPR, because they are working where I would love to work.

Completing the slideshow exercise is no easy feat. It took me at least 3 hours on Saturday night to try to make a file on Sublime, especially since I had to miss class Wednesday. Luckily, my classmates helped me out by reminding me I have to put the photos in the same file to link the images. I’ve been depending on W3 to help me out with code and while I have started the file on Sublime, I’m still trying to figure it out which will unfortunately take me a little longer than I thought. Learning web development sometimes tests my patience and it’s frustrating because I like things to happen fast. Hopefully, after I speak with a developer and keep practicing, I will become better at this with hard work and drive.

Another trying week

Leave a reply

This week was a culmination of putting a lot of the languages we’ve touched on together. And it went poorly. The slideshow project was an interesting take on putting all the pieces together but it still felt overwhelming.

I’ve found that learning all of these concepts has been hard because we haven’t really gone through them together. In a different class I took last semester, Data Journalism, we went through a lot of technical platforms like SQL and Python, but we went step by step together. Only then did higher level concepts start to make sense.

It would be really helpful if we had class time where we went through things like how to make a slideshow step by step, so we could see how something came to fruition, before we are expected to create one on our own. Like Greg said in class, teachers do teach you how to write a sentence, but they don’t release you into the wild to then write an essay. To take that metaphor we had in class to its logical conclusion, you’re leaving out important building blocks like essay structure, paragraphs, and thesis statements. I feel like we only cover abstract concepts in class, only to have questions moved past because we don’t really go over assignments or take a look at the building blocks we need.

While some could say that Codecademy is what bridges that gap, I’ve continued to have problems with that as well. Currently the interface seems to delete sections I’ve done or doesn’t add a check mark to things to say items have been completed. That’s been really hard, especially when I’m trying to figure out why some lines of code are right or wrong.

I understand why a lot of the class is geared towards making sure we can figure out how things are broken on our own, but I feel like I’m operating at a huge handicap every week because I don’t quite understand what the best practices are to begin with. It would be really helpful to work on foundational things in class so that way outside study can be used to hone things, not figure out what square one is.

As for my Midterm, I will be interviewing Matt Callahan. He works at The Washington Post as a designer, but mostly does what we call “enterprise” templates. These templates are for our bigger stories and are always custom designed using jQuery and JavaScript.

 

jQuery, more like jDisaster

1 Reply

This has been a very frustrating week to say the least! While I was able to complete the jQuery Codecademy lessons before the last class, I have been unable to follow along with how to create the slide show. I felt unprepared. My current code doesn’t work, at all. I’ve spent three days trying to figure out how to do this, so I’m hoping someone can look at my jQuery/JavaScript code and help me out! I think the hardest part was finding out where to start because it wasn’t as straight forward as some of the other assignments and wasn’t part of the Codecademy lessons. That being said, I went into this assignment thinking I had a good understanding of jQuery (not JavaScript), but now I feel as confused and behind as I did when we learned JavaScript. I’m not sure what the missing pieces are that I don’t understand, but there are definitely a few. Something I kept asking myself in researching guides on creating a slideshow was if I should put the images in a list or not? Everyone seems to do it differently. The captions were there when I initially ran the code, but are now hidden. AHH!!! It was not a successful coding weekend this weekend. I’ll have to give it a try next week and hope that things start to make better sense and get easier! (And I hope next week doesn’t involve 9+ hours of work!)

Midterm: For my midterm, I will be interviewing Lauren Soni who is the Webmaster and web developer for HHMI’s research campus, Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia. I don’t work directly with Lauren and our paths only cross during team meetings since HHMI has a webmaster and web developer for our own site. Lauren has been a web developer for about 3 years and is also in the process of completing her Master’s degree at Northwestern University Online. Through our interview, I want to learn a few things—1) learn how Lauren transitioned her career from Biomedical research to web development, 2) her advice for learning different types of code, where to practice and how to begin, 3) talk about her involvement in creating a responsive site for Janelia and other major projects.

Still confused, but less so.

1 Reply

The weeks that we have been doing this have shown me that I can be getting better at coding, while constantly being confused about one thing or another. As soon as I get the answer to something I don’t understand, the next thing we do reinforces the idea that I am learning via the “trial by fire” method. (Lots of fire.)

The JavaScript course 3 and the jQuery courses 1 and 2 were actually easier than I had experienced the past two weeks. I am really pleased with how I am progressing through the Codecademy courses and I can see how much I have learned. Even though I still feel like I have jumped into the deep end of the pool, I am excited to put my (limited) experience into practical application and see how I do.

I really want to get into some actual web-based setup, so that we can see tangible results (including massive failures!). I want to attempt to make some things work on my website, realize that they don’t work, try to figure out how to make them work, give up and Google why it’s not working, and then laugh about how simple the mistake was that I made. This is how I learn best (hey, don’t judge me, haha!).

The only part I am confused about for this week was the web hosting and setup of our sites. I got the GoDaddy and installed WordPress on it, but I didn’t do anything that I remembered from class (I wasn’t able to do them in class because my laptop wasn’t able to handle the “newfangled” software, and so I wrote everything down). I’m not sure if we’re going to go over it again in class, or it was a “FYI” kind of thing, or if we will use it later?

I was a bit upset that GoDaddy couldn’t sell me the domain I wanted, and there’s nothing even on the domain, so I wanted to take it over, but alas, I think I will be able to move on from it.

Domain names are essential to your Online Visibility!

2 Replies

Understanding web development and writing code is only one piece to the web puzzle! Codecademy is a great tool to further understanding of how certain web languages work and how we can use the language to create our vision on our web pages. The latest Codecademy lesson on jQuery was probably the easiest lesson to date and it really furthered my understanding of the library and how to operate it. Following the Codecademy lesson, I took to GoDaddy to choose a domain name that would shape the future of my family’s business!

My folks are self-employed and they run a house cleaning business in Northern Virginia. As a small business marketing consultant, I had been putting off creating their website until I took this class. My folks have yet to file as an LLC or any other business structure so there is no official name, this gave me flexibility in choosing a domain name. I did some keyword research using Google Keyword Research Tool to see some search volume numbers. This helped me determine that I needed to include the term “cleaning” in my domain name choice. This keyword will assist my SEO efforts to compete against Molly Maid and their ilk.

A well-functioning site that has a great user interface and is structured properly is important for online visibility along with your domain name. Having a keyword that is highly searched upon within your domain name helps a good amount on the search engine results pages (SERP). A bad user interface and broken links can lead to poor page ranks from Google, which in turn would lead to bad placement on the SERP. Which leads to less visibility and ultimately less revenue coming from the online space. A well thought out domain name in this sense is essential to your online visibility. This is not to say a unique name or a play on words will lead to bad results on the SERPs because there are other ways to optimize your web page for your keywords. However, in an industry that is already crowded, you can and should take every chance made available to you to increase your online visibility.

Also, don’t forget to claim your Facebook page, Twitter handle, Linkedin, Google+ and others! You’ll be sure to need them sooner or later to own the entire SERP for your branded key terms.

Pop Quiz: When I wrote “Search Engine Results Page (SERP)” above, what would be the JavaScript equivalent of attributing meaning to an acronym?

Journey into Web Dev

1 Reply

This week’s Codecademy and mid-term assignments were easier to understand than last week’s. While completing this weeks Codecademy assignments, I actually felt like I understood the logic and got the hang of the strings covered in the assignment. This is exciting as last week I was ready to quit web-development.

Not only was this week’s assignment comprehensible, but it was also valuable. Creating and adding buttons, and having the button complete an action are functions that I definitely want to include on my site. As for the fade in and fade out functions, those were fun to learn, but I am not sure that I will be including them on my site, at least not without the hide and show feature. Ideally, what I want to include on my site are images which transition on their own. Is this possible with WordPress?

The mid-term assignment of purchasing a domain and a hosting space was easy to complete and a lot of fun. Now I just have to start developing my site which I thought would be easy, but I am finding it difficult because I want it to be perfect whatever that means. To get past designers block my plans are to create a high-level outline of my site on paper. Once I finalize the draft, I will start developing my site on WordPress. My goal is to keep my site simple, yet modern.

There are so many things to consider when creating a site that it can be somewhat overwhelming, especially since I am just learning about HTML, jQuery and CSS, and not to mention web-sites are public. For now, I know that I want my site to have a home page, a link to register for newsletters, and membership, contact us information, the ability to order products, and a place for uploading videos, such as testimonials and/or video clips, and most importantly, I want my sites to be accessible via smartphones – iPhones, Galaxy, etc…

 

jQuery: The Week of Transformation

2 Replies

This week was a complete transformation for me in the world of Codecademy. I think I understood jQuery for the most part, and not just how to get through to the next page, but also the actual concept of why it’s used. The only thing that worries me a little bit is that there were times when the page said my code was successful but it wasn’t actually doing what it was supposed to do. Boxes that were supposed to vanish would just sit there. Whenever that happened I made sure to go back and figure out the correct way to do the code, but I’m still a little confused as to why it allowed me to move to the next page.

I’m not exactly sure when/if I’ll apply jQuery to the page we’re creating for class. I like that I understand jQuery (or at least I think I do) but the assignments that we did in class didn’t really get me excited to add to my page. Also, from a portfolio standpoint, I feel like simple is better, but maybe as the semester goes on I’ll change my mind.

At my job, only one person codes and he doesn’t know jQuery, so I’m not sure if that means that it’s not a necessity or if we’re just behind the times over there. Regardless, I would like to continue to practice with it to make sure I have it down because I think it does some really cool things. I’m not sure why it was so much easier for me to grasp, but I had such a more enjoyable week with jQuery than I did with JavaScript. Also, I really appreciate Codecademy for filling in the JavaScript for us so we could focus only on jQuery. Had it not been set up that way you would all be reading a far less enjoyable blog post from me.