http://polaris.umuc.edu/~flazarus/
Welcome Message
Welcome to CMST 386!Advanced Internet and Web Design
My name is Ferd Lazarus and I'll be your facilitator. I hesitate to use the word instructor since experience has taught me that the knowledge students have is awesome. The trick is sharing it. To facilitate this sharing we will use WebTycho conferences, including a café, Web pages, as well as UNIX based e-mail, for questions and comment. One of the objectives of this course is increased computer literacy. Using UNIX based (i.e., command line) e-mail helps achieving this objective.
A history of good questions and comment will earn you consideration if your grade is on the edge. I do keep score. Don't hesitate to direct questions or comments to my class e-mail account noted below.
For this class you must use a numbered Nova account. You need to set one up ASAP! You will post your Web pages to this account.
If you want a question or comment held private please say so since I will publish interesting questions and comments in the spirit of sharing.
The e-mail address referenced above can be found on the E-Mail Directory page.
Please remember to obtain a 'numbered' account (see assignment #1). Then set up a vectoring Web page (see assignment #2). You will use this vectoring page to list the URL's for posted assignments.
To keep cross pollination down among students use a less than obvious URL for your Vectoring page. Once your Vectoring page is posted to your class account send the URL to you instructor. Otherwise keep this URL private. Remember, once the class is set up, all e-mail messages for this class must eminate from your class account and be sent to your instructors class account.
After you complete each assigned task that requires posting a Web page, send a message to your instructors class account from your class account stating that the posted pages are ready for review. Once you e-mail the secret URL for your vectoring page to your instructor and the message is acknowledged there is no need to send it again.
I respond promptly to every e-mail message I receive in my class account. If you don't hear from me, something has gone awry, so do contact me again. I visit WebTycho often, usually several times a day. Again, if you do not receive an expected response contact me again.
You can find the assignment due dates on the schedule that I will post to the schedule conference. I will also post a General Assignment Information conference. All assignment requirements will be posted in the related assignment conferences.
If things don't work as you think they should be sure to let me know. Plan to read the comments that I post on WebTycho on a regular basis.
There will be a Final Exam. It will be closed book. Please note that you must register with the DE folks for this exam. Make note of when the registration period ends..
Where the rubber meets the road, starting with the requirement to post a Web page (assignment #2) many students discover that writing valid XHTML pages is harder than it looks. So be forewarned, look at assignment #2 NOW! Do remember that all posted Web pages MUST meet the XHTML 1.0 strict standard.
If you don't understand something ASK!
In looking at student scripts I often notice html errors. Now browsers are robust and will often accept bad code. I'm not so robust. Do pass your html pages through a validation process such as the one at the W3C Markup Validation Service before you post them. I will use this service to check your work.
Further note that, in order to validate, all html code must be enclosed within envelope tags - <div>, <p> and <pre> being the most common.
Do remember that the Web IS NOT a private place. Even our obscure class Web pages on Nova are public. So, if it's private, don't post it.
I understand that at times you may wish to break the rules to achieve a particular effect. However when you do please comment the rule you are violating and explain the effect you are trying to achieve. If you don't I will deduct points for poor coding. Note that cross-browser compatibility must always be retained. In addition, *ALL* posted web pages *MUST* validate XHTML 1.0 strict.
There is a wealth of information for students on the UMUC Website. Included are:
Current Student Guide: http://www.umuc.edu/current_students.shtml
Student Resources: http://www.umuc.edu/prog/ugp/ugp_other.shtml
UNIX User's Guide: http://www.umuc.edu/suppserv/it/hosts/unix_guide/index.shtml
UNIX Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.umuc.edu/suppserv/it/hosts/itfaq.shtml
Department of Student Success: http://www.umuc.edu/studentsuccess/index.shtml
The two UNIX related entries above are particularly useful for this Web Design class.
A word about WYSIWYG editors:
WYSIWYG editors shall not be used for this class since they protect you from directly interacting with the code. Not good if you are trying to learn how to code. There are many good text editors out there so select one to use for this class. Some of the more popular ones are listed below.
Windows compatible text editors:
Simple:
NotePad++, NotesPad, NoteTab, PSPad, TextPad
Advanced:
AlleyCode, HomeSite, TopStyle
Mac compatible text editors:
BBEdit, TextWrangler
UNIX compatible text editors:
Emacs, Nano, Vim, Pico (an editor associated with the UNIX Pine mail program.)
Cross platform text editors:
jEdit
For more information than you want to know about text editors check out the wikipedia site.
I respond to *ALL* messages and assignments. If communications breakdown and you do not hear from me it is your responsibility to contact me. Also remember that poor coding will be penalized and all posted Web pages *MUST* validate using the W3C Markup Validation Service. I'll use this service to check your work.
Depending on class size we may have a Teaching Assistant. I'll let you know when the class size settles down.
A word about WebTycho ...
Though a three year project is under way to upgrade WebTycho, currently the code found within the WebTycho envelope leaves much to be desired. Currently, WebTycho does not support the XHTML 1.0 strict standards that your coding must meet for this class.
............ ferd
