Category: site building

Here’s the Sites@UMW page I made. I would describe the difference between the two like this. DoOO is basically whatever you want it to be. You can customize your URL completely, choose from thousands of plugins to add various effects to your website, and even more customizable themes to create a unique website. You can even download or create your own themes and plugins if you’d like. There are a lot of different applications you can use to build it but most people choose WordPress, the golden child of website creation. Everyone can make one domain but as many subdomains as you want, that can link back to each other if you want. You can also take the website with you when you graduate. Sites@UMW is the same idea but you get to do a lot less. The URL has to have .umwsites.net at the end, and the themes and plugins available are 41 in total. WordPress comes installed automatically but you can’t use any of the other applications though you can make as many subsites as you want. The sacrifice in customization is that is very low-maintenance since admins manage updates of themes/plugins so you don’t have to worry about outdated code messing up your website. You can take the content with you when you graduate but not the URL. If you want to create a simple website for a club or project Sites@UMW is likely the easier option but if you want full control over something that is your own DoOO is the superior choice.

Recently we learned about why is accessibility important and how to incorporate it into websites to create access for all. I learned a lot from the reading and videos but the one that really stood out to me was the curb-cut effect which makes sense because the point of it is that it becomes a common part of society. It surprised me that things that are common today like curb ramps were hard to get placed but now are such an expected part of the world.

I would like to learn more about the way other countries handle accessibility since one of the videos mentioned that in Norway it’s illegal to have inaccessible websites. It would be cool to see what led up to that law since disability legislature isn’t usually that prevelant outside of local laws.

One thing I couldn’t fix was my recent blog posts since I wanted to change them to a bulleted list but I couldn’t since the block is automated by WordPress. There are also a few things I didn’t get done like making a transcript for the Brooklyn Nine-Nine video but I definitely want to continue to adjust these issues to make my site more accessible.

I think in the last week I’ve changed almost everything on my website in such small ways that it’s barely noticeable but adds to a better overall look. I definitely spent too much time on little things that did not need them (my home page) but I’ve learned a lot more about WordPress so a win is still a win.

I decided to make things harder for myself so I placed my sidebar in the middle which my theme did not enjoy. I didn’t have too much to add to it just yet since the website was just made but I hope to populate it a bit more. For now, it just has the premade blocks to display your categories and recent posts. Then because I spent too much time looking at it I wanted to add some flare I learnt how to do some small HTML coding and added some border and background effects to the text.

For the plugins task, I chose to add the Accessibility Checker. I remember that we briefly mentioned it during one of our cohort meetings and thought it would be a good one to try out. I’m still working on fixing the entire website because there are a lot of small things that are easy to assume would be easily accessible and are very much not.

I think I’m most excited to learn more about graphic design because I enjoy creating. I already know how to use a few applications but I’ve always wanted to spend more time really learning about it so this would be fun for me.

I did so much this week for my website! I customized my home page and added some fun gifs that summarize my process while working pretty well. I started building this website with a new theme that I hadn’t used before as well so that was a bit of a learning curve.

I also learned a lot more about how to use widgets. I avoided them before because they looked intimidating, but I wanted to include some elements on my home page that needed widgets, so I played around with them a lot.

I added a video compilation of Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s cold opens because whenever I need a laugh I usually put on one of these so enjoy!