Improper optimization is completely impractical. While there is the very short-term benefit of more clicks to the page, the long-term consequence of destroying the revolutionary netistoric search engine algorithm seems to not be considered. Information lives on the world wide web to inform people. If we cannot properly connect the correct people with the correct information, it is pointless. I stumbled upon this great article that expands on my views.
Finding Comfort in Confusion – Intro to PHP, MySQL, and WordPress
“Be comfortable being confused,” she says. What? Comfort in confusion? I side glance my web mentor like she’s been hitting the pipe. The reason she had to tell me this is because I naturally need to understand in order to learn. I couldn’t figure out how to drive a stick shift until finally someone explained to me how the transmission functions.
Now I’m faced with trying to learn something in pure confusion. But I need to be ‘comfortable’. Right.
This remapping of the brain that is called learning to be a developer proves to have obstacles. However, over the last few days with minimal hand holding, I have been able to successfully set up a local LAMPstack (well- WAMP), maneuver through and create databases in Myphpadmin, conglomerate WordPress, and begin developing my first PHP sites. While this may seem minimal, it has taken a lot of brain use in areas that are rarely exercised, which leaves me with the exhausted yet invigorating feeling of succeeding in something of which I wasn’t sure I could do.
Now I can continue reading things which I do not understand with great confidence that before long they will beautifully fit into a creation.
The Love Affair of Content and Design
The current project that I am working on is an existing website, that in my opinion is equivalent to a compilation of PDF’s. The amount of content is overwhelming! I come from a design background and therefore am naturally inclined to want pretty to be priority.
This led me to reading many articles ranting the popular phase ” Content is King”. I wanted to grasp the argument of these word lovers. This is my conclusion:
We all know that old saying “If a tree falls in the forest and know is around to hear it does it make a sound?” Well that’s my question with content.
I love content. It is the the substance of the webpage. But if all this powerful content is there and because of the lack of design no one reads it, is it powerful at all?
For me it is simple. Design is the language that enables a user/interface conversation, the content.
Last Minute Shiny
Back here in the cave where IT dwells, we are always ready for ‘the others’ to come in from ‘out there’ with some new shiny toy they need us to create. The most recent of which just so happened to fit perfectly into my personal Website Development Lesson Plan. They needed a simple three-page site, with static easy to edit maps. Here is the result.
What I learned:
- First and foremost I learned to respect the word Cascading in the name Cascading Style Sheet. It’s easy to go into the CSS file and see each element individually. Tweak it to be exactly how you imagine it and move on. Fortunately, it doesn’t work this way. The reason that this is fortunate is because it forces developers with a design background (like myself) to see the webpage as a whole. These are not just layers that have no connection, rather every action on one element creates a reaction on another.
- Standards, standards, standards! Much like my past in my standards of men, my initial reaction is to compromise code. This is no bueno! On my HTML page I want info, and on CSS…style. End of story.
- If a project is simple, keep it simple.
Overall this was a super easy project, and perfect for getting my toes wet. I am ready for bigger and better projects to come.
Here are my current ratings based on w3 schools and personal <1-10:
| w3school | Personal | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML | 70% | 5 |
| CSS | 85% | 5 |
This is a 10% gain in HTML and 15% in CSS from 7/17/2011.
Making the Transition: From Design to Development
Classically:
Developers: Left-Brain Designers: Right-Brain
Why I feel I may have an advantage? According to Art Institute Survey I am:
45%Left-Brain 55% Right Brain.
Here’s a pretty good article I discovered today about making the transition to a developer.
HTML CSS JavaScript and PHP Here I Come!
The time has come for me to spread my fingers and code. Because I am motivated by an audience, tracking my growth on an online stage will fuel my progress.
Here are my current ratings based on w3 schools and personal <1-10:
| w3school | Personal | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML | 60% | 3 |
| CSS | 70% | 3 |
| JavaScript | 20% | 0 |
| PHP | 30% | 0 |
WordPress Journey Step 1: Basic Blog
In my intention to be a crafter in WordPress I am going to begin by simply using it. I have never blogged before, and am excited about creating my own cubby on the World Wide Web.
stuckbetweentides 