Works Well:
www.espn.com
This site works well because it is consistant throughout, offers the viewer to get to any page they desire at anytime, covers a variety of topics, and uses audio/video aspects extremely well. There are many flaws at all in this site and it's one of the best out there.
Needs Work:
www.miauk.com
This is the website of singer MIA, and it absolutely terrible. There is so much going on in the main page that it is almost impossible to navigate. She took web design to a new level, and not in a good way. Her visual effects are totally out of control and it's giving me a headache just looking at it.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Chapter 17
After reading the Chapter 17 article, there were a few important ideas I felt they covered when creating a web page.
- Design Methods
When designing your web page I feel it is very important that it captures the essence of the meaning of your web page. For example, put certain colors on the page that reflect your topic or put a background picture of your topic in the page. These characteristics keep a reader interested and will give your reader a general idea of what they might be in for. Audio and Video aspects are also very important when creating your page. I feel any web page that offers audio/video features instantly bumps it up a few points because it gives the reader other option then just reading what you have to offer. I think the most important aspect they covered though was keeping your pages consistant throughout. Consistancy will not confuse the reader, where as if every page if different looking the reader might not be sure if they're still viewing the same thing.
-Organization
The structure of the web page is also extremely important in creating a good website. In my opinion, the best way to organize a website is to have an interlinked organization, where the reader can jump to any page he/she wants at any time. This gives the reader the most flexibility when visiting your site and allows he/she to find out their information in an easy and timely manner. I feel any other type of way of organizing a web page just isn't as effective.
- Design Methods
When designing your web page I feel it is very important that it captures the essence of the meaning of your web page. For example, put certain colors on the page that reflect your topic or put a background picture of your topic in the page. These characteristics keep a reader interested and will give your reader a general idea of what they might be in for. Audio and Video aspects are also very important when creating your page. I feel any web page that offers audio/video features instantly bumps it up a few points because it gives the reader other option then just reading what you have to offer. I think the most important aspect they covered though was keeping your pages consistant throughout. Consistancy will not confuse the reader, where as if every page if different looking the reader might not be sure if they're still viewing the same thing.
-Organization
The structure of the web page is also extremely important in creating a good website. In my opinion, the best way to organize a website is to have an interlinked organization, where the reader can jump to any page he/she wants at any time. This gives the reader the most flexibility when visiting your site and allows he/she to find out their information in an easy and timely manner. I feel any other type of way of organizing a web page just isn't as effective.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Markups
I definitely learned a lot from the markup page. First off, I think it's very convenient that all you have to do is put three apostrophes to make a word bold, or two to make a word italicized. Links are very easy to create too just from throwing brackets around the words you want to have a link show up as. I think the most interesting part of the markup page though was the tables section, where with different symbols you can get a different set of tables for your page.
Get In:
By Plane:
- Westchester County Airport: 5 minutes outside of West Harrison
- Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy Airport, LaGuardia Airport, : 3 International Airports in the New York City area have several services that can get you to West Harrison.
By Car:
By Train:
- Metro North Railroad: Closest train station is White Plains, but also accessible from other locations such as Harrison and North White Plains.
By Bus:
-Bee Line System: Buses that travel all throughout Westchester County with a stop in West Harrison
Eat:
Trevi: An upscale, family style Italian restaurant located in Taylor Square.
Kyosh Sushi: A new Sushi bar/restaurant located on Lake Street.
Do:
- West Harrison Park: Recently renovated, West Harrison Park offers a turf field with a baseball field, softball field, soccer field, and football field all in 1. There's also two playgrounds for younger children, a full basketball court, and a bocce court.
-Ron Belmont Pool Complex: Brand new pool complex as of 2009. Located on the outskirts of West Harrison Park, with a beautiful view of Silver Lake. This complex has a zero-gravity entrance, and other water-park features. Also has two water slides, one open and one closed, along with a snack bar catered by Westchester Catering.
Get In:
By Plane:
- Westchester County Airport: 5 minutes outside of West Harrison
- Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy Airport, LaGuardia Airport, : 3 International Airports in the New York City area have several services that can get you to West Harrison.
By Car:
By Train:
- Metro North Railroad: Closest train station is White Plains, but also accessible from other locations such as Harrison and North White Plains.
By Bus:
-Bee Line System: Buses that travel all throughout Westchester County with a stop in West Harrison
Eat:
Trevi: An upscale, family style Italian restaurant located in Taylor Square.
Kyosh Sushi: A new Sushi bar/restaurant located on Lake Street.
Do:
- West Harrison Park: Recently renovated, West Harrison Park offers a turf field with a baseball field, softball field, soccer field, and football field all in 1. There's also two playgrounds for younger children, a full basketball court, and a bocce court.
-Ron Belmont Pool Complex: Brand new pool complex as of 2009. Located on the outskirts of West Harrison Park, with a beautiful view of Silver Lake. This complex has a zero-gravity entrance, and other water-park features. Also has two water slides, one open and one closed, along with a snack bar catered by Westchester Catering.
3 Tips from Manual of Style
- Don't Tout
- Use boldface to call out important topics
- Foreign Words
Of most of the tips I read in the Manual of Style, these 3 stuck out to me for a few reasons. "Don't Tout" I think is an important tip because the whole point of Wikitravel is to give information about certain places and where you should go when you're there, not to boast about how great the place is. The reason you're writing about the place is because it's a great place, and the you don't have to reiterate that to the readers.
I like the idea of using boldface to call out important topics also because anything that is bold really gets your point across. It sticks out and it instantly tells your reader that it's important. I know from personal experience in textbooks when reading I used to look for the bold words and phrases because I figured they were the most important.
Even though this site is devoted to describing places around the world, it is important that the writer doesn't use foreign words, because that will definitely confuse the reader. Even though that word may be apart of the culture you have to make sure to put it's English equivalent, because from a reader's standpoint, if I'm reading about a place I don't know about, chances are I won't know what that word means either.
- Use boldface to call out important topics
- Foreign Words
Of most of the tips I read in the Manual of Style, these 3 stuck out to me for a few reasons. "Don't Tout" I think is an important tip because the whole point of Wikitravel is to give information about certain places and where you should go when you're there, not to boast about how great the place is. The reason you're writing about the place is because it's a great place, and the you don't have to reiterate that to the readers.
I like the idea of using boldface to call out important topics also because anything that is bold really gets your point across. It sticks out and it instantly tells your reader that it's important. I know from personal experience in textbooks when reading I used to look for the bold words and phrases because I figured they were the most important.
Even though this site is devoted to describing places around the world, it is important that the writer doesn't use foreign words, because that will definitely confuse the reader. Even though that word may be apart of the culture you have to make sure to put it's English equivalent, because from a reader's standpoint, if I'm reading about a place I don't know about, chances are I won't know what that word means either.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Wikitravel Reaction
After reading and searching around Wikitravel, I've found it to be a very resourceful site when wondering about traveling. I think it's great that travelers swap information to each other when on the road, and it eventually leads up to this information being put on Wikitravel for other's use. This information can be very useful, especially if you plan on going on a trip to a place that you may not be familiar with. On the site you can find out information about lodging, transportation, food, nightlife, and other other necessities. I like how they state in their "non-goals" section that they don't want to be a travel magazine, rather they would just like to provide useful information in traveling. I find it interesting that they've devoted this site to just their goals, where as they use Wikitravel Extra to put things like stories and pictures of past travelers. This really shows that they don't want to mix up their priorities when creating a website.
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