Outlines for Web Portfolio

Introduction

If there's one thing I've learned throughout the years, it's that there is no such thing as perfect writing. The only person who may think your writing is perfect, is yourself. What I've learned in this class is that as a writer, you have to create your own identity, and you create this identity through your writing. Everyone's writing ability is different, and we were able to show each other's ability through our process blogs and enthusiast blogs specifically. Others who weren't as gifted writing might have been better with website design, which we were able to express through our Wikitravel and social networks projects. Combining these skills together forced us all as writers to personify who we wanted to be as writers, and that can be reflected through all of these projects.

Website Redesign

I am going to work on the Website Proposal Letter

Enthusiast Blog/Wikitravel

My other redesign will either be my enthusiast blog or my wikitravel project, which I will decide based on which one could use more work.

3 Idea's for Web Portfolio

Clearly I've been terrible with keeping up with my process blog, but from the few posts I've made, I've thought of three ideas to connect to my Web Portfolio's theme.

- Reflective

I know this final portfolio essentially is a reflection of all of my work this year, but I can try to reflect on every single piece of work I've done instead of just revising it or explaining it. I feel that being reflective is the best way to fully understand something, and by doing this I feel maybe I can fully understand all of my work throughout the year.

- Criticize

Instead of reflecting on my work, I can criticize my work through comments I've received from peer reviews and comments on returned projects. This will also help in my revision process because if I can criticize my own work, then I will know what has to be fixed in order to make my projects better.

- Business-like

I couldn't really think of a third idea, but I thought maybe it would be interesting to take a business-like approach to this web portfolio as if that maybe I would have to submit this project for a job. I'm not exactly sure how to do it but I feel it might be a creative way to work on this project besides being reflective or critical.

Website that Work Well and Need Work

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Reflection 3

After finally completing my blog, I feel it is very strong in an aesthetic view along with an informative piece. This blog really hasn't differed from any other blog I've written before besides narrowing it down to a specific topic and touching up a few different things here and there. There is nothing I'm looking to change at all in the blog. My "About Me" gave enough information about myself and informed the reader as to why I'm a credible source. The description of my blog was quick and to the point. The colors worked out perfectly, as those are the team colors of the Miami Dolphins, and the pictures added a nice touch to each article to give a visual of what the reader was about to read. Overall I'm very satisfied with my finished product.

Reflection 2

After entering both of my posts thus far in our process, I am questioning how much detail I am putting into the posts. When we were put into groups the other day and asked to give feedback to other's blog posts, I realized my posts were significantly shorter then the posts of those blogs I read. I thought maybe it was just coincidence that maybe those writers wrote too much, but I also checked some other blogs from people in the rest of the class and realized I might have to start adding some more information in my posts. At the same time though, I feel as if I continue to add information I may not feel is useful, I'll just be writing to fill space, and not to inform. I'll probably continue to post as I have so far, with just enough information that I feel is necessary for the post.

Reflection 1

I felt my first blog entry in my enthusiast blog was very strong. At first I thought it would be tough to tie in other information in my blog besides just recapping a game, but I was able to voice my opinion on the game as a whole while providing information that was unprecedented before in the game. As a writer, I feel the reader will easily be able to comprehend the points I'm trying to get across, while at the same time maintain interest in the topic. It also helps that I feel very comfortable writing about my topic because I'm usually in conversation about sports every day of my life.

Why I'm Credible

As an author, I feel my style of writing is interesting to the reader and I put myself on the same level as the reader, making him or her feel a greater connection to what I have to say. As far as my topic goes though, if you aren't a fan of football, or sports in general, you may not be interested in my topic. I believe that if you are a fan of football and you like to keep yourself informed on certain teams, then you should definately read my enthusiast blog. I consider myself to be a very credible source for a few reasons. One being, the Miami Dolphins are my favorite football team and I've been following them since I was a kid. Another reason for my credibility is where I obtain my sources from. Most of the information I get is from espn.com, the Miami Dolphins official website, or from various sports shows on television. These sources are credible because to contain reports and updates from the team itself.

Information Architecture

After reading Wurman's "Information Architecture" article, there was one specific part that I took to heart. Towards the beginning he states how he felt he was an "empty bucket" and he was just being filled with what people were teaching him but not fulling understanding it. Sometimes I feel that same way myself and I wonder sometimes if some of the things I'm being taught will ever effect me in the future or if I will ever need that information again. I can directly relate that to this class because I know for a fact that a majority of the information I learn from this class I will definitely use in the future and it will be useful to me. In my opinion, any information about computers and future technology is absolutely imperative to know in order for a successful future. This class isn't just about writing in an electronic environment, it's also about how to act in an electronic environment and how to better yourself through the use of a computer. It is one thing to show up to class everyday and go through the motions and absorb things that are "taught" to you, but it is something else when you take in that information, process it, and use it in the future to help better yourself.

Weblogs: A History and Perspective

One of the definite points that I can relate to from Rebecca Blood's article is that the web, and blogging in general, has completely transformed into today's typical source of information and free expression. It's insane how in ten years there have gone from being only about 23 weblogs, to today where there is an endless amount. Creating a blog is one of the most acessible things to do on the web these days and the numbers back that up. I know from personal experience that when you create a blog you create your own personal identity, and you fill your blog with everything that's important to you or your own personal opinion in which you will strongly back up.

As far as my own experience in blogging goes, I've created my own blog in the past in which I voiced my opinion on various sports topics. I'm a very big fan of all sports and I enjoy engaging in conversation about different sports and their conflicts. I had a few followers of my blog and we would also go back and forth voicing our own opinions on the topics that I wrote about. I've also been an avid reader of some of my friend's blogs, who also revolve their blogs around sports and several other topics. I believe that reading other blogs helps expand my opinion and maybe even alter some of my previous thoughts.

What is writing?

Writing is a series of thoughts, emotions, and or ideas written or typed out through the discretion of the writer. There are several different forms of writing, but there isn't exactly a right way to write. A writer can say whatever he or she wants, whatever way to want to. Being able to express your thoughts in your own way is what makes writing so unique.

Bedroom

Workplace

Library

Classroom

Park