writing our own
WEB PAGES :: 1

"In the proud tradition of giving children their own web domain as a christening present, my creators have given me my own website."

footnote: read about Lucy the robot orang-utan

This week we decamp to the web room for a practical workshop that aims to introduce you to the joys and frustrations of writing your own web pages.

By the end of the session everyone will have:

• written a few web pages
• linked pages together into the beginnings of a site
• offered links to other sites
• (if you wish) uploaded your pages to a server so that the web site is live and accessible on the World Wide Web.
• developed an understanding of basic HTML

With just simple formatting it is possible to produce a useful and attractive site, and you are strongly encouraged to play with this basic formatting - becoming competent with the fundamentals of HTML, stretching the way the code is used, learning to appreciate the nuances of basic web sites - before moving on to more complex elements of design. However, I don't intend to hold anyone back, and I will point you in the direction of many resources, both online and in the books.

Before the session

There is no key text or compulsory pre-session work this week. Instead, I offer a few suggestions for ways to take advantage of your study time:

• I will use the class online instructions as a base for the workshop, so have a look at them beforehand if you like, but this is by means compulsory. In the session you will be able to work at your own pace and you will be able to change and add elements to your web pages after the session. You can produce a few sketchy and fun pages and then return to perfect them, or you can go slowly - although I would advise not going too slowly: you'll get the idea by plunging in, and as web pages are very easy to change you are not committing yourself to a final design.
• On paper, sketch out a small web site you would like to create. What will your web site be about? Take the challenge of designing a site about some aspect of the course work, remembering it need not be a formal site in order to address serious issues: 'YorkGurls Online' OR 'My life as a Cyborg' OR 'He, She and It: The Sequel". Draw arrows to help you decide where you will put a link. Your plan might look something like this.
• Continue with your theoretical reading (see bibliography and last week's worksheet). What aspects of web-theory are begining to make sense?
• Think about the hyperlink. What does a hyperlink do? You might find Kate Pullinger's research useful here: try the online discussion and her interviews with writers.
• Browse the web. Start to analyse the different sites you see. What is their purpose? Who is their target audience/ readership? What are some of the differences between 'art sites' and 'commercial sites' (the answers are not always obvious)? What do you like/ not like about certain web pages? Do you find yourself responding to sites that make you work at reading/ browsing/ viewing or do you get frustrated and move elsewhere - and in what ways is this different from engaging with print?

Some useful web design sites

BigNoseBird.Com

Web Monkey

Dynamic Drive