Monday, September 27, 2010

A few Wordpress-driven online mags

Shaking Like a Mountain

The Light Ekphrastic

Harvest Magazine

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Search engine optimization!

A student asked about how to go about making her site more searchable by Google, Yahoo and other search engines.

Here's a decent article (with links to others) with a few tips on how to do it without throwing away all your savings:

Ten Search Engine Optimization Myths: Debunked!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Homework due September 27

In addition to three blog posts on the topics of your choosing, please also write the content you plan to use in your mid-term project. Bring a print-out of the content, along with thumbnails of any graphics you plan to use.

Midterm Project - Due October 11

For the mid-term project, students will create writer websites for themselves, using either Dreamweaver or a Wordpress blog for design.

The site should have at least four pages, all of which contain:
  • A clear navigation back to the home page
  • Content that suits the writer
  • One graphic per page
Students who create their sites in Dreamweaver may choose to upload their sites to a purchased domain, or to the student space available to them via UBalt. (See old post about how.) They may also hand in their projects on a flash drive (which will be returned).

All students must write a two-page paper describing the process, the outcome, and hopes for where the site may go in the future. The paper must be printed out and handed to the professor on October 11, and should contain the student's name and the URL of the site, if applicable.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Homework due September 20

To follow up on our conversation from Monday, your three homework blogs this week will center around brainstorming ideas for your very own writer's web site. Think about what you might include in your own site, and write one blog each on these topics:
  • Content
  • Navigation
  • Graphics/Design Elements

Next week, we'll learn more about your mid-term project, and we'll jump right into Dreamweaver. Please remember to bring the photo files you edited this week (2 jpgs of any subject, edited so they are 300 pixels wide). Don't forget, we'll be breaking around 6:45 p.m. so we can attend Kendra's reading in the Bogolmony Room.

Have a great week!
jo'g