Weaving a Website

What a tangled web we weave when first we practice webpage design

So we have been tasked with discussing our experiences in website building. We are working on websites for our class, in class. Which isn't exactly ideal for me, since I tend to mumble to myself  while working through new things (I try not to, really I do), and it's not usually in English.

I have had a lot of experience with Wix.com, therefore there shall be several comparisons to it. I am very fond of Wix's interface because they make it easy to add photos, designs and new pages.
However because of all my experience I decided to try two other sites.



Weebly and Strikingly

Weebly.com caused me to mutter several times in frustration. Oh the joy of learning a new interface. I had so many arguments with the computer while working on these pages.
I wondered how bad could I be messing up this badly. After a while I gave up and asked for assistance. 
It wasn't my incompetence for once it was my "aura" of Computer-no-worky-for-you. 


Weebly has its own quirks and works with preset locations or sections. You choose the content you want for each preset section and it loads into place. Personally I feel it inhibits creativity to some degree where Wix.com does not. This can be beneficial to someone who wants to make a simple page without much flair or design.

Strikingly was suggested by a good friend. They use it for their company, therefore I decided to try it. Stikingly is far more limiting in its interface.

Where Weebly has pre-made buttons to insert, Strikingly has pre-made pages to edit, and beautiful scrolling layouts. Everything on Strikingly is on one page, keeping the layout streamlined also making it great for mobile use.

This blog discusses the pros and cons of the two sites, much of which I was in concurrence. Both have plenty of free options, but weebly offers a few extra goodies, such as sound, when you are willing to pay. However I found this to be impossible with Strikingly. After much searching, I could not find a way to insert any type of sound onto the Strikingly page.

Conclusion

When designing a website personal preference goes a long way. I like Wix.com the most. It was shown to me years ago, so I have had many an opportunity to play with and learn how to maneuver its many options, and in my humble opinion they have the best features for creative design.
Once I learned how Weebly.com worked, I began to like it a bit more, even more so after using Strikingly.com. However, I can see the benefits of both. For someone who isn't very creative, or desires something more simple Weebly.com and Strikingly.com are perfect. 

Audacity.

I have a love hate relationship with the Audacity audio program. It is a fantastic program, I am familiar with it via radio theater and my own uses for recording, however any hate is purely on myself for not knowing more about this truly wonderful program.  It would have done me a lot of good to take the time to hunt out blogs or tutorials like the one found here (at http://www.makeuseof.com/) giving ideas and ways to use it for podcasts, multi-track recordings, or my favorite, practicing foreign language. I found a helpful tutorial for Audacity. The proctor (he never introduces himself) takes you from the set up, to saving. He shows you how layering tracks is done as well as how to manipulate sounds with all the features.

However I found him slightly annoying to listen to, but the information was good. I have worked with Audacity for a while now, however I never thought about things like changing existing files, or that you could use auto-tune:

This video takes you through the steps of auto-tuning using a plug in called G-Snap. I am not a fan of auto tune, but it is a popular element in music lately. The video shows you how to download and use the GSnap plug in, so that isn't an issue. He does a good job of explaining how everything works while telling you how to control the program.

That is all for this week. If anything else, go play with these programs, learn how enjoy them and maybe learn how to curse in another language to keep it interesting.

Welcome to class.

Hello my name is Kodee 

- Okay Tristen, but we won't get into that. 

I am setting up a blog for Comm 350, Emerging technologies class, at WWU (Westerm Washington University) for my assignments. It seems we will have various assignments relating to the class. This is one of the few times I won't be whining over my homework. 

Blogging, Personal Branding and Photoshop

Blogging
I have been blogging for a few years mostly chronicling my journey through school to eventually teach, or at least move to Korea - The south one. 

Other options that can be more time intensive such as Wix.com,  which hosts websites as well. 
I suggest blogging as a great way to get out your creativity. I will often have to go back and edit blogs I've written because I've wanted to write them quickly, therefore grammar suffers.  However they are usually filled with a pretty heavy dose of humor, even my rather serious stories.  Sometimes I talk about places and experiences or how far I've come in the process. 

There are many options for blogs, Blogger was the one I personally liked the best. The interface isn't too difficult to maneuver, and usually it allows you to upload the gifs and photos you want with limited issues. 

Stylecaster mentions Blogger, Wix and Tumblr as three of the eleven free best blogging sites. 


Personal Branding
 What's a personal brand? Well in my head it involves a hot iron and the name of  your ranch, but I'm from Wyoming so my schema may be a bit different.

What about when you're in the room, after they meet you?

When we were tasked with making a logo I was unsure what to come up with. A few years back I created one for a Google page I had set up along with my Gofundme page. I wanted to do something a little different than before, but I put a lot of work into the first one.

My radio show

Each person creates a design that represents them, their ideas and the message they want to get across. There are a myriad of ways, using colors, fonts and shapes to convey this. 

Forbes gives ideas about building a personal brand.  A good thing to do is to make sure your online presence isn't too tarnished from a week-end in Cancun when you were 18. A good idea is to Google your name and see what comes up. Another good thing to keep in mind is that your "brand" won't be world famous within the week. Give it at least a fortnight and maybe a week-end. 

Photoshop 

I currently have a very special skill when it comes to Photoshop:

The elusive program of the creative. There are countless tutorials on Youtube, and via blogs. The program is as amazing as it is controversial among photographers. It is used to manipulate images and it can be beneficial, especially in ads, however it can used to manipulate the greater public as well. I am never less than amazed at the creations people make using this bit of software. The program has a great amount of detail involved, and thankfully vloggers have taken the time to show us all how to navigate its intricacies:

                             
There is also simple tricks like touch ups if you're a lot more skilled than I am. 
I have gotten to the point where I can open the program and stare at the toolbar eventually crying in joy once I made something work, and then in anger because I accidentally deleted it and can't get it back. 
Anyway here is another tutorial:

That concludes today's homework. Have a good week.