LO2 - Technical Learning: Code Academy

HTML - Hyper Text Markup Language
HTTP - Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

The link after "src=" is the URL of the image on the right. This is how images are inserted into web pages.

I started to practise using code after I learned some of the basic features. The UL tag begins bullet points, and each Li tag makes a new bullet point.

I started to use more and more features of a HTML such as Div and Containers.

LO2 - Basic coding

Today I learned the basics of how a website is structured in terms of text and graphics, and had the chance to change aspects of it. I also learned some of the key aspects of how the coding affects the layout, such as <title> and </title>.

LO2 - Production Plan

LO2 - Planning a multi-page website (content)

A multi-page website needs lots of relevant content to make it substantial. I will design and produce a home page, a contact page, a page describing the company and many more pages that will fill the website. The content will be relevant, with lists of products and maybe the location of the studio, and where you can buy products.
There will be a navigation bar at the side for the user to navigate through the website.

LO2 - Content: Mind Map and Mood Board

This mind map and mood board describe the sort of ideal content that would be on the website. The content would appeal to both adults and older children alike, with features that both will find interesting and useful.

LO2 - Planning a multi-page website (audience)

The audience for the website will be parents in the ABC1 socioeconomic demographic who are searching for toys to give to their children, or maybe collectors who are looking for professionally-made wooden toys. Another type of audience are children who are looking for toys to potentially buy, or anyone who is interested in the making of wooden toys. Other people who might be interested in the site might be people who are fans of the products already, or people who personally know someone who works for Small Machines. The website needs to have features that cater for the needs of these different types of audience.

LO2 - Planning a multi-page website (purpose)

The purpose of the Small Machines website will be to advertise the product to the audience. It will give the audience information about what they do, their products and other information about the company. There will be details on how the toys are manufactured, and instructions on how to put the toys together. There will also be videos describing how the toys operate, and navigational features at the top of the page under the logo in order for the customer to find out more depending on which sort of audience they are. There should be access to anything a customer might want to know about the products, for example the price of a product.

Starter/brief content

I am doing the Small Machines brief for Unit 34.

Small Machines – promotional website for ‘Small Machines’ range of wooden toy kits.

Content that might be on my website might include:

• Photographs of products
• A basket for the option to buy toys
• An option to log in so the basket will be saved
• Information on the toys
• Descriptions of specific products
• Prices
• A logo
• Search bar

Pass

Purpose, audience, content, production plan

Merit

Information flow, justification of choices in relation to audience requirements, legal and ethical

Distinction

Navigation, launch date and timescales, budget, revenue potential

Feedback

LO1 - Analysis of Dreamworks Studios website

a) purpose

The purpose of the Dreamworks website is to advertise their company. The site effectively advertises their films by featuring graphics of films, and including a list of future releases. There is navigation for the user to be able to find what sort of aspect of the company they are looking for, and a good-looking website will give the impression of a professional company.

The target audience for the Dreamworks Studios website would most likely be users who are interested in the studio’s new film releases. This sort of person would most likely be in the ABC1 demographic category, as these are the sort of people who would be interested in, and stereotypically be able to afford, a trip to the cinema.

b) visitor needs

The user can look at any of the latest news and information about the studios with the moving banner on the home page. The user can also view any of the latest film releases or films to be released.

c) information flow/user experience

There is an animated banner on the home page of the website that allows the user to see any recent news or information about upcoming films. There are trailers of some films on video players with pause and play buttons that the user can pause and play at their own leisure. There are also thumbnails which the user can click on and they will hyperlink to another page related to the photograph.


d) features

There is an animated banner that makes up the majority of the main page on the Dreamworks website. This jumps out at the user, and contains all sorts of different news stories for the user to look at if they want to. The website uses a formal-looking serif font, which matches the font of the logo. The house style of greys and blues is also very formal, giving the website a very professional, formal feel.

Boxes are used on the website to distinguish news stories from one another. Varying amounts of white space give the website a connotation of organization and tidiness.

e) benefits

The most important benefit of the website for the company is that they can allow a larger audience to access information about their products. This will make the company itself more successful as more people are being able to see news and information about upcoming films.
In turn, this could also be considered a benefit for the user, as they are able to find more information about the company very easily. If a user is searching for a film to watch, the website could be very useful.

f) content

LO1 - Analysis of Soundbible

a) Purpose

SoundBible is a website that is used for downloads. The site is full of royalty-free sound clips that can be downloaded for the user to use for themselves. The user can search for any sort of specific sound that they might want to use, and download the sound file directly to their computer.

The audience for SoundBible would most likely be students and/or anyone else that needs the clips to use. It wouldn’t be used by professionals because they can access and create their own sounds: royalty-free music is easier to access for those who don’t have the money or resources to make their own for use. This is why, if students are excluded, people most likely to use SoundBible are people in lower grades of the ABC1 demographic such as B or C.

b) Visitor Needs

Users are able to find a specific sound by using key words to search for it in the search bar at the top. Users are also able to listen to the sound before having to download it, to check whether it is the sound they are looking for. There is also the option to download sounds in different file formats - .wav and .mp3 - to make the sounds easier to use for different purposes.

c) Information Flow/User Experience

There is a search bar to help users find more specific sounds. The user can press a play button to play the corresponding sound to listen to it before downloading it. Each sound has a title so that they can be distinguished from other sounds, and no two sounds have the same title.

d) Features

The Soundbible website has a simple scrollbar at the right hand side which allows the user to move the page down to view more sounds. The header at the top of the page complies with the house style of green, brown and white and contains the logo. The image of the headphones that is denoted in the header connotes the idea of listening to sounds, which is part of the purpose of the website. Pause and play control buttons allow the user to listen to sounds. White space at the sides of the website give it a generally organized, uncluttered appearance.

e) Benefits

Benefits for the users of this website include the fact that all sounds available to download are royalty-free, meaning there are no copyright infringements that might cause problems. A benefit for the owners of the website is that other companies can pay to advertise on the website, earning the website itself profit.

f) Content

LO1 - Analysis of Tumblr

a) Purpose

Tumblr is a blogging site with social media purposes. It allows the user to post multimedia ranging from audio to graphics to video as well as text.

It can also be used for self-promotion, as some users create blogs to display talents such as art, baking or singing as well as being able to use the site to socialise with others.

I would say the target audience for Tumblr is young adults in the ABC1 demographic, as there is sometimes content that may be inappropriate for younger users. The site is also the home of many fan bases for films and other media, and fans can communicate through Tumblr to talk about the interests they share.

b) Visitor Needs

On Tumblr, users are able to "track" a tag, which means that they are kept up to date with any posts that are tagged with the tracked tag. There are also options to send users private messages, through either the "ask box" or through "fan mail".


c) Information Flow/User Experience

Tumblr hyperlinks to a user's blog when the blog name is clicked on. When the portrait icon at the top is clicked on, a drop-down menu appears with personal features. There is also a home button that the user can click to navigate to, or refresh, the home page or "dashboard".

d) Features

There are many elements of Tumblr that feature multimedia, and one of these features is the option to pause and play video. Most video files can be viewed, played and paused on Tumblr – there is even an option to post a video from YouTube by copying and pasting the URL.

There is a navigation bar at the top right of the page which, in turn, shows drop down lists when clicked on. The personal tab of the navigation bar, for example, denotes a drop-down menu when clicked on, and the menu includes options like messages, followers and notifications.

The website is very user driven, and this is connoted in the many different types of media that users can post. Audio posts also featuring a pause and play button is another example of the media that can be uploaded to the website.

The house style of Tumblr is a navy blue and white. It's a very simplistic design and the majority of the plain navy blue background is white space, with no text or graphics. The kerning and leading (spacing between letters and lines respectively) is generally average, making the usually small amount of text simple and easy to read. The simple sans serif font gives the site its distinctive minimalist appearance.

e) Benefits

The main benefit for users of the website is the fact that they can meet and communicate with other users with similar interests to their own. Another benefit for users is that aspiring artists, musicians, cooks and people with various other talents can showcase their abilities for free to other users. This is a great way for a casual start to advertising an actual business. A benefit for the people who run the website is that the more people use the website, the more people will potentially see adverts and use premium themes for their blogs that will bring in profit. 

f) Content

LO1 - Analysis of Amazon

a) Purpose

Amazon’s purpose is online shopping. There are many different categories, from toys to groceries to kitchen appliances. There are over 130 million items for sale on amazon.co.uk. There is a search bar with optional search by category which helps the user to find the item they’re looking for. There are different Amazon websites for different countries – Amazon U.S.A sells over 232 million items, with 5 million items in the clothing department alone. 

The target audience for Amazon is probably adults who are interested in online shopping. I feel like it’s promoted more towards women as stereotypically, women are the people who most enjoy shopping for items like clothing or jewellery. The demographic category for Amazon users would be in the ABC1 demographic, as these are the people most likely to be able to access the Internet and be able to access the money to purchase items online.

b) Visitor Needs

Amazon allows the user to choose a certain category if they want to, to be more specific with search results or if they want to view a specific category. The site also has a basket feature which, if the user is logged in, saves any items they have put in there to buy.

c) Information Flow/User Experience

The user is able to choose a category from a drop-down list to make their search more specific. The user can then type key words into a search bar to search for the item they are looking for. There are thumbnails of products that the user can either roll over to zoom in on or click on to open a larger version of the image. The site also uses thumbnails to hyperlink to certain products.

There is an animated banner on the home page that moves from slide to slide advertising different products. There is also an option to log in which allows the user to save the items they want to buy in a “basket”.

d) Features

Amazon features a large search bar at the top of each page. The orange magnifying glass connotes the use of the search bar, as magnifying glasses are classically used to search for something. There is also a drop-down menu at the left side of the search bar, which allows the user to search for an item by category as well as key words typed in the search bar itself, which makes the search more specific.

There is also an animated feature denoted which causes a shadowed “box” to appear when the user rolls over an item with the mouse. This makes the result stand out and become more apparent to the user.

The house style of the website is most evidently white and blue, with a clear, plain white background to make the website appear more simplistic. All of the main text on the website is a simple sans serif font, which makes the website easier to navigate.


e) Benefits

The most obvious benefit for the user is that they don't have to leave the house to be able to buy products. This can be most helpful for users with mobility issues or physical disability that might make it difficult for them to get around.
A benefit for the seller is the fact that they are advertising to a wider audience online than they would be if they only sold their products in actual shops. Another benefit for the seller is that they can include a description that might persuade a customer to buy the product. This is not an opportunity a seller would often get if they only sold products in ordinary shops.

f) Content

LO1 - Analysis of Wikipedia

a) Purpose

The purpose of Wikipedia is to inform. It has thousands of articles on all sorts of subjects from films, to quantum physics, to a detailed history of cake.
It is used as reference for when someone needs to find out lots of detail about a certain topic, with a search bar to find specific subjects. The website even has full written articles in multiple languages, instead of relying on other websites to translate articles from English.

The target audience for Wikipedia is most likely people in the ABC1 socioeconomic demographic. This is because Wikipedia goes into massive detail, using technical language relevant to each article. This is sophisticated language, that, very stereotypically, only higher demographics might find useful.

b) Visitor Needs

The website allows the user to search for a specific topic that they might want to read about. It also makes navigation easier by including a link wherever there is an article about a specific word, within another article. For example "A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist." with the blue word potentially directing the user to the article about cyclists.

c) Information Flow/User Experience

There is a search bar at the top of the page to allow the user to search for certain subjects. The blue text in articles and many other aspects of the site are hyperlinks to other articles about that topic. The user is also able to click on the site's logo to navigate through a hyperlink back to the home page.

Users can also click on an image to be able to view a thumbnail in more detail; to view the larger image in a higher quality. There is an option to log in – even though it isn’t necessary to be able to use the website – which allows a user to edit and create their own articles.

d) Features

The Wikipedia website uses a scrollbar to allow the user to be able to view a whole article. The search bar at the top of every page consists of an outlined box with an image of a magnifying glass at the right hand side, with the word “search” at the left. The word search makes it clear to the user that the purpose of the box is to type words that are specific to a topic that they might want to read about.

Text is a very prominent feature of Wikipedia as the main focuses of the website are the articles that users can read. The large amount of text connotes heavily that the purpose of the website is to inform.

The house style of the website includes a surprising amount of white space to contrast with the large amounts of text. The colour of the majority of text is either black or blue, which connotes a professional feeling. The kerring (space between letters) and leading (space between lines) are generally average, with a sans serif font. Only the titles are a serif font. Altogether this makes the large amounts of text on the website much easier to read.

e) Benefits

The most obvious user benefit of Wikipedia is the huge amount of information that Wikipedia presents. It can be used for many purposes from personal interest to research for classes or jobs.
A benefit for the people running the website is that it is a community-based website. The one person, or few people, actually running the website aren't the only ones being relied on to produce more and more material for the thousands of topics covered on the website. Users can make an account to be able to edit and create articles for themselves. This is another benefit for all, as it allows articles to be made in many different languages to expand the audience of people who are able to utilize the website.

f) Content