I told you that things would get a little more complicated during Week 2, and today’s exercises in class demonstrated that some of you aren’t keeping up with the material in our textbook. I know, I know, some of this stuff is dry and complicated, but it is absolutely essential that you have a firm grasp on the fundamentals of HTML and CSS before we move on to more exciting things.
Whatever your situation, don’t panic — we still have two weeks of class sessions to help you apply the concepts in our textbook to your Online Business Card and Résumé projects. Next week, we will review several topics and add a few new ones to the mix. Here’s what we’ll cover each day in class and what you need to do to prepare:
- On Tuesday, we will dig a little deeper into CSS, focusing on colors, backgrounds, and the box model. Before you come to class, please read Chapters 13 and 14 in Learning Web Design and incorporate some of the concepts in those chapters into your style sheet. When you come to class on Tuesday, you should have two completed HTML files (one that includes an image) and a single CSS file that controls the visual design of both HTML pages. In addition, please make sure you can log in to your Reclaim Hosting control panel and download FileZilla onto your personal computer before class. [Update: When you get to class, download our CSS workshop files.]
- On Thursday, we will learn how CSS can be used not just to style elements, but also to position them on the page. Before you come to class, please read Chapters 15 and 16 in Learning Web Design and identify at least one part of your Unit #1 site that could be modified using the concepts in these chapters. We’ll practice applying these concepts to your projects during class, but you may want to get a jump start on this before we meet. [Update: When you get to class, download our positioning workshop files.]
Remember, as you work your way through the textbook, you should be practicing, not just reading, the material. If you have fallen behind, please take some time this weekend to catch up. If you’ve been diligent with your homework and you’re still feeling lost, please come see me during office hours (Tuesday 2–5 or Wednesday 9–12). Oh, and if you find resources online that help you understand new concepts or make progress on your Unit #1 project, don’t forget to share them with your classmates on Twitter by using the class hashtag: #engl4814.