Creating and Strategically Planning Your Website

  • Goals and Objectives
    • Describe key terms and concepts associated with computers and software applications
    • Approach new computer-based tasks more easily and with greater confidence
    • Demonstrate electronic information management habits (e.g. backing up files, organizing files in a logical fashion, transferring files to various storage areas, etc.)
    • Discuss the functions of computers in classrooms, businesses, homes, and other environments
    • Discuss the theoretical background and practical application of a variety of software programs
    • Analyze a variety of problems, select the appropriate software application to solve problems, and use software programs to find and/or present solutions
    • Locate, open, and use the following software applications at an intermediate level: e-mail, word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, web page development, internet search strategies, and BlackBoard course management system
  • Module 3 Introduction Screencasts
  •   Please watch the following screencast videos. After viewing the videos, you can determine which La[B]rid option you will follow for this module.

    Be sure to check the Meeting Schedule (left navigation) to see when our next one-on-one meeting is scheduled.  Watch this video to see How to Retrieve Your Meeting Log from Google Drive.

  • Deliverables
  • The following are due by the end of this module:
    • URL to your newly created website, submitted to Blackboard (x min.)
      • Root/Level 1 pages created: Home, About, Contact
      • Home page with at least 3 sentences of text information, and 1 image
    • Strategic Planning Mind Map submitted to Blackboard (x min.)
      • Make sure that all level 1 sections of your strategic planning map are added to your navigation menu
      • Also include a link to your References and Strategic Planning Map pages as hidden pages
  • Self-Check Activity
  • Use this document as you build your website throughout the semester.
    • Includes information for Citing Media
  • Support Information – Create a Website
  • M3.1 Create Your Website
  • M3.2 Strategic Planning Mind Map
  • Positive Thinking and Daily Tech Tip
  •  High Five Escalator
  •  When you’re filling in the boxes on a Web page (like City, State, Zip), you can press the Tab key to jump from box to box, rather than clicking. Add the Shift key to jump through the boxes backwards.

Reading(s) & Website(s)

Assignment M3.1 Assignment Screencasts

Please watch the following screencast videos. After viewing the videos, you can determine which La[B]rid option you will follow for this module.

  1. Module introduction (2 min.)
  2. Completing the module project (20 min.)
    • (8:44 – 9:33) There is no longer a “Choose a Layout” button when you are editing a page. View the Help Center –  Layoutinformation for Adding Sections to Your Pages. When you add sections is where you will find many layouts to choose from. There are additional video tutorials under layouts. You may also see tips in the 4. General Weebly Tips video.
    • NOTE: You will NOT complete the embedding of your Strategic Planning Map until you have completed the M3.2 assignment. Instructions are between the (16:18) and (18:30) minute marks. You will need to refer back to this video, once you create your planning map.
  3. Submitting your project (2 min.)
  4. General Weebly Tips (14 min.)

INSPIRATION

Before getting started. Take a look at 6 Landing Page Tips to Help Build Your Audience and 50 Examples of Brilliant Homepage Design. These resources provide a number of high quality home pages. This should help to inspire you to start creating.

NAMING YOUR SITE/BUSINESS/CAUSE

Naming your site is probably going to be one of the more challenging tasks because it is such an important part. People want to know what your site is all about. They also want to be intrigued. Here is an article and video that will help you understand what goes into picking a site/business/cause name. Don’t worry…I don’t expect you to enlist professional help. But, it would be a good idea to bounce the idea off of your friends, family and me if you want to.

HOMEPAGES

A majority of people spend less than 15 SECONDS on a website before clicking off. YOUR GOAL should be to want them to stay on your site. The following two sites give excellent insight into what you should include on your homepage. At this point, it WILL be difficult to include everything. However, you will continue to add to your site and homepage over time. Continually updated! Please note that this page is different than the About page, which will be discussed next.

ABOUT PAGE

The About page or About Me page tells the viewer what your site is all about. This is different than the home page in that its sole focus is on you and/or the theme of your website. Go into great detail to make sure that the viewer will know as many details as possible.

CONTACT PAGE

The contact page gives the viewer a spot to go in case they need to ask you questions about your site. For this class, you can use your own ASU or personal email. If you are starting a business or cause then you could always create a new email account for the site. For example, if the name of your idea is ASU Tours then you might create a Gmail account that is asutours@gmail.com. This isn’t necessary at this point but you can always do it if you want to take your idea further.

PREVIOUS EXAMPLES

Here are a few high quality examples of projects that were previously completed for this module:

As always, you can click here to see a full list of websites from previous semesters.

You are going to start building your website during this module! DON’T WORRY…you do not need to be a professional web designed to be successful here. We are going to use Weebly, a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) web builder that has tons of themes already created for you. All you have to do is pick the one that fits your idea.

TIPS: Website Tips – Themed Website

Step 1: Review the Readings and Websites above.

Step 2: Open the Word document Home and About Pages – Elements Click for more options

. Highlight the elements and tips you think you might apply to your website. You are not committed to these choices. The purpose of this part of this exercise is for you to consider your options.

  • SAVE this file on your computer or My Files. Along with the URL, you will SUBMIT your file, with your highlighted elements/tips, to this assignment, in the Write Submission area. [name your document file with your name in front of “_HomeAboutPage-Elements” / e.g. awestphal_ HomeAboutPage-Elements]

Step 3:  Go to Weebly Education site to create your account >>

Step 4: Create required LEVEL 1 (Root) pages – HOME, ABOUT, and CONTACT pages. You will create these Root/Level 1 pages, according to the grading rubric criteria.

  • HOME page content: You will add a title to your Header (Title element may already be built in, but add one if not), at least one paragraph of text to the body/content area of your page (Use a Weebly Text element), and one image to the body/content area of your page (Use a Weebly Image element)
  • ABOUT page: no content is required at this time.
  • CONTACT page: Drag a Weebly Contact Form element to this page, and title it. Additional sub-pages will be added in Step 5.

TIP: Be sure that you publish when you make any changes to your site so that the updates are visible.

Step 5: Create required Level 2 (sub-pages) to your Contact page – REFERENCE and STRATEGIC PLANNING MAP pages

You will create these two  pages HIDDEN: (check box to hide)

  1. References: this page is where you will put references/citations for any media that you use on your site. In addition to others’ work, PLEASE CITE YOUR OWN WORK.
  2. Strategic Planning Map: you will link to your strategic planning map, after you create it in the M3.2 assignment.

Although these pages are not part of your menu navigation, they will be included in your website. Be sure to watch the screencasts above to see how to create these pages.

Step 6: Submit icon - greenSubmit Two (2) items to this assignment, in the Write Submission area.

  1. LIVE URL to your website – “live” means to hyperlink it. Submit a Hyperlink to Blackboard Click for more options .
  2. Highlighted Home and About Pages – Elements document file.

You DO NOT need to resubmit your website URL each time you make changes. The URL will stay the same. Be sure that the following pages are included:

  • Home, with 1 paragraph and 1 image
  • About
  • Contact, with Contact Form element added
    • References (Hidden), but hyperlinked
    • Strategic Planning Map (Hidden), but hyperlinked

M3.2 Assignment Screencasts

Play button - white arrown in red circle  Please watch the following screencast videos. After viewing the videos, you can determine which La[B]rid option you will follow for this module.

  1. Module 3.2 introduction (6 min.)
  2. Completing the module project (11 min.)
  3. Submitting your project (2 min.) View this video before the one below.
    • NOTE: Minor revised instructions – (1:35) & (1:47) instead of a Share this Map button there is a Share pull down menu.

Information icon Be sure to check the Meeting Schedule (left navigation) to see when our next one-on-one meeting is scheduled.  Watch this video to see How to Retrieve Your Meeting Log from Google Drive.

Reading(s)

Attached Files:

Instructions for M3.2 Assignment – Strategic Planning Map

Grading Rubric attached above: 25 points

Learning Activity orange icon  Overview: In this activity, you are going to (a) think about, (b) plan and (c) organize how you are going to set up your website.

You already created the required pages for your website. The rest is up to you how you design your site, with Level 1 pages (and Level 2 sub-pages, if you want to add any). The content is also up to you to design. In the next module, you will learn more about design principles. For now you just need to plan.

You will be creating a Mind Map to organize the rest of the navigation menu for your site. Everyone’s site is going to be different so there is no template that I can give you. Some people are building business or organizational sites while others are creating informational or teaching sites. You are going to have to use your own creativity and spend some time thinking and planning how you want to organize your site. Spending time on this process will make the rest of the course much easier because you will know ahead of time what the end result will look like. This strategic planning map is NOT set in stone. You are free to change your mind during the course. This activity is to start getting you thinking.

NOTE: You are not completing each of these assignments this week. You are just organizing yourself so that you know how you are going to build out the rest of your site.

SEE MIND MAP EXAMPLE

Items to include in your mind map

  • Central bubble: The title of your site (business or organization name, theme/topic of your informational site, etc.)
  • 1st Layer: The name of the page on your site (Home, About, Contact, etc.)
  • 2nd Layer: A brief description of the content that will be included on each page of your site.
  • 3rd Layer: The technology that you are going to use and how you are going to use it
  • Tag line: Your site’s statement of purpose

NOTE: If you decide to include sub-pages, create a “page” layer off of the 1st layer page. Then create the description and technology layers off of that.

Click for more options

click image to enlarge

Items to include in your 3rd Layer (10 total)

Everyone’s 1st and 2nd layers are going to be different. No one is going to have the same navigation. That means that everyone will use the tools below differently as well. Your job is to look at the topics that I have provided and determine how you will use those technologies within your site. NOTE: if you are unsure about one of these areas then you will have to do some independent investigation to search for examples.

VIEW MY SITE TO SEE AN EXAMPLE OF EACH or VIEW PREVIOUS STUDENT SITES

  • Digital Logo (Module 5)
    • You will create a logo for your site.
  • Digital Photo Editing (Module 5)
    • You will do some digital photo editing to enhance images that you include on your site.
  • Graphic Design, with QR Code (Module 6)
    • QR codes are barcodes that can be read from mobile apps. They can be used on a business card, document, homework assignment, etc. so that other people do not need to enter in full URL addresses. They just scan the QR code and they will be directed to the URL. (This will be added to your Graphic design, so it is not a separate item to add to your website.)
    • Canva Design is a simple way to make posters, flyers, business cards, Facebook headers, and more. QR codes are barcodes that can be read from mobile apps.
  • Google Form (Module 7)
    • Google Forms can be used to collect information from people. They can be used as a survey tool, registration form, homework submission, and much more.
  • Infographic (Module 8)
    • Infographics are information graphics or visual respresentations of information, data or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly.
  • Video or Animation (Module 9)
    • You will create a video or animation that will advance your site. This could be a promo video, a lesson taught using multimedia, and more.
  • App Prototype (Module 10)
    • You will design an app that could be used to enhance your site (product, organization, classroom, etc.)
  • Social Media (Module 11)
    • You will include a social media aspect to your site. This might be a Blog, a Facebook/Twitter/Instagraph/Other page that allows visitors to follow your business, organization or educational site.
  • Screenshot  (Module 12)
    • You will create a screenshot of something about your website, with added notation features to help navigate or explain something.
  • Screencast Presentation (Module 12)
    • You will end the semester by creating a screencast video that will highlight main points of your site (or a part of your site) to your visitors.

Web Links

PREVIOUS EXAMPLES

Information icon  Here are a few high quality examples of projects that were previously completed for this module: (*note: the TAGLINE was not part of the previous assignment so it is not visible in these examples. You will include a tagline in your strategic planning maps)

AssignmentM3.2 Assignment – Strategic Planning (Mind) Map

Attached Files:

Grading Rubric attached above: 25 points

Submit icon - greenSubmit the URL to your mind map here. Make sure that your Mind Map settings have been changed to PUBLIC.

When submitting your link, be sure to click the Write Submission area and then paste your URL into the text area (see Module 3 Submitting Your Project screencast).

Weebly orange W-sml On your Weebly site, you will add your Strategic Planning Map to your Strategic Planning Map page by using a Weebly Embed Code element.

  • Instructions for how to do this is in the Completing Project video for creating your website, starting at about the 16:18 minute mark to 18:30. You should have already created your Strategic Planning Map page. This is just one part you did not complete when you did the initial creation of your website.

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Questions

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