Compare/Contrast of Frontpage vs Webnodes 2.0

In summary, one of the most important concepts I learned from this class is that there is a lot of planning and work that goes into creating a website. Before this class I would surf the web and take for granted the websites I visited. Now, I respect the work that goes into making a website what it is in the end. I also find myself critiquing the CRAP principles of the different websites that I visit. Until you try something hands on you never really have the full appreciation for the work and thought that goes into it. I also feel that I learned more by trying my hand at the different applications of creating the website in two different places. Depending on what type of website an individual is trying to create would depend on which application is best suited for it. I found that since my website was a family website dedicated to my family members of our vacation memories that the application I liked best was the webnodes 2.0. If I was creating a professional website or one for a personal business I would probably use Frontpage or a similar application as it would give more freedom for personal creativity. For my particular project and purposes the 2.0 application was my favorite. This was because of the ease of getting it up and running. I will definitely use webnodes again. Bottom line is you could be a complete novice, which I basically am, and be able to feel as if you accomplished and created a professional looking website all on your own. Of course after completing this course I know that all the behind the scenes coding that is set up for you is very detailed and complex.

Although FrontPage allowed for more hands on detailed creativity I felt that the 2.0 application in webnodes was the one for me. In the end I felt as if that website was more organized because of the ease of the tools. It was easier for me to upload images in 2.0 webnodes. When I compare the finished product of both applications I felt that the webnodes website looked more like I had envisioned the end result to be from my storyboarding. There were some details that I decided to eliminate from my original storyboard. I learned that just because something looks good on paper doesnt always look good when you put it to the web. For instance, I started out putting lots of mexican colors on the text labels in my pictures. After posting in FrontPage I realized it looked too busy. I went back to Photoshop and changed the text to black on my pictures and kept the background colors in the mexican theme. One other item I changed from my storyboard was to add some content. I decided to add the history of Cancun on my index page to make the site more interesting. I also added some personal information about our vacation experience to make the website more interesting and inviting. Before doing this it looked a little bare. Adding the additional content made the site come to life so to speak. I preferred the templates in webnodes 2.0 a little better than in FrontPage probably just because I found a template in webnodes that better suited what I pictured the end results of the site to look like.

My webnodes website is located at cancunfamilyvacation.webnode.com. It could also be that I liked the webnodes application a little better because this was the second application I used. I felt as if I had more practice and learned what I didnt like the first time around so I could make some changes to adjust. It was also a lot of fun realizing that my webnodes project was live and out on the internet for all to see. I realize that I could publish the FrontPage application too but I thought my webnodes project turned out more visually pleasing. I liked the fact that the webnodes had pages created for me like a blog, a guestbook, and a comments page. It also had offered a photogallery area which I may choose to add more pictures to. The best part about webnodes is that it is free and was for the most part self explanatory. The other lesson I learned from this class is that the upfront planning is actually more time consuming than the set up of the actual site. It is critical to have the storyboard planned well in order to have a great finished product. I also felt that because the website was created about something I felt really scentimental and passionate about that for me it came to life and fit together beyond my expectations.
In conclusion I must add that although I liked webnodes better for my particular project, I can see how if I became more adept to building websites that I would reach out for more options and challenges. I believe that for a more experienced individual FrontPage could offer you a more challenging and detailed platform in which to build upon. At any rate I am very pleased with what I learned in the past seven weeks and will definitely use the basic principles and recall what I learned as I continue to expand upon my computer literacy.

Planning my website

First I must say that just typing the words "my website" in the title gives me a feeling of accomplishment. This is because I never ever would have pictured myself being able to even think about creating a website. I realize I havent done so yet but it gives me the courage to perservere and actually picture the finished product even if it doesnt turn out exactly the way I expect in the end. This past April (April 2009) my husband and I took my daughters Katelyn and Kelsey to Cancun Mexico. This was their first "real" vacation with white sand, blue water and beautiful palm trees. It was important for me as a mom to be able to share in that experience with them. The looks on their faces throughout the week was something that I will cherish until the day I die. It makes me very sentimental to think about that week because it was the best vacation I ever had. I have been to several places but nothing compares to sharing in their fun as I watched them laugh and experience the beauty of life. They were treated to many special experiences that week from cultural food, to shopping with the locals, to going on an excursion, and massages on the beach overlooking the ocean. My daughters are still talking about their vacation and I know they will remember it for all their life as special. When I returned from our vacation I created a picture filled scrapbook for each of them with captions to capture the special moments and funny experiences. Katie took hers to college and I was thrilled when she unpacked it and placed it lovingly on her dorm room desk. Kelsey refers to it often and looks through the pictures and laughs and reminisces. Therefore I decided that my website would be dedicated to our Cancun Mexico family vacation. I plan on titling it "HOLA Cancun." The girls had their own adjoining room and so they felt grown up because of this. However, every morning I would burst into their room repeating the word HOLA (hello in spanish) about a dozen times to wake them up. They would get so annoyed with me and pull the covers over their head. I would continue with the HOLA's until they were fully awake. Now they laugh about it and I hear them telling each other things like remember when mom would come in and dance around and say Hola Hola to wake us up. Now when my daughter calls me from college or when I call her she picks up the phone and says "Hola!" Before our vacation they didnt even know what the word Hola meant.
The images for my website are taken from my personal picture library of all the candid shots I took on our vacation. I will be using the photoshop extended software that I downloaded as a thirty day trial period in order to resize and enhance the photos. I do not have an html editor at home as of now so I plan on using frontpage. For the 2.0 application I will download from the list of choices we received in class during our week four class. Today I will continue to work on my storyboarding. I have it all layed out in my mind how I want everything to look but I'm sure that may change as I begin to put it to paper today. I plan on editing and resizing a scenic photo for the home page where the title will be located. Next I will create my buttons in photoshop and lay out my pages. Since this website is mainly intended for the enjoyment of my daughters and family I plan on making the pages that link from the homepage more humorous to match the fun times we had while living our vacation. Initially it will look like a travel website would for Cancun having a button for things like lodging,things to do and travel tips. However when you link to those pages it will be only the lodging of where we stayed with the link to that hotel. Things to do will take to to the page that has pictures and explanations of only the things that we did on our personal vacation. There will be a link to Wet and Wild where the girls swam with the dolphins and experienced the water park for the day. I may also add a link to isla mujeres the island of women where we took an excursion for the day. The girls also loved the entertaiment and eating at Margaritaville so I am hoping to link that website on the things to do page as well. The travel tips page will be information and tips related to the trip such as making certain to ask the bus driver to take us to cancun center and not center cancun! The tips will relate to other funny and memorable experiences like the picture I took of Katie with balloons on her head with a caption related to saying that this must be what swine flu looks like. There is a whole story related to this from vacation that they laugh about. I will then attach a real link to actual travel tips for Mexico.
I want the color scheme to match the primary colors you see in typical mexican decor which is red, yellow, green and blue. This will be the repetitive color theme throughout. I would like to try use chili pepper icons as a bullet to accent my information. I am really excited and cant wait to show the girls the finished product. Judging from how much they loved the scrap book this is going to be very special for them. Katie is majoring in psychology in college right now. The other day the professor asked them to do an activity where they close their eyes and think of their most relaxing thought ever. Katie told me she thought back to Mexico to the massages they had on the beach. I plan on having that picture in the things to do page. I hope the finished website will light up their faces the same way it did when they were given their scrapbooks. I think it will serve as another way to remember a great time in their life.