cambridge technicals

UNIT 12

LO4 BE ABLE TO CREATE WEBSITES

Cambridge Technicals

P5 Create an interactive website

Your first task is to set up the website correctly and learn how to use CSS to control such things as fonts and background colours across the whole of the website.

Using CSS means that, if you wish to change the font size and colour of your heading on every page, you just change the CSS sheet and the changes “cascade” down through the site.

Setting up a websiteToday you will set up a website correctly and learn how to use CSS to control the colours and fonts in your site. The advantage of using CSS is that you only have to alter one page to make changes to the whole of your site.

Creating the website folderNote: ALL file names and folders should have NO spaces; use an underscore _ if you wish to separate words.Create a suitable folder in the root of your area e.g. ict_websiteInside this folder, create these folders:

• Images• CSS• Animations• Videos• Sound

We will now set up the website.

Creating the websiteOpen DreamweaverClick on Dreamweaver site in the middle columnGive your site a name – this CAN have spaces!Click on the Browse button and navigate to the folder you have just created in the last stage.Double click the folder and click Select.Click Save.You will see the site open in green at the bottom right of the Dreamweaver screen.

How do Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) fit into Unit 12?To exceed the Pass level in LO4, you must make use of CSS, as shown here:

CSS does not have to be used to excess, but it should be implemented for at least two different aspects of the site. Evidence of using these aspects can be visible through the completed site and/ or appropriate screenshots. Learners may also record iterative testing carried out throughout the process.

Creating a CSS pageThe CSS page “controls” the other pages in your site as long as they are connected to the CSS page.

It is possible to use the CSS page to control the layout of the other pages, but we are going to use it to control only fonts, paragraphs and colours.In Dreamweaver, click:File, NewPage from SampleCSS Style sheetBasic:Ariel

How to read a CSS pageYou will see a sheet that looks like this:

How to change tag namesThe CSS page contains tags which can be applied to text in your website.At the moment, these are body, td and th.

Change td to h1

Change th to h2

How to change font styles

In Dreamweaver, click Window, CSS. The CSS panel will appear on the right like this:

h1 is short for Heading 1 and h2 is short for Heading 2.

Click All and your CSS tags will appear

Changing the formatIn the CSS box on the right, double click h1 and the following panel will open to let you define how any text formatted with Heading 1 will appear.

Make changes to the appearance of Heading 1 text.

There is an example on the next slide

Changes to heading 1 text

Click OK and you will see that the code on the CSS page has changed.

Changed HTML code

Now you can make changes to the Heading 2 text.

Applying the CSS sheet to a web pageSave the CSS sheet into your CSS folder with a sensible name e.g.

Attach a CSS sheet to a web page

With your new blank page on the screen, at the bottom of the screen, click on Class, Attach Style Sheet...

Save your new page as index into the root of your website.

Find your style sheet and attach it to the page.

Click File, New, Blank Page, HTML, Create to make a new web page.

Applying styles

Highlight it and apply Heading 1 to it in the Format box at the bottom of the page. The text will change to take on the properties of the Heading 1 style.

Type some text on your page.

Altering the CSS styleNow go back to the CSS page and make changes to the Heading 1 style.

When you go back to the index page, you will see that the changes have been applied.

Now add more text and apply Heading 2.

Extension.

Create your own style and apply that to text

Create your own styleOn the CSS page:

Type the name of your own style preceded by a full stop e.g..large_text

Follow this with two curly brackets like this:

In the CSS panel at the top right, click Refresh and your new style will appear. You can double click it and set up the appearance as before.

Applying your own styleOn the Index page, type some text and highlight it.

At the bottom of the page, click Class and you will see your style, which you can then apply to the text.

Task:

1. Experiment with style.

2. Create some of your pages and apply the style sheet to them.

Site definition filesYou will need to create a Site Definition file to enable you to reload your website next time you log on to the net work.

Click here for how to do this.

P5/M3 Create an interactive website

When you have set up the website correctly, you need to add pages to the site. These should have been planned in LO3.

Open up your website in Dreamweaver.In the Create New column, click on HTML.A new page will open.To attach it to the CSS file, click Format, CSS

Styles, Attach Style Sheet and navigate your way to the CSS page you created earlier. Follow the prompts and the CSS page will be attached to your new HTML page.

P5/M3 Create an interactive website

You will need to set up a table on the page to hold information. To learn how to do this and how to add information, follow these links:

Setting up a tableEditing tables and adding colour

When you have created your first page, click File, Save As... and save it a number of times, each time giving it the name of one of your other pages. This way, all your pages will have the same layout.

P5/M3 Create an interactive website

Watch these video tutorials to learn how to add content to your pages:

Adding imagesAdding a “hot spot”Insert an animation How to add a rollover imageHow to add videoHow to add soundHow to create a user form

D2 Test your website

You will need to test your website to ensure that:

You have evaluated it under certain headingsIt works correctlyIt meets the client’s needs.

D2 Test your website

Write an evaluation of your website using these headings:

usability (e.g. Meta tags, clear navigation, viewable in different browsers, ease of use)

readability (e.g. proof read, spell checked, text readable with background colour)

accessibility (e.g. ALT tags included, additional features function)

D2 Test your website

The test tableThe testing is done using a TEST TABLE. This must test

EVERY section of your website; this means every clickable function on a page and everything that should “run” or appear on a page, such as animations and videos, or images.

This should have four columns.

In the first column, list what you are testing. In the second column, say what SHOULD happen. In the third column, say what does ACTUALLY happen. In the fourth column, say what action you will take, if any is

needed.

D2 Test your website

A test table might look like this:

Make sure you test everything on every page!

D2 Test your website

Client acceptance testing.

You do this by creating a questionnaire.The aim of the questionnaire is to get the client’s opinion of

the site.For example, you could ask:

“Is there any content missing from the site which you would like to be added?”

You could ask questions about content, layout, appearance, images etc.

Come up with at least EIGHT questions and send the questionnaire to your teacher, who will act as the client.

The questionnaire will be completed and returned to you.

How do I present my work?

Information

How do I present my work?

Information

How do I present my work?

Information