My reading journal for Code Fellows.
This topic is important because we are studying web design using HTML, CSS, and JS. The reading covers the basics of how websites work and are created and how each different layer (HTML, CSS, JS) comes together to make the website.
It is interesting to see the differences between HTML4 and 5 because everything I know has been from HTML5. I was surprised to find out that elements like <header>, <footer>, <article>, and <nav> were introduced in HTML5 and had to be created using <div> previously. I definitely agree with the book that this makes the code easier to follow and I believe it helps me keep the web page design better organized in my head. I really like the use of <section> to effectively group content and organize the page.
I really enjoyed Chapter 18 “Process and Design”. This covered how to plan the website design based on the target audience and its use case. I like the process of thinking through your design from the user perspective and creating a webpage that suits their needs. The idea of understanding your users and designing a site that works for them is awesome. I know how it feels to visit a website that was designed with me in mind. Everything felt very intuitive and was where I needed it to be. I could find information and accomplish tasks easily. This feels great compared to other sites where you can’t easily find or do what you want and it is just clunky overall.
Content management systems and templates - Can I employ something like in the example to change the same element on 1,000 pages instead of each page individually? How do I easily make a mass edit like that?
I have never seen the concept of a “conditional comment” before, but it makes me interested in its possible uses in automating the editing of your web page based on the user.
I know document.write() can be used to add something to the HTML code based on user input, but I’m sure there should a better way to change your webpage with user input and I’m interested to know more.