Reflection

Over the fall 2016 semester, I created an online portfolio for myself at the following address: libraryowl.com.  In planning out the site, I researched elements that should be included in a portfolio, including referring to the graduation requirements for the Master of Library and Information Science program.  I decided that I wanted to create the following sections: about me, education, employment, and a contact me page.  I undertook the laborious process of saving all of my assignments from previous class, schools, and degrees into a pdf format.  I then uploaded these pages and included them in an area I assigned for the documents.

I created a consistent look for my website, including a drop-down menu with topics, including home, about me, education, employment, and a contact me page.  Each topic has many sub-links and pages associated with it that can be accessed in the drop-down menu.  Every page utilizes the same color scheme and design, including a banner.  The page can been accessed on any web browser and looks good on a cell phone as well.  I utilized one image on the main page as part of my website banner and included a modified banner (without my picture) on every other website page.  At the present time, I did not see a need to add additional images.  However, I uploaded powerpoints to slideshare.net, which include materials that I use in the history classes that I teach.  These powerpoints are embedded as part of my teaching resources.  I did not utilize search engine optimization because I do not want people to randomly find my portfolio on the web; I want to make it accessible for employers to find it by using a web address but not for random searchers.  Under my contact me page, there is an external link for my email address and for a twitter account that I created for the website.  There is a copyright mark that is included on every page and the website works and functions properly.

Revising WordPress and Home Page Completion

I noticed a major issue with WordPress. WordPress only works within one particular folder, and so, that folder cannot be changed after the app is installed. Having changed the name of the folder already, I had to create a new file with the old file name so that WordPress would be able to recognize it.

Additionally, I have now completed my home page and am going to begin copying portions of it to connecting web pages. Going along with a piece of advice I read online, I realized that my navigation menu was too small. Readers should not need to enlarge the screen (if using their mobile devices) in order to view the navigation menu. I made all of the links on my navigation bar larger, so that they would be easier to read on mobile devices, as well as on computer screens.

Navigation Menu

An important part of creating a website is making sure that visitors will be able to view the content quickly and easily.  In order to improve the user’s experience, I added a navigation bar to the top of the home page.  I found an appealing html code online for a navigation bar.  However, it was challenging to figure out how to add sub-topic boxes.  I played around with the html within the text editor and figured it out.  Afterwards, I went to the html editor and realized that I could have done it within the html editor much easier.  With the basic categories in place, now I have to add sub-topics that will eventually link to documents once I upload them.

Welcome to My Journal

Hello, everyone!  Here is my journal for Web Design for Libraries.  Over the next several months, I’m going to update my progress in creating a website that I intend to use as an online portfolio.

I created an earlier version of this journal, but it was deleted as I renamed files in my directory. Today, I searched through my education records and converted assignment files to pdf documents that can easily be read on the internet.  My next step will be to upload these files, so that they may be accessed on my website.