Frequently Asked Questions
If you have a question that isn't answered here, let me know what it is and
I'll consider adding it.
- How do I know what the assignments are?
- How do I know when the assignments are due?
- Do I really have to purchase the text?
- Do I really have to purchase the CD?
- How can I do well in the class?
- Should I be working on a real, meaningful web
site when I do my assignments?
- Will I lose points if my web site doesn't look
great?
- Each time I do an assignment should I
build a new web site from scratch?
- Is it OK if I include features in my web site
that we have not yet covered in the class?
- What does it mean when I get a validator message
saying "No referer heading found!"?
- What does that %*#!@ W3C Validator error message mean?
- What is the template that we use for our assignments?
- How do I know what the assignments
are?
- On the class home page is the schedule for the class. There is a summary
of each assignment on the page, the detailed assignment instructions are reached
by clicking the assignment name.
- How do I know when the assignments are due?
- Assignments are always due a week and a day after they are assigned. For example, this
class starts on a Tuesday, so the work assigned
in a particular week is due the following Wednesday
night at 11 PM.
- Do I really have to purchase the text?
- Absolutely! The text is the central core around which the course is built. It
will be your friend for the duration of the course. It is an excellent, easy to
read book, but it doesn't have a great index. Get in the habit of tagging pages
with critical information, so that you can access it quickly. All of the
assignments and quiz questions will be based on the content of the text.
- Do I really have to purchase the CD?
- I strongly encourage you to purchase the CD. However, if one can measure
degrees of "required", the CD is less required than the text. Most
students love the CD and depend heavily on it because it gives clear, concise
instructions on how to get the assignments done. Also, it includes videos, so
if your learning style is visual or audio rather than read/write, the CD will be
indispensible.
- How can I do well in the class?
- The best strategy for doing well in this class is to do the required reading
from the text CAREFULLY! Don't skim. Read every word, and then re-read. When
the text suggests that you do an exercise, actually sit down and do it before
you go on to the next page!
- Should I be working toward a coherent,
meaningful web site when I do my assignments?
- I think that you will enjoy the course more and get more out of it if you
attempt to create a web site that is meaningful and coherent. You can add to it
as we progress through the course. You could present your pets, your family, a
good vacation, a hobby, or some other topic of interest. In assignment 5 you
will be including pictures in your sites, so a topic with good visuals would
be nice. However, in the grading of your assignments I will be paying much more
attention to your coding than to your content.
- Will I lose points if my web site doesn't look
great?
- No. In the grading of your assignments I will be paying much more attention to
your coding than to the aesthetics of your pages. This is a class on the
technical skills required to create web pages; it is not a design class. I
will be looking for good, correct coding techniques and design issues that
affect the user, such as easy navigation and quick loading speeds.
- Each time I do an assignment should I
build a new web site from scratch?
- No. The assignments should build on each other. Each time you do an
assignment, you should add your new work to your existing web site. This will
mean, for example, that your navigation bar will have to be updated if you
decide to add a new page to your site.
- Is it OK if I include features in my web
site that we have not yet covered in the class?
- No. This usually ends up confusing the student who tries, not to mention
the instructor trying to grade the work. Please avoid this.
- What does it mean when I get a validator message
saying "No referer heading found!"?
- This message appears when you try and validate a page that lives on your
home computer, not the one that lives on the server. Your home computer
does not automatically send your code to the validator web site, whereas the
one on the server does.
Actually you can validate your code from your home computer if you take a few extra steps.
- First copy the code of your web page.
- Then open the web page in a browser and click on the validation button.
- When the "No referrer heading found!" message pops up, click on the link that says "Validator Home Page".
- Then click on the tab that says "Validate by Direct Input".
- Paste your (copied) code into the text box and click Check.
- You will get a response like the one you get by checking from a page that is on the server.
- What is the template that we use for our assignments?
-
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="EN" xml:lang="EN">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>Place a title here</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Place a main header here.</h1>
<h2>Place a second level header here.</h2>
<p>Place a paragraph of text here.</p>
<h2>Place a second level header here.</h2>
<p>Place a paragraph of text here.</p>
<p>
<a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer">
<img src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/valid-xhtml10"
style="border:0;width:88px;height:31px"
alt="Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict" height="31"
width="88" /></a>
</p>
</body>
</html>
