The purpose of this project is to not only learn the basics of HTML, but to understand its affordances and constraints, especially when compared to markdown or CSS. The finished product is then used as a place to host our think piece projects.
The two online tools that I used for this project are Notepad++ and Daring Fireball’s text-to-HTML conversion tool known as Dingus. Notepad++ allows users to go in depth with HTML and create complex and specific elements for a website. Dingus on the other hand, simply converts markdown to HTML with average results. Compared to HTML, markdown has less options, which enables less creativity. For example, I couldn’t add images or videos to my website in markdown, while in HTML I could.They both, however, achieve the same goal, albeit with different results.
After learning the basics of HTML, I used most of the codes we learned in class for my website. This includes how the text looks on screen (justifed, tables, headings, titles, bolding, linking to other websites), and colors (on the body and heading separately). I then decided to implement the visuals (images and video) that I created from previous projects to help users understand and see what I am discussing throughout the website. Instead of copying and pasting these visuals on the folder associated with my HTML project, I used the share button on Flickr and Youtube to receive a code that display these works online.
After I finished creating my website in HTML for Google Chrome, I realized there were several issues and differences when viewing it on other web browsers. In Firefox, the body was completely invisible and the spacing on all headings was different. While in Internet Explorer, although the text was visible and in the correct color, the headings contained different spacing as well. The spacing issue frustrated me the most because I wanted to know the code that changed it.
Overall, HTML (or at least my knowledge of it) seemed limited. I would have liked to completely change the design of my website, have background images, and better color. Instead of having the visuals in the same page as the think piece, I would have liked to link them in tabs placed in the header.
