Week 8: Wireframing and What Comes Next

Next week is spring break, and I hope all of you enjoy a well-deserved break. At the same time, I hope you won’t forget that you are only halfway through the Website Modernization Project. At this point, you should be making good progress on four interrelated tasks:

• Experimenting with the Bootstrap framework until you feel confident creating new pages by combining various elements.
• Downloading or copying/pasting all usable content from your client site. Depending on the state of client site, tools like SiteSucker and HTTrack might be helpful, but whatever method you use, you should have local copies of everything you plan to include in your new site.
• Locating and/or creating any items on your Unit #2 “shopping list.” This includes images, videos, maps, and even written content.
• Arranging the content (both old and new) into usable “chunks” (pages, sections, etc.) and cleaning up the HTML for each chunk. Each chunk should be saved as a separate file, ready to be dropped into your Boostrap template.

Shorter version: When we return from spring break, you should have all of the raw materials for your site and be ready to begin assembling them. Here’s how we’ll spend our time in class:

• On Monday, we will spend most of class in a wireframing workshop. Before you come to class, please read “Sketching: the Visual Thinking Power Tool,” by Mike Rohde, and “Using Wireframes to Streamline Your Development Process,” by Eric Shafer. (See the “Wireframing” section of the Resources page for more links.)
• I will be at a professional conference Tuesday through Saturday, so we will not have a formal class session on Wednesday. However, our computer lab will be available, and I hope you will take advantage of the opportunity to meet and help each other build the Bootstrap templates for your Unit #2 sites. Also, your homework for Wednesday is to submit wireframes for at least two different pages (e.g., home page, blog page, contact page, image gallery) of your Unit #2 site. (If you have created additional wireframes, I would love to see those, too.) You should upload your wireframes (or screenshots of your wireframes) to your Google Drive folder no later than 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Because I’m traveling next week, I won’t be able to hold regular office hours, but I will be available by email. If you have any questions about your Unit #2 project while I’m gone, do not hesitate to contact me.