Web Unit Studio / Thinking About Collaboration

Work to have done:

• An almost-final version of your website. Look for ways to call it finished, even if you have grand visions yet unrealized.

Plan for the Day:

1. Overall points of insight and guidance
2. Goal-setting
3. Studio! and microconferences
4. EXT: brainstorming for collaboration

1. Overall points of insight and guidance

• I can't advise if I can't find your files. Everyone, please update your README at the website--%%yourname%% repository on GitHub with a clear link to the actual files you're submitting. (This may be on Box, or you can say, "website files are in the docs folder," etc.)
• For text against a background, just like in GIMP, you want contrast. text-shadow can be your friend. Play around in the Dev Tools for your browser (Chrome and Firefox work best for this) until you're satisfied, then copy the browser's CSS into your own.
• If you're going for a grid and your grid-items are overflowing their boxes, try overflow: hidden. You may need to crop the image if the key bits of it aren't fitting. GIMP to the rescue!
• For baseline, it's good just to get everything to load. To get above baseline, one thing I'll be looking for is that you're taking advantage of CSS as a medium.
  • For example, CSS classes are designed to be reusable and stackable (cascading): you shouldn't need to repeat the exact same rules for more than one class. Instead, write that set of rules once, give it a name that can apply in more than one place, and use that shared name.
• If there's something you were trying to do (or trying to fix), but you can't figure out how to make it happen, write about it in your reflection. It's awesome when you get to make something awesome, but I'm mostly after your learning – and your ability to keep learning after this class ends. Let me know what you were after, and how you tried to get there, even if it didn't work by the deadline.
• Tyler had a suggestion in workshop that I want to share with everyone: "add comments to your code: aspirational goal that won't make you hate your life." In CSS, use /\* and \*/, and in html use <\!-- and --> to frame your comments.

2. Goal-setting

3. Studio! and microconferences

4. EXT: brainstorming for collaboration

If you finish your work for the web unit, head back into the proposals for collaborative projects that folks posted in past units. What strikes you as doable, as exciting, as the kind of thing that would benefit from teamwork?

If time allows, you can start drafting a proposal, including a call for participants; I think it’ll work best in teams of 3 or 4 people. See this brief scan from Writer/Designer on collaborative workflow options.

Next class will be an introduction to Twine, and brainstorming for directions to pursue.

Homework for Next Time

• Push your final versions of your files to a folder where they can be clearly marked
  • In GitHub, this can be clear from the History
  • Outside of GitHub, just make sure old versions of files are clearly separated from final versions.
• Final reflections should be posted to the Issue Queue. In your reflection, please include at least the following:
  • A link to the folder where your project’s files live
  • At least 500 words
  • Your own assessment of how you met the baseline criteria and goals for the unit, as well as any aspirational criteria or self-assigned stretch goals, as appropriate
  • At least one photograph of a notecard with feedback you used (and please say how)
  • At least one or two screenshots of your work in progress (ideally, related to the discussion in the previous two bullets)
  • Explanations of at least two CSS classes used in your project

  And why not add your initial sketch, too?