Websites for spring 2012

Here are links to student sites for the spring 2012 semester of J105.

We are just getting started, so sites are very much a work in progress.

Lindsay Dressen
Lauren Ehrler
Jacqueline Grewe
Chris Hanson
AJ Harrison
Lauren Horsch
Jared Jang
Shannon Kerr
Alex Kuberski
Jonathan Landy
Kayleigh McCullough
Katelyn Philipp
Ben Sabal
Lindsay Scarpello
Noelle Smith
Lindsay Susla
Jess Walther
Kathleen Wiseman
Christy Wittmer

Wordpress plugins

Plugins can extend Wordpress to do almost anything you can imagine. They can help you track visitors. They can allow readers to rate your posts. They can protect you from spam. They can allow visitors to easily like your content on Facebook. They can help you create photo galleries.

And there are thousands of them. Find them all here.

Here are some plugins that you should consider for your portfolio or blog site you are creating this semester. We will go over these in class on Monday, March 5.

• Google Analytics for Wordpress (required) - tracks your page views, visits and more
• Addthis - lets readers share your content on social sites/email
• Wibiya - Adds a toolbar to the bottom of your site
• WPTouch (required) - make a mobile-friendly version of your site
• Like - puts a "like this on Facebook" button on your posts and pages
• HelloBar - Adds a promo bar across the top of your site
• Snow, balloons and more - adds snow and balloons to your page
• Greetbox - suggests to your new visitors that they follow your RSS feed
• Wordpress SEO - give you more control over the SEO on your site
• Sexy Bookmarks - give you stylish social sharing buttons
• All in one video pack - helps you put videos on your site
• Wordpress audio player - lets you embed audio file on your site
• NextGEN Gallery - creates photo galleries
• Photo Galleria - create a slideshow
• Portfolio Slideshow - create a slideshow
• GD Star Rating - lets readers rate your posts
• FD Feedburner - Converts your RSS feed to a Feedburner feed (which give you analytics)
• Search and replace - find code and replace with something else
• Relevanssi - better Wordpress search
• Quick Page/Post Redirect - redirect one URL to another
• Maintenance mode - take your site offline to work on something
• Social Metrics - track how much your content is shared on social media
• Social profiles - link to our social sites in your sidebar
• Wordpress SEO - 

Where to find Wordpress themes

Here's a list of Wordpress themes that have caught my eye over the past year or so.

• The best place to start - Wordpress Theme Showcase
• 50 best free themes of 2010
• Site5 themes
• Portfolio Press
• Themify - most of these cost money but a couple are free.
• Spectacular
• Matapat
• JournalCrunch
• Themeforest - had hundreds of themes
• WPZoom - a couple of these are free
• Organic themes - these all cost money
• Elegant themes - I don't think any of these are free
• Here's a rundown of news and magazine-style themes
• Woothemes - One of my favorites (some are free)
• Resume theme
• WPExplorer themes
• WPShower

Signing up for web hosting

We've reached the part of class where we need to purchase a domain name and hosting. We are testing out two different hosts this year, so you can choose which one you want.

• MDD Hosting -  (buy the basic shared hosting and use the code WHT50 at checkout - it should take your price down to about $53 for a domain name and a year of hosting). You can lock in a really great deal if you buy more than one year.

• Bluehost - should cost about $59 for a year of hosting and a domain name. This one also gets cheaper when you do more than one year. And they are giving away one iPad2 to a random college student who signs up this month.

We will sign up in class on Monday, but feel free to purchase your domain name ahead of time.

Welcome to J105 for spring 2012

Welcome to a new semester of J105: Web Page Design at Drake University.

In the first few weeks of class, you will learn to create web pages using HTML and CSS. After that, we will turn our attention to creating websites using the Wordpress content management system. You'll purchase a domain, create a site, create content for that site and modify the design of the site using your HTML and CSS skills.

Along the way, we'll learn about the skills required to be an online editor at a media site (search engine optimization, analytics, social media, etc.)

This blog will be the center of activity for the class. I will post assignments, important information and questions here.

Basic class info can be found using the links above.

Take a minute to like our class Facebook page (on the right). I'll also post important info there throughout the semester.