Course Description

This course builds on the groundwork laid in Build Your Website I. In this intermediate class, you will learn more about the 3 layers of a web page (structure, presentation and interaction) and how they work together. In doing so you will work with lists and forms, expand upon and add to your CSS skills, learn to create a tableless layout with a header and footer, and use SSI to build and update a web site. You'll also get a chance to add some fun things to your assignment site while maintaining valid code... for instance embedding a YouTube movie and adding a calendar script! This is a 6 week, self-paced, online course. If you need additional help understanding the material presented, you can communicate with the instructor and fellow classmates. The instructor will monitor and track your progress throughout the class. LVS Online offers many wonderful learning tools to help you get the most out of your online course, including an online portfolio service that manages all your course registrations, certificate of completion option, a class discussion board to interact with your instructor and fellow classmates, free hosting account, and a student upload area. LVS is a Corel Training Partner. LVS students may purchase Corel products at a significant savings. Follow this link for details. LVS students are also eligible take advantage of special offers made available by famous software developers such as Andromeda, AV Bros, Extensis, Harry Heim, namesuppressed, Nik Multimedia, and Ulead. Details are provided in the classinfo link found in the confirmation of registration. If you would like to receive more information regarding this course, click on the "Contact Us" link in the Information section and we'll try to answer any of your questions within the day.

Course Requirements

Students are required to use the same free student hosting account provided by LVS that was used in the Build Your Website I class. A working knowledge of your computer operating system and ability to create/maintain directory structures is required. A working knowledge of the Fileman control panel used by LVS Student Hosting is required (must be able to create directorys, upload/download files, know how to determine the URL to your student hosting site). All class work will be done with a plain text editor, such as Notepad (Win) or TextEdit (Mac). Links to other free text editors that the instructor highly recommends will also be provided, such as EditPad Lite (www.jgsoft.com) for use in this class as desired. No WYSIWYG coding software is allowed (i.e., Dreamweaver, Homesite, etc.). The course material for this class is presented in PDF format only and is included in a zip file each week with related examples or assets needed to complete the assignment. You will need Winzip, PKZip, Windows Compression (XP or Vista), etc. and Acrobot Reader, or similar programs, to access the material. Plan to devote 3 - 6 hours per week on the lesson and assignment, on average.

Course Prerequisites

Class Level - Intermediate Build Your Website I Successful completion of Build Your Website I is mandatory for entrance into this class. This course builds on the material taught in that introductory skills course; a reasonable understanding of, and ability to implement, the material covered in that class is necessary to complete the coursework in this class. We will not have time to backtrack and explain material covered in the introductory class. Important to All Returning Students: If you took Build Your Website I prior to January 2008, the modules covered by each class have changed! While you are still able to enroll in this course, it will be necessary for you to complete an additional lesson -- preferrably before the class officially begins. Once you have enrolled, please contact the instructor by email for access to that material. Admission to this class without successful completion of Build Your Website I may be offered by the instructor on a case-by-case basis at the instructor's discretion, but is not guaranteed. Please contact the instructor by email if this applies to you.

Course Syllabus

When Classroom Opens Cross-Browser Compatibility Checklist Screen Resolution Basics Classroom Guidelines (Required Reading) Lesson 1 Separating Style and Structure Linking External Stylesheets Creating & Styling Lists Collapsible Menus with JavaScript Margins, Padding & Borders Lesson 2 Tableless Layouts Text Elements & Related Styling Backgrounds and CSS Lesson 3 Forms Primer Processing Forms with PHP Scripts Lesson 4 Site Page Headers & Footers Custom 404 Page Lesson 5 Server Side Includes (SSI) Embedded Objects Lesson 6 Basic CSS Positioning Introduction to CSS Floats Subject to change without notice

Course Excerpt

Creating a Custom 404 Error Page At one time or another we've all probably seen at least one 404 page when surfing the web; it's the "Page Not Found" response displayed when the page you were trying to view no longer exists - at least at that location. Usually it's an exciting plain old white page with black text, all left justified and located in the upper left of the browser window. Once in a while, however, you see something different. In this two-part tutorial and related exercises, we're going to explore what should be included in a custom 404 page to make it useful for your visitors, and then create our own! Why is a Custom 404 Page a Good Idea? Basically, it's all about capturing and retaining visitors. Seeing a standard 404 page can be all it takes to encourage a potential visitor to keep going and not bother trying to find a missing page. Worse, sometimes a 404 page gives a visitor the perception that your site is not maintained, maybe you aren't even in business anymore. They may even decide to visit a competitor instead! If your site is income-generating, that can translate into lost business and lost dollars. So you say you take great care to make sure all your internal links are good? Excellent! But your pages are not the only place that offer links to your visitors: hopefully your pages are indexed in various search engines, perhaps offered as links on other sites, shared by email, bookmarked from a previous visit, or even offered in print in various marketing materials and publications. Unless you control all of those possible venues, you can't control the accuracy or validity of links to your site... especially if you add/rename/remove pages. As you can see, there are many reasons that a 404 page result may be generated by your site's server. Fortunately a custom 404 page can take the sting out of a visitor getting that response to their request to visit your site. Prevention is the Best Medicine Preventing as many 404 errors from occurring as possible is the best way to keep and retain your visitors. You can do this by making sure your internal links are all good, and by checking your site's log files to see what URLs are being submitted that result in your 404 page being displayed. This will give you a clue as to off-site links that need to be updated; you can politely contact the owners of those sites and provide them with an updated page link. [Note: If you do not know what logs I am talking about, please contact your web host provider for assistance.] However, that doesn't solve all possible reasons that a visitor might have a bad link, so you'll still want a custom 404 page. An ounce of prevention, pound of cure kind of thing. "-) Planning Content and Function for a Custom 404 Pages Here are some quick guidelines to keep in mind when planning the content of a custom 404 page: Continued. . . Please note: Lessons provide step-by-step instructions with detailed screen captures.

Course Goals

Upon completion of this course you will have built a complete, XHTML/CSS standards-compliant website and be perfectly positioned to advance to Build Your Website III to learn the CSS tricks and tips used to give websites that extra 'zing' and a professional polish!

Course Reviews

Richard: “[Becky] did an excellent job in teaching us what I thought to be challenging material. I like her teaching and writing style. She is able to explain complex material in plain English and her writing style keeps the reader interested in the material. Overall, I truly believe that I was lucky to have her as an instructor.” More...