Website Woes

Website Woes

We were assigned to create a webpage for my New Media class. My most recent blog is based of part of our assignment and my views of how my page turned out.

My original proposal idea was to create a page on something that I enjoy so that I would be committed to creating a unique website. I chose basketball because of my interest in the sport and the wealth of information already available on the web. I wanted a site that fit my tastes and interests in the game of basketball and it was my goal to create that.
I initially drew up some basic sketches that consisted of a basic header, a drop down navigation bar, the body of the page covering the left and center, and a side bar with enjoyable widgets such as a calendar, scrolling scores and upcoming games. Then I began to work on my webpage and reality set in. I realized it was a lot harder to move particular images and words exactly where I wanted them without much trial and error. I began to become very frustrated (as I’m sure many other people did) and focused more on simplicity. I played with backgrounds wanting to find a color that popped and really showcased the few images I wanted but I ended up just using black.
One area I really believe I thrived in was quickly coming to an understanding of how to link other sites and pages. My webpage as of now has a total of 8 pages, 3 of which are links from one page. An area that I struggled with was centering my images and video, it caused me numerous headaches trying to get it to fit how I wanted, but in the end I figured it out and I think it came out very simple and not as amateur looking as I thought it would.
To make my first webpage look even more polished and professional I wish I would have tried my hand at some Photoshop elements or even a small flash video. I think that although I have very little knowledge in both of those arenas that it would have been an interesting attempt. I also wish I would have put more thought into adding a calendar. In my original site I had a marquee on the professional page with scrolling scores and while I liked the look of the scrolling scores it seemed a bit amateur (probably because I have never seen that type of scrolling on ESPN).
My overall impression of my webpage is that I am so proud of myself. I am completely amazed at what I have accomplished in such a short amount of time with my crazy schedule. I think that although I ended up making it a lot simpler then I originally intended that I prepared something that I am proud of and that I have shown to all of my friends and coworkers.