Developing Your School Website Why do you need a website Determining website requirements Developing the website Ongoing maintenance of the site
Why does your school need a website? Promotion and status of your school Attract new students Information for Teachers, Parents and Students Yearly schedules and exam timetables Discussions and chat Post learning content Videos and audio School News..
What is a website? Conceptual A website is a unique online representation of an individual or groups ideas and content Informational A website is an accessible repository of information and applications that is of use to its visitors
What is a website? Technical A website is an instruction to a web browser to organise supplied content in a manner determined by the website developer.
What is a website made of? Domain Name Hosting Structure (HTML) Content (Text, Images, Audio, Animations, Multimedia) Dynamic Applications (PHP, ASP,.net, PERL) Database Content
Domain names A Domain name is a human understandable address where a website may be accessed through a browser. An IP address is a computer understandable address where a website may be accessed through a browser. Domain names map to IP addresses allowing humans and computers to understand what address is required
Domain Names.com.ie.net.eu and many more Dwelling House Similie A domain name is like the address of a house. Like a house address there is a understandable structure. - 1 Main Street Thurles Co Tipperary - www.tippinst.ie
Hosting Hosting is the actual space on a computer (server) where our content may be stored and displayed. The server is connected to the internet through a high-speed line Hosting services provided by ISP s Packages and costs vary from ISP to ISP
Hosting 50Mb Unix Hosting with PHP, MySQL, SSI and SSL. Dwelling House Similie Hosting is comparable to a house site. The size of the house and type of house that planning authorities allows may vary.
Web Site Structure The structure of websites is determined by HyperText Markup Language (HTML now xhtml) xhtml is a consists of a series of tag pairs written in a script. The tags to be used are predefined and are governed by the W3C. Content may be placed between tag pairs or the tag itself may define the content (in the case of images and multimedia). The developer needs to understand how the server will interpret the script. The script is saved and passed to the server where it is displayed as a web page.
xhtml Tag Pairs <html> </html> Headers <h1>this is a Heading</h1> This is plain text
HTML is static HTML is not dynamic Content doesn t change unless done manually by the developer. Leads to static sites with rigid and dated layout Other technologies complement HTML to improve look and add interactivity
Dynamic Websites More appealing to the website visitor Dynamic content leads to more interesting and useful sites Content Management Systems allow sites to be easily updatable Buzzwords - CSS & JavaScript - Flash - PHP, ASP,.net - Databases
Content The content for a website may be developed by a number of different people Text Anyone who can use a word processor Images Graphic Designer Video, Audio & animations Multimedia Developer Database and Dynamic Content Programmer A web developer may be one or all of these
How to get a Website Determine what you want the site to do - Static Content (xhtml, Graphic Design) - Audio, Video, Flash content (Multimedia Developer) - Dynamic Database Driven Site (Programmer) Who and How will the site be maintained and updated? Do you or your colleagues have the technical ability to implement the required solution Does someone you know have the time, ability and will to implement your solution If not, seek professional help
Self-Designed Website Knowledge of xhtml a must Knowledge of basic Graphic design desirable Time and motivation to design, complete and maintain website imperitive
Professional Web Design Determine your budget and needs Source a web designer with matching capabilities Check out their prices and portfolio Request a written Requirements document Determine copyright Agree and sign Requirements document
Links HTML Web Governing Body WC3 www.w3.org Learn HTML - www.w3schools.com/ Sample Website Ard Scoil Rís - www.ardscoil.com/ Web Design www.irishwebhq.com