Name: Anna Zabolotnaya
Student Number: 11880414
Validate here
I would like to reinforce and certify my experience with HTML and CSS and learn the basics of some .js technologies. Also, I would like to familiarise myself with PHP structure and possibly to deconstruct and update some PHP plugin for Wordpress CMS.
It is important for me to try and create a real functioning page, not an «educational dummy», and publish it at the end of semester as part of my educational portfolio.
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| I am comfortable with HTML5/XML and know the basics of CSS | I have never tried to edit big pieces of CSS and HTML simultaneously and possibly will need to read documentation and verify every step |
| I am familiar with online educational technologies and actually have finished three advanced online courses with peer reviews and a certification system | I am unacquainted with JavaScript and its blocks, hence it could be hard to plan my learning schedule effectively |
| I already have a working site, my own domain name and hosting. I know how to work with FTP and have all necessary software installed | I am an international student and write my blog in Russian; it will take some time for me to adapt — and I always write slower than other students |
| I am motivated, able to work within deadlines and not afraid of new technologies | I am a perfectionist and a procrastinator. I tend to concentrate on a small detail not being able to step aside and try a different approach |
| I have access to statistics, I am able to evaluate the results and understand data | I have never tried to validate my code before; some of my coding habits may be considered outdated |
| Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|
| I can try and choose different learning paths within an assortment of educational sites | Because of an unrealistic project evaluation I may not be able to implement my ideas |
| I will assess some good industry examples and collect fresh competitors cases | I may not find the right way to implement my abstract knowledge to the actual design |
| I can use fellow students experience and ask for my teachers' expertise. I may correct my training and development plan implementing my peer feedback | A WordPress platform may be not the best choice for initial work with Node.js and JavaScript in general — so I may be forced to use additional plugins and overcomplicate the whole process |
| I can try and finally move my blog to a different platform (Ghost) and test it with my peers support | Eight weeks may not be enough for finishing the project. I should evaluate my work and study load realistically |
I plan to set up Amazon aStore on the separate page of my blog GeekChick.ru, published on a Wordpress platform.
Amazon aStore is a service for Amazon affiliates — the subscribers of the Associates program, receiving a small percent from any purchase made with custom Amazon links. aStore allows websites to build their own online stores with embedded affiliate links.
Basic templates of these stores are simple and have a slightly outdated design. I plan to implement my CSS expertise and customise the appearance of my aStore, possibly using some users Theme Templates.
After finishing this project I plan to start moving my whole blog from Wordpress platform to Ghost. It may involve (and possibly won't be limited to) installing and customising PHP Wordpress plugins, creating PHP scripts, moving libraries and databases using FTP and PHP/Javascript scripts, customising Ghost theme using Handlebar language.
For implementing this and some other ideas I will need to:
| Week 6 | Finish and validate my learning proposal. Create a test page for my future aStore storefront, collect some Kindle books and items for display, start to test and customize aStore CSS. Write a blog post about CSS blocks I want to test. List pages, widgets, colors and categories of my store I want to work with. |
|---|---|
| Week 7 | Finish working with an aStore visual presentation. Publish a list of CSS modifications I made, ask for peer evaluation and advice in blog. Post a list of the best Wordpress plugins for Amazon services in general and aStore in particular. Test some of them and decide if I want to customize any using PHP. Find some Wordpress widgets for publishing aStore in the right column of my blog. |
| Week 8 | Finish HTML, CSS and JavaScript Codecademy courses. Write a post about my learning experience. Finalise the technology research plan. Make a list of 5-10 good examples of customised aStores and 5-10 examples of complicated customised Ghost sites of blogs. Publish my aStore and collect feedback from my Russian readers and users. Finalise it and make a list of future changes and updates. |
| Week 9 | Find and examine possible ways of moving Wordpress blog to the Ghost platform. Publish research results in my DMT blog. Try to customise any Ghost theme using Handlebars template language and evaluate the experience. |
| Week 10 | Take a Node.js path. Finish my PHP course and write a plan for moving blog from Wordpress to Ghost. Find and inspect some interesting Ghost themes and write a list of 10 necessary changes in one of them. Find and describe a way to correctly transfer all blog parts: Disqus comments, images, videos, PDF files, RSS data, URLs. |
| Week 11 | Try to find a way to transfer the developed aStore to Ghost platform. Consider writing a plugin (a block) for a Ghost blog using open documentation of Amazon.com and Node.js. |
| Week 12 | Keep working on transferring Wordpress blog to Ghost, customising Ghost theme, writing and updating plugins, importing URLs, comments and databases, update hosting plans and testing the results. |
| Week 13 | The final stage. Update the development plan, collect feedback, ask for help, list all educational resources, validate, publish and test all code and ready pages. |
| Week 14 | Validate any published code. Post a final evaluation of my learning experience. Collect and publish all badges, certificates and final exam results to illustrate my progress. Publish any final pages and compose development plan for independent work. List educational paths or resources I still need to read and finish. |
Amazon.com, Inc. 2011, aStore for Amazon Associates, viewed 31 March 2014, <http://astore.amazon.com>
Codecademy 2014, Codecademy, viewed 31 March 2014, <http://www.codecademy.com>
Coursera Inc. 2014, Coursera, viewed 31 March 2014, <https://www.coursera.org>
Ghost 2014, Ghost — Just a blogging platform, viewed 31 March 2014, <https://ghost.org>
Handlebars 2014, Handlebars.js: Minimal Templating on Steroids, viewed 31 March 2014, <http://handlebarsjs.com>
Refsnes Data 2014, W3Schools CSS Tutorial, viewed 31 March 2014, <http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp>
Refsnes Data 2014, W3Schools HTML4 and HTML5 Tutorial, viewed 31 March 2014, <http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp>
Treehouse Island, Inc. 2014, Learn Web Design, Web Development, and More, viewed 31 March 2014, <http://teamtreehouse.com>
Udacity, Inc. 2014, Advance Your Career Through Project-Based Online Classes, viewed 31 March 2014, <https://www.udacity.com>