Home Is Home

My CAPSTONE Project is quickly coming to an end! It still freaks me out that in a few short weeks this will all be over and all of the time I have put into this project will come to a end. This week I was editing some content for the website and reading through a few historical points about Wheeling and I couldn’t help but get a little sentimental over the entire experience. Wheeling, or I should say the Ohio Valley, is home and the amount of knowledge I have gained just about my home makes me appreciate it even more.

A few months back I had a conversation with a friend, saying how we both missed just being in our hometowns and how crossing the state border makes us giddy and excited. It is that simple act of being on your home turf that I am most looking forward to, even if it is only for a short amount of time. The Ohio Valley is one of those places that you hate growing up, but you find you miss it when you leave. High schoolers and college students are constantly saying there is nothing to do, nothing exciting and no reason to stay. But, with all of the research I have been doing the past few months, I can safely say there are so many things to do in the valley and so much history, it makes me proud to be from there. During the past 10 months of school I often found myself anxious to get back to the valley, even if it was just for a short visit. I usually had a list of places I needed to go like visiting my boss at Wheeling Jesuit, going to some of the local restaurants like TJ’s, Uncle Petes, Later Gator, the Alpha, Coleman’s Fish Market,..fitting in a run by the river or bike trail, visiting friends, visiting the theater…really I could go on and on. I don’t think I have accomplished this entire list yet because my visits are usually short, but still I think the fact that I have a list says something.

Home is home…and sure I’m not sure about the next time I will be there…but doing this project has given me so much more appreciation for where I am from. I am so exciting to know I am building something that will benefit my home and the people who still live there. I am so happy to know that even from North Carolina, I am able to help my hometown.

As for the Wheeling Heritage Website…we are so close! Right now there are several little changes to make that way it can function on both desktop and mobile devices. I am waiting on content for a few more pages but once I have all of that the project will be done! I am working on completing the user guide so the staff can makes changes and organizing a training session with the staff so they know exactly what is going on! I am so anxious I can barely contain myself! 

Hunt and Gather

With iMedia coming to a very fast end I have barely been able to update by blogs and keep track of what I am doing! I have accomplished a lot within the past few weeks and I am more excited than ever to push the website out to the public and start getting some feedback.

A few weeks ago I was able to transfer the website from my computer to the Wheeling Heritage server space. A task that I thought would take me a few days to figure out, I was able to accomplish in only a few hours so I was very excited by the amount of time I had saved. I was then working on polishing the website as much as possible so it could be sent to a few board members for a review and feedback. I worked with little style points on the website, adjusting how text sits in a page. I received a few emails late last night with some feedback from a few board members so I need to take the time to go through those today and make a game plan based off of their feedback. The past few weeks have been based on content development and collection. We found that the best way to exchange information was to set up a shared Dropbox folder rather than through email. That way all of the content is in one spot and I do not have to file through tons of emails making sure that I have everything. If the staff at Wheeling Heritage has new material or updated information they just drop it in our folder and my computer gives me an alert that new information has been added. They have been great with shooting me an email just to make sure I see the new material.

Still a lot of odds and ends to clean up! I feel like that is what the rest of this project will be! All of the big decisions and building are done and out of the way, now it is a matter of making the little changes to perfect this project and make it the best it can be.

Come So Far…Still A Long Way To Go…

Now that I am on Spring Break I have finally had the opportunity to sit down with Wheeling Heritage and go over what I have done so far, and what is to come. I have accomplished so much, and yet there is still so much to do.

What is great is that the staff at Wheeling Heritage is really flexible, so I have a ton of wiggle room when it comes to design and making suggestions on types of media to incorporate. I love this because not only is this giving me the ability to show my skills but I am also able to push my own limits and think outside of the box. The staff loved what I have done with the website, and design wise, there are very few changes to make. The majority of our meeting on Tuesday surrounded around content, what to include, what not to include, what to restructure, how to display certain elements, what to eliminate etc. etc. etc. I have been adding pages, eliminating sections and building up other areas. Right now I am working to build a few more media elements and get the website as close to the final product as possible before I leave on Tuesday. We have another meeting scheduled for next Monday. I hope by that point the only thing missing is all of the content I will need to fill the pages with. The staff at Wheeling Heritage is using this week to rewrite sections and collect material to give to me at our Monday meeting. I am both excited and nervous because without this material the website is just a website, the media elements we want to include will fall short and not hold the weight and purpose we would like them to without the proper content.

The tough part right now is the one thing I thought would be the easiest…taking pictures! I know Wheeling Heritage has a ton of pictures, but I wanted the opportunity to take a few not only as filler for the website, but for my personal portfolio. The valley has been hit with a very late snow storm this week making any good picture opportunity impossible. I am hoping for a clear day either tomorrow or Saturday. Fingers crossed!

Although I’m on Spring Break, it’s not much of a break! I have been using every opportunity to work on school work and get ahead in my work. There is still so much to do, but I am very confident we will produce a great piece with this project and finish it ahead of schedule.

If I Had To Give You A Number…

…Last week we had to give a progress report on our CAPSTONE Projects and give a number for illustrate where our project stands. I said about 40% complete…which is good because I consider myself right on schedule if not a little bit ahead. Right now I am at a little bit of a standstill because I am at that awkward point in the project where i feel like I have completed as much on my end as I can right now, and now I need the content to edit and use to fill the website. The WordPress Template is about 90% complete which takes a huge weight off of my shoulders. I am really excited to get home next week and show the Wheeling Heritage staff what I have so far and get some feedback in terms of style, structure, colors, font, etc. I love showing clients the work I have been doing and getting feedback in order to help them get their message across.

I am actually making the seven hour drive back to the Ohio Valley this Friday after class! I already have a meeting scheduled with the staff for Tuesday morning to go over everything I have done, and fill in the missing pieces. I have a few WordPress plugins already picked out that I would like to use to incorporate some media such as photos and audio clips. I am trying to look for plugins that are very simple to use and that come with a very good user guide, that way updates will be a very easy process for the staff and not intimidating. I also continue to build a user manual for the staff which I will hand over when the project is completed. I am taking screenshots of the current website, highlighting areas, and giving them step-by-step instructions on how to do everything from updating text to adding new media. I am also going to be taking some equipment from school back home so I can collect pictures, video, audio and anything else that we may need for the project. I guess you can say my spring break really isn’t going to be a break…it’s going to be a crash course in content collection and creation.

Right now, I am putting the finishing touches on the website template and doing some last minute research and content collection to go over with the staff next week. My goal for spring break is to collect all of the content I will need, then use April to build all of the pieces and polish off the website as well as begin to collect user feedback and see how an outside user views the website.

Lot’s to do…very little time…but I am still so excited about this project.

Keepin’ On Keepin’ On

Just keep at it!…That has been my motto this week when it comes to my CAPSTONE Project. Don’t get me wrong I am loving every minute of this project and I am really excited to get home to show Wheeling Heritage what I have been working on, but as every student knows…eventually you hit a wall and need a break. I have really but a lot into this project so far. I made it a point to get ahead in my design and building process! The template is almost finished for our first round of critiques..there are just a few little problem areas that I am having trouble figuring out. It definitely becomes frustrating when you are constantly trying to troubleshoot one issue…but can’t seem to find the right answer. No worries..just keep swimming.

This week I also started researching all the different types of media I want to include and the possible plugins I could use. i would like to go home and have several options for the staff to choose from, rather than forcing them to use something they do no like. However, as most of us know WordPress plugins are usually hit or miss..so this is definitely taking up a little bit of time. I am also being sure to take notes on areas that I want to clean up or rearrange. The last thing I want to do is create this great design, but put the exact same content on it in the exact same format. There are several PDF’s that I would like to find an interesting way to display as well as photos and other media elements.

Right now I am pretty confident that I will finish the website template before I go home for break and have an idea of what plugins I will be using for the different media’s. I can’t wait to show everyone what I have been working on and I hope they are just as excited as I am about the project!!

Making Progress…But Still A Long Way To Go

I am both excited, and slighlty intimidated by my past week of work on the new Wheeling National Heritage Area website. It took me forever, but I finally got MAMP set up on my computer so I can start building the website files locally rather than on another server. I still haven’t decided if I am going to build the entire website this way, or transfer the files to a subdirectory on the Wheeling Heritage hosting space and build the rest of the website there. I still have a lot of research to do on that one.

I have started building the template and structure of the website. I am familiar with this process because of my work on the CODECE Website for my winter fly-in but I am taking a lot more time on this project. With the fly-in project we created a great product, but I had to take a ton of shortcuts because of our 9 day time limit. With this project I have some more time so I am really taking the time when it comes to creating the templates. Every time I make a change, I am testing in both full screen, and for mobile devices to make sure the website will be responsive. I am also making it a point to now power through crazy long hours of coding just yet. Right now I am working with the mid set of dedicated a few hours a day to it, with my hard hitting days being Tuesdays and Thursdays since I do not have class then. I am hoping that the breaks in time will help me figure out problems easily and work on other areas of the website.

Right now I feel that I am way ahead of schedule. However, it still blows my mind that this project will be completed in two months from now! On top of all of my regular school work plus my job search there is a lot going on!  I am pretty confident that I will be able to produce a full template of the website for review by the staff when I am home for Spring Break. I will continue to work through several content areas and other pieces of media in the meantime. I am hoping that by Spring Break there are very few changes to be made to the initial website and then I am focus on the media aspects of the project more.

About To Start The Crazy Work!

I’m very excited with how this project is coming along and well on my way to starting the coding process. Last week, I sent additional designs off to Wheeling Heritage this week and we now have a better idea of the website’s structure, colors and fonts. The most important part to me right now is the structure…colors can be changes easily and so can font…but working through building the templates and collecting content…that will take some time. The staff at Wheeling Hertiage has been great and they are well on their way to collecting all of the material we will need in order to produce a great product. The one thing we want to avoid is taking the current information, and simply reproducing it in a few design. We want to update all of the material, add new information and features and just give the entire organization a facelift. The process of rewriting and collecting is very tedious and can me painful at times, but in the end it is all worth it and I cannot wait!

This weekend, I tried to install MAMP on my computer so I could begin working through the website, but of course I am running into a few technical issues…hey Rome wasn’t built in a day either! Hopefully, I can work out all of the kinks soon, or have access to the Heritage hosing space and start building the website there. I am also making it a point to document as I go along and put together a user manual for the staff. Of course we will have a training session when the final product is completed, but I also want them to have a reference manual just to be safe!

I’m excited to start the back-end production and programming of the website! It really is my bubble, and my zone…I can’t wait to get going and start producing a great website for Wheeling Heritage!

Now It Begins

The CAPSTONE Project has been something we have all been told about non-stop since we arrived here back in July. We have been warned, we have been given every example and idea known to man, we have been prepared mentally, physically and you can probably include emotionally in there…and now it is time..to put what we have learned, and what we still have to learn to good use and develop our project. I put a lot of time and effort into deciding what I wanted to do as a project. I’m known for making “to-do” lists at school and this was no exception. My personal list included:

• It has to benefit someone or something
• It has to be a public piece when finished
• It has to be something to benefit me as a professional
• It has to incorporate a little bit of everything I have learned in iMedia
• Ideally, it has to be influencing someone back home in the Ohio Valley

Why the list you ask? It I was going to put this much time and effort into something, and then put my name on it and say “This is what I developed with my Master’s degree” it had to be something I would be proud of, something others would be proud of, and something that could be put to good use. After doing some research last semester and considering a few ideas I touched base with a great group back home, Wheeling National Heritage Area. Their mission is to recognize, communicate and preserve the history and heritage of the Wheeling area. I learned very quickly that their website was in dire need of an update. After speaking with them I learned that they had a ton of material just packed away in storage that they had no way of pushing out to the public. After running through a few ideas and learning what was available to me, we made the following goals:

• Redesign the website using WordPress
• Create interactive pieces such as timelines and other media pieces
• Update the content
• Incorporate more history such as audio and/or video storytelling pieces and pictures.

Although this list seems like a short one, it is a very tall order…but I couldn’t be more excited about it and I know Wheeling Heritage is as well. Time is definitely not on my side when it comes to this project, but it is great that most of the material already exists, it is just a matter of collecting and organizing it. I also have it planned to send weekly updates and schedule phone meetings as often as needed in order to pull this off seamlessly!

Right now, the project is several pieces floating out in cyberspace. I am currently working on the website design and recently sent of list of “start looking into” pieces to Wheeling for the group to begin collecting. I designed a few options and got some feedback yesterday from them, so now I am going back to the drawing board and working with what they like to create a few more examples and ideas. I’m really excited and cannot wait to start developing the website even more.