My website is mainly created using Dreamweaver and Fireworks although I used HomeSite+ for some of the coding. I also tried to introduce as many JavaScript Text Effect examples as possible throughout the pages. In addition, I added a couple of website templates that I created in Dreamweaver and Fireworks in the Resources page. I hope to add more templates as I go in the future.

     For more details about JavaScript and CSS (cascade style sheet), please visit my Resources page from the navigation menu (above).

     In general, I use “Dreamweaver” to create basic layouts of web pages and then move to HomeSite+ to do the main work. For those of you who are not familiar with HomeSite+, it is a free editing tool that Macromedia offers when you buy “Studio MX”, and it looks just like the Code View in Dreamweaver. Through my experience in EDIT 6190 this summer, I realized how much I have underestimated its ability especially the easy import/export functions from Fireworks and Flash.
     To make my point, I used Dreamweaver for 95% of the entire procedure over HomeSite+ for this website...I don't know if it means anything to any of you. Although I like using Dreamweaver now, I still managed to find a few things that are annoying. For instance, it automatically arranges and readjusts html codes and tags, and moves them to places where I do not like them to be. Even if some of you will not understand, it was "very" difficult for me to work in Dreamweaver during the first few weeks as a person accustomed to writing codes and scripts. I still like manipulating codes and no matter how convenient it is to use the Dreamweaver user-interface, there are certain things – nit-picky stuff that can make your life easier - that wouldn't work properly without manipulating them in codes. Therefore, if you are ready and motivated, I encourage IT students to get on it and then you will find much more comfort soon.

     I’m a long time CSS user since the beginning of my career and have found it very useful. I highly recommend you to get in the habit of using CSS when you create websites of more than two to three pages containing consistent background, fonts, etc. Most of all, setting CSS in Dreamweaver is so easy when you understand it! I introduced details about CSS and how to set it in Dreamweaver in my Resources page.      In my website, general layouts including background are set in CSS as well as most of fonts and positions. It is particularly useful when you want to place an object such as a layer in a certain place over all other objects on a page by setting a variable float. I used this option in my Photo Gallery – Church Event Photos page.
     I would like to credit Saif Altalib for his STUDIO workshop and further assistance.

     This is another useful option and yet very easy to set and use in Dreamweaver. Again, more detailed information and how to set Layer in Dreamweaver are introduced in my Resources page. I used this option in several places in my website, but there are three places that you can easily distinguish its capability.
     First, on my Home (index page), a series of wordings are displayed and disappear by each sentence. I was able to place the wordings on top of an image without using Flash or Fireworks although they probably use the same technology behind the scenes. By setting its absolute positions, you can place a layer anywhere you want on a page. Second, on top of each page above the navigation menu, I added quotes or wordings using a combination of Layer and JavaScript. Third, on my Photo Gallery – Church Event Photos page, I was able to display enlarged photos wherever I wanted and are triggered by a Mouse-Over action on a thumbnail.
     I would like to credit Yi-Wen Chan for introducing this technique on her previous STUDIO project and assisting me in learning to use it in Dreamweaver.

     I added many different text effects written in JavaScript throughout my website although I wouldn’t normally like so many of them all over my website. It is solely to introduce such novelty in one place despite the fact that I don’t really like some of them on my website. Once again, more details and examples are introduced in my Resources page. You will see different text effects all over the pages.
     In addition, I added several different JavaScript effects and here are three main examples. On top of the main pages – About Me, Work, School, and Personal - above the navigation bar, there is a maxim or bible verse display when a page is loaded. I added different text effects to each of them in JavaScript but the point is that the message randomly changes each time you come back to a page or click the refresh button on your browser. I don’t have that many pools of quotes and bible verses at this time, but I plan to add more as I have more time. I used Array and created a method to get a random array from a pool. Another example is on the Site Map page. As you can obviously see, the windows tree-style menu is written in JavaScript. I obtained an original source code from an open source website (JavaScriptKit.com) and manipulated it as I needed. The last example is adding a sound effect on action, and it is on the About Korea page. On the About Korea page, if you click on the orange colored speaker icon, you can hear a subject in Korean.
     I would like to credit Peter Rich whom I met at the Showcase for triggering my motivation to add all these to my website.

     As I mentioned repeatedly in my reflection journal, I’ve never liked creating visually friendly objects because it takes time. But Fireworks gave me a chance to learn new things in a very short time and I was able to create fancy buttons and navigation menus, vector objects, text effects, simple animations, and even fancy web pages. I was also able to manipulate images by the click of the mouse. By the mid point of the summer, it allowed me to do much more than I had ever thought possible. I love it!
     The navigation menu on each page is my first artifact and it took me days to complete. By the end of the summer, I created a web page using Fireworks as one of my community services (Peek).

     Well...the summer was too short for me to add all I wanted on my website. I still have not gotten far enough to say anything about Flash at this point. I can only make “very” simple animations such as motion texts. I admire its capability and also admire other peer students who could create such products using Flash. I would like to master the book and create at least one basic template before the fall semester begins. I will definitely add it to my website if time permits.

Digitization

     Although iMovie was covered during our EDIT 6190 workshop, I personally used windows Movie Maker to fulfill the digitization requirement because I did not have a Mac computer easily available to me and also I’m simply not accustomed to Mac computers. Since I only had to make less than a minute movie, I don’t think I can say much about it. But I have a friend who is an expert in manipulating Movie and Music files for web use. He already gave me a brief lesson, but I simply have not had time to refine the lesson note to add on my Resources page. I would like to add a section introducing brief but essential information about movie and music files in the near future.
     I have added a short movie (about a minute) on my Personal – Photo Gallery page.

What Next? - Resources