Project Note

Project Notes 2004

Class:
Hi. I thought I’d provide a few notes regarding your projects.
Like all online projects, this one will have a Homepage. From that page, the user will be able to get to each of the eight class projects.

NOTE: (If you have a knack for html or page design and would like to work on the overall homepage for the class, please let me know.)

I would recommend that you create a “homepage” for your project area. How you want your user to access your stories is up to you.
You can have a short introductory story and then links to the other stories. You can have series of headline links to the stories, or pictures and blurbs and links for each story… how you do that is up to your group, but as you have seen in class there are many possibilities.
Then each story will be housed on a page as well, of course. How you link those stories together is also up to the group. Creating links in the content management system is quite easy.
It’s best to keep all this as simple as possible, while allowing the user a fair amount of freedom to explore your stories.

Now, some organizational notes.
The folder that John Fracasso set up for you should house all the materials for your project: notes, photos, any graphic files and any sound or video files. Keep all this in your project folder so that your group can find what you need and so that nothing goes missing. If you have files all over the place, it could get very messy, very fast.
I also recommend that you carefully name your files. You will be surprised how many files you assemble and you will begin to create versions and iterations of them. Without a system, you can become very confused about what’s what.
Below you’ll see a suggestion for file naming.
You can use this or adapt it as you like. What counts is consistency. Make sure your group agrees on a file naming protocol and sticks to it. It will save you a lot of headaches later.



FILE NAMING

Here is an example of a file-naming convention:

Team name_studentname_mmdd_version.htm

The version will help you (and us) keep track of the file progression.

Draft = d
Edited = e
Proofed = p

Example: Driving_Dandrea_n18_d.htm

Or you can use: groupname_initials_story slug_date.
Example:

Driving_AD_deathstats_n12.htm

If you update the story, MAKE SURE you change the date to show it is a new version of the same story.



Pictures, sound, and video files should be named in a similar manner. Make sure your files have the proper ending (eg. htm, jpg,tif, gif, etc. etc.) Even if you don’t have versions of photos, you should still name them using the convention – student name, project name

It’s very important for your group to follow a file naming convention and properly organizing your files. In a ‘real-life’ new media environment, sticking to the accepted convention is crucial and this project should be no different.

Hope that helps. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Paul