Industrial Placement Report
CC2FW4N: Professional Industrial Placement
London Metropolitan University
Faculty of Computing

Contents INTRODUCTION 3 SKILLS REQUIRED 3 WEB DEVELOPER 4 Web Developer Skills and Qualities 5 Work to be done at Placement. 5 Working As Part Of A Team 6 Website Front And Back End 7 Joomla (Creating Pages) 9 Advantages Of Using Joomla 19 This importance of a HomePage 20 Hosting and Domain Name 21 File Management. 23 Benifits Of File Management 23 Website Testing 26 The Website: 28 Using Facebook for Marketing 30 Using Twitter for Marketing 32 Conclusion 33 Acknowledgements 34 References 35 Provisonal Information Form 37 Student Performance Feedback Questionnaire 38

Introduction
For my placement I worked for an organisation called Africa Unplugged, I have been given the privilege to work under Daniel Dina (Senior Project Consultant) as I will be a web developer and research assistant, he will be supervising me throughout my 12 week placement. I will be working on different projects with him but our main task is that of the Africa Unplugged concert, which will be held August 27th 2012 at the prestigious Wembley Arena. This will be the first annual African concert in Europe. The company plans on making this event an annual festival- this year being the first of many to come.
“Africa Unplugged” management committee & the Black British Business Professional Association “BBBPA” will be hosting this event to over 12,000 guests. This event will be bringing African artists together on one stage to showcase their talent, but in a positive light. It will highlight the unity within Africa by integrating cultures from South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Angola, Conga and Ivory Coast through music, dance and comedy. It is believed such an event could bridge the cap within the African community in England; participating collectively will demonstrate how African communities come together to make peace and how they support one another in and out of Africa.
This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of this historical event that will be heralded as one of Europe’s most monumental occasions and a chance to perform before fellow musicians and comedians. Special guests will include Celebrities from stage and screen, athletes, business and community leaders, Diplomatic Corps and dignitaries. The event will be broadcasted on TV and Radio worldwide as part of the 2012 Olympic festivities.
Personal skills required for this job * Being able to work well in a team * Being able to work independently * Taking the initiative and making important decisions * Working and coping under pressure * Good and fluent communication

Technical skills required for this job * Have a good understanding of the basic components of a computer, including hardware, software, applications and programs * Have a brief knowledge of computer operations and concepts * IT literate

Communication skills required for this job
Communication is an essential as we need to regularly communicate with one another to share ideas, express thoughts and feelings, and resolve problems. Errors occur when a communicated message is not given or received as it was intended for this reason * Be able to call, text and email regularly * Express thoughts and ideas willingly and strongly

Web Developer

I took the time out to find out what a web developer actually does, as well as what a career in web development would Intel. A web designer/developer is responsible for the design, layout and coding of a website. They are involved with the technical and graphical aspects of a website - how the site works and how it looks. They can also be involved with the maintenance and update of an existing site.
After establishing the target audience for a website and identifying the type of content it will host, a web designer/developer will: * Write the programming code, either from scratch or by adapting existing website software and graphics packages to meet business requirements * Test the website and identify any technical problems * Upload the site onto a server and register it with different search engines. * A web designer/developer normally works between 37 and 40 hours a week, 9am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Additional hours may be required to meet deadlines, which could include evenings and weekends. * Salaries range from about £18,000 to £40,000 or more. http://creativepool.co.uk/articles/jobdescriptions/web-designer-and-web-developer-job-description A web designer/developer should: * Have skills in software programming and graphics * Have creativity and imagination * Be adaptable and able to pick up new techniques * Have good interpersonal and communication skills * Keep up to date with advances in computer technology and how this affects the business environment

Web designers/developers are employed across all industry sectors from finance and retail to public organizations. They may be employed directly by IT consultancies, software houses, web design agencies or work in an organization’s IT department. There are job opportunities throughout the UK, and web developers are always needed as the web continuously expands.
Most employers expect applicants to have a degree-level education, often with relevant work experience and vocational skills. A range of qualifications are available that provide a good grounding in web design, interactive design, graphic design and internet technology.
As the IT industry continues to develop it is vital for web designers/developers to keep up to date with new software and technology. Professional qualifications can be obtained from various professional bodies, including the British Computer Society.
The normal progression route for a web designer/developer is to become a senior or principal web designer/developer. Experienced web designers/developers can use their experience and knowledge to become self-employed.

Skills and personal qualities
A web designer/developer should: * Have skills in software programming and graphics * Have creativity and imagination * Be adaptable and able to pick up new techniques * Have good interpersonal and communication skills * Be able to work on their own or in a team * Be able to work to tight deadlines * Be thorough and precise in their work * Be able to multi-task * Be aware of international web standards and protocols * Be able to use their initiative.
Following that it would be important for them to be interested in the following * Keeping up to date with advances in computer technology and how this affects the business environment * The internet * Troubleshooting and problem solving.
Work to be done during placement:

* Project requirements study and market research * Intense Research in the creating of the website * Assisting with the Website’s design * Converting the website’s design to a Joomla template. * Assisting with coding the website’s custom functionalities such as the Face of Africa unplugged * Incorporating Africa unplugged with Facebook and Twitter * Assigning the website to a domain name * Creation of test data * Some coding ability, experience in the creation and updating of content management (maintainable workflows with low cost of change).

During my placement I worked in different teams as well as individually. This report is a reflection on the work I did throughout the period of time I was there.

My main task is to help create the website which will be available to anyone. I will provide information on what Africa Unplugged is about, Artist who are to feature in the event as well as the link to purchase the tickets will be available on the website.
There are many things to understand about websites and I will be learning the finer details of what makes up a websites. I will be more involved in the front end of the website and research I have done will be reflected in the websites design.
As I am studying Business Information Technology, I thought I would be best suited for this role. Within my first week of starting at Africa Unplugged I got stuck right in and was asked to plan a simple design for the websites homepage. This was great, it was a job I was to independently. I first thought of the simple but important elements.

* Layout: What interface elements will be used? Where will the elements be placed? Which items are related to each other and should be grouped? * Priority: What are the key elements that I want users to notice first? What do I want a user to do when he or she arrives at a page? * Content: What content should be present on the homepage? Is text enough or should there be images and videos as well? Which options should UI elements like drop-down lists or pop-up menus contain? * Navigation: How will users move around and interact with the site? Will there be a site-wide navigation menu or any other guidance? Does the website provide a search function? * Functionality and behavior: How does a page respond to user input? Will an action require a full page refresh? How will form validation errors be handled?

Working as part of a team

When I first started at Africa Unpplugged I didn’t know what to exspect. I was most definenltly nervous as would anyone would be when starting a new job. As I wasn’t going to be paid for it I thought maybe the people there would look down on me. I dreeded doing the 10,000 word essay as I thought who was going to help me and am I goig to do well?
The first day came and went so quickly. I met all of the staff within the first week as it was a small group of people I was going to work with and they were great.
I settled in very quickly and it took me a while to remember everyones name but to help me settle in my supervisor took me out for drinks with a few other staff members, this most definently helped me get comfortable as we were in a completely different enviorment and it was not so hectic, like back in the office. We got to know each other very well and I was able to get there personal numbers as they all insisted I contact them if I needed any help. I found this most shocking as they were nothing like I thought they would be. This just goes to show and taught me not to judge a book by its cover.
As the weeks went on I found myself learning more detailed things about differnent softwares and what they can do, I even managed to pick up some tricks. The great thing about this placement was not only did I gain exstensive knowlegde whislt helping to create a website, I also learnt a lot about the business side of putting together a consert which proved to be most difficult. The team were amazing and helpful and I was definently lucky to be put with them. I also worked independantly at times but it was reassuing to know that if I needed any help or assistance they were more than willing to help so I wouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable or restricted to what I wanted or needed help with. Website Front and Back EndI took part in mainly In the front end of the website, I didn’t think this was a seriously job as I thought the back end was the more complicated and tricky part of creating a website, bringing this up with my supervisor he assured me that this was not the case and that the front end is just as important as the backend of the website. The Front end and back end of a websites are generalized terms that refer to the initial and the end stages of a process. The front end is responsible for collecting input in various forms from the user and processing it to conform to a specification the back end can use. The front end is an interface between the user and the back end.Front-end and back-end are terms used to characterize program interfaces and services relative to the initial user of these interfaces and services a "front-end" application is one that application users interact with directly. A "back-end" application or program serves indirectly in support of the front-end services, usually by being closer to the required resource or having the capability to communicate with the required resource.The back-end application may interact directly with the front-end or, perhaps more typically, is a program called from an intermediate program that mediates front-end and back-end activities.
The roles of web developers and web designers have been around for over 15 years now, and the role of a client-side or front-end web developer started to mature into a distinct entity around 10 years ago, as the content presentation behavior layer paradigm became embedded in people’s working methodologies (and, with the introduction of Google’s then-new search algorithm, when the need for cleanly structured, easily indexable pages became, for businesses, not just an aspiration but a necessity). Unfortunately the perception of the front-end developer’s role remains somewhat coloured by an early association in observers’ minds with the other, loosely related role of the web designer. The role of web designer is an extremely important and valid one, but it is very different to that of the web developer, and the lack of a clear distinction between the two, in some people’s perception, is unhelpful and does both roles an injustice. http://www.paulcarvill.com/2009/09/why-front-end-developers-are-so-important-to-the-future-of-businesses-on-the-web/
My job description being a web developer sometimes also called a client-side developer, front-end developer, web architect or front-end engineer are often expected and required to excel in many disciplines, and have good working knowledge of many others. This exists at the point where art, design, interaction, programming, behavioral and performance analysis intersect. At this job I found that, support and ambition of a good business, being a web developer can be an extremely fulfilling job. However, the role of a web developer is often misunderstood within even the most progressive and well-meaning of businesses.
The danger can be that as a front-end developer, working in a user-focused area, are seen as performing a superficial function — applying a polish to the heavy lifting done by another developer, say, or that dread comment, “making things look nice” and it can be said that making things look nice is the sole responsibility of the designer. In my case I don’t want to just be making things look nice.Furthermore, in discussing with my supervisor he talked it over with letting me know that the best web developers have wealth of knowledge and understanding around interaction design, user needs, and hierarchies of data, navigation systems, user journeys, wire framing, design brief interpretation, focus group and usability testing and the art of a finely polished product. Largely gone are the days of HTML-monkeys, spending days on end converting Photoshop comps to pixel-perfect layouts. A web developer’s role is broad to working with art directors and designers and remaining true to their vision, to considerations and implementations of accessibility, usability and the overall user experience. A web developer is responsible for everything that sits on the client side of the web stack — the content, presentation and behavior layers. Few other roles touch so many other key aspects of a business as does a web developer’s. Good businesses realize what an asset they have in their front-end web development team, and welcome their input into the product development process. Even better businesses have a User Experience team which encapsulates all those values, skills and judgments necessary to make great websites. Members of those teams are part of a feedback loop that results in great products, not just acceptable implementations of the first good idea that came up.Unfortunately my supervisor’s (Daniel) experience has been that most large businesses massively undervalue their web developers, employing them in narrowly defined roles as the guys who make the site look nice, or fix the JavaScript bugs that make the page break in IE. Larger business and the public sector have made moves towards working seriously on accessibility and usability, but the thinking behind such strategies remains superficial, those conceptual areas misunderstood. Too many people think of them in terms of awards and rating levels, not in ongoing process of improvement. Most of this work is also likely to be outsourced to a specialist third-party.Joomla | |
In creating the website for the African Unplugged event we used software called Joomla which is a content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications. I found using this software to create the website was very simple and straight forward but at the same time it offered extensibility.

Content management system (CMS)
A content management system is software that keeps track of every piece of content on the Web site, the content can be simple a text, photos, music, video, documents, or just about anything you can think of. I realised that a major advantage of using a CMS is that it requires almost no technical skill or knowledge to manage. Since the CMS manages all the content, I don't have to.
As Joomla is very popular I researched the different websites that are created by Joomla: * MTV Networks Quizilla (Social networking) - http://www.quizilla.com * IHOP (Restaurant chain) - http://www.ihop.com * Harvard University (Educational) - http://gsas.harvard.edu * Citibank (Financial institution intranet) - Not publicly accessible * The Green Maven (Eco-resources) - http://www.greenmaven.com * Outdoor Photographer (Magazine) - http://www.outdoorphotographer.com * PlayShakespeare.com (Cultural) - http://www.playshakespeare.com * Senso Interiors (Furniture design) - http://www.sensointeriors.co.za
Menu Manager
The Menu Manager allows us to create as many menus and menu items as we need. It allows us to structure our menu hierarchy (and nested menu items) completely independent of our content structure. We can put one menu in multiple places and in any style we want or need; use rollovers, dropdown, flyouts and just about any other navigation system we can think of. Also automatic breadcrumbs are generated to help navigate our site users.

Template Management
Templates in Joomla are a powerful way to make our site look exactly the way we want and either using a single template for the entire site or a separate template for each site section. The level of visual control goes a step further with powerful template overrides, allowing us to customize each part of in all of the pages.
User Management
Joomla has a registration system that allows us to configure personal options. There are nine user groups with various types of permissions on what users are allowed to access, edit, publish and administrate.
Authentication is an important part of user management and Joomla support multiple protocols, including LDAP, OpenID, and even Gmail. This allows us to use their existing account information to streamline the registration process.

Media Manager
The Media Manager is the tool for easily managing media files or folders and can configure the MIME type settings to handle any type of file. The Media Manager is integrated into the Article Editor tool so it is possible to grab images and other files at any time.

Banners
I found it easy to set up banners on the Web site using the Banner Manager, starting with creating a client profile. Once I added campaigns and as many banners as I needed, I could set impression numbers, special URLs, and more.

In using Joomla at first I found it a bit tricky but afterwards I got the hang of it very quickly

To log in to Joomla admin area, I enter the login information in the Joomla! Administration Login screen:

Creating articles in Joomla
Go to Content > Article Manager from the top admin menu.

There will be seen several articles listed. Once I click an article link, and enter the edit mode for the article. From the edit menu, I can modify the article title, text etc.
Before building the first article, I remove all default articles to avoid confusion. For this purpose I go back to, Content >Article > Manager from the top admin menu. Then select all articles by checking the first radio button in the column and click on the [Trash] button from the top admin menu.

We then create our first article "About us".
From the top admin menu click on New.

Step 2. I Then make the following changes in the corresponding fields:

Title: About us
Alias: (I left this blank)
Section: Uncategorized
Category: Uncategorized
Published: Yes (If the article is not published, it will not be shown to visitors. It will remain only as a draft.)
Frontpage: Yes (This will allow it to appear on the first page of the site.)
In the main text field we write some information about the company...

The last step is to save this article by clicking on the [Save] button.

Creating a Contact us Page
We can add a "Contact us" page with an online mail form to our Joomla website using the Joomla form component. First I need to create a new Contacts Category. For this purpose go to Components -> Contacts -> Categories:

I then Click on New. Since we plan to have a simple Contact Us page, we need create only one single category. We will use "General" for its name. Enter "General" under title then click on Save.

We then go to Components -> Contacts -> Contacts:

I then Click on New and fill in the information. The email I enter needs to be valid since all the mails we will receive via this Joomla contact form will be sent to it.
In order to avoid having our contact's name duplicated later, from the right box "Contacts parameters" check the button Hide next to "Name". I Leave the rest of the default options unchanged and click on Save from the top-right menu.

The Joomla contact form will be saved and I will be able to publish it on our site. To publish the new contact form go to Menus in the Joomla administrator area. I Choose the menu where we would like the link to the new contacts page published and click New.
Under Internal Link choose Contacts then Standard Contact Layout.
I enter the desired link title (Contact Us) and choose the newly created contact from the drop down menu under Parameters (Basic) in the right part of the page. Then click Save.

How to set a page as default?
While I am still in the Menu Item Manager, we can check our page "About us" as default.
For this purpose check its radio button and click on Default from the top menu:

(Optionally) I can remove the default link "Home" because we may not need it.

To create a banner
After logging into the Administration area (the back end of the site) of the site, the first step in creating a Banner is to create the Client. To do so, firstly, Components > Banners > Clients.

Next, I select the "New" button to create a new Client.

In the New Client area, I create the details for the client as indicated below. I then saved my work when finished.

Once my work is saved, I return to the Banner Manager: Clients page. The Client that was created will be seen. The next step is to go create Categories for the Client, and this can be done by going to the Categories tab.

The "New" button is then selected to create a new Category

Inside the Add a New Banners Category area the red asterisks needed to be located. In this area, there is only one piece of information that is required to successfully create a Category: the title. There are other useful functions here that are worth learning about, but the title is only piece of information that is needed. Once creating a title, I then need to save my work.

At this point, I need to return to the Category Manager: Banners area, look for the Category I created, and select the Banners tab to create a Banner.

Select the "New" button to create a new Banner.

Again, paying attention to the red asterisks, I need to create a name for the Banner, and select the Category the Banner. I have the option to select either "Image" or "Custom" for the Banner Type. If I select "Image" I then select an Image to incorporate into the Banner. If you select "Custom", there are additional pieces of information to include like a piece of custom HTML code. With either choice, there is an area to add the "Click URL" the site that the Banner will lead to if it is selected by a user.

Advantages of Using Joomla

Joomla is a preferred open source CMS for a number of reasons:
•It’s easy to use so can be easily used by non-technical users
•It’s very flexible so you can easily alter the colours, styles, and layouts of the web application.
•It’s provides a more systematic approach towards maintaining content.
•It enables Plugins and hence provides extended functional customization.
•It supports multilingual text.

Home page

The home page for the website is very important, I was asked to help design the home page which I was very excited to do, knowing thousands of people will be viewing it weather they stumble upon it by accident or they intended to view it. Being set this task I needed to know how important a home page is.

Just as the very thought of the homepage of a website reinforces values such as quality, visually pleasing effects and dialogue interactivity or warmth. I feel that the home page of any website should be one that propels these feelings. After all, it is important to make website homepage that provokes thinking, if the homepage of a website is dull and unattractive then the audience will have no interest and move on.

What a website homepage must represent: * Reflection of Core Work Values-
When Africa Unplugged decided to let me help create the homepage, it was important to remember that the page needed to mirror the core work values and overall image of the company and vision that we are trying to put across so they feel just as passionate about the event. The content and design on the website home page need to be relevant enough to fortify its significance to the online users.
(For example a website on cars shouldn’t be having the design and/or content that emphasizes on real estate opportunities or job vacancies. That would not correctly reflect the core values of the site.)

* Ask Valid Questions- It was important to pose the following questions before going ahead to make website homepage or insert website homepage templates. I needed to ask some realistic questions: * What does Africa Unplugged want to establish with the creation of this official home page? * How can Africa Unplugged reflect my core values and range of services effectively using this official home page? * What does Africa Unplugged want to offer to the online users via website home pages? * How can I involve the user in the homepage and make them want to be involved. * Most importantly, what main information needs to be on the home page

* Basic Elements of a Good home page for website
A good website homepage will typically comprise essential elements such as a logo, navigation links, tools and content. The purpose of a logo on a website homepage is to give the site a sense of branding and distinct identity. The website home page should enable easy navigation so that users can browse quickly and get the information they want without any hassles. Also, the content and links on the website homepage design should be relevant and not meaningless. * Keep It Simple:
The website homepage design should not be crowded with too much information that may just scare away the online users. Simplicity is the key. * Good Page Design: Lastly, the website home page design should be good and effective sans too many high quality images or intensive use of flash elements. All of this would slow loading time. Online users are typically impatient so they would just go somewhere else than wait for ages. It is also important to take out any unformatted information on the website home page design as that makes it difficult for users to read.
Bearing all this in mind I need to make sure this home page will thrill and make the user to wonder, “Wow, what’s next on this site, I just can’t wait to find out!, when is this event happening”
In creating this homepage I familiarise myself with some of the content and navigation as in previous modules I have had to create websites, although this is a lot more complex and requires more skill at a higher level.

Hosting and Doman Name

To make our Website visible to the world, it has to be hosted on a Web server, one of my task was to find a good host for the website. When I was first given this task my knowledge of web hosting wasn’t too great and when I tried to research different web host but I was then bombarded by a ridiculous amount of results. Web hosting refers to a service that makes the website available to users. In general, most websites are intended to be viewed by anyone on the Internet, at any time and if I want anyone on the Internet to be able to view the website at any time, I will need to make sure the website is running on a computer which is connected to the Internet 24 hours per day, 7 days per week (24/7).
To do this I would have two options.
Option 1: Hosting the Website Ourselves
Hosting the website ourselves means that we will need to have the right equipment, including a web server and a permanent connection to the Internet. We would need to ensure that your Internet service provider (ISP) allows this type of usage too. Also we need to have website administration skills such as managing/configuring a web server, patch management, firewalls, virus protection etc.
Most people don't do their own website hosting. Even if they have the skills or equipment, it often makes more sense to hand this task to a third party who can monitor the website 24/7.
Option 2: Find a Hosting Provider to Host the Website This is the most common choice for web hosting. Using a third party hosting provider allows us to concentrate on developing our website and leave the hosting tasks up to a company who specializes in web hosting.
A good web hosting company will provide at least the following services: * 24/7 support * 24/7 FTP access (so we can update our website) * A number of email accounts (i.e. yourName@yourDomain.com) * Online control panel for managing our website * Online traffic statistics (so we can see how much traffic our website receives) * A robust database management system, such as MySQL or MS SQL. This is so we can add our own database if required.
Once I started looking for a web hosting provider, I noticed there is a very large difference in how much they charge. I also notice that most web hosts have multiple hosting plans, each at different prices. In the end I decided to go with Heart Internet.
I did some research and found some reviews about the service heart internet provides which made me confident to present this to my supervisor, I am pleased to say the company decided to go with them.
I did some research and found some reviews about the service heart internet provides which made me confident to present this to my supervisor, I am pleased to say the company decided to go with them.

File management

My supervisor (Daniel) asked me what I knew about file management, I felt a bit taken by surprise as I didn’t know what it was. I hadn’t really understood what it had to do with what we were doing but he assured me it was something simple and basic I needed to know. We then discussed this further, for me to understand file management we had to break this down step by step.

A drive refers to the physical object where information is stored windows then identify the drive by a letter in most cases this is usually c. More specifically a drive reads the information from a disk placed into it. Sometimes the drive and disk is one unit (i.e. Hard Drive, Flash etc.).

As most people know hard drive is the disk inside the computer that stores programs and data, the size is measured in GB (Gigabytes), most commonly known on the PC as ‘C’ Drive, when the hard drive is partitioned it could be C,D etc.
I was able to familiarise myself with Data Terminology within the first week of my placement, computers store information in bytes

1000 bytes = 1 kilobyte (kb)
1000 kb = 1 megabyte (mb)
1000 mb =1 gigabyte (gb)
1000 gb = 1 terabyte (tb)

Benefits of Files Management
The basic objective of a good filing system is to be able to find the record you need quickly regardless of its format and the aim of a good filing system is to provide quick access to information.
Files management is important to records management. As it helps organize and put in order the information. It is a logical and practical approach to the creation, maintenance, use and disposition of records and, therefore, to the information that those records contain. Files Management applies records management principles as well as that is It ensures that records are able to be retrieved when needed.
A well designed filing system: * must make filing less difficult * must offer quick and easy filing and retrieval of information with a minimum of wasted time and effort * should provide clear and simple file categories * should be expandable and flexible enough to meet everyone's needs * Some benefits of file management is that it is time savings which means, faster filing and retrieval of information and fewer misfiles it is also cost savings this would mean less frequent purchase of filing equipment and supplies, less office space used for filing equipment, less time spent on filing.
Establishing and maintaining control over files will bring specific benefits:

* easier training of new personnel * expandability and flexibility to meet the needs of the office * standard procedures for disposal of obsolete records * improved service * protection of vital records

The file manager handles all files on secondary storage media. To perform these tasks, file management must: * be able to identify the numerous files by giving unique names to them * maintain a list telling where exactly each file is stored, how many sectors on the medium it occupies, and in which order those sectors make up the file * provide simple and fast algorithms to read and write files in cooperation with the device manager * give and deny access rights on files to users and programs * allocate files to processes in cooperation with the process manager * provide users and programs with simple commands for file handling | File names, naming conventions/ common file extensions | In order to make users, programs and the file manager itself able to identify the different files they must be given a unique file name. | The relative file name is what a user normally recognises as file name; it consists of a name and an extension, for instance problem.txt. Apart from some exceptions, relative file names look the same in all operating systems. | The name is normally given by the user, whereas the extension (which is separated from the name by a dot) generally indicates what kind of file it is. | | The absolute file name is normally much longer than the user thinks it is. The relative file name is preceded by the place on disk it is stored, that is: the drive name and the directory names in which to find that file.
So the absolute file name consists of: 1. drive name 2. directory name(s) 3. file name 4. extension File name and extension are separated by a dot. The directories are separated by slashes (UNIX) or back slashes (Windows, DOS). Because drive names and file organization differ from OS to OS, absolute file names look different depending on what operating system is used but the absolute file name changes when the location is different. The relative file name, however, stays the same. |

Website Testing
Testing plays a critical role in the development of the web site and its long-term maintenance. While smaller web sites especially those with more limited budgets may not need to follow the formal testing procedures that are required for large-scale, web sites, every site needs to be thoroughly tested to ensure that it’s error-free, user-friendly, accessible, and standards compliant. Testing should be completed during each phase of a site’s development. Two of the most costly web project mistakes are to delay testing until just before launch, or not to test at all. Testing during production makes it easier to locate and resolve errors, and minimizes the chance of existing bugs being replicated throughout later stages of development. Early and continued testing can eliminate the need for the costly redesigns and other major fixes that can result from overlooked errors.
Although I did not part take heavily in the website testing process, it was part of my job to help think of different aspects of website testing, I did my research and along with my knowledge I was able to Document the baseline web site testing requirements.
As a group we needed to make use of the preliminary data to help determine and document your baseline site testing requirements. For instance, the information you collected on the browsers and connection speeds that your visitors will use, and those visitors’ skills and age groups, can be used as a basis for your testing plan.
Source and install all necessary tools
We were able to conduct tests very cheaply using free and low-cost testing tools. Most browsers are free or offer conditionally free versions, and you can download and install multiple browsers – including several versions of Internet Explorer for Windows – on one computer. Alternative devices, such as I pads, Tablets and Mobile Phones, also have familiar software creators which is helpful for testing purposes. By checking how the website is seen on the front end and testing it with these different browsers we were able to see what problems that we may encounter.

Provide acceptable testing protocols.
Ultimately, the design and layout for each page of the site must be both aesthetically pleasing and functional across multiple platforms and browsers. One of the difficulties associated with testing design elements on different platforms is that the test results can be subjective. For example, a designer may create a CSS-driven site that works perfectly on newer browsers, but doesn’t look as nice in older browsers such as Netscape 4. The tester may interpret this as a failure point rather than acceptable "design degradation." To avoid the time and effort involved in re-submitting pages for testing, spell out acceptable cross-browser, cross-platform differences in advance – including protocols for supporting old browsers.

Use Annotated Screenshots to Determine Display Protocols
At the end of the final prototyping stage we provide a series of screenshots that have been annotated to identify the differences in the ways the site displays on different browsers and platforms. These screenshots can be used in later testing to identify the displays that are deemed acceptable on each platform.
Regression test (Especially when fixing bugs)
Regression testing, which is also known as verification testing, is the process of retesting pages or sections of a site to make sure that a recent bug fix hasn’t broken some other aspect of the site, or reinstated bugs that were fixed previously. Conducting and documenting regression tests will allow you to identify any parts of the site that break, and document the causes of those errors and how you resolved them. If a bug resurfaces at some point, it will be spotted immediately and resolved quickly.

Validate the markup for each individual web page
We can validate the markup for all the web pages to ensure that each uses structural, compliant markup. This will allow us to confirm that we have used the correct markup for the specified DOCTYPE, fix any typos we may have made, and resolve any syntax errors. Validating our markup as we build a page, rather than waiting until we have created an entire page (or worse, an entire web site), makes it easier to isolate, find, and correct markup problems.

Validate all CSS
We need to Validate all the CSS we use on the site, including each external style sheet, plus all embedded and inline CSS.
Advantages of CSS * CSS saves time, when I first learnt about HTML (in my first year), we were taught to set the font face, size, colour, style etc every time it occurs on a page. This means we find ourselves typing (or copying & pasting) the same thing over and over again. With CSS, you only have to specify these details once for any element. CSS will automatically apply the specified styles whenever that element occurs. * Pages load faster, less code means faster download times. * Easy maintenance, to change the style of an element, I only have to make an edit in one place. * Superior styles
CSS has a much wider array of attributes.
Disadvantages of CSS * Browser compatibility
Browsers have varying levels of compliance with Style Sheets. This means that some Style Sheet features are supported and some aren't. To confuse things more, some browser manufacturers decide to come up with their own proprietary tags.
Fortunately, browser compatibility is becoming less of an issue as the latest browser versions are much more standards-compliant than their earlier counterparts.

The Website

It was very important that the website was to be as good as it could get, the website is the main selling point for the event that is to take place. So this added more pressure in me as I knew I would need to input any skills I ad into designing the page. A bad website is easy to recognize. They are just flat out bad, and often ugly. They hurt your eyes, they have terrible navigation, and/or they are annoying, and they quickly send visitors away irritated or confused
Looking into this further I discussed with my supervisor what would make up a good website, A good website is the most common type, but harder to identify because it usually looks just like an effective website. A good website has what every website should have, professional appearance, sensible navigation, good content, etc. It is not difficult to create a good website, so most fall into this category. The problem is good does not equal effective. An effective website is the kind with the most benefits. The primary difference between a good website and an effective one, besides profit, is that it anticipates the needs of the customer/visitor and meets those needs. Ironically, these are rare. We needed the website to try sell tickets as well address the needs of the visitor, I realised that this website would require more planning and effort to create, but the rewards would be worth it.
We need our website to go beyond the target audience, make the person on the other side feel as if they are already at the concert whist navigating on the page.
We went even further by discussing the Benefits of an Effective Website, my supervisor how a website would provide an instant visual presentation. Not every organization can afford television advertising, but for our website this would provide a visualization element and is always available to anyone with Internet access. If a customer has questions that can be better answered on a website than over the phone, this is a valuable asset to our marketing mix.
Another factor would be that a website is always available, this is excellent for marketing as TV and radio commercials air at preset times. A website can be visited at a time that is convenient for the visitor, and it is more engaging when designed correctly.
In discussing this it occurred to me that a website can target each visitor specifically, every visitor's needs are met with an effective website design. With proper targeting, we can have their attention because they are already interested. By strategically planning our website, we can customize each area to the type of website visitor who can benefit from it. It is even possible to customize web pages to individual users for added convenience.
There are many advantages of using a website as a marketing strategy unlike printed materials, websites can be changed on a minute by minute basis if needed. The expensive production costs of video, and the editing time needed for a good advertisement, make websites even more attractive. Plus, video can be provided on a website, and printed materials can be made available for instant download on a website.
The number of internet users is on a rapid rise worldwide and is used by people of all age and types. Internet has become a major medium for communication, entertainment and is in the process of replacing traditional entertainment, promo products, and informative medias. Some businesses are finding that handing out a promo product such as pens, business cards, and mugs are too costly and yield little results. Likewise, traditional marketing forms such as television, radio, newspaper, magazines, etc., are becoming a thing of the past.
Internet has also become a major and effective medium for advertising and it has be predicted that the online advertising and marketing is soon going to replace the advertising through traditional medias such as television, radio, newspaper and magazines

1) Wider Coverage
The online advertising will give our event wider coverage and this wider coverage helps in making our advertisements reach more audiences, which may ultimately help us in get better results through our online advertising.
2) Targeted Audiences
When compared with offline advertising, online advertising always helps you to reach the targeted audience and this helps in making our event more profitable and get more relevant leads.
3) Affordable
Another main advantage of online advertising/marketing is the much affordable price when compared with the traditional advertising costs. With a much lesser cost we can advertise on the net for a wider range of audience and geographical locations.
4) Easy to Track and Measure Conversion
Measurability and easiness to track the conversion makes online advertising miles ahead on the traditional advertising methods. A lot of effective analytics tools are available to measure online advertising which helps in more improvisation of the ads.
5) Speed
Online advertising is much faster than offline advertising and can start sending out ads to a wider audience, the moment we start your advertising.
6) Informative
Through our website we are able to convey more details about the event to the audience and that too at relatively low cost. Most of the online advertising are composed of a clickable link to a specific landing page, where users get more information about the product mentioned in the ad.

Africa Unplugged Facebook page
Africa Unplugged Facebook page

Using Facebook for marketing our event
Using Facebook for marketing our event

http://www.facebook.com/AfricaUnpluggedMusicFestival

To help get noticed and maximise and stay in contact with the people interested in our cause Facebook is defiantly at the top of our list! Having a Facebook page for our business can increase our online visibility. A Facebook page is public so any links we put into it back to your website blog are known as ‘do follow’ and will be picked up by search engines. By updating our page regularly with links back to our site we will move up the rankings. Facebook also helps to promote an event and engage with delegates.

Facebook allows us to invite people to an event, post reminders and carry on discussions with delegates. We can see who is going to attend your event and those who are maybes. With so many young professionals using the social network, Facebook is defiently an excellent way of promoting our event to would-be delegates.
Facebook helps to network and build relationships.
Facebook might be more social than a lot of other social networks and can lead us to have valuable relationships which could lead to business.

To set up an account on Facebook is very easy, we simply
1. Choose a Classification
Facebook provides six different classifications for creating a page: * Local business or place * Artist, band, or public figure * Company, organization, or institution * Entertainment * Brand or product * Cause of community
This classification will help us rank in more relevant searches and provide relevant information fields on our page. After selecting, ‘Company, organization, or institution’ we choose the category we are in, and fill out our business name (or if I selected one of the other options, our brand or company name). The business option also asks for further location information. The category and name cannot be changed once our page is created. So I type wisely otherwise, I will have to delete the entire page and start anew.
2. Complete Basic Information
I upload a photo that will stand as the main visual representation for our business page. Facebook will then ask us to invite our friends. I uncheck the option to “share this page on my wall” and “like this page.” I do this because I don’t want this popping up in news feeds until I’m done building the foundation of the online image. I will next be prompted to fill in basic information. Add our website URL and a brief bio in the ‘About’ section.
3. Fill the Page
I Click “Edit Info,” and add information you deem pertinent for your organization.
4. Take Advantage of Features
Facebook business pages have a lot of features to offer. By clicking on the “Get Started” button under the default image displays multiple steps I can take to make the most of THE page. The main ones are: * Invite your friends. * Tell your fans. * Post status updates. * Promote this page on your website. * Set up your mobile phone.

http://www.facebook.com/AfricaUnpluggedMusicFestival

Using twitter to promote Africa Unplugged
Using twitter to promote Africa Unplugged
Africa Unplugged Twitter Page
Africa Unplugged Twitter Page

http://twitter.com/africaunplugged

Twitter is a micro-blogging platform. It lets us update statuses and lets the whole world know what you are up to. There are millions of Twitter-addicts all over the world, and the number of active users keeps increasesing.
On Twitter people have the option to “following” me, and I am able to “following” others. “Following” is being updated every time a new post is added to one of my contacts’ profiles. Being followed is the same; every time I have something to add, all my “followers” will be updated. The more people that follow me, the more exposure the business (Africa Unplugged) will get. But it’s not about adding as many people as I can to my friends list. I need to be smart about building a follower base.
There are many things that can be done to build a followers base for Africa Unplugged such as - * Putting a link to “Follow Me on Twitter” everywhere like on our website, Facebook and even personal Facebook pages, Emails, even business cards. * Every time we post anything on the internet we can invite people to follow you on Twitter * We can Search for Twitter users whose follower’s base we would love to have for ourselves. Seeing who is following them and following those users. They will follow us back. * See who is following ours friends and follow them. * There are Twitter directories that are great to find members who are likely to follow us. Examples include Just Tweet It and Twellow. * Using Twitter’s search feature to find profiles that interest us. Using Twitter’s RSS feed to be notified every time a tweet containing a certain keyword is made.