WRA 210: 10/02/2013MOD 8:

FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS

TODAY’S AGENDA

• Overview of the next several weeks

• Overview of HTML we know so far

• Web standards

• Lesson: fi le and folder naming conventions

• Module 8 Activity

WHAT'S TO COME

• review the basics, web images

• full-on HTML, the works

• full-on CSS, the works

• HTML for structure

• CSS for structure

• Advanced CSS

• Two weeks of building workshops

REVIEW: EVERYTHING WE KNOW SO FAR

• What is a server?

• What is FTP?

• What is AFS?

• What is HTML?

• What is an HTML tag?

• Which HTML objects have we worked with?

o What is the object type?

o What tag is used to create the object?

DELVING DEEPER INTO SERVERS

• hierarchies

• the "root" folder

• index pages

• knowing how to access fi les

• fi le naming best practices

• fi le and folder organization best practices

ANYBODY SEEN THIS BEFORE?

A WEB SERVER'S INDEX

• When no default page, server lists fi les

• Major security risk!

• Occurs inside root folder and all other folders

• Can be shut off in server settings

• Can be replaced by an indexing document:

o index.html (or index.htm)

o default.html (or default.htm)

o Can also be customized in server settings

ACCESSING FILES ON A SERVER

• How do we access a website?

• How do we access specific fi les on a server?

• Why do these go to the same place?

o http://msu.edu/~lauckne1

o http://msu.edu/~lauckne1/index.html

• What are the pieces of this URL?

o http://www.msu.edu/~lauckne1

o /wra210/

o index.html

ORGANIZING FILES - FOLDERS

• folders can contain anything

o files of any type

o more folders - child folders

• similar to naming fi les on your computer

o why do we do this?

o how do we decide what to name them?

BEST PRACTICES FOR NAMING

• Why do we need to worry about this?

o Make creating links between files and folders easier

o Sustainability - easier to find things, easier for others

to find what they're looking for

o Avoid a mess that's diffi cult to reorganize later

• Do it early, before there's a mess

BEST PRACTICES FOR NAMING

• Stick to letters and numbers

o no spaces

o no special characters

o dashes - and underscores _ are okay

• Name the fi le something specific

o bad: file.doc

o good: module6.doc

• Applies to both fi les and folders

o folders, obviously, do not have a filetype (e.g. .html)

LINKING BETWEEN FILES AND FOLDERS

• Absolute paths

o <a

href="http://yoursite.com/modules/module6.doc">Modu

lt 6</a>

• Relative paths

o files in the same folder:<a

href="module6.doc">Module 6</a>

o files in a child folder:<a

href="modules/module6.doc">Module 6</a>

o files in a parent folder:<a

href="../modules/module6.doc">Module 6</a>

• More about Absolute vs. Relative Links

GROUP ACTIVITY: BRAINSTORM

• How should we organize our web space?

• Questions to consider:

o What kinds of content do we have there already?

o What kinds of content will we add over time?

o How could we organize all of that content?

file names?

folders?

• Are our course fi les in the best place?

• Let's develop a best practice together

MODULE 8: ORGANIZE YOUR SPACE

• Organize your space using best practices

o Rename files as necessary

o Create new folders as necessary

o Move files into folders as necessary

• Update course homepages to reflect new

organization

o Update your links

o Email me new link to your homepage

FOR NEXT TIME

• Your Design Docs are due Friday! Make sure that

you email them to me on time!

• Bring a photo of yourself (or of something else if

necessary)

o straight from a digital camera, no resizing or editing

(no Facebook)

o bring on a flash drive, emailed to yourself, actual

camera

• Read/watch:

o YouTube - the <img> tag (skip to 4:25 for right now)

o Best Practices: Images for the Web

o Image Usability

o Understanding DPI, Resolution, and Print vs. Web

o Preparing an Image for Web vs. Print