Feedback on Toolbox Activity 3
Written by: Jonathan Briggs
October 21, 2008 [1650 views]
As a group you are doing really well with over 140 of you completing the first part of Activity 3. For those of you who are struggling we will provide some extra help starting with some of the answers below. We are concerned about deadlines but as long as you complete the activities in reasonable time you will get full credit. This means by the way that if you have not finished any parts of the earlier activities you can go back and do those now. Read the Module Guide again to understand how marks will be awarded at the end of the module.
Big things that have gone wrong (for a few of you)
I cannot log into cPanel
This is often because you bought hosting space that did not include cPanel. If your package did include cPanel then following the instructions provided by your hosting company should get you past this point. Try using the numeric form of the address and remember the port number that follows the colon. Look in the email for something of the form http://74.86.170.206:2083/ (this is my cPanel host with which I test out all of the activities.
If you bought the wrong hosting then we can suggest you upgrade your current package, you investigate one of the packages we suggested that is very cheap, you ask a friend nicely whether you can share their space (requires them to set up some permissions and could be a bit complicated) or you use some of the free hosting that is around on the web.
I cannot get my domain name to point to my hosting server
This one is perhaps the most common and will stop you doing a number of things. It is also relatively easy to solve. It occurs when your domain and hosting were purchased separately. (I bought a new domain from 1&1 just so I could see how easy/difficult it was)
When you bought your domain you should have been given account details that allow you to log in and manage your domain. You will have set up a password and you need to follow the instructions to log into an administration area (for the domain). Inside there you should be able to manage the DNS (the telephone book of the internet). You are going to have to change the DNS entry for your domain to point at your hosting server. My domain registrar (1&1) gave me a single page site and before I repointed my domain, my domain name was pointing at this page.
Your hosting company will have provided you with a numeric address for your domain such as the one above and what you need to do is change the “A record” at your registrar. The change will take up to 48 hours to take effect.
I know this sounds hard but if you follow the instructions given by both companies you should be able to do this. Ask one of your friends to help and discuss what you are doing.
I don’t have Fantastico or I can’t install WordPress
We told you about Fantastico for a reason! If you purchased server space without Fantastico then your world is a lot harder although services such as Lycos hosting provide equivalent OneClick tools.
You can install WordPress on most hosts where you have been provided with FTP (see this week’s activity) and are allowed to run MySQL databases. If you do not have FTP or databases then you really chose the wrong hosting company and I would suggest you cut your loses and buy another one.
If you do have FTP and databases but no OneClick or Fantastico then you will have to follow the installation instructions very carefully on WordPresses site. It’s not pretty but you’ll get huge satisfaction when complete. I really suggest that you have a friend sit beside you to discuss what you are doing as you do it.
I can’t create a blog with WordPress
If you have installed WordPress correctly then creating your first posts should be very straightforward. Go back and look at the WordPress documentation.
I have still not received information from my hosting company
Check your junk mail. Send them a grumpy email. Call their customer support teams.
This week’s questions raised by the activity
How do I customise the design? How Can I add YouTube videos to a blog? How do I add links and images?
See this week’s activity.
How many mySQL databases do I need?
You will need one if you are running WordPress and another if you are going to experiment with other types of dynamic sites (which we will introduce during the module but not include in an Activity)
I would like to know if blog is similar to creating a website
In some ways it is very similar particularly in the technologies used although blogs force a certain sort of style and format on the site. Some people use the static page opportunities inside WordPress to built brochure sites and with the vast range of plugins available other sites can be built to.
Are we going to be shown how to make our own themes?
We will introduce you to the ideas of CSS and xHTML which will allow you to learn enough to begin experimenting with your own themes.
Can our blog be about something controversial? e.g. Diary of Murderer or something like that :P
You can blog about whatever you want but be careful that you are not racist, sexist, homophobic or in other ways offensive as that will break university rules (that you have signed). The idea of a blog as a piece of theatre is very interesting. “Belle du jour: the diary of a call girl” started life as a blog and is now a TV drama.
Can it ever come to a stage where I will be able to sell my domain for a lot of money if it becomes really successful?
Yes but its quite unlikely. What is much more likely is that you can perfect your design and technology skills and get a better job as a result of being able to demonstrate a real understanding for modern and changing technology.
Can we fail the module for copyright infringement?
No, but you could be sued so be careful. Copyright is a minefield and if you are creating something you should always be aware of the copyright of things you use. If in doubt steer well clear of logos and trademarks (although they can be used if you are “quoting”).
How can you make money by running a blog?
The best way of doing it is to run a blog about a specific topic (your expertise) and then run adverts alongside or link to eCommerce offers. We will look at affiliates in a later activity.
Why do we have to do these activities?
A very few of you clearly don’t like this way of learning and would be more comfortable with lectures and exams. The overwhelming comments we have received have been very positive and it is clear that some people are really off and running; creating interesting things and learning to master the technologies. As a university we are trying to keep you at the cutting edge of what is happening in Computer Science and Information Systems and that must include what is happening online. I believe very strongly that just sitting and listening to people tell you about this stuff will never prepare you for working in the emerging industries. But other modules will be run in different ways and we welcome all feedback; positive or negative.
Are we only going to use word press to design our websites, or will we be using other tools as well?
I have chosen WorldPress as the main tool for this module because it is extremely powerful, extensible and free. It also lets you experiment with most of the modern design principles including AJAX, CSS and Web Services. We will try and introduce some further ideas towards the end of the module such as Ruby on Rails.
How can I sort (want my today’s post to follow the one posted last week for example) my posts?
A blog by its very nature has this ordering by date and I don’t know of an easy way to change it. You will see that my site is based on similar blogging principals as are many other sites out there. If you don’t want the “diary” format then you can use WordPress to create more static sites by creating individual pages and linking them together.
Will you be giving us specific topics to write about at a further date?
Probably not. I would rather you chose what to write about yourself as that allows you to be really interested in what your site is about.
Can you teach us how to use css?. How do you get the rss feeds to work?
CSS and RSS are both topics for future Activities.
What do you think?
