Back to the Basics: HTML/CSS

Update on the swim team website. I thought I had everything figured out. However, once I started coding the site, I quickly realized how out of my depth I was. When Etienne told me to simply code the webpage in HTML instead of displaying an image, I had no clue how to do it. Etienne suggested that I learn HTML before trying to make any website, and I think he's right.

I had thought I understood the general structure/theory of HTML code. For the most part, I was right. I knew that everything was enclosed inside tags, and that text went in <p> tags, and there were other tags as well. But I didn't know enough to make an actual website. This week, I've been working on closing that knowledge gap, and going from knowing the theory of HTML to its application. I've been using Codecademy, and blazing through their <a href=www.codecademy.com>HTML Course</a>. So far, I've learned how to set styles, add text, and create lists. I'm looking forwards to learning about tables and CSS. Hopefully, I'll be able to churn out a working site that uses HTML and not an embedded image.

Baby it's Cold Outside

I swim on the School's Swim Team, which means that I have to get up at five am, drive to the YMCA, and practice swimming in their outdoor pool. The problem is that Austin weather has been dipping below freezing for the past week, and practice has been cancelled for three days straight. Over these three days, half the swim team has shown up at the pool due to poor communication. While we swimmers often think that practice should go on, even when its 33 degrees outside, the coaches and captains often disagree. This leads to a lot of confusion, where swimmers have no clue whether or not to go to practice.

I'd like to simply all this with the creation of a website that checks the weather, and if its below 32 degrees, displays text that says there will be NO practice today. If it's above 32 degrees, it will say that there will be practice today. The goal of this is to simplify communication for swimmers, and create an easy way for people to find out whether there will or will not be practice.

To do this, I need to split up the project into three parts. The first is to create two versions of the website. There needs to be one that displays an affirmative message and one that does the opposite. The second is to have a way of displaying alternate versions of websites. If fed a true, then the website shows one version, and if fed a false, does another. The third thing to do is write a program that supplies that true or false message to the website by checking the current weather.

I hope to finish this project within two weeks, and will be asking people in the class for lots of help. Look forward to seeing a website soon!