Real Or Hoax Project

   In this project the goal was to take everything that I had already learned and use it all together creating one site that looked good, and worked. With other projects I was given more instructions on how to make everything look right. However on this project I was just given the content that went into the site. I enjoyed this because it allowed me to put my own personal touch on it as well as get to use everything I had learned.

   I first started with creating a basic outline of what I wanted the site to look like. To do this I added the sidebar, main, header, footer and all the essentials. I did not think about the color scheme at that time because I wanted to make sure I had the "bones" of the site first. I then created a css page, at the same time I decided what I wanted the color scheme to be as well as what the text should look like and how I could add contrast into my website. After all the styling was done I then added the content, making an adjustment here and there when I realized something didn't work or would look better a different way. I also asked other people 

   Along the way I learned how to do a few new things. The first thing I learned was how to add a shadow to a box, like in the sidebar buttons, as well as how to add a drop shadow to the words, like in my subheading and main heading. To create it on the buttons I went to the #sidebar ul li a (this is the tag for the buttons) on the css page and add a box-shadow and a border radius. Then I did the same thing with the same amount on #sidebar ul li a:visited, #sidebar ul li a:hover, and #sidebar ul li a:active, so that the shadow would look the same when someone clicked on the button and after they clicked the button. Then to make a drop shadow on the text I went to the type of text that I wanted to add it to (h1, h2, h3, p, etc.) in the css page and add a text-shadow. By doing both of these things I added depth to my page, so not everything looks flat and 2D, it makes it more interesting.

   If I did this project again I would most likely change the color scheme. I would change it so that it had more colors, not just multiple different shades of the same color. I would also try to add something to the background so that it was more interesting. Something like an image that wouldn't attract to much attention but it would something more to it. Or maybe a background with a gradient or a simple design. I would however keep a few things that I did. One thing would be that I would keep the drop shadow on the text as well as the boxes. The reason is that it makes the page interesting and not flat. I would also keep the rounded edges on the boxes, because it again makes it different and gives it a softer feel.

  This project has helped me with things that I can then use in my next project. One of those things is that while doing this project I had times where I couldn't figure something out or a link wouldn't work or something didn't look right. So I then had to problem solve, look at the code for something wrong or ask for help. Because I was not given exact directions on how to do this project I had to figure it out on my own. It gave me many problem solving techniques that I can use in the future. This project also allowed me to put my own touch on it and see what worked and what didn't work. It also gave me ideas that maybe didn't work in this site but I could use in a future project.

  

   This has probably been one of my favorite projects that I have done so far. Because I had to figure things out on my own, as well as take a step outside of the box and try some things that I hadn't done before.