Due noon Central Friday 9/2.
Before we begin: this tutorial is for students who do not already have a website.
[If you already have a website please send me an email or come to Zoom office hours ASAP. Tell me: what your website’s web address or URL is, who is hosting your site (OU? a commercial company like Bluehost?), what you used to build it. We will set up a part of your website or a subdomain as your site for this class.]
If you do not already have a website let’s begin. This assignment has two parts. You need to complete BOTH parts to get credit:
- Set up a domain (web address for your site). We will use OU Create — a program set up by OU so students, faculty, staff can build their own sites!
- Go to https://create.ou.edu
- Click on Domain of One’s Own
- Click on Request an Account
- Fill out the contact form and include the info that you need the website for Prof. Schroeder’s Cultural Heritage Data and Social Engagement class
- You will receive an email from the OU Create team. Follow the instructions in the email to set up your domain.
- When you pick your domain, think about your web presence. My domains are carrieschroeder.com, carrieschroeder.net, etc. My domain at OU Create is carrieschroeder.oucreate.com. Those are all based on my name.
- Advantages to using your name somewhere/somehow in your domain name: you can be found/you can establish a digital identity.
- Disadvantages: if you don’t want to be found easily or you think you might be changing your name, you don’t want a domain with your name in it.
- Whatever you do, it’s your choice. You do not have to use your real name.
- You can read more about privacy and selecting a domain name
- Pick something that reflects WELL on you professionally for your domain name, if you decide to keep this website after this class.
- Set up a skeleton website using the software WordPress for your blog
- Now that you have your domain (the web address or URL) you need software on it to run a website. We will use the common software known as WordPress
- Note: WordPress is what we use on our Private Student Discussion Blog, so some of it will be familiar
- Follow the steps in this tutorial to install WordPress.
- Customize your site
- You have a website! Now it’s time to customize it and make it look the way you want.
- Follow the steps in this tutorial
- You can also watch this video walk-through of the tutorial if you’d like.
Don’t panic if you get overwhelmed or confused. Instead: take a breath, take a break, try again later. If you’re still having challenges come to my Zoom student hours and we can walk through it together.
Tuesday 2-3 pm Central — just drop in! The Zoom Link is here.
Thursday 3-4 PM Central — just drop in! The Zoom Link is here.
Schedule an appt if none of these times work for you
To get credit for this assignment you will need (in other words, this is the rubric for grading!):
- a live domain or subdomain I can visit
- submit the URL to the assignment in Canvas
- if you already have a website prior to this course, you should have a subdomain or a section/menu item specifically for this course set up (see the paragraph addressed to you above)
- some kind of software or code running your site (WordPress, HTML, or something)
- a title for your site
- a coherent landing page (there does not need to be much content — you can even say “check back soon” or “under construction”; in the tutorial you will choose whether the home/landing page is a regular page or the blog posts)
- a visible menu with at least one item on it (like “Home” for the homepage or “About” for an “about this site” page)
Due noon Central on Friday 9/2
