Final Milestone

http://www.our-legacy.org

Design

Aside from a few final tweaks, this will be the final design of my site. The colors work well and the circle theme is present in the navigation, header, and timeline.

Coding

Everything now works the way that I want it to. Alex worked on the circles on the timeline and doing the random colors and rollovers. I did the drag and drop functionality and added that to the timelines. Now users can create a profile, make events, add media to them (including pictures now!), view their network, edit their events, and add themselves to other events. The search functionality is almost done, and we hope to finish that up tonight before the presentation. Otherwise, the main functionality is there and all the links on the site have working dynamic content.

Testing/Populating

I sent out an email to my friends and they have been populating the site. Now that there is a lot of stuff on the site we found some new bugs and are fixing those up this afternoon. I have a wide range of people who are using the site now, including my mother, my sister in New York, and my friends around campus and in band. I also went and interviewed my grandmother last weekend and she gave me some stories that I have put on the site as well. It goes to show that anyone can have a timeline completed for them!

Promotion

Last week, Dani put up the Our Legacy board in the spirit room to promote my project. I wrote a story on it and am interested to see how the end result went! I also created a poster that is up in Chadbourne as well as in the Spirit Room in the Union. Most helpful has been the email I've sent to my friends who have shared it with their friends and are getting people onto the site. I have been getting good feedback so that is great!

Milestone 3

Design

I've created a new design for the site using darker colors. I redid the header so that it is shorter, allowing more room for content. It is also larger and more compact. I like the new darker color scheme better and think it makes everything look more together. Hopefully this will be the last template design change.

Some changes that I need to make include the overall design of the information (like the lists of your media, network, events, etc.). This will just involve some resizing to make it look nice. I would also like to redesign the events page so that once more events are there, it will not look weirdly positioned.

Coding

All of the basic elements work now. You can create an account, login, create an event, and add media to it. The images currently are not uploading, but all the logic is there. Hopefully once Alex and I figure out what is wrong with it it will be quick to just add to the events since the code for that is already there. Users can view their events, their network, and information about themselves. They are also able to delete their events and media, but not to edit them yet. The only features that are completely not working are the search pages.

As for the timeline, we have the basic feature working. There is a large div that includes many divs dynamically created depending on what years your events fall on. You can scroll through the timeline and see the events that happened in each year with the titles as links to the event page.

Testing/Populating

I have populated most of the site as far as content goes. There are still some little parts that need editing and reworking, but there are no blank pages anymore.

Testing is a little behind since we came across some glitches with the image upload. Alex and I are meeting after this milestone to see if we can fix those and I hope to have the link up tonight for people to start testing.

Promotion

I need to make my poster for the hall. Now that I have my new color scheme, I think it would be neat to do something with that. Dani has been working on my event board (which will be my biggest promotion) and I have been brainstorming events to put on that. It is hard to think of specific events, so I thought that maybe I could do some events that are vague and see what people have done at that time. Examples of vague events include: dinner at the commons on Wednesday night, your last birthday, the last time you ate at Pat's Pizza, or what you did on Thursday at 3:00 pm. Some specific events include: the Frozen Four, the most recent Kickin Flicks, or a music event such as Java Jive.

Milestone 2

Site Layout and Navigation

I have finished all storyboards for the site layout and navigation and have implemented them into html.

Design

I revised the design of the site so that it is more pleasing to the eye and also easy to navigate around. I redid the logo and have a new one that is more of a timeline symbol. I have used circles for the navigation and drag here functionality since the events on the timeline will be represented by circles. The navigation on the left will change depending on whether or not the user is logged in.

As for pages, I have created the event page and have that coded. The only pages left to design and code are the two timeline pages, which I have drawn up plans for.

Code

Alex and I have been working on the basic code structure for the site. First of all, we set up the database and put the site on my sato account. I downloaded the smarty template engine and installed that on the server. This allows us to separate the html and the php, and to be able to have different layouts. We finalized the file structure that we will be using as well. By the end of this week, Alex and I plan to have sessions finished so that users can create events. Right now they can create an account and login.

Starting next week, Alex and I will begin the 3 major coding aspects of the site:
1. Contributing to an event: When a user creates an event, he/she just enters the name and date. Once the event is created, anyone can view it and click on the contribute buttons to get a window that will pop up and allow them to upload media. This will be done through AJAX, and I downloaded and installed prototype.js that has some nice functions to help us out with that part.
2. Viewing the timelines: I have storyboarded out how the timelines will look and have decided how they will be coded. We will use css to create a div that will have the entire timeline in it. Most of it will be hidden, and only a circle will be shown. The amount shown can be changed by moving scrollbars that go through the timeline. All of the events will be circles, which will have pop up pictures of the event when you scroll over them.
3. Adding an event to your timeline: Users will also have the option of being able to take an event and drag it over to the circle on the left to add it to their timeline. I downloaded and installed scriptaculous to help with the drag and drop functionality. It has functions that will help us code that part more easily.

Promotion

Dani contacted me about doing a board with events on it that people can write about. I have to pick 4-5 events that people around campus may have been to that they can share experiences about. I told her that I would pick a specific date (probably the middle of April) and some events by the end of this week. I will also help her put up the board and maintain it.

Outside of school, I have been spreading the word about my project and have many interested people! Everyone wants a link to it once I have a working draft so I have been keeping track of certain people that I want to send the project to for some material to start with.

Testing

After this week, I will have some people (probably in this class ;) ) test some of the basic features that I will have, which are registration, login, and event creation. More intense testing will come in the next few weeks once we get the timeline coding going!

Milestone 1

Collaborators:
I found Alex Lessard to help lessen the load for this project. He will be helping me with the database structuring as well as some of the coding. When we get to the timeline creation, he will help with some of the dynamic structuring. Since this is such a big project, his help will certainly move the project along towards completion.

Securing Web Space and Domain Name:
I am in the process of creating an account on Sato. Right now, everything is still on Cordova. I went online to buy the domain name ourlegacy.com, but that was taken. These are the other ones I am considering (I will make a purchase this week):
ourlegacysite.com
officialourlegacy.com
theourlegacy.com

Planning:
I've created the storyboards for the entire site. This has helped me to visualize what I will need for design, navigation, database tables, and coding. Each page on the site is drawn out on a piece of paper. I was able to create the navigation and prepare the site outline for what I want. I am in the process of designing the first design layout, which will be revised in future releases.

Alex and I have also been working on the database structure, which is in its first draft now. Here is what we have for table structures so far:
users
User_id
First_name
Last_name
Password
Address1
Address2
City
State
Zip
Phone
birthdate

events
event_id
user_id (of creator)
name
date
place

media
media_id
user_id (who uploaded)
type (text, picture, video, or sound)

contributions_events
contributions_events_id
user_id
event_id

event_media
event_media_id
media_id
event_id

user_events
event_user_id
user_id

user_media
media_user_id
user_id

event_tags
event_tag_id
event_id

media_tags
media_tag_id
user_id

Design:
I have started on the design by beginning with my proposal template. I changed a few details and put the design in HTML. I like the simplicity of the site, but am planning to change the color scheme and the logo for my next design release.

Coding:
Since we are working out the database structure first, Alex and I are going to start coding next week. I have created HTML template pages for all of the different pages that we will need. I wrote the forms and put some basic text in so that when I go to populate it, I will know where everything needs to go. This first prototype is helpful for navigation purposes and to see what needs to be done.

Here is what I have done so far in design and coding: http://cordova.asap.um.maine.edu/~whitea/our_legacy/index.html

Promotion:
Promotion will start this week. I plan on spreading the word with my friends since they will be the first people to use and populate the sites. I will also be contacting my scrapbooking consultant so that I can reach an older and more diverse audience.

Testers
I will begin hunting for testers to test my first prototype, which will be released at my second milestone. The first group will probably be from this class, but for the third and final prototypes, I would like some outside input.

Simulation

Here is the link to my simulation:

http://cordova.asap.um.maine.edu/~whitea/498proposal/simulation.html

It is a story that the user can click through and interact with a little bit to get the feeling of what it may be like to search through the site for an event.

Jenkins Article Response

a) The principle from Henry Jenkins' "The Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape" that best describes my capstone project is the fifth one: networked. The timelines in my project allow for many-to-many communication since anyone can share their events and stories with anyone else. There will be a large community that will allow for participation from everyone. Users can create networks with people from all around the world, making new connections and friends that would not have been realized before.

The principle that fits my project the least is the third one: everyday. While I think my project is important, I don't think it is something that will end up being used everyday simply because events important enough to post usually don't happen every single day. I will have to find a way to make my project easy enough to use so that people will be encouraged to use it as often as they have a story to tell. To accomplish this I could make it easy to create an event and to edit it at a later time. The events will have to be fluid so that pictures, text, video, and tags can be added and deleted at any time.

Two principles that I would like to break are seven: generational, and eight: unequal. It will be a challenge since I know that most of the older generation is not as into computers and would be less likely to participate in my project. Also, a lot of people will not be able to use this project if they don't have a computer or don't know how to use one. I'm hoping that I can make the project easy enough to use that it will encourage participators of all ages and types.

b) I like Jenkins' definition of new media because it is very practical and current. He discusses the problems and advantages of new media in society and the effects it has on people now. Just like the culture is changing, so is new media and the definition of it. Jenkins lays out some good principles that describe this change. However I think that new media projects should break some of these principles since not all of them are always a good thing. We should see how we can make new media more accessable to older generations and equal to everyone. Technology is increasing at such a rapid rate that we don't have time to observe the effects that it has on society. Perhaps we should take a step back and look at the big picture to predict where this will bring us in the future.

Manovich Article Response

a) I think that my capstone measures up well to Manovich's definition of new media in the article "What Is New Media?" He has a very technical definition of what new media is. Like his descriptions, my project has a numerical representation on a computer, is modular, can be automated, has variability, and can be transcoded. I think the princible that fits my project the best is the first one, numerical representation. All the principles are related to each other, but they all seem to be based on this first one. Manovich bases his argument on the principle that something is new media if it is created in a new language that is on the computer. This language can then be changed, recreated, and open up many new paths. Since my project will essentially be a database driven website, it will be run on code, which is a language that computers can read and one that can be easily manipulated. It will allow different parts that will make up the bigger overall picture.

The principle that fit's my project the worse is probably the third one, automation. I won't have a lot of automation in my capstone, since users will be doing most of the work (submitting and viewing events). There will be some automation involved within the code to add the events and create the timelines, as well as in showing the events on the timelines. To conform to this principle more I will have to make the project more self reliant, where everything that is submitted is checked and added by the computer, so that I don't have to do a lot of work to keep the project running once it is complete. I will also need to make sure that my project remains variable so that there are many different paths for users to make and so that it can allow for growth and many changes. Scalability will also be a big issue that I will have to design for so that it will be able to grow.

b) I agree with most of the principles that Manovich discusses, but think that he is being too technical. I think of new media as more of a concept than a computer program. However, I do agree with what he says about the project having to be variable and to allow for change. It is important that the project is flexible and allows for growth. If it remains stable and unchanging, then it will soon become old media. I think that people who create new media projects should apply the principles to their projects, but they don't necessarily have to do the project all digitally because the idea behind the project should be more important than the medium it is done in.

New Visual Approach 5

This is a storyboard/rendering of what the search functionality will be. People should be able to search to find very specific events, or just be able to browse through events that they may be interested in. Once the user picks out the search limitations, he/she will be able to refresh the page to see the filtered timeline.

New Visual Approach 4

Site Map

Homepage

• Will have master timeline for people to view
• Users can click on any event to view it
• Users can contribute, comment, and rate events
  
• Links to: register, login, search, most interesting, about, faq

Register

• The user will go through steps to create their profile
• Create a username and password
• Enter personal information
• Choose a picture to represent them
• Design timeline
• Timeline will be created based on age of user and the template he/she picked out

Login -> Personal Timeline

• There will be links to edit account information and to see a list of events to edit
• Users will be notified of contributions made to their events
• Other users who have an account can contribute, but not edit another users event (only their own contributions)
• The creator can set privacy features to make is so that he/she has to approve contributions or so that the events don't appear on the master timeline
  
• All events created by that user will be on the timeline to view
• Events that the user has contributed to for other people will also appear as a link on the timeline (perhaps more faded than the others)
  

Login -> Add Event

• Once logged into personal timeline, the user can create an event
• Will be asked for basic event information (name, time, place)
• Text based description (as long as they would like!)
• Photo upload (comment them as well)
• Other media upload (video or sound)
• Invite other users to contribute to event
• Tag the event

Search

• People will be able to search based on:
• Geography
• Event Name
• Person Name
• Tags
• Age of Creator
• Specific Date
• Media Type

Most Interesting

• The most interesting events based on number of hits, amount of comments, and highest ratings
  

About

• Information about the project
• Contact Info
• How to get started (tutorial)

FAQ

• Questions users have about site, contributing, suggestions...
  

New Visual Approach 3

This is a template of how I think the layout of each event should be. The top has the basic information, and right below it is the actual story and a slideshow of the photos that are attached to the event. Below those are links to all the contributor's timelines and below that are the audio and video clips as well as the tags given by the creator, viewers, and contributors. The event pages can be linked so that anyone can view it by just following the url.

New Visual Approach 2

This is a rendering of what the personal timeline might look like. It will be very similar to the master timeline, except that all the events will be from the creator of the timeline. The user can change the color and font of the timeline so that it is personalized. The size of the timeline will work the same as in the master timeline. The user can pick the picture that represents the timeline and the size of the event will represent the amount of media added to it. The brightness of the border around the event will indicate how many people are linked to the event as contributors or who were actual participants.

New Visual Approach 1

This is a rendering of what the master timeline might look like on the site. I'm not much of a designer, so I'm hoping to jazz it up a little bit, but I think this is what the basic form of it might look like. Random events would be shown as pictures floating through the timeline for people to browse through. The width of the timeline would be dependent on how many events there are at that time and the color of the border around the event would be dependent on how many people have contributed to it.