to class -- to about -- to syllabus -- to people -- to the library

hello, world!

My favorite aspect of websites is their duality: they’re both subject and object at once. In other words, a website creator becomes both author and architect simultaneously. There are endless possibilities as to what a website could be. What kind of room is a website? Or is a website more like a house? A boat? A cloud? A garden? A puddle? Whatever it is, there’s potential for a self-reflexive feedback loop: when you put energy into a website, in turn the website helps form your own identity.

– Laurel Schwulst

This class is about getting to know each other, the syllabus, and to give you some tools that will help you get set up for the rest of the semester. come with thoughts about what you’re interested in, what you’d like to get out of your time in the class, and some websites you think are special.

introductions

Name, major, why we’re here, one thing we want to get from the class, one website we really like. Read through syllabus together and chat about it, group discussion on values and code of conduct.

lecture: the tools of the trade

text editors
  CLI
    vim nano
  GUI
    emacs atom sublime visual studio code

IDEs
  visual studio
  XCode

web console
  good debugging
  document.designMode=’on’ document.body.style
  twitter screamer
  console api
  google console tools mozilla

version control
  git how to write a git commit message
  github gitlab
  password caching merging 😱 collaborating on git gitmoji
  version control poetry example

publishing to the web
  static vs dynamic
  your friend localhost
  github pages
  netlify

domain names ($)
  Namecheap Google Domains
  linking domain names

CMS
  file-based
    jekyll (like this site!) kirby hugo
  google sheets
  templates
    wordpress cargo collective squarespace wix

operating systems
  windows windows subsystem for linux windows bash shell microsoft bob?
  unix family
  macOS fink
  linux
    timeline gnu
    ubuntu mint kali Tails
    which distro?

package managers
  general
    npm yarn (non-js)pip
  windows
    packagemanagement (catchy)
  osx
    homebrew macports
  linux
    apt-get yum dpkg

web programming resources
  Mozilla Developer Notes
  W3 schools W3 How To

asking for help
  stack overflow
  github issue guidelines

giving help
  stack overflow good answer guide
  code review guide

inspiration
  are.na brutalist websites
  rhizome net art anthology

in-class exercise

Use github pages or netlify to publish a minimal site. If you’re done with this, help someone else, or start playing with the web console.

assignment

due 02/03
Use the console editing tools we explored to re-imagine some websites that you use regularly.

Experiment with a range of different console editing techniques, and produce at least 6 different snapshots. Publish these on your class site, along with a description of what you did, and a response to the readings.

Optional: set up an are.na account. You might find using are.na really helpful for ideas and inspiration (during this class and more generally).

UX tips

readings

Laurel Schwulst, my website is a shifting house next to a river of knowledge, what could yours be?
Olia Lialina, Prof. Dr. Style
JODI JODI.org