CT101 Final Blog Post & Course Completion Information

Here we are in the final weeks of our Fall 2023 semester!

It is my intention to get things set up in advance to help and give everyone enough time to finish / revise assignments, catch up and feel confident about our course completion. Most of us will be focusing simultaneously on finishing our website building project, as well as populating the website with blog posts and content, while others may be retroactively catching up on or revising blogging assignments and commenting. 

**Please read all of the information below carefully & mark your calendars**

Please e-mail me with any questions at – rseslow@york.cuny.edu

Please know, I am always here to help in anyway that I can. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Please know, it is not too late to catch up if you are a bit or even far behind. We can work together but I need communication in order to help.

**The last day of regular CT101 classes is Tuesday December 5th..

All of our class sessions and assignments have video tutorials that are recorded and added to the weekly blog post assignments on our class calendar page here.

**All course work must be completed and published no later than Wednesday December 20th at 6pm – that is the absolute deadline.

**Please read all of the information below carefully & mark your calendars**

**Final Blog Post Submission Guidelines**

Please make sure that you follow each step below – it is really important to illustrate each retained skill and the ability to follow the guidelines.

*Each student will write and publish a Final Course Reflection Blog Post.

Students will publish the Final Post to the CT101 website.

Students will kindly e-mail the direct link of your final blog post to me – rseslow@york.cuny.edu – no later than Wednesday December 20th at 6pm and NOT before Thursday December 14th at 6pm 

***Please do not publish or e-mail the final blog post link to me before Thursday December 14th. This post and submission process is to be done during final exams week and serves as our final exam.***

*The e-mail subject of your final blog post will say: “CT101 Final Blog Post/Your First & Last Name”

I will confirm your e-mail by replying “Received” once I receive it.

Here is an example below for finding a blog post’s direct URL – (this is the direct link to the text you see at the moment in the web browser address bar at the top of the browser) The post must be published in order to copy it and paste it into your e-mail to me – it would look something like this below.

*Your final blog post is Mandatory, it serves as our final exam and final project and it must include ALL of the information stated below:

Your final blog post will be a detailed narrative and re-cap of what you have learned in CT101, and a reflection and assessment of what grade you have earned in our class and why you deserve that grade? (Yes, you must include this part, it is mandatory).

What did you enjoy about our class and how will you apply your new skills into the world?

You learned how to build a website, will you maintain and keep up your new website? If so, how? If not, Why not?

Your final blog post should include a culmination of supporting images, GIFs, videos and hyperlinks to all of your existing published blog posts.

(pro-tip – you have already had practice with the mid-semester assessment post, think about this as “part 2 ” to that post)

Please let this post display the best of your skills sets learned and applied! 

**The final post should be your absolute BEST work.**

*Final Website Link & Description –  As a part of the final blog post each student will be sharing their new website URL (your domain name) it must be hyperlinked and you will give a clear descriptive tour of their website and share how the website is being used. Plus, share thoughts on your website building successes, frustrations and an over-all assessment of building and having a website. You must include a screen shot of each page on your website to support your website tour. Your website must be free of ALL default WordPress content that came with the initial theme and must have at least 2-5 published blog posts, 3-5 pages  and should display a clear visual customization from the default template.

****It is Not Mandatory, but if you would like the opportunity to visually present your final blog post & website to me in person during final exams week – please meet me on Tuesday December 19th @ 10am in our classroom 

*The Final Blog Post submission requirements as stated above are Mandatory, please let me know if you have any questions.

All questions should be sent to – rseslow@york.cuny.edu

Im here to help!

Exploring the WordPress Potentials, Part II!

Welcome Back!

Class recording from 11/28 is below

Let’s get a bit more specific with WordPress and begin to apply intentional context to our website design. Last week we started setting up our new websites by simply discussing the potentials of the visual design creation and experimentation process. We dug in a lil’ – but let’s move forward and focus on this here this week.

Let us now talk about how to set up new pages, and how to add those pages to the main navigation menu. We will discuss the navigation menus locations and what their functions were. We will look at the footer space and adding widgets in the footer areas. We also took a peek into “plug-ins” and installing plug-ins (especially the Classic Editor for the similar blogging experience we see on the ct101 site for writing our posts) and the differences between pages, posts & categories.

This is quite a bit of information and I highly suggest that you re-watch the class video tutorial from last week for the practice of retaining the new skills that were shared and displayed. I do this very often myself as I find it super helpful for being able to replicate a new skill or technique.

This all takes regular practice and a bit of openness to experimentation in general. How did you do with your experimenting last week? What did you work on? You can leave a comment below on this post and share the link to your new site :))) – WordPress is a very intuitive piece of software, and it wants your creativity!

Let’s continue forward. I will be sharing a new series of demonstrations with WordPress this week.

**This Week’s Blogging Assignment Prompt is Optional**

Let’s begin populating our new websites by publishing a new blog post there. Thats right, You can publishing a new post on YOUR website and also “cross-post” that information here on CT101 as well. There is an efficient way to cross-post content across WordPress websites.

I will show you how.

Lets say you just published a great new blog post on your new website and you also want to share it with your classmates / community here on the CT101 website. (You can! Its easy)

Step 1 – is to publish the new blog post on your website. Remember, every blog post has its own unique URL that can be later shared on other places and space on the Internet.

An example of cross sharing your post on may be done in a new post on CT101 that reads:

————

Your Blog Post Title (all blog posts need a great title!) 

(insert an image – GIF – Meme – Quote – or some kind of related media)

“Dear Fellow Readers – I just published a new blog post here on my website: http://yourwebsitename.com, (make sure to hyperlink the post url) please come and check it out and feel free to engage in some fun dialog. Thanks so much”

————

This is a very minimal example above but perhaps just a title and a link is not that interesting? We need a bit of compelling energy to draw the reader from CT101 over to your site. So make this interesting and creative!

**This Week’s Blogging Assignment Prompt is Optional**

Publish a NEW blog Post on YOUR new website, the post can be about anything that you wish that has direct context to your new website’s stated intentions (what your site is being used to promote and share.) After publishing the post, create a new blog post here on CT101 that shares a synopsis of your new post from your website that will entice and grab our attention, be sure to include the direct URL as a hyperlink to the new blog post.

PS – WordPress is really vast and there are many many tutorials out there for “WordPress beginners” – Perhaps YouTube is a helpful source for finding some new resources outside of class? Of Course! Here is one, but feel free to share links to others that you have explored (add the link to the comments section below.)

okay so we’re a little past the middle of the semester but better late than never, right?

to be 100% honest, i would probably, at this very moment in time, grade myself at around a  C+ in this class because i have missed quite a few lectures (although I have been assured its not the end of the world 🙂 ) and am also missing some assignments. i am missing assignments 6, 9 and 10. but as far as 9 and 10 go, i already have my domain up and running, i just need to write my posts for the ct101 site.

when i upload my missing assignments i think i will be deserving of a high B or an A in the class as even though my blog posts are late, they are of good quality. i try my best to follow the prompts and incorporate a lot of media and hyperlinks and i also try to grow my posts with every submission.

if you want to see my old posts, you can find them here, and here, and here, and here, and here. 🙂

now that we got that out of the way, here are some thoughts about the class:

1. i am incredibly thankful for the flexibility it has given me. as a student with a full school schedule, a job and many hobbies, this class has gifted me some extra free time due to professor seslow’s willingness to accommodate and accept late submissions.
2. i have become more open to the internet through completing these assignments. i am incredibly excited for creating posts and running my website, i am slowly but surely getting the hang of word press and am thoroughly enjoying the research and writing component of the blogs posts i am drafting.
3.  it was encouraging to look through the ds106 assignment repository and the daily create and see people really engaging with their creativity and posting it online for others to enjoy or draw inspiration from. i’ve always enjoyed creating art but i often times put an added pressure on myself to be original and end up feeling like i’m not a creative person when i can not come up with or execute an original idea. i’ve learned that its perfectly fine to draw inspiration from others and that’s how you’re going to find the idea that suits you best for the time, art is so much more fun with guidelines but without stupid rules  you create for yourself.
4. blogging is fun but like all things, its not as easy as it seems. whenever  i work with a new medium, i get severely humbled during the process. i have a newfound respect for people who can seamlessly maneuver internet tools and not have to rewatch the tutorial 10 times (maybe that only applies to a small demographic but i don’t know ) and for people who have designed even the simplest websites.

now let’s talk about my website:

obviously, i have already picked a domain name which was lubaslanguagequest.com 

this was not my first idea for it though, obviously. my first thought for my website name was lubaslinguistics.com and then i thought of linguisticswithluba.com (i should probably tell you at this point that luba is a nickname of mine most of friends call me)

but i felt limited by both of those options- what if i did not want to write about just linguistics but just about language? then i moved to options to like languagewithluba.com or lubaslanguagecorner.com i liked the direction i was heading towards but still unsatisfied then i went from corner to quest and was still unsure about but i ended up going with it.

i like the decision i made because it gives me the flexibility to make the blog posts about whatever i want in the scope of language. the way i see it, my quest is to not only teach others on the internet about language but also to learn myself. my “quest” can encompass all aspects of learning a language- posts about grammar rules, posts about my opinion of languages or linguistics, tips for studying etc.

none of that feels off limits for me because i did not pick such a confining domain name whereas if i stuck with lubaslinguistics.com,  i would not have such creative freedom.

i am currently working on two posts; one about a polyglot’s language learning method and one about the intricacies of polish grammar. i am very excited and will keep you guys posted as to when they are up.

byeeeeeee!

My overall experience with creating an account and setting up a domain wasn’t too bad. In fact, not complicated at all. I was able to follow the steps in the class recording and everything went smoothly. I find it cool that students are able to own their domain. Students can use their domain in so many ways such as blogging or content creation. Having your own domain can be like a work resume with your all creations in just a click of a button

There were many different routes that I could’ve chosen in terms of selecting a domain name. I was able to choose a domain name that would be easy to remember and easy to type. I wanted a domain name that wasn’t anything fancy and I was able to come up with this domain name – http://williammejia25.com  Now I am normally not the type to add numbers to a domain name because the name may not be aesthetically pleasing but it fit well to my liking.

I find it to be a truly exciting time for students to own their domains because of the amount of work they can share on their websites. It is truly creative freedom. I was able to download WordPress to my domain and now I have access to the control center which can be a useful tool.

Add Your Domain Name to the Comments Section Below!

Hello CT101 Students – > Due to the York College High IT WiFi Security and Firewall on campus – they require us to submit to them a list of our domains to be whitelisted as “safe”..

If you plan on working on your website whilst on campus (in the lab or other areas of campus) please add your domain below to the comments section below – I added my domain as an example. It generally takes the IT Dept.  48-72 hours to make this happen – so the sooner you add your domain, the faster I can share it with them.

Thank You!

well… i finally bit the bullet. i have been putting off this assignment forever and a day! i have even started working on posts for my website already but this assignment has sat untouched for weeks because in all honesty, it intimidated me- it seemed like a lot to take on. i found an exercise i liked a while ago but was so afraid to execute it.

for my first creation, i went with a prompt i saw on the daily create- it was the prompt posted on november 2nd: design a birthday cake to commemorate marie antionette’s birthday.

The WordPress Customizing Series, Part 1!

Welcome Back!! 

Here is the Class recording from 11/21/23

Here is the Class recording from 11/14/23

Assignment #10 – > (details below)

This week in CT101 we will be focusing on getting everyone set-up with their new websites! The coupon code that you need was sent last week to your York college e-mail address (please e-mail me if you did not receive it).

By now, many of you got started, you have a new domain name, a web hosting account, and a blank / default website framework ready to be customized and stylized!

I’ll be helping here with the customizing process of WordPress. This part will have multiple aspects to it.

There is a lot to share, create, experiment with and test!

The process is fun and will take a few weeks as you make several aesthetic and functionality decisions about how you would like your website to look.

This will all play out in context to “how” you plan to use your new website. Not only as a new site owner, but looking into the future as well.

So, how will you be using your new website?

Assignment #10 –

This week let’s dig into some of the customizing features that WordPress offers as we begin to design our new websites.

What will you work on first? Will you create a series of new pages? Will you remove default content from your theme? Customize the home page? Publish a blog post? Will you create a category or two? Add plug-ins? Changes colors?

Let’s publish a NEW blog post that shares a narrative statement about your process and discoveries, as well as HOW you will be using your new website as we go forward. You can publish this post on the CT101 class site. Please don’t forget to embed various pieces of media (images, screenshots, gifs, hyperlinks) and also share contextual content to help expand your post. 

**For example, there are many video tutorials on YouTube that share “how-to” videos for beginners, or customizing videos for the theme that you will be using, this is context 🙂

I will continue to make and record class videos and also share some helpful curated content from the Internet. We will be discussing HOW we will all be using our websites individually, just to mention again 🙂

But WAIT! You cant do anything above unless you have done this: -> Domain Name Registration, Hosting Set Up & WordPress Installation! <— Please read this important post to get started! (from last week)

I was going to focus on using one of the newest WordPress themes called:  “Twenty-Twenty-Three” –  BUT – I found it to be cumbersome and a lil’ difficult to use for the first time – Lets follow my tutorial above from class and apply the “Twenty Twenty One” Theme instead.

WordPress themes are extremely versatile and are great for WordPress newbies and beginners. I highly suggest that you consider using the theme that I share (2021). All themes are different, and many of them out there promoted on the Internet are not free (plus, its always helpful to start with a theme that has a good amount of video documentation that already exists.)

More to come!

PLEASE E-MAIL me and say hello, let me know how I can help you! rseslow@york.cuny.ed

As we reach the middle of the fall semester, It is important for me to see the things that I have learned in Ct 101 and briefly discuss them with an open mind.  We are not yet towards the final countdown but it is always good to reflect.

How am I doing in CT101?

I feel like I am doing well in the course, the flexibility of the workload is very beneficial towards completing assignments from other classes. I enjoy the creativity and freedom of expression in Ct 101.

What have I learned and retained the most?

What I learned the most is that the internet can be a great tool to express yourself and tell stories. The Internet is not just simply a research tool, it is a way to have a presence in the cloud of the World Wide Web. Blogging is a great way to make your presence felt with the ability to write out stories for people to read.

What new skills have I developed , cultivated and displayed regularly in my weekly posts?

The new skill that I developed is creating digital art. I had a fun time with that particular assignment because it allowed me to explore my creativity. here is a hyperlink to that assignment. Assignment 6

What do I know now that I did not know before taking this class?

Before taking this course, I did not know the process of creating animated GIFs. However, I am able to create animated GIFs now and share them in my project flexibility blog post. Project Flexibility

What grade do I believe I am maintaining and why do I deserve that grade? 

I believe I am maintaining an A in this course from completing the assignments. I may not be able to attend class in person every week but I do watch the recordings and engage with the course assignments.

Do I see my weekly blogging work expanding creatively? If so, please explain why –  or am I stuck in a loop where my posts seem to look the same most of the time, how will I change that?

I feel as if I am getting better at blogging by implementing more GIFS and hyperlinks to my blog. I find that if I use both tools, it creates engagement in my blogs.

Are you commenting regularly on your classmates posts? Are you responding back to comments given to you by the professor & your classmates?

I am guilty of regularly not responding to comments and I hope to get out of that habit.

GREETINGS EVERYONE!!! WE ARE MIDSHIFT INTO OUR SEMESTERRRRRRRR!

I think overall im doing good in the class. Im learning as i go. 😀

The skills i pick up throughout this course was learning more about gifs rather using the ones i normally use. I explore difffrent ones and or make new memes which is creative.

I personally didnt know this class exist to be honest until i registered for it and im glad i did.

I think im getting a A at least because i dont miss anywork i try to stay consistent.

I do see my weekly blogs getting creative. This is great for me it lets your mind grasph and think of ideas.

No, currently i dont think im missing any assignments.

Yes,i do tend to comment on other classmate works this gives us the chance to make friends.

I try to respond in class from time to time i rather hear what my classmates says.

Theres always room for improvement! learning is essential in everyday life.

   My passion for my cultural music is unmatched. The Dominican Republic is home to a diverse musical culture that derives from Spanish, African and indigenous Taino musical influences. Some of the musical genres include guitar music, traditional merengue, bachata and son.

  Around age six, I remember being obligated to dance with my neighbor and feeling embarrassed due to not knowing what she was doing. I wasn’t able to follow her or keep the rhythm. At the time, I couldn’t explain how I knew I was dancing horrible, but I had a feeling I wasn’t doing it right. I took that opportunity to ask my mother to explain and to teach me how to dance. My love and appreciation for culture comes from my mother. My mother always took time to teach me about our cultural foods, music, dance, dialect, etc. So you can just imagine the excitement she had for teaching me to dance.

  She claims I always had rhythm and was easy to teach. She had taught me merengue and bachata that day. I recall my mother saying, “Merengue is the easiest to remember, pretend you’re a solider and just march. Now add hips and loosen up.”

   Merengue is very important in my family. My dad and his band were a major influence in the 1980s. He incorporated jazz and soul to some of his music and introduced it to Latin music. My favorite example is slap bass, which was included in the song, “Tu Besos” (1985). He traveled all over the world and reminds me daily how music changed our life for the better.

Domain Name Registration, Hosting Set Up & WordPress Installation!

**Please read through this post carefully – it contains several steps and pieces of information- if you are not in attendance during the normal class-time you will need to watch the video tutorial to follow along**

Here is the Step by Step Video tutorial from class on 11/7 – 

“The Journey Begins!”

*Individual student Coupon Codes for the domain name & web hosting set up will be e-mailed to you- be sure to check your York college e-mail address to get the code (if you do not receive the code on the day that your class meets this week please e-mail me to let me know) –  The coupon code can only be used 1 time.

We began talking about Domain Names and what role they play in creating a digital identity on the web (and as a part of this class.) If you missed that post, please be sure to check out our course schedule page under weeks #7 & 8 as it has context and will help make this next step a bit smoother. 

This week we are going to get started!

We are going to begin the process of registering a domain name and also setting up web hosting, which will allow you to put files up online that will be discoverable through your new domain name! We are going to use a form of ‘shared hosting’ where you get a portion of a server – think of it as having an apartment in a building. With this shared hosting you will be able to do a lot of things including installing your own instance of WordPress (**remember, this is NOT wordpress.com but the open source version of wordpress.org) so that you can start building your website for your domain name. I will walk you through the steps that are needed, please follow my exact steps.

We use a company called Reclaim Hosting, with which we have a contract with so you will enter a coupon code and start your account for free.

*The coupon code will be e-emailed to everyone on the morning that your class meets (or I can give it to you in class)

We chose this hosting company because they have a lot of experience working with students just like you, that are likely getting their first domain name and web hosting account. You will be creating an account just like you would with any online vendor with which you want to purchase something. So it’s not a ‘CUNY’ account, we’re just giving you the coupon code to pay for the year’s service. The service will last for 1 year.

You do not need to pay for anything, so please reach out if you have questions – rseslow@york.cuny.edu

With that said, you will need to provide a name, address, and phone number. Lets go to this sign-up page <— to get started with the domain name selection process.

1. First you will need to pick your domain name, make sure that it is available and make your selection to proceed. (I suggest sticking with the .com or .net extensions)

2. On the next page, check the ‘add ID protection box.’

3. On the next page you should see two items in your cart and a price of $45 with ID protection, you will then enter the needed information for your new account and provided the coupon code and validate it. (you will NOT be charged for this, its already included in the course.)

After you fill in your personal information, and select the payment “Invoice Only” option. (again, you will not be charged anything.)

6. Click the “Complete Order” button and allow for the transaction to go through. Please check your e-mail for your account information and a verification of your e-mail link. With your new account information, log-on to Reclaiming Hosting.

Shortly after setting up your account and registering your domain you must verify your account via e-mail by clicking on the link they send to you. (be on the look out for a series of e-mails from Reclaim Hosting)

7. YOU ARE NOW ALL SET AND READY TO START WORKING WITH YOUR NEW DOMAIN NAME AND WEB HOSTING ACCOUNT!

8. It’s now TIME TO INSTALL WORDPRESS. – I will begin the set up installation – You can refer to the video recording posted after class and follow the step by step guide to install WordPress correctly. 

Coupon codes for the set up will be e-mail from blackboard – be sure to check your York e-mail to get the code.

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Assignment #9 – (you must complete part 1 before moving on to part 2 – After following along in our class this week and reregistering your domain name, setting up your web hosting account & installing WordPress – please publish a detailed blog post about the overall experience of registering your own domain, and setting up your web hosting account. Be sure to include screenshots, images, videos and hyperlinks for context. (as always)

Assignment #1 Internet Happy

JIFs

Are Memes Art?

Assignment #4 – Blogging about Your Passions

Assignment #5

Assignment #6 – Digital Art Making Immediacy

I believe I am doing well in CT101. I have learned a lot about blogging and expressing myself creatively. Also how to create JIFS and MEMEs. The new skills I developed would be creating and formatting a blog post because I’ve never done this before or had a class where I use or do anything like this (regarding the memes and jifs). I have learned how to use Photopea, Figma, GIPHY and other tools.

I believe I am maintaining an A or A+ and I deserve that because I do everything that is asked and I put effort into it.

I see my blogs expanding as I get more comfortable creating them. Before I would be unsure what to say or what to hyperlink but now it feels like I understand and get it. I also don’t have any missing assignments.

I comment on my classmates when I like their content or something catches my interest and I respond to feedback. I don’t really talk during class time I just nod my head I don’t talk that much. I can make needed improvements by just doing my work a little bit quicker and not waiting that would probably be the only improvement and just making sure the quality of my work is consistent.

For my domain name I’ll probably just make it my name or something random in my head. I don’t really have any outstanding ideas right now.

My aspiration is to become a digital editor for a major magazine. I am committed to improving my knowledge in every area, especially concerning the art of digital storytelling.

As I reflect on this semester, I am reminded of the exciting new mediums that have been introduced to us. With these tools, we can enhance our various projects. While I am not a blogger and don’t have a long-term interest in blogging, I welcome the opportunity to acquire new knowledge. I also appreciate the Zoom recordings because they have been a tremendous help to me this semester. At the moment, I would say I am currently at a B+ in the class, honestly. This is because I wish I had more time to fully invest in a “blogger lifestyle.” By the end of the semester, I hope to immerse myself more in the websites you introduced and create some impressive projects that I can hopefully add to my portfolio. Overall, I am enjoying this class.…

This week on my blog, for my second magazine art piece, I created a magazine cover in its raw form.

Adobe Illustrator was the main mode of creation, along with canva.

I decided to continue my blog series with the girls. I have a fondness for “weird” art because I believe it will make a comeback, mark my words. I have been on a spiritual journey that began two years ago, so I am currently in the Eryka Badu phase. I am stuck, to be honest. Lol! I just wanted to experiment with a cover that’s both perplexing, badass, and fresh. I wouldn’t say it’s one-of-a-kind because it’s my first draft with no edits whatsoever.