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[web] I got hired for an Internship with Web Development need some tips.

Started by rubsnick, May 19 2011 09:25 PM

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#1 rubsnick Members - Reputation: 105

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Posted 19 May 2011 - 09:25 PM

Alright so I have to make one qeb page for the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) I'm very afraid and I check thier site and it appears to be written in HTLM 4.01. The header says specifically

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

Anyways point being I have VERY little web development experience and I start this job in 2 weeks and it's full time.... the job description is as follows.

The intern will develop a new web page for the Division of Price and Index Number Research (DPINR). Preliminary work in the development of the web page includes studying web pages of other research groups and organizations and interviewing DPINR staff regarding their past and current research. The measureable tangible objective will be a web page for the Division. This work fits into the overall work of the Division in that it will create an updated presence for DPINR to the world outside of BLS. The intern will work with staff in the office and within the BLS to support in this effort. However, the production of the web page will be the sole responsibility and product of the intern.

So all the code and stuff is on my end.... I NEED to learn web paging in 2 weeks and do it professionally (I have 10 weeks to get this done with so overall 12 weeks) I'm a bit nervous just because of my lack of experience in this field. I need some tips hints and help and overall guidelines. I know I should learn HTML thanks to the pages source (bls.gov) so yeah Any good tutorials around there? I really do need to know this ya know? I'm a bit worried about this..... But well.... I know I can do it so yeah guides tips hints and everything else would be awesome.

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#2 fuedone Members - Reputation: 128

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Posted 19 May 2011 - 10:54 PM

learn HTML, there is no reason you should not know it, its not hard at all.
also learn CSS(what it is, and how to link it into a page) and javascript basics(jquery as well if your feeling adventurous) i suggest making a little page for each example tutorial you can find

if its a complicated web system, you will then also need to learn PHP/ASP/.NET to code the backend processing(they will tell you that when u start, i wouldnt bother with them yet)

There is a good chance they could be using a CMS system which would mean another thing to learn(but it will reduce the dependance on HTML) but this would be a good thing for you, as you wouldn't be expected to know it (and most of them are about as simple as MS word once you click around and figure things out) if this is the case, just play around with it as much as possible when you get there, figure it out.

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#3 rubsnick Members - Reputation: 105

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 06:05 AM

learn HTML, there is no reason you should not know it, its not hard at all.
also learn CSS(what it is, and how to link it into a page) and javascript basics(jquery as well if your feeling adventurous) i suggest making a little page for each example tutorial you can find

if its a complicated web system, you will then also need to learn PHP/ASP/.NET to code the backend processing(they will tell you that when u start, i wouldnt bother with them yet)

There is a good chance they could be using a CMS system which would mean another thing to learn(but it will reduce the dependance on HTML) but this would be a good thing for you, as you wouldn't be expected to know it (and most of them are about as simple as MS word once you click around and figure things out) if this is the case, just play around with it as much as possible when you get there, figure it out.

Alright thanks for the tips any compiler/ development program you recommend?

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#4 landlocked Members - Reputation: 99

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 09:15 AM

God help us. Someone not knowing web technology building web pages for government use. Oi.... /endrant

Do all what fuedone said. Also study up on web standards, UI design and usability. I'm so fucking tired of encountering government sites that are hard as balls to navigate and being unable to find useful information. Since this is government you'll have people of all kinds using the page so web standards is vital to be able to allow blind and def people to use your page. Even if it's for internal consumption your user base can still include blind and def people. Other physical disabilities should be accounted for as well such as limited use of hands, ease of accepting voice commands etc. All this can be accomplished through proper use of HTML and CSS so just don't try to do any hacks and be vigilant to use the right HTML tags for the right purpose, such as using <cite></cite> for citing a publication source, for example, instead of just setting the CSS styling to italicize the text of the citation. Also, anticipate what to do if someone's browser has JavaScript turned off. Given several vulnerabilities rely on scripting components some terminals may have it turned off and you can't expect them to turn it on "just for you."

The majority of your work will be to make the page usable, usable by others and displayed well instead of just making the page.

Always strive to be better than yourself.

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#5 rubsnick Members - Reputation: 105

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 12:25 PM

God help us. Someone not knowing web technology building web pages for government use. Oi.... /endrant

Do all what fuedone said. Also study up on web standards, UI design and usability. I'm so fucking tired of encountering government sites that are hard as balls to navigate and being unable to find useful information. Since this is government you'll have people of all kinds using the page so web standards is vital to be able to allow blind and def people to use your page. Even if it's for internal consumption your user base can still include blind and def people. Other physical disabilities should be accounted for as well such as limited use of hands, ease of accepting voice commands etc. All this can be accomplished through proper use of HTML and CSS so just don't try to do any hacks and be vigilant to use the right HTML tags for the right purpose, such as using <cite></cite> for citing a publication source, for example, instead of just setting the CSS styling to italicize the text of the citation. Also, anticipate what to do if someone's browser has JavaScript turned off. Given several vulnerabilities rely on scripting components some terminals may have it turned off and you can't expect them to turn it on "just for you."

The majority of your work will be to make the page usable, usable by others and displayed well instead of just making the page.

Sorry but internships are meant as a learning experience is it not? I've made a web page before but I've never coded using pure HTML only. Anyways thanks for the tips I'll keep them in mind so that everything works properly. But most of what you said falls within the real of Software Design part of my internship is to interview other people's web developers (govermental organizations) and to learn from them.

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#6 landlocked Members - Reputation: 99

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 02:48 PM

Sorry but internships are meant as a learning experience is it not? I've made a web page before but I've never coded using pure HTML only. Anyways thanks for the tips I'll keep them in mind so that everything works properly. But most of what you said falls within the real of Software Design part of my internship is to interview other people's web developers (govermental organizations) and to learn from them.

Indeed they should be learning experiences (newsflash: all of life is a learning experience. if you don't realize that then you need to get your head on straight.) but I hope your work is vetted before being posted, no offense intended. If you've made a web page what did you use other than HTML? Unless you're referring to having used WYSIWYG editors or using another framework to ultimately generate HTML output that's impossible. And you're wrong. Most of what I said falls within the realm of your due diligence. If you are going to be making web pages on behalf of the government then you have a duty to implement certain features so the page is accessible and usable by everyone in the constituency. Government resources are authoritative resources. Your mistakes can easily become the cause for conspiracy, doubt and blind trust and can set in motion a myriad of potential problems so you really do need to bring your A game. "I'm just an intern" won't cut it professionally speaking and if you're doing this for any other reason than being a professional you should just quit now. I'm intentionally being harsh because of the nature of work you're doing and the path you're going down. If you do this then you very well may end up doing future government work and if I can get just a tiny bit of professional responsibility in you and help you realize the potential scope of what you're getting into then my job is done.

Always strive to be better than yourself.

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#7 rubsnick Members - Reputation: 105

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 03:57 PM

Sorry but internships are meant as a learning experience is it not? I've made a web page before but I've never coded using pure HTML only. Anyways thanks for the tips I'll keep them in mind so that everything works properly. But most of what you said falls within the real of Software Design part of my internship is to interview other people's web developers (govermental organizations) and to learn from them.
Indeed they should be learning experiences (newsflash: all of life is a learning experience. if you don't realize that then you need to get your head on straight.) but I hope your work is vetted before being posted, no offense intended. If you've made a web page what did you use other than HTML? Unless you're referring to having used WYSIWYG editors or using another framework to ultimately generate HTML output that's impossible. And you're wrong. Most of what I said falls within the realm of your due diligence. If you are going to be making web pages on behalf of the government then you have a duty to implement certain features so the page is accessible and usable by everyone in the constituency. Government resources are authoritative resources. Your mistakes can easily become the cause for conspiracy, doubt and blind trust and can set in motion a myriad of potential problems so you really do need to bring your A game. "I'm just an intern" won't cut it professionally speaking and if you're doing this for any other reason than being a professional you should just quit now. I'm intentionally being harsh because of the nature of work you're doing and the path you're going down. If you do this then you very well may end up doing future government work and if I can get just a tiny bit of professional responsibility in you and help you realize the potential scope of what you're getting into then my job is done.

When did I ever say that I'm going to half ass this? Dude just chill and relax, I understand your annoyed at poor programming pratices and programmers who cut corners. I was simply veiwing the things that you mentioned where covered in some of my classes entitled Software Engineering and Software Design. It's all a part of programming and it's more important then the programming itself. Yes I used HTML but I used it via a visual interface using Visual Basic so I wasn't coding purely in HTML. Overall I just want a nice website to guide me trough the basics of HTML and Web desing as a refresher to what I've already learned in my classes. I was being a bit over exaggerated when I mention I don't know anything. I just wanted someone to post a "beginners guide" They are many out there but all of them use many different things and IDE's and what not.

And yeah I'll do my best hence why I bothered posting here It's important that I don't go in knowing nothing and important that I work at this from the start right now. So that by the end of it all I have a Professional webpage I can be proud up and have great feedback and maybe even a job offer. I'm not too big on web development I prefer general programming but it's an internship and it's programming and I love programming. So yeah I'm going to do my best and I do appreciate you being harsh I've seen very poor source code as a student of Code and yeah overall I know what need to be done (for the most part) So yes life is all a learning experience you are correct and currently I'm trying to learn a way to find great HTML resources. The website is done in HTML 4.01 so I dunno if I should learn that or simply learn HTML5 but if I learn HTML5 then they might want it "downgraded" to 4.01 for consistency sake. So there is another question I ask.

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#8 landlocked Members - Reputation: 99

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Posted 20 May 2011 - 07:35 PM

The best url you could have to learn HTML/JavaScript/CSS all in the same place: http://www.w3schools.com/

Always strive to be better than yourself.

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#9 rubsnick Members - Reputation: 105

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Posted 21 May 2011 - 10:32 AM

The best url you could have to learn HTML/JavaScript/CSS all in the same place: http://www.w3schools.com/

Thanks I found another one called HTML Dog (http://htmldog.com/) So yeah this link looks a lot better. This is essentially all I wanted with this topic.

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#10 loom_weaver Members - Reputation: 325

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Posted 30 May 2011 - 09:23 AM

The intern will develop a new web page for the Division of Price and Index Number Research (DPINR). Preliminary work in the development of the web page includes studying web pages of other research groups and organizations and interviewing DPINR staff regarding their past and current research. The measureable tangible objective will be a web page for the Division. This work fits into the overall work of the Division in that it will create an updated presence for DPINR to the world outside of BLS. The intern will work with staff in the office and within the BLS to support in this effort. However, the production of the web page will be the sole responsibility and product of the intern.

This description is pretty vague. One of the most important things you'll need to do in the first week or two of the job is assess your abilities, discuss the overall objective, and carve out something with your supervisor that you can accomplish so that the 12 weeks don't go by and you end up having nothing to show for it. Or just as bad: you create a nice static web-page and your boss is expecting a 45-page AJAX'y Web 2.0 e-commerce SSL web portal with Flash 3D intros.

Yes, you'll need to learn HTML, CSS and all of the cross-browser issues but that's easy to learn.

If you have the opportunity you might even want to contact your employer now and try and find out more information about what you need to do. Is it a static web-page? What section on the site is it? What kind of information might it contain? The trick here is to get as much information as you can without promising anything. Perhaps ask and see what other interns might have created.

Then spend the next couple of weeks learning as much as you can so that you can discuss the overall objective in an intelligent manner when you officially start and set the correct expectations based on what you can do and learn during your internship.

Good luck!

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