Well this semester is winding down and it is very exciting! Although it is crunch time and I have multiple/strenuous final projects due next I am actually feeling great! This hardly ever happens this time of year, but I think it’s because I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and this is my final semester of taking classes. I am definitely ready to see where this degree can take me now!

My website is officially complete and functional! The evaluation and testing of the site worked wonderfully and the client absolutely loves the website which makes me one relieved girl. He is currently running prints advertising the site. He is also going to add another small vinyl wrap to his company van with the url of the site!

As far as the evaluation that I did for the site, which tied into Module 5,this was done through a focus group. My client was great about providing me with a group of five of his current customers, with one of them also thinking of becoming one of his customers. The group was great about giving me feedback and the only negative comment was that the text was too small, however, that was from an elderly person who I don’t think could see well enough as it is. Plus, they can always zoom in on the site to make the text bigger, so I did not have any changes.

If anyone wants to check out my site, the url is www.efficiencyheating-cooling.com. Also if you ever have any heating and cooling needs give Steve Leathead a call at 419-307-7082! He provides true 24/7 service to all surrounding counties!

I hope everyone else has had as good as a success as I have had this semester with my client as well as with this semester. If you’re feeling stressed with the crunch time within the next few weeks just remember that you are almost done and there is light at the end of the tunnel!

I’m out!
Becca

I have been very busy these past two weeks since my last update! Between school winding down, final projects and work I do not know where the time has gone yet again.

I am happy to report that I have made more than excellent progress with my client’s website. The website is fully coded, functional and almost complete. I met with my client last week to show him the site and he is very pleased with it which is a great relief! I told him to look it over for about a week, everyday, to familiarize himself with it. I also told him to write down any changes he wants, as there was bound to be some.

I then met with him last night and thankfully, his changes were minor. It was just a few images he wanted changed, some content omitted and/or added. The changes should only take me another hour or so which is great.

The next step to do is to make the site responsive and make sure that everything appears great in all browsers, computers, resolutions and etc. I have done some of this research so far and it seems to be fine, however, I am going to create a test matrix for the site and document my recordings. I am also going to have a small focus group of about 5 people to make sure that everything is easily accessible on the site and of course user friendly. These tests and recordings will then tie into the evaluation in Module 5.

Overall I am very happy with my progress and more than glad that my client really does love the site. To me, that is the most important thing!

I do not know where the time has gone since my last update! I have been extremely busy with work and school, as I’m sure everyone else has been. It always seems like once spring break is over, the rest of the semester is a blur, which is bittersweet. Now it just needs to get warm!

Anyways, I have been making solid progress on my client’s website. I have the code behind the pages completed, as well as a home page template and interior page templates. All of the pages the client wanted are generated as well and are just waiting to be filled with content.

I met with my client last week so we could sit down and fill in the content together. However, he had a few simple design changes that he wanted. He also said he needed to think of what content as far images and text he wanted on there exactly.

He is also currently making promotional ads for his business and this upcoming season. Since he is a heating and cooling company, once it warms up (hopefully) he will be busier than ever. Therefore, he is trying to get the marketing stuff down now. One of the things he is doing is trying to promote the site. Since he is already promoting the unfinished site, he wanted a site under construction page. I then created one for the site, which I will take down upon completion.

I also made the changes he wanted and he seems to be happy with the layout and design, which is great. I plan to meet with him either this weekend or next week where we can hopefully re-group and figure out exactly what content he wants and where on the site.

I hope everyone else is surviving the busy end to this semester as well as this miserable cold weather!

I have been extremely busy with the mid-semester rush and spring break. Thankfully I have been making progress on my client’s site! I met with my client the week before spring break and we finally got hosting set up and a domain name picked out. I was delighted that he chose to listen to me and use BlueHost as his hosting site. I believe that this will be very effective and very easy for him to use when I am finished with the site and also if he ever wanted to add any other additional sites.

I also got plenty of images from him consisting of past jobs he’s done that he wants in a gallery on the site. Now that I have everything that I needed I can began to build pages and insert the content. I already have the code for the pages and templates created so the main hard parts are completed. While I was waiting for my client on some of these items, I created a dummy site and played with so I already know what the layout/site will look like with my code. Therefore, I have already gotten past the challenges and hurdles, which is great!

I am happy with my progress for my client. I believe that I have accomplished everything I have needed to for the mid-way mark in the semester. The next half will be basically plugging and chugging as well as some fine tuning.

I hope everyone else is continuing to make progress or at least effectively communicating with their client. Hopefully everyone had a good spring break as well!

I have been making progress since my last post! I have met with my client twice in the past two weeks. The main thing we have been focusing on is getting the content compiled. I’ve been working with Steve on the wording and the placement of the text. He has also been sending me images along when he can which I have been saving in the root folder for his site.

The last time I met with him, we worked on the home page together. Our priority is to get the home page up and live within the next week. He is in the process of advertising for the spring for his heating and cooling business and he wants to put the URL of the site in his flyers and business cards. Since I will not have the site completed by then, I will be making a simple home page about the site being under construction. Therefore, I am working on the code and design for that.

I plan to meet with him this week sometime to figure out hosting for the site. Once that is completed I can get the home page live and then begin creating the pages and filling in the content.

I hope to have most of that complete by my next blog post!

I can’t believe that it is already February! The time is already flying by, which is bittersweet in some aspects. Since my last update, I have still just been gathering what information and content I can for my client’s website. He still needs to provide me with a few items such as images and specific content before I can totally dive into the process.

However, I still feel good about the progress because we have most of the big milestones out of the way such as color scheme, layout and design. Therefore, I feel good about progressing forward, especially since we both are on the same page with this web site.

I plan to meet with my client next week since I have not seen him since my last update, which has mainly been due to our conflicting schedules and at times it has been the weather unfortunately.

Since I haven’t been working too much on my client’s site yet I have been taking the time to update my personal one. I created my portfolio site last year for a class and I am now completely re-doing the design and layout of it, as well as updating my work. I meant to do all of that over the holiday break, but of course that didn’t happen lol.

I have also been busy at my co-op preparing for an open house that the Ohio branch is having. It has been a great marketing experience and I’m looking forward to that two day event coming up in the beginning of March.

I hope that for my next update I will have at least the home page accomplished for my client. He wants to do some advertising soon in some local newspapers before spring and he wants to have a site url by then that he can advertise. Therefore I at least want the homepage up and running and looking professional even if the site is not fully done, which I will claim on there.

I hope everyone else is continuing to have a great experience with their clients and making some progress!

The client that I ended up securing for this semester was with a local company based out of Fremont called Efficiency Heating & Cooling. Although I had other clients in mind, the owner of this business is a close friend of mine and he was in the most need out of all of my selected clients.
I will be doing a simple WordPress website for the company. This site will be updated by the owner so I plan to make it as simple as possible for him. Upon the creation of the site, I will also be training him on how to use WordPress and the importance of content management throughout the process.
I have already met with my client twice. The first time was to get an idea of what kind of color palate he wanted and layout for the site. As far as color palate, he basically just wanted it to be simple and to match his company’s logo that was already created for him.
For the layout, we went to a few heating and cooling sites and found there’s a common style among them that he wanted to follow. We then selected a theme we both liked in WordPress that would somewhat match that style and something that I can easily manipulate for him.
After the first meeting, I then designed a few rough comps of the homepage and an interior page for the site, as well as selected a color palate that matched the logo he gave me.
I then met with him so he could see what I had accomplished and fortunately he really loved one of my designs (that I have attached) and wants to use it. With that selected and sorted out, we then covered what pages he would like on his site.
The next step, which we are working on is getting the content sorted out. He has so far given me about half of the content that is needed for his pages (keeping in mind the 300 word per page minimum rule).
He is also in the process of gathering all of his images he wants used, which I will get when I meet with him next week. During our next meeting I also want to get his hosting set up with BlueHost. He currently has a GoDaddy account but does not have any log in information. We’ve talked about it and he has confirmed that he does want to transition to BlueHost, which we will set up during our next meeting.
So far it’s been a great experience working with him. We are friends so we get along great and we definitely work well together. We have a plan to meet at least once a week or every other week, usually on a Thursday so that will definitely help communication wise. As of right now I am just waiting on a few items from him and then I can really dive into creating this site for his company!

I hope everyone else is having great success with their clients!

As of right now I have not officially secured a client for the synthesis course. I currently have two available clients that I am waiting for verification from. The first client is for a firm, Invertor Service Center (ISC), in White House, Tennessee, which my current co-op company, Marysville Marine, is affiliated with and actually owns as a side business. My company features a page about the ISC on our website, however, they have grown quickly and are in need of their own site.

Since we own this company, we are in charge of the branding that is needed. The marketing director has asked me to do the website, which is something I would need to do outside of work because my other responsibilities at my co-op take up all of my work time. I have never met the people that work at ISC so it would be a fun experience to get to know them and communicate with them through this project. I am hoping to receive verification from this client sometime this week. This problem that they are facing was brought to my attention right before the holidays and with everyone just coming back to work last week, it has been hectic and has been difficult to receive any feedback or news from them.

If the ISC client falls through, my backup clients will be a local band, Sea of Bears, that needs branding. I would do their logo, the cover art for their newest cd, flyers for their upcoming shows and possibly a small WordPress site with hosting. I have spoken with them and they are more than willing for me to work for them.

So far before this semester, in order to gain a client, I have contacted two possible clients. I got in touch with my marketing director and the ISC firm via email and am still waiting to hear back, although I do not see it as an issue. The ISC firm would be my first choice for a client, as it will be a great portfolio piece and it will make me even more reputable at my co-op, as this would be the first site I would produce for them.

However, if it doesn’t work out with them, I will be more than thrilled to be able to generate more branding for Sea of Bears. My work would be seen by many of their fans and I believe I would still be able to gain some great portfolio pieces.