CS-081 Assignment 8

This is your final assignment for the semester, and you are free to modify the basic requirements listed provided you check with me first. The basic idea is for you to demonstrate that you have masterd the basic techniques involved in structuring content, styling the content, and basic client-side programming.

You are to design a multi-page web site. It may implement any type of function you wish, such as a blog, discussion forum, shopping site, etc. It must have a home page that serves as the starting point for users first visiting the site, and it must include at least one page that provides a form for users to fill out and submit.

The site does not have to actually do anything in the sense that it will not connect to a database or involve any server-side programming. But it must provide a well-styled user interface, and must include Javascript code that does something meaningful.

Unlike other assignments this semester, which were graded either “ok” or “not ok,” this one will be graded on a ten point scale, and will count 10% of your course grade.

The home page for your site is to be index.php in a directory named Final_Assignment in your My Web Pages directory. Put any images that you use in an images subdirectory, put your Javascript code in a scripts subdirectory, and put your style sheet(s) in a subdirectory named css . Be sure your project works even if it is not installed in the web server’s document root. Be careful about upper/lower case file names: your project will be evaluated on a Unix system where case matters.

Your site will be graded using the following criteria:

• Site structure and navigation. Does the home (index) page tell what the site is about? Is there a logical structure to the different pages in the site that is clear to the user?
• Visual Appeal. Does the site use colors, images, text, and page layout to create an attractive and easy to understand presentation? Are links clearly indicated and well-styled?
• Form Validation. There must be at least one form, and it must use Javascript to validate that all required fields have been filled in, that an email address is entered twice and that both copies agree with each other. If you decide to build a site where that sort of form doesn’t make sense, provide something of equivalent complexity, both in the design of the form and in the complexity of the Javascript.
• W3C Validation. As always, all parts of your project must validate as XHTML 1.1 strict, and all CSS must validate with no warnings and no errors.

Dynamic effects, use of advanced layout techniques (floats, fixed positioning, etc.), and use of XMLHTTPRequest() will all enhance your grade for the projct, but are not required in order to get a grade of 8/10 for the assignment.

The assignment is due by midnight May 25 (the day of the final exam for the course). If there is anything I should know about your web site that won’t be obvious by starting at the home page, put a note in your email message when you submit the assignment.