About Me
Since the day I discovered the Internet, I've always been playing with it and trying to figure out how to make it do what I wanted. That mastery and control has come after years of practice, study, and playing. Two things continue to make me grow in this area.
CHum 284
I currently teach an Internet Publishing class at BYU called CHum 284. It's a class made for people that don't have much computer knowledge in that area but want to learn more to become more marketable. We start with the very basics of XHTML and why coding with standards is important. We then progress to CSS and separating our presentation information from the content of our page. XHTML is used to create the structure of our documents and then CSS is used to create the design. I stress this like nothing else. In order to fully show the power of CSS and to get them excited about it, I always introduce CSS with a visit to the CSSZenGarden. My TA, Heather Brough, and I are currently working on getting a style accepted there.
CHum 284 is where I teach what I know. It's a good place to refine the skills I have learned and practice explaining them so others can clearly understand how XHTML and CSS work. Questions will arise that I do not have the answer to and then I go and study–learn more. Some of the experiments or tutorials you find on Wussell are a result of this improvement.
Woven Tapestry
Woven Tapestry is a family web site that I run for my extended family. As a Latter-Day Saint, I strongly believe in the eternal nature of family and its importance in a Heavenly Realm. I run the web site to keep our family bonds strong and close. Our family is everywhere in the world but with the Internet, we're all next door.
Woven Tapestry is also my playground. It's there that I get to experiment with some of the more complex aspects of Internet Publishing. Because the class I teach serves as an introduction to XHTML and CSS, it only allows me to practice the basics. I need much more to be a true master. It is there that I play with PHP and MySQL. It is there that I learn how to construct sites that are complex but still easy for a person to use and navigate. After all, my grandmother who knows very little about computers needs to use the site just as much as my brothers who understand all the guts behind it.
One of my favorite things about Woven Tapestry is the complete separation between content and presentation. This allows me to create multiple different looks for Woven Tapestry to meet all the different tastes and likes in the family. It's also good practice for me. Every time I make a new style for the site, my CSS skills are stretched as new things are tried and different layouts attempted. I'm learning how flexible the structure of my documents are when it comes to design and finding ways in which I can make them even more so. Woven Tapestry can be as unique as the person who uses it.
Many of the things that you see here are a direct result of what I have learned from making and running this wonderful family home on the web.