Session 36 (December 11th)

Fitness for Purpose

 

My product/project is useful to others as it may help foreign tourists worldwide who plan to travel to Hong Kong sometime in the future. The purpose of the website is to promote Hong Kong’s tourism industry and to help the tourism industry in Hong Kong to grow. As there may be many other options that tourists can choose from online, my websites will include very rare attractions and many recommendations by myself, which makes the website unique. I will try and guide tourists to main attractions such as Victoria Harbour and the Peak, but in the meantime I will attempt to guide them to the old parts of Hong Kong, for an intake of 20^th century culture in Hong Kong. Directions will be given to tourists, mainly containing of public transport, just for tourists to blend in with the modern day world of Hong Kong. Recommendations of restaurants and places of rest will be pointed out, promoting cheap yet high quality food and accommodation for tourists.

 

The website must be easily accessible to tourists, such as it needs to adapt to the different levels of ICT of people from around the world. It should be simple to use and should not consist of many drop menus or expanding menus, as this may be rather confusing. I will be using a navigation menu on the left side of the website, which will guide tourists to all pages of the website. A homepage tab will be placed for the ease of access.

Session 35 (December 4th)

Using the tutorial for Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, I created essential files in my folder where I kept my images and text. By doing it this way, it was much easier to use these two pieces of information and put them into the site. Just for faster upload times for images, I resized my images to a resolution of 720 x 480, as this size is large enough to be shown on a website and will significantly reduce upload speeds and will reduce loading times for viewers. To do this, I imported the picture into Adobe Fireworks CS4 and changed the dimensions there.

Session 34 (December 1st)

I have created a simple version of my navigation menu for my website, a screenshot is provided above in a preview via the Opera browser.

The navigation menu becomes highlighted in a blue colour when the cursor moves onto it.

The site does not direct to an empty page as it is not linked yet. The text is bold and easily stands out to viewers. An expansion is needed for more pages such as accomodation etc.

Session 33 (November 25th)

After finishing the basic layout of my website on CS5, (as seen on early posts), this is the list of things I will do in order:

-Adding colour to the website

-Font choices, text (mainly san serif font)

-Background choice that does not interfere with the text

-Images in pages

-Navigation Menu for the website

-Information/content of the site

-Linking pages to the navigation menu

Session 32 (November 17th)

During the process of creating my website using Adobe Dreamweaver CS4, an update for the software was detected and I had to revert to the changes that the update had done to the software. The version was updated to CS5, where most of the button layouts were changed and the screen functions were different. This caused difficulties in my processing of my website as I had to retrack what I had down and to use a new tutorial which would guide me through the new software.

URL of new tutorial: http://www.thesitewizard.com/dreamweaver/dreamweaver-cs5-tutorial-1.shtml

Everything was basically similar between the tutorials, all except there were new functions and the pre-existing buttons were renamed, which caused me a while to figure out. I also had problems opening my CS4 website file in the new software, as it didn't allow it. Therefore I chose to redo the website as I hadn't gone too far with it.

Session 31 (November 9th)

Japan Tourism Website

URL: http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/

Publisher: Japan National Tourism Organisation

Information Used: Website layout

Description of website: This is the official website for Japan tourism. I am using this website for the reference of a website layout. Similar to the official website for Hong Kong, important details are included for tourists such as weather, accommodation and attractions etc. Additionally, there is a wider choice of foreign languages and also maps and travel planners for the ease of tourists.

Session 30 (November 3rd)

Discover Hong Kong – Tourism Website

URL: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/

Publisher: Hong Kong Tourism Board

Information Used: Attractions, Dining, Touring and transportation links.

Description of the Website: This website is the official tourism website for Hong Kong. All information about Hong Kong is included there, such as attractions, dining and accommodation etc. The website uses flash (the background image changes at 10 second intervals showing scenery of HK), which also equips itself with a Google search bar for the ease of tourists. Upcoming important dates are shown on the main page for tourists to see and the weather in Hong Kong is clearly shown.

Session 29 (October 30th)

Dreamweaver CS4 Tutorial: How to Create a Website with Dreamweaver CS4

This tutorial gives a full walkthrough of the skills needed to create working website with html and an official link. It tells us how to create side bars for different sections of information, and also how to input images into our websites. Extra material for enhancing a website is included by using code inputs in Dreamweaver.

Session 28 (October 22nd)

Idea 3: This is the basic presentation of my first idea in Adobe Dreamweaver. I have used Lorem Ipsum text to mimic the presentation of the website when complete. I have designed this by using a collaboration of drop down and expanding menus, unveiling information, whereas saving space and making the website simplistic. The small circle with a “+” sign acts as the expansion button unveiling the information. An image such as the scenery of Hong Kong will be placed at the decorative image shown above. The website title will be placed at the “Our Company” area. On the top right, there will be information on Privacy Policies.

There are 4 sub menus below the heading highlights in blue, representing different areas of information such as accommodation and attractions.

Session 27 (October 14th)

Above is a screenshot of the beginning of the process for my website. It shows a clear homepage at the centre along with a navigation menu that I will extend for more information. The copyright claims are at the bottom of the page. Graphical input is needed to make the website more attractive to people.

Session 26 (October 7th)

Idea 1: This template consists of many different website effects such as scroll down menus and drop down menus. This makes the effect on this website better as it seems to be a better way to insert information on a website using a more exciting method. The use of Lorem Ipsum text is to have a preview of the website if complete. Backgrounds can be changed e.g. the landscape of Hong Kong and the text may be changed by using bolder text that stands out to viewers.
Idea 2: This template contains again of drop down menus and scroll bar menus. Pretty much the same as the design above, it also inherits a sense of modernity and can be suitable for many different website themes.

Session 25 (September 22nd)

Other places visited during a walk around of Hong Kong:

Victoria Harbour: Definitely the highlight of Hong Kong, the vast and busy harbour trespassing Hong Kong inherits a beautiful and spectacular view throughout the day and night.

Hong Kong Geopark: Enlisted as a Hong Kong Heritage site, this preserved park is located on an island formed billions of years ago. The spectacular rock formation and the hexagonal shaped columns are definitely a unique sight for tourists.

Session 24 (September 13th)

During the weekends, I had a tour around the outskirts of the busy metropolitan world of Hong Kong into the unseen and unvisited areas of Hong Kong. Below are a few images of landmarks I recommend to tourists to visit for some cultural areas of Hong Kong.

Market in Central:

Markets are the common features in Hong Kong lifestyle, from fresh fish to fresh meat, everything is available in the long streets of markets all around Hong Kong. This market in particular, heads downwards into the Central Business District of Hong Kong.

Victoria Jail:

Located directly next to the police station, this jail is remote presently and was used as a prison back in the 1900's, due to it's lack of space, it was very soon used for other purposes during the time.

Central Police Office, Hollywood Road.

Built in the early 19oo's, this is the first Victorian style police station and is the only of it's type to be visible in Hong Kong. An interesting fact is it is directly linked to the Victoria Prison, which is now a remote jail only used for special viewing purposes only

Session 23 (September 3rd)

Tutorials:

Due to a limited skill and knowledge of using Adobe Dreamweaver, I will be using a tutorial online to guide me through the set-up of the creation of my website. I will learn how to build alongside the procedures and will implement my designated design brief during the guide. I will be screen shotting most of the procedures for reference which will build on my progress in the website. Annotations are also vital.

Sites:

http://www.thesitewizard.com/gettingstarted/dreamweaver-cs4-tutorial-1.shtml

http://bestwebdesignz.com/tips/dreamweaver/dreamweaver-cs4-tutorial/

I will try to use my pre-existing knowledge of Dreamweaver from the skills I learnt in Year 9.

Session 22 (August 21st)

By viewing my initial ideas for the layout of my website, I have concluded my idea into a final idea, which I will be using as a guideline for the actual website layout. Colours will be experimented during the design of the website, as it may look different in reality than on the computer. My design consists of a basic sidebar on the left of the website and a bold title at the top. The content will simply be available at the central focus of the website, at the centre. I will be attempting to prevent my website from opening different windows after clicking, for faster viewing speeds and a more convenient way to present it to viewers.

As mentioned, I will be using Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 to complete the website, afterwards making a complete html for the site.

The Final Idea is listed below*

Session 21 (July 26th)

Screenshot of Email with Interview 1:

Client Name: Lai Ting Fung

-Graduate in Computer Science

This screenshot shows the online interview through the email system, which is a reply about the specifications of the website I will create and some hints and tips on how to layout them using specific software.

Session 20 (June 13th)

Posted underneath are my design plans for the layout of the website. These are my first ideas and have been looked at by my client. I have asked him to give a few comments on each of the 4 designs for further rendering of the layout in more detail (final design)

*Scans here*

Session 19 (May 30th)

May 27th E-mail response from scanned ideas of website

------------------------------------

Dear Irwin,

I have recently viewed your design briefs and you have a very clear understanding of what you are going to do while constructing the website. You should add some background images to your pages to make it more artistic. You should also visit other tourism sites to gather more ideas, as your ideas are too simple and are very similar to the design of the HK tourism website. Since you are a HK citizen, you should also include your own personal routes for sightseeing within HK, just to gibe people another perspective of viewing HK! Attractions shouldn't only be the typical Victoria Harbor or the Ngong Ping 360, you could take the tourists to places which interest you, as a HK citizen, you should know best!

Your site layouts are very thorough, just spice it up with decorative implements, and if you have the ability, y u could add some flashes into your website!

Best Regards,

Lai Ting Fung

---------------------------------

Session 18 (14th May)

Client Interview:

Mr. Lai Ting Fung (I.T. Programmer of HK Tourism Board)

May 10th - e-mail conversation

-----------------------------------

Dear Mr. Lai,

I am a student of West Island School, and I am wishing for some help on my oncoming project of a tourism based website for Hong Kong. I have been browsing through the HK tourism website and I have been very pleased with the amount of detail. I would like to know what information I may need to include on my website, and I would most likely be using Adobe Dreamweaver to build my website.

Sincerely,

Irwin Chan

-----------------------------------

Dear. Irwin,

I am glad you have an interest to promote HK tourism to international customers. I have recently been receiving e-mails like yours which consist of questions on making a website for tourism, and one thing I must ensure you must not do is copy text from other websites with copyright claims. You can most certainly be punished if you do so, and if you do want to use information from other sites, you must seek permission of the owner of that site. Putting information into your own words are fine, but they must be in your own words!

Adobe Dreamweaver is a very thorough and great software for building websites, but may be quite difficult to use, I suggest you looking for tutorials online foe help. The website must contain detailed information, such as accommodation, food, transportation. You should give enough information for tourists to easily get there way around and will be able to plan their journey from your website beforehand. That is the key of a tourism based website.

I suggest you starting off by making separate tabs for the information to go into, such as attractions, accommodation and many more. You may one to link to weather websites of HK and probably information on the HK currency for foreign travelers.

If you need more help, please inform me anytime!

Best Regards,

Mr. Lai Ting Fung

Session 17 (24th April)

Back to the music of the videos I may produce, I think it will be best to put traditional chinese music, which will bring the tourists a warm welcoming of Hong Kong. As from before, the website has to be user friendly and must link to existing websites for further reference of tourists.

This may be the official website of the HK tourism board (existing website). It contains a very in depth look into every aspect of Hong Kong, such as how to get around the city (transport) and tourism attractions.

For the project, I have also found a client from the HK tourism board, which will help me on the research for my website. He will help me improve my thoughts of how to create the website in a better way. Instead of interviewing and recording the conversation, since my client has emailed me that he cannot make it because of a busy schedule, so we will keep in contact using email services. I will then transfer the text he writes into the blog. It may also be easier to screenshot the email.

Session 16 (16th April)

3.2 Proposed product or service: The website I will create must not mislead people to the wrong tabs, and shall not confuse anybody. It needs to successfully lead people to where they want to read their information.

Additionally in order to give the people accurate information, I should frequently update the website for information such as weather, currency exchange prices etc. In other cases, I can also link the website to the HK observatory or to a program that updates information for tourists.

To include videos in my website to show tourists, I need to input things such as appropriate music and pictures, which must be taken by myself. This information should be appropriate to HK and tourists. To get this video on my website, I should attach a link there which goes to another website containing the video, or compress the video to a decent size and attach it to a tab in the website. The music should be soothing for tourists to listen to and should not include any lyrics. This will disturb tourists as they watch the video. It should also not include genre music such as rock, pop, metal etc.

Session 15 (25th March)

Dining and Shopping in Hong Kong

Tourists who travel to HK may enjoy to wide range of cuisines HK has to offer. Hong Kong is well known for its delicious foods from all around the world. Worldwide cuisine in HK has been said to be even better than the actual food originated from the country. But most tourists come to experience the true cuisine of HK, they are able to choose from a wide range of Dim Sum. These are delightful, mouth-watering Chinese snacks served in steaming bamboo baskets and eaten with pots and pots of Chinese tea for breakfast or lunch. Steamed pork buns, shrimp dumplings, beef balls and pan-fried squid with spicy salt are just some of the local favourites.

Seafood is another choice for tourists to enjoy. Huge tanks of live fish and containers of prawns, crabs, scallops, clams, oysters and other seafood for attention. Preparing fresh, live seafood is a culinary art in Hong Kong, where skilled Cantonese chefs will make distinctive flavours and textures of their fishy dishes. There are four seafood locations for waterfront dining- Sai Kung, Lei Yue Mun, and the islands of Lamma and Cheung Chau.

Nevertheless, HK may also be known as the shopping paradise, from huge department stores containing worldwide brands to narrow streets selling traditional HK things. Many tourists from around the world come to HK to shop, as there are no taxes in HK to pay and most famous brands are rather cheap in comparison to origin countries. Ranging from clothing, electronics and all sorts of assessories, HK is the best shopping district for anybody.

Session 14 (16th March)

Golden Bauhinia Square and & Flag Raising Ceremony

Golden Bauhinia Square (commonly known as the Expo Promenade) marks the most important ocassion in HK's history, and the return of the former British colony to the People's Republic of China, and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The main ceremonies took place on the night of 30 June 1997. The Hong Kong SAR was formed on 1 July under its Chief Executive, Shanghai-born former shipping magnate, Tung Chee-Hwa.

Daily Flag Raising Ceremony- Daily, 7:50am - 8:03am

Enhanced Flag Raising Ceremony- On the 1st of every month, 7:45am - 8:13am

Avenue of Stars

Discover what makes Hong Kong the Hollywood of the East at this tribute to the professionals who have contributed to the territory's hundred-year history of filmmaking. The Avenue of Stars features commemorative plaques, handprints of movie celebrities, descriptive milestones, kiosks with movie memorabilia, a towering Hong Kong Film Awards statuette, and a life-size statue of the legendary kung-fu action star, Bruce Lee. The location on the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade offers incredible panoramic views of the famed Victoria Harbour and the memorable Hong Kong skyline. It is also a good place to watch the spectacular "A Symphony of Lights", a nightly multimedia show with added pyrotechnics on special occasions.

Clock Tower

The old Clock Tower near the Star Ferry in Tsim Sha Tsui is a declared monument and a landmark from the Age of Steam, when it formed part of the Kowloon - Canton Railway terminus.

Erected in 1915, the distinctive 44-metre red brick and granite tower is a graceful reminder of those Colonial times. But over many pre-war years it had far greater significance for innumerable Chinese migrants for whom the former terminus was the conduit to new lives either in Hong Kong or by ship to distant destinations overseas.

Today, the site of the historic railway station is occupied by the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, its curving roof and futuristic features creating an unusual background to the Clock Tower.

Tsing Ma Bridge

The magnificent Tsing Ma Bridge, the world's longest span suspension bridge carrying both road and rail traffic, is the key connection between Hong Kong and its international airport on Lantau Island. The bridge is 2.2 kilometres long, with the main span measuring 1,377 metres. The towers supporting the bridge are 206 metres high with a clearance of 62 metres. Approximately 49,000 tonnes of structural steel was used in the construction of the bridge, which cost HK$7.14 billion to build. This was only 5% of the total cost of HK$155.3 billion for all the Airport Core Projects, acclaimed as one of the top 10 construction projects of the 20th Century.

Session 13 (28th February)

Hong Kong National Geopark

covers an area of 50 square kilometres across parts of the Eastern and Northeastern New Territories. It is divided into the Northeast New Territories Sedimentary Rock Region and the Sai Kung Volcanic Rock Region, with each region featuring four Geo-Areas, or eight in total. Within the Sai Kung Volcanic Rock Region lie Sharp Island, High Island, the Ninepin Group and the Ung Kong Group, whereas the Northeast New Territories Sedimentary Rock Region includes Double Haven, Tolo Channel, Tung Ping Chau, Port Island and Bluff Head.

Stanley Market and Murray House

A popular market town on the sunny south side of Hong Kong Island, Stanley's relaxed ambience, crisp sea environs and bargain buys have made it world famous.

Seven days a week the open market around Stanley New Street and Stanley Market Road throbs with the passing parade of life as bargain-hunters from all over the world join in the fun of haggling with shopkeepers and stallholders. Choose from brand-name clothing and accessories, or simply irresistible souvenirs, ornaments and other Oriental knick-knacks. The market is open from 10:30am to 6:30pm.

Stanley also has beautiful beaches that are popular with windsurfers. And when you're feeling peckish, you'll find a wide variety of funky bars and great restaurants to enjoy.

Among the more interesting restaurant sites on the waterfront is Murray House, a 160-year-old restored three-storey colonial building that was dismantled in 1982 from its original site in Central and then rebuilt in Stanley. It was restored in 1998 and now houses the Hong Kong Maritime Museum as well as restaurants.

Situated beside Murray House is Blake Pier at Stanley. Originally located in Central, Blake Pier was first dismantled in 1965 and later relocated to Morse Park to form the roof of the Morse Park pavilion. Now it has returned to its role as a public pier in Stanley, complementing the colonial architectural style of Murray House.

This information comes from the official HK Tourism Board website (using for research use).

Session 12 (16th February)

Some more tourism attractions:

Jumbo Kingdom: Opened in 1976, the Jumbo "Floating" Restaurant is a truly unique place for tourists to visit and enjoy a traditional chinese meal. It can accomodate 2,300 people at a time, and is situated in Aberdeen Harbour.

Golden Bauhinia Square: The Expo Promenade (also known as Golden Bauhinia Square) outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on the Wan Chai waterfront marks the most significant occasion in Hong Kong's history - the return of the former British colony to the People's Republic of China, and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
The "Forever Blooming Bauhinia" Sculpture (Golden Bauhinia) is a gift from the Central Goverment to mark the widespread joy of the people at the return of the territory to the Motherland after more than 150 years. Other gifts to commemorate the historic occasion were sent by each of China's provinces, autonomous regions and other territories.

Session 11 (2nd February)

3. Analysis

Investigation: To gather information for my website, I need to:

- Interview some tourists or the HK tourism board for some tourism in HK information

- Make some surveys/questionnaires for HK people and tourisms asking them what they think HK is famous for and why.

- Background research for accomodation, attractions, foods etc.

- Visit some websites on the tourism in HK (such as the HK tourism board site)
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/index.html

Session 10 (28th January)

1.3- Planning

The ICT I will include in my website are:

Video- I will need to create a storyboard for the video (planning). I will use the software "Windows Movie Maker" to put together my videos for editing. I will need to gather actors to promote my product.
Animation
Taking Pictures- I will go outside around HK to take pictures at scenic spots using a digital camera. I will then use Adobe Photoshop CS3/4 to edit them.
Website creation- Adobe Dreamweaver CS3/4, Adobe Photoshop CS3/4 to edit some pictures (adding some effects to make it more proffesional).
Interview- Go to the HK Tourism Board and try to get some information about tourism in HK.

Session 9 (19th January)

I will be using the following hardware/software to produce my website:

Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Web Premium (Windows XP/ Windows 7 and Windows Vista)
Requirements: 1 GHz Processor Speed, 512 MB RAM, and a minimum of 5 GB hardware memory
Website: http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/

Alternatives: Web Studio 5.0 (Windows XP/ Windows 7 and Windows Vista)
Requirements: 1 GHz Processor Speed, 1 GB RAM, and a minimum of 4 GB hardware memory
Website: http://www.webstudio.com/

In comparison, Web Studio 5 is the better choice because it supports more user friendly controls, such as:
Drag & Drop Layouts, Slideshows, In-Program Video Tutorials, and a highly illustrated manual for people who are new to the software. I think this piece of software to me is more useful because there are built in tutorials, so I can easily learn to create a website with ease. The controls of dreamweaver are more complex, and requires more skill to achieve to the best effect.

Alternatives: Microsoft Expression Web 3 (Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows Vista)

Microsoft Office 2003 or better (Word, Powerpoint, Excel)
Compatible for most computers based on Windows XP

Session 8 (5th January 2010)

Facilities

In order to reach the requirements for creating a website, I need:

Operating Systems: PC- 98/2000 or newer, Macintosh- OS 8.1

Any computer with a public IP connection to the internet. The machine has to be online all the time for the site to be accessible.

P3+ computer with decent RAM (128 MB+) is recommended for viewing and creating websites.