Online Publishing

Gloria Shields All-American Workshop

I took this class in preparation for my senior year; I am Texas High's online Editor in Chief.

What I learned..

At first, coding was completely confusing to me, (it still sort of is), but now I know enough basics to get me on the right track. Our teacher was able to show us multiple platforms to utilize in order to create attractive web pages and social media posts to boost the quality of our school's jounrnalism program.

Our goals and assignment

The goal of the class was to teach us how to effectively publish online content as well as to create a voice for our own unique publication. I went into this class knowing very little about the backstages of the Internet and how websites are actually constructed. So with this in mind, we were given a task to create a story using a new platform and to code it into our own web page.I decided to use Adobe Spark to generate my project, and since it is the month of June, I chose to focus on Pride Month for the LGBT. Loud and Proud

Using Adobe Spark..

Navigating Adobe Spark is fairly simple, it takes all the complexity of indesign and photoshop and allows you to surf over and click on already made templates and designs for usage. For this project, I used the post and page componets, and took my own photos using my iphone, (which would explain the bad hotel lighting and angles). However, some photos I actually made using the design tool and pulling ideas off of Twitter. Others, I recycled from the previous newspaper, and used an illustration created by one of my staff members.

The Reporting Process

For some reason the nerves never seem to go away before an interview. I can remember some of my first times to talk to complete strangers and it was completely nervewracking. But, it gets easier with time. I interviewed five people, but only kept it to four due to theme issues. Using open ended questions, I was able to garner responses that gave me feedback that was unique to each subject.

Gathering Quotes and Forming a Story

After trasncribibng all the quotes, I began to place the information and designed my subjects pictures. I overlaid quotes that I thought was profound on the picture using Adobe Post, which was super easy. From there, I placed it on the page and chose my theme. I did some research for factual evidence and began to think of what Pride Month means to me, and how I personally related to it. My story formed around my quotes and the project was near finished.

Other Tools to Use and Explore