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In his first chapter of “Journalism Next,” Mark Briggs states that in order to be successful, journalists must have a working knowledge website design and development. Considering the trend of news distribution transitioning from print to online, this makes perfect sense, but can be intimidating. Even for young adults who have been utilizing the internet for years.

Thankfully, Briggs breaks down tricky “Web speak” into comprehensive explanations and tips. Here are some of the items he addressed that were most helpful for me:

  • Web browsers

I have been using Firefox for years now, ever since I bought my beloved MacBook. However, I had no idea that browsers temporarily hold onto all the files you download on the Web in a cache. Briggs recommends regularly clearing the cache, which enables the browsers to work faster and more efficiently. My eyes widened as I read this. No wonder my internet runs infuriatingly slow! My first task of chapter one: Clear cache. Check.

  • Real Simple Syndication (RSS)

I’ve been hearing a lot about RSS feeds in my classes recently. Although I had an elementary understanding of what they were, I didn’t see how they were really going to be useful to me. It almost seemed like a massive news feed of other articles, which is primarily what I use Twitter for. I receive regular news updates automatically to my phone. But when Briggs pointed out that my job is to receive information from multiple different sources (like expanding your media pyramid), I decided to go ahead and try out this whole RSS thing. This was two days ago, and I’m already hooked!

I set up an account with iGoogle, which took less than thirty seconds. Whenever I open Firefox, my homepage is now a wealth of information covering topics from local weather to news to online journalism and fitness blogs. I can even glance at Food Network’s recipe of the day.

Task two: Set up RSS feed. Check.

  • Web-design basics

In order to graduate from George Mason University, I was required to take (and pass) a simple IT lecture and lab. While the process was grueling, I finished that semester with a six-page website that I was actually quite proud of. The entire page was written from basic HTML, and I played around with colors, fonts, graphics and images. I sent links to my parents, who were clearly not as impressed as I was, but nonetheless. I proved to myself I was capable of creating a (VERY basic) website all on my own.

However, I am certainly not under the impression that anyone other than my parents would spend more than twenty seconds looking at my simple, unexciting site. And that’s where CSS and XML come in.

According to Briggs, CSS “makes Web sites look cool” and XML “uses tags to describe what data is.” Both are used as a complement to HTML.

Briggs provided tutorials explaining how to use both to make Web pages more exciting. I spent about half an hour playing around with my previously created website, and sure enough, CSS definitely did make my it look cooler.

Task three: Play around with HTML, CSS and XML. Check.

While I doubt I will ever be a graphic designer, I was impressed by the difference a few lines of coding makes in a site’s overall appearance.

For anyone interested in learning more about web design (I found CSS to be the “coolest”), I highly suggest checking out this site: www.csszengarden.com.

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