Public Sociology Project: Website Suggestions for Dr. Foster's On-Campus Students

As explained in the syllabus, if you are one of my on-campus students, please do not choose this term-project option unless you already know how to create websites, are willing to learn on your own, or have a very kind friend. :-) (My online students are certainly welcome to read this essay, but it will not likely help you that much with your project.) Additionally, because the web is continually changing, I cannot be responsible for linked content on other sites.

With the above disclaimers, if you have elected to do the website project, you must include at least five websites in your research (the more, within reason, the better). The sites you include must all be completely distinct. In other words, they cannot be merely different pages or directories on the same site. Furthermore, you cannot link to any of the pages on my various websites or to the site of any textbook used in the class.

I will be looking for an attractive page – with good grammar, spelling, layout, graphics, a web page background, etc. For helpful pointers on grammar and writing style, check out this site.
Although many programs are available for those who would like to hand code their websites (write the HTML or XHTML themselves), I will begin with my own recommendations on both HTML/XHTML editors and FTP (file transfer protocol) programs. I will also discuss, as an alternative, the use of an online editor (a blogging site).

Please note that you are under absolutely no obligation to follow my advice regarding specific editors and FTP programs. There are many different views on these subjects. I am providing this information only because many students have asked me for advice.

Most of the applications which I personally utilize in website development are listed on this page. As you can see there, I mostly use HTML-Kit Tools for hand coding (editing). If you like it, too, and you are as much of a website development geek as I am, you might want to register the program. Doing so allows you to download the latest version. If, however, you are satisfied with the previous version, it is freeware (available at no cost).

Unfortunately, I am not very familiar with Macintosh products. However, Bare Bones Software makes the well-respected BBEdit (shareware) and TextWrangler (freeware) text editors for Macs. Yet another freeware editor (available for Mac, Windows, and Linux) is Bluefish, which has download directories on this page or this one. (Nevertheless, for Windows, I prefer HTML-Kit Tooks over any editor I have used.) Support can be found on each of the websites mentioned.

Most of the editors I mentioned above have built-in FTP (file transfer protocol) functions (to upload your web pages to a server). However, if your editor does not have one, or you would simply prefer a separate FTP client, here is a listing of some of them:

WS_FTP (a Windows program from Ipswitch): You can still download the old freeware version from one of my webspaces. Even though it is no longer being updated, I tested it, and it worked fine for me. Should it not do the same for you, please let me know. Current versions of this program (shareware) can be downloaded from the Ipswitch website.
FileZilla (freeware): This program is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. (It has the same gecko engine which is used by Firefox, Flock, SeaMonkey, Thunderbird, K-Meleon, etc.) The software can be downloaded from this site.
Fetch (shareware for the Mac): I have not tested this program, since I do not use a Mac, but it is very widely used. The download site is here.
Cyberduck: This is a freeware FTP client for Macintosh computers. Go here to download it.

If, on the other hand, you would rather not have to write most of your own HTML or XHTML code and to use FTP, then I have two suggestions. Both of them allow the user to go back and forth between hand coding and wysiwyg (short for "what you see is what you get"). With wysiwyg, the program or the script on the website writes the code for you.

One option is to download KompoZer (available for Windows, Mac, and various flavors of Linux), a freeware application. As stated on the lead developer's blog, KompoZer will eventually be merged with SeaMonkey Composer. (For free templates, check out Open Source Web Design, Minimalistic Design, and Dreamweaver Club. If those do not work, try Googling, in quotes, "free web page templates.")

Another is to sign up with WordPress (also free of charge). Although WordPress was designed for blogging, many other types of websites can be built with it, as well. To illustrate what can be done on WordPress, take a look at my Autism blog.

Please keep in mind, however, that you need to use American Sociological Association referencing style. Although you may be able to do so in wysiwyg mode, it is much easier with hand coding.

The majority of the buttons (below) were either designed or modified by me. Most of the rest were made by the software companies themselves. I have placed them here because some people like including links to their website creation programs. (I also have a larger collection of buttons – mostly created by me.)