Project: WEB PAGE ADVENTURE (wpa0)

One of the original draws of the early World Wide Web, which for most people seems to have outpaced the general Internet in popularity, was the ability to host web pages.

We will be experiencing that very task, through the manual creation of our own web pages, as well as the necessary UNIX-related backdrop helping to ensure its operation.

Web pages are written in HTML (HyperText Markup Language), a document format that web browsers can interpret and render content to the screen.

They are reached via URLs (Uniform Resource Locators), which inform various tools of the how, where, and what to retrieve.

• how: what is known as a schema, this is the http://, https://, and ftp:// that far too often is abstracted by the web browser in the address bar. This doesn't mean it is by any means optional: the web browser still has to insert that information.
• where: host, fully-qualified domain name (FQDN), and any resultant path referencing the location of content on the server
• what: the actual file we wish to retrieve. Often times, if no specific file is requested, the web server can be configured to serve a default “index.html”.

In our case, we'll be using the Lab46 Web Server to host our own web content. Piecing together the above how, where, and what, our URL will resemble the following:

• https://lab46.g7n.org/~username/file.html

Many of you have likely already been interacting with your web URL as a means of facilitating activities in other assignments.

The “~username”, and specifically the tilde (~), is a server-configured feature indicating your home directory's web directory, which is public_html/, any content put under that directory and made world readable (public_html/ itself as well as your parent home directory must both have world search in order for it to work as well). You may create subdirectories under public_html/ and store web content under them- the same permissions requirements apply.

To reference any subdirectories, merely append the directory name after the “~username/” component of the URL.

Basic rule of thumb for file permissions is as follows:

• web pages and image assets need to be world readable
• directories (all directories from the home directory through directory containing your content) need to be world searchable

As indicated above, web documents intended for viewing in a web browser are predominantly either written (or ultimately displayed as) HTML.

HTML uses a set of predefined tags, very much like some of the wiki-based tags you may have used while maintaining your up-to-date weekly Journal entries.

A google search for HTML tags will turn up a seemingly unending list of information on HTML and the available tags, that information which you will be required to obtain to complete this project.

The basic format of many tags is of one of the two formats:

• pair (open and close): <p>This identifies a paragraph</p>
• unary (standalone): <img src="images/image1.png" />

The forward slash (stroke) is used to identify the closing tag, and is also present at the end of the unary tag.

Common mistakes are misspelling the tag, or forgetting to close an opening tag.

Your task for this project will be to create a series of web pages in the form of a simple web-based adventure game.

It will consist of a minimum of 11 pages (1 for start page, 1 for map page, 9 minimum for world pages– of course, you can always have more), each one consisting of a room that the viewer can navigate to.

You get to come up with the theme of your particular world/adventure. Is it medieval? Futuristic? Based in the Thundercats universe? Filled with furries? Bronies? Pick something you can have fun with that still conforms to the requirements.

Requirements are as follows:

• starting page in the base of your public_html/ directory named: adventure.html
  • This page should have an introduction describing the nature of your quest/adventure
• also in the base you should have a map.html file which describes the world you've created
  • it should provide a “map” allowing a viewer to successfully make it through to the goal and avoid any obstacles
• at least 9 additional pages making up your web-based adventure
  • each page must have a set of links to adjoining rooms (methods of connection up to you: left, right, up, down, north, south, etc.) and clicking on the link takes you to that adjoining page
  • there needs to be a logical connection of your rooms, so that there can exist a path or paths to enable the viewer to navigate from start to completion
  • you need to have (at least) 3 obstacles of some sort (unending abyss, space aliens abduct you, a hungry grue, or whatever fits the overall theme of your adventure). These can constitute dead ends (and if terminal dead ends, should only provide a link back to “start over”).
  • each page representing a room in your world needs to have (at minimum):
    • links to adjoining rooms (even if a terminal dead end- something to let the user “start over”)
    • descriptions of what the viewer encounters in each room, providing a narrative enticing the user to continue on this adventure you've crafted for them
    • each “room” page needs to be in its own subdirectory beneath public_html/, and any associated media files located in that same directory. At the very least, you must have a minimum of 3 subdirectories upon which your adventure is organized and correctly references content amongst
• you need to have at least 4 images scattered throughout your world. These can be in the form of a visual aid, augmenting any textual description found on a given page
• You must make use of the following:
  • text bolding
  • paragraphs
  • list
  • images
  • links
  • underline or italics
  • table
  • font color or size change

As this would be a great opportunity to better familiarize yourself with vi/vim, I will emphasize the following:

• I want you to create these files locally on lab46, using vim.
• This activity is more a focus on your file manipulation skills in the UNIX environment than a display of your web authoring skills.
• Not only am I not expecting anyone to have any prior web authoring experience, but I am interested in seeing how those with experience “cope” with a lack of any preferred “shiny” authoring tools.
  • Again, this isn't an endeavor to see how polished a site you can make, but instead how you deal with the remote and administrative aspects of web design (which frequently finds one interacting with UNIX systems).

Here are some prior semester examples, which you can use for inspiration (but please, no copying!)

• https://lab46.g7n.org/~mbaile21/adventure.html
• https://lab46.g7n.org/~cmaynar3/adventure.html
• https://lab46.g7n.org/~aslater1/adventure.html
• https://lab46.g7n.org/~lwenzel/adventure.html
• https://lab46.g7n.org/~mzarnoch/adventure.html
• https://lab46.g7n.org/~nburns/adventure.html
• https://lab46.g7n.org/~relliot9/wpa0/adventure.html

The spirit of the project embodies many aspects we've been focusing on throughout the semester:

• recognizing patterns to employ effective solutions in problem solving
• utilizing concepts and tools covered
• demonstrating comprehension of concepts, tools, and problems
• employing concepts in knowledgeable and thoughtful manner
• following instructions
• implementing to specifications
• utilizing creativity
• being able to control solution via consistent, clear, and organized presentation

Basically: I want your solution to be the result of an honest, genuine brainstorming process where you have (on your own) figured out a path to solving the problem, you have dabbled and experimented and figured things out, and you can command the concepts and tools with a fluency enabling you to pull off such a feat. Your solution should demonstrate the real learning that took place and experience gained.

Cutting corners, avoiding work, skimping on functionality, cheating through getting others to do work for you or finding pre-packaged “answers” on the internet violates the spirit of the project, for they betray your ability to pull off the task on your own.

To successfully complete this project, the following criteria must be met:

• All criteria indicated above
• To signal completion, submit the following to me:
  • URL of your starting page in your lab46 web space.
  • gzipped tar archive of your entire web page adventure content (including images, all in their respective subdirectories based off ~/public_html/ as the base directory).
    • archive must preserve your original permissions.

To submit this project to me using the submit tool, run the following command at your lab46 prompt:

$ submit unix wpa0 wpa0.tar.gz https://lab46.g7n.org/~username/adventure.html
Submitting unix project "wpa0":
    -> wpa0.tar.gz (OK)
    -> https://lab46.g7n.org/~username/adventure.html(OK)

SUCCESSFULLY SUBMITTED

You should get some sort of confirmation indicating successful submission if all went according to plan. If not, check for typos or location mismatches.

I'll be evaluating the project based on the following criteria:

78:wpa0:final tally of results (78/78)
*:wpa0:successfully submitted project [4/4]
*:wpa0:correct URL given [4/4]
*:wpa0:has starting page at /adventure.{html,php} [4/4]
*:wpa0:adventure starting page describes adventure [4/4]
*:wpa0:adventure page has link(s) to navigate [4/4]
*:wpa0:has map page at /map.{html,php} [4/4]
*:wpa0:map provides clear information on how to navigate [4/4]
*:wpa0:at least 9 additional pages [4/4]
*:wpa0:each additional page has link(s) to navigate [4/4]
*:wpa0:each additional page is connected via available links [6/6]
*:wpa0:adventure contains at least 3 terminal end points [4/4]
*:wpa0:adventure contains at least 4 images [4/4]
*:wpa0:adventure pages utilize additional content enhancements [6/6]
*:wpa0:minimum of three subdirectories storing adventure files [4/4]
*:wpa0:content correctly referenced within directory [6/6]
*:wpa0:page and media located in pertinent directory [4/4]
*:wpa0:content is original [4/4]
*:wpa0:content has a consistent theme [4/4]