This section provides the reader with knowledge about the technologies used in this project: Project Management Report, UCC, Ireland

The aim of this project, as outlined in the module description, was to “give students a deeper understanding of the industry in which they are placed”, enable them to “take responsibility for a full project life cycle”, “enable learners to consolidate and further their chosen area of study, and integrate knowledge and skills acquired from other modules that are part of this course”, “further develop a practical design and implementation skills” and “to motivate the learners to develop their independence, confidence, and self-esteem.”

I kept these objectives in mind while choosing the topic for my work-based project. Unfortunately because of the implementation of new technologies in my work placement, it was impossible to complete a substantial project that was fully based on my company.

The projects that I have chosen at first were not enough for this module, but I am glad to inform that they are still implemented at the company I work with, and they are proving to be very helpful.I have added brief descriptions of those in the appendix at the end of this report.

In the end, after consulting with my project supervisor I have decided on building a website using HTML and CSS. I was going to link it to my current field of work by making it about troubleshooting solutions we use in WiLine.

When starting this project, I was terrified. I knew nothing about HTML or CSS or creating a website. I thought to myself “I will not be able to do this, I will never finish it in time” but the project was meant to challenge me. It was supposed to teach me independence, confidence, and self-esteem. And that it did!

Beginnings were not easy but very soon I started to understand what I am doing and really enjoyed it too!

In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I finished the HTML and CSS part before the original deadline and so decided to add on a bit of extra JavaScript, when the deadline was moved, I was so hooked that I added PHP and a My SQL database too!

So, to go back to the objective for this project I can tick every one of them; as I did in fact learn more about the industry in which I work, I furthered my chosen field of study by learning 3 markup languages. I also integrated what I have already learned and certainly further developed my practical design and implementation skills. Last but not least as I have mentioned before I have proven to myself that I can do this, that I can stay motivated long enough, that I can keep deadlines and that I do in fact love this field of study. I am now confident that I will do good in this industry. In this report, I discuss my learning curve, project outline, my methods, findings, and conclusions.

Introduction:

This project is a website called“Lexi Troubleshoots”. The website is intended for WiLine interns like myself who are only starting and may get lost, confused, or frustrated while learning how to troubleshoot network issues. The aim of this project was to provide; illustrated, easily read, step-by-step solutions that can help to solve the confusion and fear of starting somewhere new.
This website intends to merely demonstrate new skills I have learned and does not contain all possible problems that arise in WiLine nor does it demonstrate all of my tasks as an intern there. This webpage was never intended to go online, but steps to do so are outlined at the end of this report.

Originally this project was planned to be a one webpage long site, written solely in HTML and CSS. This was planned under the assumption that it is possible to create a fully functional website using those two languages. It was thought that the workload was very large and any additional tasks may not fit within the time constraint. It quickly became apparent that to make a webpage functional more than HTML will be needed. In the end, the contents of this website are as follows: The one-page main page, 3 separate solution pages with 6 different solved issues, a contact form page, and a login/registration page.

It was created using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL, but note that mainly HTML and CSS are used as it was originally intended.

JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL are used only for specific tasks in the form submission and Login/Registration parts of this project.No extensive research was constructed on those languages, but only enough to understand what to do in order to complete those specific tasks. This project is a result of self-thought skills and a  trial and error method.

BACKGROUND

This section provides the reader with knowledge about the technologies used in this project.

When writing a webpage, it is important to find a text editor that is suitable.
Many of those exist.

This first stage of this website was written using a Notebook. The reason for this is that notebook, does not provide any help when writing code. Learning HTML and any other markup or scripting language require a lot of patience and accuracy.

Notebook is the perfect editor for beginners as writing code in it requires precision and focus. This will benefit someone who is only learning how to code.

After enough skill is acquired to understand the syntax and make minimal mistakes, it is recommended to use a more specialized text editor such as the second text editor used in creating this webpage: Atom.

An atom text editor is a specialized text editor that provides hints and helps when writing code. It will give suggestions while writing code, can mark mistakes, and color code for better visibility.