Online PLATFORMS

Nature and Purposes of online platforms

Platform- in computing, an operating system and computer hardware. (by Techopedia).
- Follows set of standards. enables software developers to develop software applications.
- a system that can be programmed and therefore customized by outside developers-users.
(by Marc Andreessen)

3 Levels of Platform:
Level 1 – Access API
- most common type of internet platform. the apps on this level run elsewhere and call into the platform via
web services API to draw on data and services. API means Application Programming Interfaces.

Level 2 – Plug-in API

- Has been used in end-user applications to let developers build new functions that can be injected or
plugged into the core system and UI. Best online example: Google Chrome

Level 3 – Runtime Environment

- Third-party application code actually runs inside the platform-developer code is uploaded and runs online,
inside the core system. Referred to as “Online Platforms”

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Web Design Principles

- “Web design is a concept of planning, creating and maintaining websites.” by Cleverism

8 Web Design Principles

1. Visual Hierarchy
- this explains the order in which human eye perceives what it sees.
- Technique wherein the developer have to distinguish the importance of
every part of your web page.
- Elements should be ranked according to its importance and objectives

2. Proportion
- as the designer, you should keep in mind the proper division of the contents
of your web page to avoid crowding the view.
- We can make use the golden ratio and Fibonacci

3. Hick’s Law
- considered as a guideline for decision-making in a viewer’s perspective.
- states that “with every additional choice, the time required to make a decision increases.”

4. Fitts’ Law
- according to this law, the time needed to move to a target is dependent upon
the size of the target as well as the distance to the target.
- this means that the larger the target and the shorter the distance,
the easier would it be to move it or reach it

5. Accessibility
- when a visitor enters the website, he or she must be able to access each bit of information in the
easiest manner.
- typefaces must be readable.
- make your own color palette and choose contrasting colors.
6. Visible Language
- a web page design must communicate with the users clearly and in an engaging manner.
-the principles for a successful visual language: organize, economize, and communicate.

7. White Space and Simple Design

- white space helps divide the web page in to several distinct parts that make it simpler for the users
to process information.
3 Types of Layout
1. Grid-based layout.
- Divided into columns, boxes and different sections.
2. F-pattern.
- The natural reading behavior
3. Conventional designs.
- Conventional or conservative designs still work well as far
as visitor response or likeability is concerned.

8. Regular Testing
- Test Early and Test Often (TETO) conducting usability tests every now and then provides important
results and insights for possible problems. Websites constantly need upgrades and updates.

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Web Design Elements

- to come up with a good web design and an effective visual and technical appeal of a website, there are
some elements that must be considered

5 Web Design Elements

1. Links
 Normal - This is the default state of a link
 Visited - A link that is not being hovered over but whose target has been visited by the user.
 Active - One that is currently being clicked by the user
 Hover - Is what the link looks like when the user moves the mouse over it.

2. Forms
 Form Label
- Forms typically collect personal data that users are reluctant to give out.
 Input Fields and Labels
- Plan on how the input fields of the form will be laid out on the page

3. Form Validation
- This is the critical point where the website communicates the user requirements and errors in a form.
a) Required Fields
- all required fields should be indicated. This is done usually with an asterisk.
b) Real-time Validation
- this kind of validation informs the user as quickly as possible of any problems with the
data they inputted.
c) Post-back Validation
- this kind of validation happens after the user has submitted the form.
4. Status messages:
 Errors, Warnings, Confirmation.
- Users will usually need some sort of feedback after performing an action on your website.

5. Animations:
 Pop-ups, Tooltips, Transitions
- If animations are critical, it is best to provide developers with a sample of how they should work so
that the product functions as it should.
i. Tooltips
– those little pop-ups when user’s mouse hovers over elements
ii. Image rotators
– home page slide shows are all the rage, and a wide range of options
is available for transitions and styles.
iii. Lightbox
– you can style not only the lightbox itself, but also the transition to it.

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Web Page Design: Using Templates and Online WYSIWYG Platforms

Web Template
- is a ready-made design for your website, including images, some navigation, preferably several
sample pages and in some cases flash animations. (Wix and Weebly are free website builders)

Advantages of Using Templates

1. You know how your finished site looks. You can choose the template that appeals you.
2. Faster turnaround. You need to spend a lot of time on getting the colors and layout right.
3. Templates are much cheaper than hiring a web developer.
4. Templates look much better than sites developed in traditional HTML programming.
5. Templates can be customized by anyone with basic HTML knowledge.

Wysiwyg
- An acronym for “what you see is what you get”.
- Most WYSIWYG editors are installed in the computer then it allows the developer to build and
preview the site.
- Adobe Dreamweaver, Rapidweaver, Microsoft SharePoint Designer and WYSIWYG Web builder are
some examples of WYSIWYG editors.

Advantages of Using WYSIWYG Editors

1. It is great and fun. You can do it yourself.
2. It is a faster and easier to create web pages.
3. You can make changes to context(text or images) in WYSIWYG editor.
4. WYSIWYG software runs on any windows computer.
5. You can also create background image on the fly.

Online TECHNOLOGIES
- Online technologies also include presentation programs, forms and file management
that are available over the internet.
- According to TechTarget, cloud computing is a term for the
delivery of hosted services over the internet.
3 Main Benefits of Cloud Computing
1. Self-service provisioning
- End users can spin up computing resources for almost any type of workload on-demand.
2. Elasticity
- Companies can scale up as computing needs increase and then scale down again as demand
decreases.
3. Pay-per-use
- Measured at granular level allowing users to pay for the resources and workload they use.

Presentation Tools
 Prezi
- founded in 2009 by Peter Arvai, Peter Halacsy and Adam Somlai-Fischer.
- a presentation resource that features a zoomable canvas unlike the box-type slides.
 Emaze
- works similarly with prezi

Cloud Computing and Mapping

- A mind map is a concept of using diagrams for representing tasks, words, concepts
or items linked to and arranged around a central concept or subject.
 MindMeister
- an online mind mapping tool that allows users to create, develop and share ideas visually.
- It is for brain-storming, note taking, project planning and other creative tasks.
 Sibelius
- is an online platform used for writing music.
- A notation software that features a magnetic layout and other tools good for music
compositions.
 Google Forms
- part of Google Drive, a tool used for creating surveys, tests or web input forms.

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COLLABORATIVE DEVELOPMENT

COLLABORATION
- refers to the process of two or more people, entities, or organizations working together to complete a
task or achieve a goal.

- This strategy in project management is used to enhance efficiency, increase productivity, and improve
problem-solving.

- Working collaboratively, instead of individually, helps improve productivity and gives employees a
sense of purpose in the organization.

6 Common Principles:
1. Participation - Encourage participation from across your organization
2. Collective - Each needs to help the group reach a consensus and then take action collectively on the
decision to make.
3. Transparency - Feedback and trust are essential elements of collaboration. Being transparent with
information is crucial
4. Independence - Ensure that groupthink does not emerge and that people are thinking for themselves.
5. Persistence - You need to be persistent in your application of these principles, to ensure that all
content is kept within the community and easily accessible to all members.
6. Emergence - You need to ensure that you focus on the end goal rather than worrying how it is
achieved.
DYNAMICS AND STRUCTURE
 Group
- is a collection of individuals who coordinate their efforts
 Individual goals
 Individual accountability
 Individual success or failure

 Team
- is a group of people who share a common goal
 Shared goals
 Individual & mutual accountability
 Collective success or failure
In a workgroup, group members are independent of one another and have individual accountability.
On the other hand, in a team, team members share mutual accountability and work closely together to
solve problems. These dynamics inform the way tasks are handled and overall collaboration.

COLLABORATION TOOLS
Online Collaboration
- Let a group of people work together in real-time using the internet.

5 Essential Features of Online Collaborative Tool

1. Easy and Clean interface
2. Permissions Control
3. File storage with document versioning
4. Whiteboard
5. Document Locking

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
 Project management - is the process of leading a team to achieve specific project objectives
within given constraints, such as scope, time, and budget.
 Project management tools - help the team organize, track, and manage workflow.
- The project management process includes initiation, planning,
execution, monitoring, and closing.
LIFE CYCLE
1. Initiation - Explore requirements, scope, risks, and benefits.
2. Planning - Figuring out teams and dividing project tasks.
3. Execution - Taking the project plan and putting it into action.
4. Monitoring - Checking that the project is on track and adjusting plans as needed
5. Closing - Finishing the Project.

ELEMENTS NEEDED TO BE MANAGED

- Goals, scope, and constraints
- Timetables and costs
- Tasks and deliveries
- Workloads and resources
- Quality and risks
- Changes
- Communication
- External Services and sourcing
 KEY OBJECTIVES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
 Active projects and projects to be initiated are based on a business rationale
and are appropriately authorized.
 Projects are managed and steered to achieve the specified goals are
on schedule, on budget, and at the required levels of quality.
 Transition of project deliverables to production and deployment
and performed in a controlled manner.
 Project benefits are realized.

KEY ROALS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

1. Project Owner
- is the head of the business unit and bears the responsibility for successful project
implementation and is usually the chairperson of the project steering group.

2. Project Steering Group

- Consists of the representatives of the business, typically composed of senior stakeholders
and experts. This group provides the guidelines, takes responsibility for decision-making
supports the project manager, and ensures the targets of the project are met.

3. Process Owner
- The chairperson of the steering group

4. Project Manager
- Responsible for daily project management ensures that the project produces the agreed
deliverables at the appropriate level of quality.

5. Project Management Office

- Established to gather project resources together and to develop and update the company’s
project practices and management policy.

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WEB HOSTING

WEB HOSTING
- is an internet service that allows individual users and organizations to make their websites accessible over
the World Wide Web.
- It involves renting space on a physical or virtual server to store website files and data.
- A web hosting provider is responsible for keeping the server up and running, implementing hosting
security measures, and ensuring that data such as texts, photos, and other files are transferred successfully to
the visitors’ browsers.

6 TYPES OF WEB HOSTING

Each type of hosting has its advantages and is suitable for different purposes, depending on factors such as
website traffic, technical expertise, budget, and required level of control.
- Shared Hosting
- VPS Hosting
- Dedicated Hosting
- Cloud Hosting
- Managed WordPress Hosting
- Colocation Hosting
1. SHARED WEB HOSTING
- Multiple websites are hosted on the same server, making it a cost-effective option for low-traffic
websites.
• Affordable plans for those on tight budgets
• User-friendly setup process
• No need for server configuration

- Sharing space with other sites means yours might be affected if another website experiences a
security breach or traffic spike.

- Shared hosting plans are incredibly cheap, which is why they’re usually popular
with new website owners.

- The reason for this is that, as the name suggests, your website shares
server resources with many others.

- If you’re a small-scale business or an individual with a modest budget,

you probably don’t need powerful dedicated servers or VPS hosting.

EXAMPLES OF SHARED HOSTING

 bluehost
 HOSTINGER
 GoDaddy
 HostGator
 GreenGeeks

2. VPS HOSTING
- Virtual Private Server hosting is suitable for websites that have outgrown shared hosting, offering
more control and resources. It offers a virtual server environment to host websites and applications.

- VPS is a more secure and stable option than shared hosting where you don’t
get a dedicated server space.

- However, managing a VPS might require some technical knowledge

compared to shared or cloud hosting.

• Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Compute Engine

• AWS (Amazon Web Services) EC2
• HostGator
• Hostinger
• GoDaddy

3. DEDICATED HOSTING
- Dedicated web hosting involves leasing an entire physical server from a hosting provider, which is
exclusively dedicated to one user or entity.

- In this setup, the user has full control over the server's resources, including CPU, RAM, storage, and
bandwidth, without sharing them with other users or websites making it ideal for large websites with
high traffic.

 Liquid Web  Advantages  Disadvantages

 HostGator  You have complete control of the server.  It’s expensive
 Bluehost  The ability to customize your server.  It requires responsibility.
 InMotion Hosting  It’s the most powerful option.  You’ll have to commit.
 OVHcloud
  A2 Hosting

4. CLOUD HOSTING
- Instead of relying on a single physical server, cloud hosting uses a network of interconnected
servers, often referred to as a cloud.

- It's highly scalable, allowing for resources to be adjusted on-demand. It offers a pay-as-you-go setup
giving the users capital and operational savings.

- Cloud Hosting offers unlimited ability to handle high traffic or traffic spikes.

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)

• Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Microsoft Azure
• DigitalOcean

5. MANAGED WOODPRESS HOSTING

- Specifically optimized for WordPress websites, this type of hosting is managed by the provider,
making it ideal for non-technical users because you will have a team of hosting and WordPress
experts working on your site.

Managed WordPress hosting is a great option for:

 A small business that has limited IT staff
 An online enterprise requiring the latest security features
 An eCommerce site that needs reliable uptime
 Freelancers building sites for clients
 An Online store with high traffic

6. COLOCATION HOSTING
- involves renting space within a data center facility to house and maintain your servers and hardware.

- Instead of relying on a hosting provider's servers, you own the physical equipment and rent space,
power, cooling, bandwidth, and physical security within a data center.

- The most expensive option that gives the user maximum control over the hardware and software.

- This is ideal for big businesses needing precise control over their hardware, specific setups for their
equipment, and strong security, reliability, and internet connections.

- It's popular among larger companies with intricate IT needs.