1. Snapchat Application on iPhone: L, V, A, G, S

2. Camelbak Water Bottle: L, V, A, S

3. Headphones: A, L

4.Instagram Application on iPhone: A, V, L, S, G

5. Writing Center Sign: L, V, S, G

6. Pencil: V, L, S, A

7. Napkin: V, S

8. Desk Phone: A, V

9. Leather Chair: V, S

10. Umbrella: V, A

11. Sunglasses: V, L

12. Swiss Army Knife: V, S, A, L

13. Vince Camuto handheld mirror: V, S, A, L

14. Quarter: V, L, S, G

15. Wallet: V, A

Reflection:

The only multimodal texts that I had were the Snapchat and Instagram applications on my iPhone, this is probably because they include a video aspects, which adds the gestural mode. One patter that I found was that the visual mode is the most present and that many texts have an aural mode that you don’t really think about (such as the sound when I snap my wallet together). I had a very wide array of texts – everything from mobile applications to napkins, so they were created in different time periods. A lot of the modes are simply visual, such as how text is arranged or what color an item is, while other modes are more about how you use them, such as the gestural mode in a video or the aural mode as an affordance of shutting or opening etc.

Most unusual find:

The Napkin – it is simply visual but because it is a stack of napkin the spatial mode also comes into play with how they are arranged on top of each other.

I changed the names of my categories and I decided to italicize the about me section on my home page. I also added a general category for all of my posts that deal with this class as well as individual tags for each post.

Why I Did It… 

At first my categories were simply listed as Project 1, Project 2, Project 3, etc. I decided to add descriptors for each project in order to increase the navigability and searchability of my site and so that I could look back and remember exactly what each project consisted of and my viewers can see that as well.

I thought that italicizing the about me section on the first page really set it off and made it different from the text of the regular posts. It is more apparent that this section describes what this blog is all about.

The general category and then the individual tags also aid viewers on navigating and searching through my content.

Today in class, I organized my site so that it would be more user friendly. At first, I added “Project 1,” “Project 2,” “Project 3,” and so on to my menu, but then I decided to consolidate my menu options so that I just had an “About” page, which features an introduction to my blog and my online identity, a “Blog” page which is what you’re reading now, and a “Projects” menu that will drop down and allow you to click on the different projects we will be working on this semester to choose which one you would like to look at.

Why I did it:

I thought that by consolidating my posts into more specific categories rather than lots of small ones, I would eliminate clutter on my site and make it more user friendly. I also added categories to my posts so that users looking at my site will be able to quickly learn what each posts correlates to. Finally, I added tag words to go along with my posts, like “online identity,” “writing and digital media” and “Virginia Tech” to make my posts more search engine-friendly. I also added my online identity description to my about page because I felt like it would help site visitors understand who I am online.

Tonight, in lieu of going to class tomorrow, I watched a Linda tutorial video on how to customize my Word Press. I made some terrible mistakes along the way, and because I was unable to find my way out of things and I was really unhappy with how my site looked, I resorted to making a new blog. I still used the same theme- Sela- but I added a cool header and added my online identity photo as my logo. I also made two pages on my website, titled ‘about’ and ‘blog.’

Why I did it:

I got really frustrated working with my old website, so I decided to make a new one. I was trying to recycle an old Word Press that I used in a different class, and it just wasn’t working the way I wanted it to, but I really thought that was a sign that I should just start over. New class, new website! I choose Sela because I really liked it on my previous Word Press, and I thought it coordinated well with my online identity photo. By adding different pages, I also was able to make my blog interactive for site visitors.

Yesterday in my English 3844, I created a blog! Well, actually I didn’t create it, but I brought back an old WordPress blog I had from a class I took my freshman year. I deleted all the old, irrelevant posts and changed my theme from Adel, which I used in my last class, to Sela. I also incorporated my tag line, “on my grind” that appears in my online identity picture onto the header.

Why I did it: 

I decided to be resourceful and just update an existing blog rather than make an entire new one. I deleted the old posts from my professional writing class because I wanted to streamline the focus to be solely about this class. I also changed my theme because I wanted it to be a little cleaner and more mature and I feel like it will go better with my online identity picture.

I chose to use the theme Pachyderm by Caroline Moore. I also customized the theme by adding widgets and a header image. I created a static welcome page with an about me section and a photograph of myself. I also set up all of my pages and customized my menu.

Why I Did It… 

I chose Pachyderm as my theme because it is a very clean, modern, vibrant, and playful theme. I think that it is a perfect mix of professionalism mixed with aspects of my personality, so it is the perfect fit for an online portfolio that is showcasing my professional work.

The widgets that I chose to add were a search bar, a recent posts section, a category section that is organized by project, and a calendar of all of my past posts. I think that these widgets all serve to make my site extremely easy to navigate – these widgets serve as immediately apparent and available tools for a user to search through my site in order to find what they are looking for.

I chose to make my about me into a static welcome page in order to make the blog feel more like a website, and therefore feel more professional. I included a header image of myself that is displayed on each page and a photo of myself on the welcome page in order to incorporate visuals and to make the website more personal.

I set the menu up with a home page, my blog page, and then a page for each project in chronological order of completion, and finally the site information page.

I created my blog today. I titled the blog ‘Lets Get Digital’ with the tagline ‘Writing and Digital Media Portfolio’. I also began browsing through themes and have chosen a temporary one for now until I can further explore some more themes.

Why I Did It… 

I want viewers to understand that this blog is meant to showcase and share the work that I accomplish in Writing and Digital Media. The tagline ensures that people understand that this is a professional blog where I will post pieces of my online identity. My hope for this blog is to be able to incorporate projects that I post here onto my personal portfolio page that I have created from scratch using GitHub.

I am looking for a theme that is professional and polished but is also visually friendly, exhibits good design, and has a digital or modern feel.