The aim of this Website is to provide an insight into the life of my Papa, Jack Fairfield, during his time in the second world war. During the war Jack Fairfield wrote an extensive journal while serving under the Royal Army Ordnance Corp.
This Website is a taster, aiming to entice curiosity into Jack Fairfield's journey through the second world war, increasing users desire to learn more from his journal.
The Website will mainly be for family and friends who have been very keen to learn more about Jack Fairfield's life. As the Website expands however, this interest could be expanded to Military Musuems and the general public, including the musuem in his home town of Methilhil, Fife, Scotland.
A live version of Website can be found here
1.UX
2.Features
4.Testing
6.Credits
Family and friends will seek to learn more about Jack Fairfield, through imagery, passages from the journal and exploring his journeys around the UK during the Second World War.
The main focus of this Website is to give family and friends an insight into Jack Fairfield's life. It aims to bring to life Jack Fairfield's journal with the use of an interactive map; along with private photos, passages and areas he visited and resided in.
The Website needs to be suitable for mobile devices, suiting users who want to browse the Website while on the move. The desktop and tablet versions however will provide a more visual and expansive user experience.
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"We would love there to be lots of photos of Jack during the war. The more the merrier!"
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"The site must be easy to use and not too complicated. We would like to share Jack's life with others, especially Jack's older relatives and friends who are not very computer savvy."
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"It would be good to incorporate some of Jack's journal in the Website. Any fun anecdotes or snippets, giving examples of what he wrote"
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"It would be very interesting to learn more about Jack's personality and how he progressed in his Army career.
To meet the goals of the users the Website needs to be intuitive and easy to use, taking heed of the less technically savvy audience.
A collection of photos that embrace and capture Jack Fairfield's life will be essential to draw and retain users interest, to achieve the desire to learn more.
The interactive Map will highlight the most frequented locations in Jack Fairfield's journey through the Second World War. A passage from his journal will be included along with a relevant photo.
The Website's front page will be the window into the Website
with a hero-image centered on the page. His name and date of
duration of life will be displayed under the image, with a
clickable link, Read More
, taking you into the main Website.
The naviagtion bar will have a sticky-position
with the
links Home
, Bio
, and Maps
.
The Home page will have a large photo that stretches the page, rotating every 6 seconds with a new photo.
The Bio page will summarise Jack Fairfield's life and history during the Second World War.
The Map page will be interactive and show locations using Google Maps API. Each clickable location will bring up a pop up window with a passage from Jack Fairfield's journal along with a complementary photo.
Please find my Wireframes for Desktop, Tablet and Mobile here
The Website will have a military colour theme with the main colour cenetered
around a light khaki colour, rgb(209, 200, 171, 1)
, with white
borders, rgb(255, 255, 255, 1)
, used to divide sections, photos and the Map.
The text will be of a black colour, rgb(0,0,0,1)
, which contrasts well with the
khaki theme for clarity of font.
To distinguish between the sections a light green military colour will be
used, rgb(190, 210, 195, 1)
, which merges with the Map colours, along
with a subtle white border that ensures the Map stands out.
The hover
colour used for the links will be of a light grey colour,
rgb(116,111,120,1)
, that helps inform users that the links are clickable.
For carousel images, captions will have a white colour font to ensure clarity of reading.
The main font used for this Website will be 'Special Elite
, from Google Fonts
.
A fitting type font with a military feel to it.
The Website's initial page (index.html
) has a portrait photo centered in the
middle of the page in front of a background horizontally divided by a white and
light khaki colour of, rgb(209, 200, 171, 1)
. This page will be kept to a minimum,
with lots of 'real estate', to focus the user on the image and text; drawing them
into clicking the link to open the main page.
The Main Web page consists of three separate sections; Home, Bio, and Map. The Website is based on one scrolling page with three sections in the body.
Much of the layout of the Website used the Bootstrap Grid System
of containers
,
rows
and columns
; styled by css. This allowed the Website to be clearly
structured and for the content to be responsive.
Navigation Bar:
-
Desktop: The colour theme of light khaki,
rgb(209, 200, 171, 1)
, is used for the background of thenavbar
with a thumbnail potrait of Jack Fairfield, indented from the left. Next to which is the nameJack Fairfield
with a small heading underneath, titledWar Diaries
. This helps describe the topic of the Website and can be clicked to take you back to the initial page ofindex.html
.There are then three main links,
Home
,Bio
, andMaps
indented from the right (the three main sections of the Website). When hovered over by the mouse, they become responsive with the colour changing to a light grey colour,rgb(116,111,120,1)
. This ensures an intuitive reaction to click. -
Smaller Devices: For tablets and mobiles the text is reduced in size using
Media Queries
. The thumbnail potrait is also removed for better spacious viewing in the navigation bar on tablets.For mobile devices the
Bootstrap
function was used to collaspe the navbar, with an Army Badge, embroidered gold, being the icon to click for the drop-down menu of links.
Sections:
-
Home: The Home section of the Web page should immediatey grab the attention of the users with a
Bootstrap Carousel
feature that loops through a montage of photos that change every 6 seconds. The images are large and expand the full page. A highly attractive and enthraling user experience. Captions in white text give a description for each photo. -
Bio: Using
Bootstrap's Display Property
features, a complex structure, usinghidden
andvisable
element properties, were used to optimise layout and user experience on different devices. Athumb
icon pointed downwards is also included at the end of the Bio section to draw peoples attention down towards the map. This icon was taken fromFont Awesome
.For the desktop, the layout consisits of text nestled between two photos either side, drawing the reader into reading the Bio.
blockquotes
were used to ensure quotes from Jack Fairfield's journal stand out.For tablet displays, the section was condensed to two columns, with photos running vertically from the left and text vertically from the right. This ensures a better reading and visual experience for users on tablets.
For Mobile displays one photo is removed using
bootstrap's Display Properties
. This allows less scrolling on a mobile and not over saturating the mobile experience with photos. Text was also changed fromjustify
toleft
on mobile device, usingMedia Queries
, to allow for text to be better aligned. -
Map: The Map section is introduced with a short instruction to users with a key illustrating the symbols on the Map. Custom markers have been set up (Red Flags), that are clustered together where appropriate. Each Red Flag, once clicked, will open up an information window that will pop up a section of passage from Jack's Journal along with a photo.
The Map itself has a Retro Theme provided by
Google
that gives a milatary feel to the Map, complementing the Website theme. -
Footer: A copyright feature is stated at the footer of the page to confirm ownership of all content and photos on Website.
Below are a list of features I feel would be beneficial to add to the Website at a later date when more data/ information can be provided:
More Locations with Info Windows: Jack Fairfield has many further stories from his journal which could increase the intereactive Map experience.
Include the Full Journal: Jack Fairfield's journal could be added to the Website in it's entirety, with separate sub links for chapters.
Add More locations with Informations Windows: Further photos could be added to include family tree information and other relatives and friends who served in the war. Especially Jack's brothers who also had active war services.
Contact Form: A page for people to get in contact if they have any related stories or information to share.
Music: Play some music in the background (1940's genre), that plays on entering site. This could be initiated using jquery, where it loops continuosly or plays only a certain amount of times. There shoud be a function to turn sound off. Along with this a playlist of World War Two songs mentioned in Jack Fairfield's journal could be listed with the option to play accordingly.
Photographs Photos provided on the Map could include a feature that allows the photos to be enlarged once clicked and be viewed in better detail. Or have a separate section in Website for a gallery of photos that are referenced back to the Map.
The following technolgies were used in this project:
- Balsamiq Wireframes - Allowed preliminary designs to be drawn up of Website
- GitHub - Used to store repository and deploy Website
- GitPod - A platform used for hard coding of Website
- HTML - Markup language of Website
- CSS - Used to style HTML elements
- BOOTSTRAP - A famework for building responsive Websites where the powerful Grid system was used along with styling
- Google Fonts - Programme used to import main fonts in Website: Playfair Display and Calligraffitti
- Font Awesome - Programme used to import icons for Footer in Website: far-envelope and fas fa-phone
- JavaScript - Used in collabration with Bootstrap to collaspe Navigation Bar for small devices and Google Maps
- W3C - Used to validate HTML code
- WSC - Used to validate CSS code
- jQuery - Used to implement Navigation Collaspe feature JavaScript Plugin
- Popper - Used to implement Navigation Collaspe feature JavaScript Plugin
- Markdown Lint - Used for validation checks on README.md content
- Lighthouse Audit - Helped to improve the quality of Website
- Chrome Developer Tools - A useful developing tool in Chrome to edit pages and diagnose problems
- Responsive Design - Free software to generate Mockup of Website on different devices
- Validate Javascript - Used to validate javascript
- Maps Javascript API For API key and Javascript Map options
W3C - All HTML files with their data were directly
inputted in the Mark-Up Validation Service.
The results:Document checking completed. No errors or warnings to show.
WSC - CSS data was directly inputted in
the CSS Validation Service. The results: Congratulations! No Error Found.
Lighthouse Audit - A feature in Chrome Developing Tools - Lighthouse Audit - was carried out on Mobile and Desktop to assess Performacne, Accesibility, Best Practices and CEO.
- Mobile: An overall average of 80% was received.
- Desktop: An overall average of 77% was recieved.
Performance
scored the lowest percentage. 53% and 63% on Desktop and Mobile
respectively. This low score is mainly due to the large number of images that
the Website contains; as well as the google Map feature; causing longer
loading time.
Potential fixes could be to consider a lazy-loading offscreen feature,
which allows critical resources to load first. It also could be an option
to separate the sections into individual html
pages, so that all images
and Maps are not loading at the same time.
Validate Javascript - Javascript files were uploaded in in the Validate Javascript. Overall there were no errors that needed to be changed and the javascript passed general standards.
Chrome DevTools - Console Navigating through the Website rendered no critical fails/errors in the console that were necessary to fix.
- Click
READ MORE
link and ensure it redirects you tomain.html
. - When hovering over
READ MORE
ensure lighter grey colour occurs.
- Click
thumbnail
image,Jack Fairfield
andWar Diaries
and ensure they redirect you toindex.html
. - Click through
Home
,Bio
, andMaps
links, ensuring each, when hovered over turn light grey, and direct you to the correct sections. - Click each navigation link and randomaly navigate to other links.
- For each link navigated to (
Home
,Bio
, andMaps
), ensure main headerthumbnail
image,Jack Fairfield
andWar Diaries
continue to redirect you to index.html. - Ensure navigation collapse Bootstrap feature kicks in on mobile devices and the links continue to work correctly as process above.
- Ensure carousel of photos are looping correctly and change every 6 seconds on all devices. (It should be noted that the carousel stops looping or changing through photos once mouse is hovered over carousel).
- Ensure photos on carousel can be manually clicked through on all devices.
- For Desktop devices ensure the Bio section is divided into three columns with text centred and images shown to the left and right respectively.
- For Tablet devices ensure the Bio section is divided into two columns with two images aligned to the left and text aligned to the right.
- For Mobile devices ensure all content is located on one column, with first image removed.
- For all devices ensure the Map has the correct
lat
andlong
coordinates for initial load up of page. - For all devices ensure Map displays
Red Flag Icons
andCluster Marker Icons
(WhenRed Flag Icons
are clustered together. - For all devices ensure that when a
Red Flag Icon
is clicked, an info window pops up and displays text and a photo centered. - For all devices ensure all info windows clicked, can be closed with
the
x
icon displayed in the window. - For all devices click through all
Red Flag Icons
, and ensure that when one info window opens, it is closed when anotherRed Flag Icon
is clicked. - For all devices click all
Cluster Marker Icons
and ensure Map zooms in and displaysRed Flag Icons
accordingly. - For all devices ensure zoom and scrolling features work on Map.
- Ensure that Copyright text in footer is centred for all devices.
- Chrome: Website renders well on all screen sizes.
- Firefox: Website renders well on all screen sizes.
- Safari: Website renders well on all screen sizes.
- Edge: Website renders well on all screen sizes.
- The Website was tested on tablets and a variety of mobiles, including iPhone and Samsung. The results were satisfactory for all devices and continued to acheive the UX and UI goals.
- Family and friends were asked to use the finished Website to test usability and comment on whether they felt it met their needs as discussed in the Strategy section - User Stories.
-
Users felt that the Website fulfilled the expectation of quantity of photos, especially with the carousel implemented at beginning of the page.
-
Another requirement was for the Website to be easy to use and not too complicated. Overall the Website acheived this goal, however when it came to the functionality of the Map, the older genration found it difficult to navigate around. Especially when trying to move around the Map, zooming in-and-out, and in doing so losing their way and not knowing how to go back to the start. It would therefore be beneficial to add more features to the Map to help in the navigation.
- One feature could be to add an icon that is displayed in the top right of the Map, that allows the user to go back after they have clicked a cluster.
- Also it may be useful to add more detailed instructions on the Maps section to help users understand the Map functionality and features that can be used e.g. zooming in and out, and moving around Map.
-
The Website fulfilled the Users request to add content from Jack Fairfield's journal and also information on Jack Fairfield's personality and progression in the Army. However it was commented that there was a greater yearning to have more than what was provided. This of course can be fixed over time and satisfy the users accordingly.
-
It is normally standard practice to have the
navbar-toggler-icon
displayed as an intuitivesquare box
withhorizontal lines
. For this Website I replaced this icon with an image of aGold Badge
.- Through User testing the results were positive. Users, through curiosity still
intuitively clicked the
Gold Badge
for the drop menu on mobile devices. - However as the Website expands, further tests should be assessed to monitor results and make changes where necessary.
- Through User testing the results were positive. Users, through curiosity still
intuitively clicked the
-
For Mobile devices the Bootstrap mobile collapse function did not collaspe when links were clicked. To fix this issue a simple jQuery code was added that was inspired from Validate Javascript. An important fix to implement, otherwise the navbar concealed the content on the mobile device.
-
The links, when clicked in the navigation bar did not accurately align with each section it navigated to - redirecting to the section slightly half way down. To fix this an extra
<div>
element was added above each section (Home
,Bio
andMaps
), with apostion: absolute;
andmargin-top
value. This allowed sections to align correctly on all devices. -
Custom Markers were used for Maps Javascript API with inspiration from the tutorial by Pradip Debnath and Google Source Script. These Custom Markers were combined with Marker Clustering using Google Source Script
There were problems with Info Windows working once the Map and custom icons were set up. With inspiration from Stack Over flow and Tim Nelson from Code insitute support, this feature was correctly implemented.
-
Load up GitHub at https://github.com
-
Navigate to the repository titled https://github.com/Bealby/Milestone-Project-2
-
Click Settings:
- Scroll down to:
- Github Pages
- Source
- From drop-down menu choose master branch
-
After selecting master branch the repository will be refreshed and published
-
The published Website will be found highlighted in green under Github Pages, as below:
-
Navigate to the repository titled https://github.com/Bealby/Milestone-Project-2
-
On the main page for the repository click Clone or Downlaod as shown below.
-
On the main page for the Repository click Clone or Download. Then click on the URL as shown below.
-
Open in Terminal
-
Change the current directory to the local directory
-
Type
git clone
plusURL
(copied in step 3). ThenPress Enter
- All content for this Website was provided by Murray Bealby and Jack Fairfield.
- All photos were provided by Murray Bealby's private collection.
- Bootstrap: For it's features and tutorials.
- Slack Forum/ Code Institute Tutorial: The benevolent force that always provide advice and support when needed.
- Aaron Sinnott: My Mentor for professional advice and good practice.
- Tim Nelson: Code Institute Tutor for support with Maps Javascript Clustering and Info Windows.
- Friends and Family: For user feedback.