Chapter 2 – <h1>L34rn1ng C0d3 0n th3 j0b</h1>
Learning code on the job! Ahh now this is an appropriate time to just kgkshfejhgv all over the keyboard. Coding does not come naturally to anyone – I think it’s fair to say. I mean, maybe it’s just me? But I am pretty sure marketing students don’t usually have a prior knowledge of HTML or CSS… If I am wrong please stop me now! In some ways I am grateful that it is not a compulsory part of my course. More than anything, I am so thankful I have now experienced using it for myself!
For those of you who have attempted to make a website through programs like Wix, it’s not as quick and easy as that, but well worth it in the end.
<h2>My experience</h2>
With everything that Cracking Media has thrown at me so far (and I have dabbled in many areas of the business already), I was just as eager to be the next biggest coder. The Steve Jobs of coding if you will.
*Queue the Rocky Soundtrack please*. So how did I learn HTML I hear you ask? I did it old school. Back to a trusty pen and paper. I wrote codes over and over again with random content for no website in particular. Using free html validators to check the codes I had written worked, I was feeling pretty much untouchable.
Then the time came. I had to work on some CSS for a real client’s website. I was knocked down a few notches pretty much straight away when I discovered that their codes were way more complicated than the ones I had written. Realistically, they were always going to be…
Just like Rocky in the first movie, I technically did not win. But that’s okay. With the help from Mike I styled my first client’s web page! Rocky won Creed’s respect. I won Mike’s.
<h3>Joomla</h3>
After the lengthy and by no means stress-free (on my part) process of building the website, in comes *drum roll please* trusty Joomla! A Content Management System (CMS) I have to say I am much more fond of using! Joomla is kind of used as the headquarters for uploading content to your websites. Whether that be weekly blog articles, or all of the products you see when you shop online.
I’ve learnt that this process can be the quickest job of the day if you are uploading an article for example. Or, it can be a day’s job if the website has a lot of products to upload, add descriptions photos and styles to each and every one individually. I guess when you need to use Joomla, the experience can be a bit like marmite?
To sum up, I didn’t become the Steve Jobs of coding. But I have realized how involved this side of marketing is. Before my placement I mainly understood marketing from a managerial perspective; coming up with ideas and making decisions. Now I feel like I understand just how much goes into the process of physically building up these platforms as well as planning them, and how challenging this actually can be.