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Activities for practicing Markdown, HTML, CSS and Git
/resources/markdown-html-css-git-practice/
git
building

Purpose

  • Introduce Markdown, practice HTML, CSS, Git and GitHub skills, build a rudimentary site, learn the need for a site generator (CMS or static site generator like Jekyll).

Method:

  • Pair programming (3 groups of 2). Each group/team will make a Markdown content page, then pass the page to the next group who will convert it to HTML, then pass it to the next group who will add CSS. Use Git and GitHub to pass and merge changes.

Outcomes:

  • 3 HTML documents, linked to each other and using a single CSS file.
  • Increased confidence and skill working with HTML, CSS and Git.

Resources

  • Markdown: https://github.com/adam-p/markdown-here/wiki/Markdown-Cheatsheet
  • Git Commit Messages: https://chris.beams.io/posts/git-commit/
    • Just remember these 7 rules
      • Separate subject from body with a blank line
      • Limit the subject line to 50 characters
      • Capitalize the subject line
      • Do not end the subject line with a period
      • Use the imperative mood in the subject line
        • A properly formed Git commit subject line should always be able to complete the following sentence:
          • If applied, this commit will your subject line here
      • Wrap the body at 72 characters
      • Use the body to explain what and why vs. how

Activity:

Step 1: Create a Markdown file

  • Each team will create a Markdown file and populate it with content.
  • Each team will pick one of the following file names to name their document:
    • index.md
    • about.md
    • project.md
  • Content for each page will be as follows:
    • index.md
      • Title, short descriptive paragraph about the three pages (can use boiler plate), find an image to use on the index page and add a link to it (using Markdown)
    • about.md
      • short paragraph about the Praxis program
      • short bio about the 2 members of the team with an image
      • placeholder for the other 4 Praxis members
    • project.md
      • paragraph about the project(s)
      • try to include a bullet or numbered list
      • try to include an image
  • Add the files [markdown and image(s)] to the git repo
  • Commit the files using a good commit message
  • Push the changes to the shared repo.

Step 2: Convert Markdown to HTML

  • Pull down the changes made to the repo.
  • Each group pick a file different from what they created
    • index.md → about.md
    • about.md → project.md
    • project.md → index.md
  • Convert the Markdown file to HTML, add in the appropriate HTML tags
  • Rename the file with the .html extension, and test the file in your browser.
  • The team now editing the about.md file, add your profile info and images.
  • Add the files, commit and push.

Step 3: Add CSS

  • Pull down the changes made to the repo.
  • Each group will now be editing their last file.
    • about.html → project.html
    • project.html → index.html
    • index.html → about.html
  • Each group create a new file names style.css.
  • Link that file in the HTML file you are working on.
  • Add styles to the HTML file you are working on to make it look so awesome!
  • The team now editing the about.html file should add your profile info and images.
  • Add, commit and push changes.

Instructors Note

  • This lesson should be taught after the students already know the basics of HTML, CSS and GIT. This lesson should be a refresher for all of these skills, and a practical way to implement and build on the skills.

  • This lesson also introduces Markdown as a much more simple and intuitive way to mark up text (a streamlined mark up language as an alternative to HTML). The instructor should introduce Markdown at the beginning of this activity, and pump it as a easier alternative to HTML.

  • During Step 2, the instructor should note the difference between HTML and Markdown, and ask which they would rather use for marking up their content. At the end of this lesson students should see the benefit of Markdown as a much easier mark-up language than HTML.

  • After Step 3, the instructor should talk about the difficulty of maintaining a large website (many pages) in the way that they just have. Point out that Content Management Systems (CMS) and Static Site Generators were created to solve these problems (and in part scripting languages like PHP, Perl, Python). Students should see the need for some kind of content manager or site manager when scaling page generation for a website. The instructor can introduce Jekyll at this point as a way to use the ease of Markdown with the benefit of a page generator to make static sites more manageable.