Rationale

The aim of my website was to create a space where young people (about 18-25) who are going on or have been on their first overseas experience can share their experiences or stories, or look at, like and comment on other peoples experiences they have posted. you are also able to ask and answer questions on the Q+A page, and add activities, countries, hotels, etc., to their wish list so they can go back and look at them later, or look further into them. I think my website allows for people to be able to do this, if I had more time I would have tried to make it so you could actually like and comment on posts to get a better feel of the website.

Information

I got most of my information from this website: http://www.lonelyplanet.com

and this book: 

Scroll Box

On all of my website html pages, i have put the information into a scroll box. It was easy to style the first page i did inside the scroll box, but after that I wasnt able to style anything inside it, which is why i was not able to create a proper sign in page where you can type into the box. I was able to do this for my login page but i could not style it so the input boxes and font do not go with the rest of my website. But at least you can type into them!

Final Website

Final index page. Wanted to go for a simple look.

This is the page you see when you click 'explore' on the map or places in the navigation list.

This is the page you see when you click on Europe on the 'Places' page. the information on this page is popular information on Europe. You are able to click on 'Need To Know',  "Activities' and 'Accomodation', which take you to peoples posts about those subjects.

The first page is what you see when you click on activities on the europe popular page and then you can click on one of the activities posted by a user to look more into it. You are also able to like and comment on the post.

This is what you are able to do with most of the pages on my website.

Site map

This is my finalized site. I want to make as many features work as I can so that you can get a good feel of what I want my website to achieve

Finalized Layout

This is my finalized layout i drew up in a wireframe to make it clearer to understand.

 I want each page to have a big scroll box inside it and inside the scroll box is where i want all of the information to go. I want this information to be set out how pinterest is set out

Inspiration and Ides

I have been researching some travel websites to get an idea of what they have on them and how they are set out, etc.

http://www.tripadvisor.com

This is Trip Advisor's home page. I like the big image - it is kind of like my home page where i will have the big image of a world map.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com

This is Lonely Planets homepage which also has the same idea. Although this is a lot ore simple than the trip advisor one which i like.

http://www.travellerspoint.com

This website has a bit where people can share their stories, which is one of the features of my website to help make it a community based website. I think this home page is too busy.

http://travellr.com

This is website is based more on people being able to ask questions and answer them. This idea is also a feature in my website to help make it a community based website.

All of these websites have ideas and features i would like to have on my website, mine is just going to be more of a general website rather that focused on one main thing like the Travellr website.

Ideas for layout..

I like the idea of having a map of the world on the index page and having it so that people can click on a place on the map and being taken to a page that is kind of set out like pinterest or tumblr and has a whole list of peoples stories and experiences from that place on it that you can read.
These are some really rough sketches of some ideas for the layout of the website.

Wish List

I love the idea of being able to create a wish list of where you want to go and things you want to do. Also having a favourites section where you can add your favorite stories and experiences people have shared.

Planning

I have been planning what information will be on my website and how you can navigate the website to get to it. This is just a simple plan of what I am thinking at the moment

Because my website is targeted at an audience of young adults, I want it to include budget tips and tricks for ways to travel, how to eat at low costs, and just how to save money while traveling in general. I also think it would be a good idea for people from over seas to be able to advertise jobs that earn quick money while overseas.

I also like the idea of people being able to post about their experiences. When they post something - say they posted a picture of them walking the great wall of china and had a little story about what it was like, I want them to be able to make tags so that when people type words into the search engine, that story will be one of the ones that comes up.

Brainstorm

I have chosen to go with the travel idea for my website. I feel that there is more of a market for it and it would also be a site that I would like to use. I have been brainstorming ideas for information that could be on the website.

Note to self

http://www.sunrisetag.com/
http://whiteboard.is/
http://www.squarespace.com/stories/#
http://pollystanton.com/
http://www.elegantthemes.com/gallery/gleam/
http://summer.tnvacation.com/

Ideas For website

Idea 1- A website where a parent can go and create an online baby book for their child where they are able to choose the design and layout etc. They would have a private account and choose their friends who would be able to see it and comment on posts you have made in the book. When you choose to end the book you can send it away to get published and sent to you as a hard copy.

Idea 2 - A website where people who are about to go on or have been on their O.E. can post about their experiences, search places and things to do, get tips on accommodation, ways to travel, budgeting and are able to ask and answer questions etc. They will also be able to put things on their wish list of places they want to go and things they want to do.

- Fox Classics

www.foxclassics.com.au

Core Purpose: This is a site that allows people to post about classic movies, comment and share their thoughts on them, and also take part in things like trivia about the movies, etc.

How the site accomplishes the purpose: You can sign up to the website and easily navigate it, having tabs to trivia, testing your knowledge, chats about classics, etc.

Unique Features: The trivia, chatroom and testing your knowledge on the fils, etc., are all unique aspects to this website.

- Dribbble

dribbble.com

Core Purpose: Dribbble is a site that is a 'Show and Tell' for designers. It is a place where designers of any type can post up the work they are working on and get comments and feedback on it. it is a place to 'show, tell, promote, discover, and explore design.

How the site accomplishes the purpose: They have an explore tab where you can search tags, highlights projects, etc. You also have to sign up so people know who they are getting feedback from. You can also search specific designers.

Unique Features: The fact that you can search for specific tags or designers is quite different. Being able to acknowledge someones work is also unique and can be rewarding.

- Help Portrait

http://help-portrait.com

Core Purpose: Help Portrait is a website where photographers use their time equipment and expertise to help people who are less fortunate by taking their portrait, printing it and delivering it. 

How this site accomplishes it's purpose: The site allows people to create events and groups to help people in need. There is a chat room and also a secure site where people are able to make donations to the less fortunate.

Unique features: On this site people are able to create there own events to help raise money for people. People are also able to donate to the cause which is unique to the website.

Inspiration/Ideas

Here are some links to a few community sites I have found. I tried to find a few different ones to give me some idea of the community website I need to create.

http://www.foxclassics.com.au

http://dribbble.com

http://help-portrait.com

http://www.thehartford.com/business/index

http://www.thefwa.com/site/burberry-kisses-powered-by-google

http://www.virgin.com