Whether it’s journalism student or a Digital Marketing agency in US, all types of media majors and professionals must begin to learn basic coding to add to their skill set. The role of a digital media professional often requires some type of website management or technology that requires the person to have a basic understanding of coding language. They will have to learn HTML and CSS to start out, but learning even more script language can be beneficial to having a well-rounded media professional.
To have an understanding of web development first requires that the person understands what type of server they are working in. For example, many universities or large corporations and organizations have their own servers that they work within. Some larger servers are available online for those individuals looking to build their own website that might have little knowledge of coding itself. These servers often have varying themes and tutorials available to teach people how to utilize the site itself.
Once a server is selected and understood, it’s important that the media professional understands the brand guidelines if they are working with a larger company or entity that has specific fonts, colors, or logos that the person must use. Going against these brand guidelines can potentially result in a negative sanction or citation. Being on the safe side of understanding branded content is crucial to the success and credibility of a web developer.
Another important understanding of basic coding language is where to put the images. Where it’s a ‘p’ or a ‘div’ writing within the code as far as putting images in between the text can be tricky when one copies and pastes. For seasoned coders, this is elementary knowledge to them, but for those who are just beginning to learn code on their own, it can be very difficult to try and understand why their images won’t work. One of the main causes of image failing is that the image was not put in between the code. It often lies outside of the code in it’s own little area. Another issue that can arise is that one character of the code may be off, causing the image to malfunction.
Coding is precise and exact. As any other man-written language, there can be errors and surprise discoveries. Most things written in code are meant to function as a written equation, and if one part doesn’t function correctly, it can have a negative effect on the rest of the page. Depending on the server, some people like to just plug and chug their copied content into the box without checking the code. For others, they prefer to just write within the code to reduce possible errors. Just like written content, coding must be proofread before the web page is published. Once it is published to the public, any errors are in the open for anyone to see. For any media professional that deals with coding in their career, they must learn to be detailed in their endeavors.