April 24 - I presented my project last night and I think it went really well. One part of my project didnt work during the presentation which made me frustrated. I went back today and looked at my code and realized I didnt make me tree folder writeable so the image wasnt getting saved to it. I fixed the problem and everything works now.

 

April 22 - Finished up some odds and ends within the code. I was able to save the name of an image into the SQL database and save the actual image into a folder. When the name is pulled from the database, the image is then pulled from the folder. I also finished putting together my power point for the presentation tomorrow.

 

April 18 - Today I was able to get both the search engine and the add/delete pages to work successfully. Now I will be looking into how i can use images to go along with each record. I can't store images in an SQL database so I may have to draw them from a folder. I also will begin to put together my presentation.

 

April 13 - I met with Dr. McVey today to go over some of my code that isn't working correctly. We were able to figure out my overlay problem so now there is always just one overlay up at one time. We worked on my search engine and my add/delete page and I will be testing both those pages this weekend to see if the changes worked.

 

April 11 - I got my database up and running yesterday. I set up two tables, one for locations and one for the trees. I began trying to connect my website to my database via PHP and was able to output tables by location onto my website. I also was able to get my search engine working where you can search by specie, location, or date planted. For some reason after getting it to work the first time, the search engine doesn't work anymore. I also was able to successfully add a tree to the database from my website but I am still working on how to delete a tree from the website.

 

April 8 - Still haven't heard from Scott about setting up my database, hopefully that will happen this week sometime. Today I started working a security system for adding and deleting trees from the database. I downloaded a program called EasyPHP so that i could have a server to test the PHP files on from my home computer. I used PHP and HTML to set up a password for both adding and deleting. A user will not be able to access the add or delete page until the password is typed in correctly.

 

April 3 - Dr. Pankratz sent an email to Scott Crevier to have him set up a database for me but I have yet to hear back from him on the status of that. This week i made a lot of progress with the website. I figured out how to have the map and stickpins stay in the same spot when the browser is minimized. I also began to write some code for the 'Guided' part of the website. Right now the website cycles through the locations with the only problem being is the overlays I'm using stack on top of each other instead of ending when a new one is initiated. I also started writing some PHP code for a search engine that will be included in my website. Hopefully the database will be set up for me soon so I can complete that part.

 

March 29 - I met with Dr. Pankratz today to get a database set up using the compsci server. It should be up within the next week. I also started working on the "guided" part of the tour. I was able to have the locations progress from one to the other when clicked on. One problem I'm having is the overlay that I'm using stays up after a new location is opened which puts that overlay over the old one. In order to exit the tour one has to click back through all the locations to get back to the base page and out of the overlays.

 

March 21 - It's been awhile since I worked on the project, I was gone during spring break and wasn't able to do any work. This week I started designing an access database to be used to keep track of all the trees on campus. I plan to convert it to an SQL database so it will be able to be stored on the schools server.

 

March 5 - I've been experimenting with different languages to read and write to a file. I looked at HTML, Javascript, and PHP, but didn't settle on one to use yet. At this point I only have a text file to use as a database unless a better option comes up. I also looked into using a camera to take 360 pictures of the campus and found that a friend of mine has a camera like that so I'll look into using that.

 

Feb. 29 - I met with Dr. McVey yesterday to get some help with my html and javascript code. I found a library called 'Glow' that allows a bunch of different functions through javascript. I used that to create an overlay with a message box pop-up when a location is clicked on. I plan to use that message box to house basic information on the location. I will then have a link to more detailed information and pictures.

 

Feb. 23 - I met with Dr. Pankratz today and discussed a direction i could go in. I am leaning towards going away from the google map api and using a campus map illustration. I also was contacted by a fellow student who is doing a similar project to mine for his senior capstone. I hope to meet up with him to discuss both our projects and see if we can be of help to each other. This week I will again look into some database options and work on designing an illustrated map of campus. I also hope to take a walk through JMS and find if there is a board with trees map on to it. I will also start working on some sort of client/server program which will be used to add and remove items.

 

Feb. 19 - I was able to finally code the map correctly to display on the screen the way I want it to. I experimented with markers and pop-up information bubbles on the map and was able to make those work correctly also. I sent an email back to Drew and asked if he had any references that he would be able to pass on regarding HTML code. This week I'm planning on looking into some database options and hoping to get at least a framework of a database up and running.

 

Feb. 15 - I got a response from Drew Nackers and he gave me a few ideas and examples of virtual tours. I looked into the Google map application and found it pretty useful. I'm struggling to code the map correctly to have it display on my web page in the correct area. I also met with Dr. Pankratz who gave me a few questions about the Google map application to research. He will also help me get some sort of history behind the SNC arboretum to put into the web page. I will continue to play around with the Google map this week and look into more references for my website.

 

Feb. 7 - Met with Dr. Pankratz last Thursday to discuss some ideas for the project. Came up with two different ideas; first using the Google Maps to pin point locations on the campus; second using an illustrated map of campus to pin point locations and then once an area is clicked on, real pictures of campus will become available. Dr. Pankratz gave me a prior students contact info who worked on a similar project. I contacted him and I am still waiting on a response.

 

Jan 30 - Finished up making some modifications to my personal website and began to play around with some designs for the project website. The link that i have up now is as far as i got for the design. I'm somewhat satisfied with it but want to improve the professionalism of it. Next I will continue looking into other sites that have the same principle and began to draw out some ideas on how the navigation of the interactive map will go. Hopefully I will be able to meet with Dr. Pankratz this week to bounce ideas of him.

 

Jan 27 - I was given my senior project yesterday and it seems like a pretty cool project. Making this website fits in with what I would like to be doing once I'm done with college. To get started I decided to grab a template off the internet for my personal website as I will be making the actual project website from scratch. I made some changes from the template website such as the color of the header and footer background and the background with the clouds. Next I will begin to experiment with designs for the project website as well as do some research on other sites with the same principle.