Giriwoder - Full Stack (Level 2) Pathway

Certificates Summer 2021 Certificates Open Source Ruby Plugin (CA) 2021
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1

Sohee Yoon - Self Assessment - Level 1 - Module 1

1. Overview of Things Learned

  • Technical Area: Learned basics of the command line, how to traverse through files, and understand shell. Learned about Git version control system, difference between Git and GitHub. Learned how open-source software works. Basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

  • Tools: STEM-Away forum, Command Line, Git, GitHub, YouTube

  • Soft Skills: Self-assessment, Task-management, Time-management, Learned how to ask questions via STEM-Away forum and send private messages to ask for help

2. Achievement Highlights

  • Learned command line basics
  • Learned about Git & GitHub
  • Basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

3. Tasks Done / Challenges

  • Learned how to use and utilize STEM-Away forum, message tools
  • Gained an understanding of open-source software, open-source code, and help forums
  • Was not added to the team, so had some problem reaching out to other team members

4. Goals for Upcoming Week

  • Challenge to complete tasks of level 2, module 1
  • Plan ahead and start working on level 1, module 2
  • Stabilize working schedule and communicate with team members (plan on meetings)
2

Sohee Yoon - Self Assessment - Level 2 - Module 1

1. Overview of Things Learned

  • Technical Area: Learned basic Ruby Syntax. Learned basics of the Rails Framework. Created a public repository on my GitHub account.

  • Tools: STEM-Away forum, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, YouTube

  • Soft Skills: Self-assessment, Task-management, Time-management, Active-learning

2. Achievement Highlights

  • Learned basic Ruby Syntax and Rails Framework
  • Watched several supplemental resources
  • Created a public repository on my GitHub account

3. Tasks Done / Challenges

  • Created a public repository on my GitHub account, pull and pushed via terminal
  • Gained an understanding of basic Ruby syntax and Rails Framework

4. Goals for Upcoming Week

  • Plan ahead and start working on level 1 & 2 modules 2
  • Keep in touch with team members & share my progress
3

Sohee Yoon - Self Assessment - Level 1 & 2 - Module 2

1. Overview of Things Learned

  • Technical Area: Learned HTML / CSS / JavaScript / Markdown via self-teaching and YouTube resources. Completed the Ember.js guide. Started the SCSS guide. Looked through the Discourse codebase, installed Discourse locally.

  • Tools: STEM-Away forum, Command Line / Terminal, Git, GitHub, YouTube, Tech blogs

  • Soft Skills: Self-assessment, Task-management, Virtual-collaboration, Troubleshooting, Research, Asking via STEM-Away forums and private messages

2. Achievement Highlights

  • Installed Discourse on my local machine
  • Completed the Ember.js guide
  • Started the SCSS guide

3. Tasks Done / Challenges

  • While trying to install Discourse on my local machine, I had several problems. I had to message Keegan a number of times to solve the problem. However, I finally troubleshooted by searching problems by myself and looking the debugging manual from the forum.
  • Participated the second team meeting and shared my progress.
  • Learned HTML and CSS basics by myself and studied JavaScript to understand Ember.js.
  • Started studying SCSS and the guide.
  • Learned Markdown basics to use in the STEM-Away forums.

4. Goals for Upcoming Week

  • Try to complete Module 3 until the team’s hard deadline, the 15th.
  • Start exploiting and looking around the Discourse and themes, plugins.
  • Stabilize working schedule and communicate with team members, share where I am and the problems I’m facing.
4

Sohee Yoon - Self Assessment - Level 1 & 2- Module 3

1. Overview of Things Learned

  • Technical Area: Setup Discourse Theme Development environment, Develop and preview Discourse Theme live, HTML / CSS / SCSS knowledge, Git / GitHub knowledge

  • Tools: Discourse / STEM-Away guidelines and forums, Command Line / Terminal, Git / GitHub, Discourse Theme CLI, Discourse Theme Creator, Style-guide route

  • Soft Skills: Active-learning, Brainstorming, Designing, Self-assessment, Troubleshooting, Creative-thinking

2. Achievement Highlights

  • Created a simple theme in the Admin Settings UI and add some custom CSS, HTML to the theme
  • Created a remote Discourse Theme by using Discourse Theme CLI / Theme creator, and pushed the theme to a public GitHub repository
  • Read about how to use your browser’s developer tools and used the DOM inspector in the dev tools to inspect Discourse’s UI

3. Tasks Done / Challenges

  • When I tried to use the Admin Settings UI and Discourse Theme CLI, I had an issue accessing Discourse through my local machine. I had to delete all the Discourse files I downloaded before and then start all over again. I wasn’t sure why I got this error, but I think it was due to my Ruby setup as I wasn’t allowed to proceed from the step where we have to “bundle install.” I got warnings and error messages from the terminal that something was wrong about Ruby. After googling for a few hours and installing Ruby version manager, RVM, I was able to update Ruby to a latest version, use and set up it as default. This fixed the error and I was able to proceed to the next step, finally reinstalling Discourse in my local machine that now works fine.
  • Another challenge came up when I started creating my own theme. When I first tried to reduce the blank between the header and after header section, I wasn’t sure how to find the css class and ID for that particular part. However, by reading through the DOM inspector guide and utilizing the chrome’s developer tools, I was able to figure out the class and ID for that section and then fixed the padding so that I can remove the blank between that section.
  • To create a remote theme, I created GitHub repository and then committed the files for my theme. Next, I tested whether others can download the theme I uploaded via my GitHub repo link by using the Discourse Theme Creator and previewing the theme through it.
  • Participated the third team meeting and shared my progress

4. Goals for Upcoming Week

  • Try to complete level 1 & level 2 Module 4 by the level 2 due date if I can
  • Explore and try various Discourse themes and plugins to get an idea for the project
  • Share my progress with team members, stay connected with the team
  • Join the team meetings and session 2 meeting
5

Sohee Yoon - Self Assessment - Level 1 - Module 4

1. Overview of Things Learned

  • Technical Area: Learned handlebars syntax, Learned how widgets / plugins are used in Discourse and how they work, Discourse plugin API, Virtual DOM

  • Tools: STEM-Away forum, Command Line / Terminal, Git, GitHub, YouTube

  • Soft Skills: Self-assessment, Time-management, Troubleshooting, Virtual-collaboration

2. Achievement Highlights

  • Updated my theme from the last module to make use of the plugin API in Discourse
  • Read all the required readings and some of the supplemental resources
  • Identified plugin outlet locations in Discourse and added a custom code in the plugin outlet location as I intended

3. Tasks Done / Challenges

  • While reading through all the required readings, I had trouble digesting the new contents such as handlebars templates and the plugin API. Even though I read a few times to fully understand, I still had a hard time applying to my local Discourse and being used to those concepts.
  • As I started to complete each task, the challenges were adding theme components and applying the plugin API in my local Discourse. I was confused about plugin outlet locations and also where to write the code in the files. After watching the kick-off meeting for Module 4 and looking at some examples in meta discourse, I got a better sense of how to navigate and use plugin API in Discourse, but failed to modify my local theme and write custom codes for the plugin API. I have asked for help and still working hard to digest this module.
  • Learned how widgets work in Discourse, what kind of methods I can use for the plugin API, and how to use handlebars syntax.
  • Realized how theme components can make various interactions with the users and how they improve themes to look better and convenient.
  • Participated in the fourth team meeting and shared my progress, some concerns I have.

4. Goals for Upcoming Week

  • Try my best to complete level 2 module 4 as soon as possible
  • Try to better understand module 4 and practice using plugin API in local Discourse, get used to handlebars syntax and the format
  • Explore what kind of widgets, plugins, theme modifiers are used in the Discourse community
  • Join the team meetings and session 2 meeting
6

Sohee Yoon - Self Assessment - Level 1 Module 5 & Level 2 Module 4

1. Overview of Things Learned

  • Technical Area: Handlebars syntax, Discourse plugin API, AJAX requests made in Discourse, Theme modifiers, Virtual DOM, Yami

  • Tools: STEM-Away forum, Command Line / Terminal, Git, GitHub, YouTube

  • Soft Skills: Self-assessment, Creative-thinking, Time-management, Troubleshooting

2. Achievement Highlights

  • Updated my theme from the last module to make use of the plugin API in Discourse
  • Read all the required readings and some of the supplemental resources
  • Added a setting, localizable string, and Font Awesome icons to my theme
  • Added a custom code in my theme below or above a plugin outlet location

3. Tasks Done / Challenges

  • The biggest challenge I faced while working on those modules was digesting the core concepts of plugins and various functions I can use in Discourse themes. I had trouble updating my theme to make use of the plugin API in Discourse and to add a custom code in a plugin outlet location. However, after installing the outlet component and then looking at several examples, I was able to mimic some codes and then successfully implement plugin API in my local Discourse theme.
  • Moreover, at first, I wasn’t able to change the size and color of the newly added Font Awesome Icons to my theme. However, I found out that it was the problem with my SCSS code and then fixed it to design Font Awesome Icons used in my theme. I also added a setting so that the user can select what kind of message they want to show on the main page.
  • Participated in the fifth team meeting and shared my progress, discussed our final team project.

4. Goals for Upcoming Week

  • Try my best to complete level 2 modules 5 & 6 to follow up with team members
  • Try to digest module 4 and practice using and making plugin API in local Discourse
  • Explore what kind of widgets, plugins, theme modifiers are used in the Discourse community
  • Share my progress with team members, stay connected with the team, get & give help if needed
  • Brainstorm what kind of plugins we can make as a team, think about plugins that can improve the user experience in Discourse and that can be helpful
  • Join next weeks team meetings and session 2 kick-off meeting
7

Sohee Yoon - Self Assessment - Level 2 - Module 5

1. Overview of Things Learned

  • Technical Area: JavaScript, Ember.js, Discourse plugin API, Yami, Handlebars, Ruby, Ruby on Rails

  • Tools: STEM-Away forum, Command Line / Terminal, Git, GitHub, YouTube

  • Soft Skills: Self-assessment, Active-learning, Task-management, Troubleshooting, Virtual-collaboration

2. Achievement Highlights

  • Learned how to create a Discourse plugin by using rails plugin generator
  • Created a custom Discourse plugin and looked around the file structures of it
  • Read all the required readings and some supplemental resources

3. Tasks Done / Challenges

  • This module was relatively short compared to the previous modules and we did not go over a lot in this week’s kick-off meeting. I learned how to create a Discourse plugin and how to use the rails plugin generator to set up a new plugin.
  • I created my own Discourse plugin after reading all the required readings. I also read some supplemental resources such as how to create a plugin article to understand the process of plugin creation in Discourse. However, I think I’ll still need some more time to fully understand and be able to make my own plugin as I’m yet done with the core concepts discussed in module 4.
  • Participated in the fifth team meeting and shared my progress, discussed our final team project.

4. Goals for Upcoming Week

  • Try my best to complete level 2 module 6 by the end of this week to follow up with team members
  • Try to fully understand core concepts about plugin API and plugin development process to create our own plugin
  • Explore what kind of plugins exist in the Discourse community to get a sense of our team project and what plugin we want to create
  • Share ideas regarding our team’s final project and current progress with team members
  • Join next weeks team meetings and session 2 kick-off meeting
8

Sohee Yoon - Self Assessment - Level 2 - Module 6

1. Overview of Things Learned

  • Technical Area: Ruby, Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Ember.js, Yami, Handlebars

  • Tools: STEM-Away forum, Command Line / Terminal, Git, GitHub, YouTube

  • Soft Skills: Self-assessment, Time-management, Creative-thinking, Task-management, Troubleshooting, Teamwork

2. Achievement Highlights

  • Added settings to my plugin
  • Setup, created git and admin interface
  • Read all the required readings and some supplemental resources

3. Tasks Done / Challenges

  • This module was heavily based on the readings and the guide to discourse plugins that meta discourse provided us. I simply tried to follow all the steps of each part of the guide. Because I used the rails plugin generator to create and set up my local plugin, most of the files that the guide required was already created initially via the plugin generator. So, I added onto the pre-created files and then modified the site settings and admin interface. I also created a GitHub repository for the plugin and a readme file that explains what the plugin does.
  • I also read some supplemental resources such as how to create a plugin article to understand the process of plugin creation in Discourse, and GitHub commit conventions.
  • In addition, I had office hours with Keegan. There, I learned a lot of new things regarding Discourse plugin API, widgets, and components, such as how they work and how to actually use plugins in my local Discourse by using various methods and connectors.
  • Participated in the sixth team meeting and shared my progress. We also discussed our final team project and shared our own ideas of what kind of plugins each wanted to create or think are helpful for the users.

4. Goals for Upcoming Week

  • Think more about team project and what kind of components/plugins we can make as a team
  • Explore what kind of plugins exist in the Discourse community to think about some plugins I want to create
  • Share ideas regarding our team’s final project and current progress with team members
  • Decide and tell the leads whether I want to work on the front-end side or the back-end side for the team project
  • Join next weeks team meetings and session 2 kick-off meeting