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General Discussion

Chris Shaffer
Chris Shaffer
12,030 Points
Posted by Chris Shaffer
Chris Shaffer
12,030 Points

Workspaces Segmented from Challenges vs. One in the Same

Since we can't upload files in the Challenges, and have to instead upload them in the Workspace, but have to still provide the code in the Challenge to pass, it seems redundant.

My suggestion is making the Workspace and Challenge coding area one in the same and separately also allow me to access the Workspace outside of a lesson.

I should be able to code and upload files exactly the same as the Workspace while completing a Challenge, but also separately save the Workspace for later (or as I go: automatically).

The problem right now is that I have no incentive to actually use the Workspace along with the lesson because I'm just copy/pasting anyway and ultimately wasting time.

Since the workspace is a lot more like our IDE environment will be when we're actually building a site, etc. it seems it would be a better learning experience to use it properly.

Just a thought.

2 Answers

Chris Shaffer
Chris Shaffer
12,030 Points
Chris Shaffer
Chris Shaffer
12,030 Points

The more I go through these challenges, the more of a pain in the %$& it is to move over to the Workspace to actually reference my full HTML markup while editing the CSS.

I don't understand the logic behind having the Workspace separate and not being able to navigate between CSS/HTML/JS files while completing a challenge. It seems counter-intuitive to teach everything showing a method of using the Workspace, but force us to use the handicapped Challenge interface to submit the work.

...unless this is some secret conspiracy to MAKE us repeat ourselves...

Christopher Hall
Christopher Hall
9,052 Points
Christopher Hall
Christopher Hall
9,052 Points

On the challenges that have multiple files available (like html, css, js), you can switch between them. The file names are laid out horizontally just above the code area. This can be easy to miss, I missed it the first few times. I agree that the workspaces have a better user interface. However they're a relatively new addition to the site. Hopefully the Treehouse developers will update the challenge interface soon to work similarly to the workspaces.

Chris Shaffer
Chris Shaffer
12,030 Points
Chris Shaffer
Chris Shaffer
12,030 Points

While I'm already pretty solid on HTML and CSS, I still find the beginner lessons useful. However, I've noticed in going through these that the instructor is often telling you to add IDs and Classes on elements that you can't access because you can't reach the HTML file.

While I appreciate the current focus (on my current lesson) was on CSS, as a beginner front-ender, you definitely want to keep with the practice of creating and calling your classes and IDs intelligently. You don't develop this practice well when it's done for you.

It's also a bit confusing that you're instructed to do one thing, then to pass the challenge you do another.

The lesson is taught in the Workspace. It makes no sense to have this separate from the Challenges.