Projects, projects, projects, all coming outta the woodwork....
29 Aug 2009 ▣ 06:04 PM CT
Well, the only new thing on this site today (aside from this post) is a JavaScript tweak for the Safari and Chrome browsers.
The "portfolio" menu divider at left likes to hike itself up by the "resume" divider, which then causes their menu items to kind of fall all over one another, kinda like a human pyramid. (If you're a cheerleader, you know what I'm talking about.)
Fortunately, since I read that Chrome more or less seems to view itself as Safari, then fixing the "portfolio" divider's position in Chrome also makes this website once again viewable on the iPhone.
On an unrelated note, I have several ongoing web projects keeping me very much tied up:
- HNTC.NET: The next incarnation of the Heartland National TB Center website. I am converting it from ASP Classic to ASP.NET/C# so we can take advantage of the built-in membership feature. The idea is to make the website act a bit more like Amazon.com for our users.
- Iranian Followers of Christ ▣ San Antonio: A Joomla-powered website, still in the planning stages; URL to be announced upon completion. This is the project I'm building for two of my Fall 2009 semester classes: Web Design II and Practicum at NW Vista College.
- Rubric #1 for Multimedia Programming Course: The project I'll be working on that is due on Sept 6. It's my first real spin with Flash CS4, and I kind of already know what I want to build....a remake of a demo I created many, many years ago. When it's done, it'll be added to the "design" portfolio page (and maybe the "develop" page as well, not sure yet).
So updates here *might* slow down just a bit here and there, whilst I tend to client business. But keep checking back nonetheless!
PRINT Link Nearly Done....
24 Aug 2009 ▣ 02:17 PM CT
At least you can now view and print it in Internet Exploder 8 (no, that was no typo...). I'll be testing it in FF & iPhone later tonight.
Its layout is deliberately plain vanilla in order to comply with Section 508 / accessibility rules; I'll be verifying that, too.
At a later time (hopefully not too long from now), it will also have links that let you show and hide certain content blocks, based on what types of work they are.
I know, I know....a CMS would've probably saved me all this extra programming. I do have a brand new website project that appears to be a fab candidate for Joomla. I'll keep you posted on that project as details emerge....
Status Update.....
22 Aug 2009 ▣ 11:14 PM CT
Had some technical difficulties this week (thank you SO much, Micro$oft!!!!!).
Before all that, I was working on the "print" menu item. This opens a rather plain-looking HTML resume that is both printer-friendly and Section 508-compliant (for those not familiar w/508, that means usable by visitors with disabilities).
Because my job experiences cover designing, developing, and documenting, I plan to include some interactive code that will let you customize which of the 3 categories you want displayed on this page. By default, I'll probably show them all.
Sorry for the holdup. I hope to get this page finished fairly quick....especially with night school starting back up on Monday!
Contact Page Is Now Live!!!!
17 Aug 2009 ▣ 12:15 AM CT
I prefer using a Contact page over displaying my email address everywhere on my website (which basically rings the dinner bell to every spambot out there).
Additionally, anytime I change my email address, it only has to be entered ONCE in my database, and it's automatically updated on the Contact (and Thank You) pages. No need to open Dreamweaver and do global search/replaces throughout the website project, followed by FTP'ing who-knows-how-many PHP files. This in turn prevents the possibilty that a file is accidentally left behind.
Please feel free to check it out!
Updating via my iPhone....
15 Aug 2009 ▣ 11:45 PM CT
If you and I can read this, MWAHAHAHA!!!!
For the past couple of weeks, I've also had my iPhone language setting on Russian, which is carrying over to the MySQL control panel. Pretty soon I just might be learning more Russian just by making updates here....
Ok, clearly I'm having *way* too much fun with this, so I'm gonna retire for the night. Da svidanya!
Pilgrim's Progress, Part Deux....
15 Aug 2009 ▣ 11:15 PM CT
OK, you are now looking at the FINISHED home page. Yup, it looks much the same, but here's the catch: the work completed was all on the back end.
Much of the content you see in this box and the red sidebar box on the right now consists of MySQL database-driven content.
There are a couple of reasons for this madness:
- I am aiming toward being able to update much of the website content simply by adding and editing database records. Bonus points to me if I can do this via my iPhone — after all, I can't carry my laptop everywhere; or what if decides to take a permanent vacation (again <grrr>)?
- One of my goals (see previous post) is to make my site as searchable as possible. PHP/MySQL will let you search for words or phrases from various parts of my website. However, that page will have to wait until I complete the "3 Ds" portfolio pages....
Speaking of which, those three pages are next on my hit list. The bad news is, they're the most involved. Good news, however, is that they'll all look and act largely the same way, so once I get the first one nailed down, the other two can simply borrow from.
In fact, I might even see if I can just create a PHP function and have the three portfolio pages just call it. We shall soon find out......
In the meantime, keep checking back for updates. (Now that this page is finally finished, they will start coming fast and furious!)
IT LIVES!!!!! {Cue the thunder and lightning}
15 Aug 2009 ▣ 09:00 PM CT
I spent the past couple of semesters settling on a design that I liked. I wanted it to be artsy, yet accessible.
And then I wanted to make my online resume and portfolio as easily customizable and searchable as possible for you, the users.
So come on in, kick the tires, and send me your feedback!
