Faculty Feedback

I was a bit surprised when I began presenting my project to the faculty. I didn't feel as if I was being viewed as just a student, but also as a peer. I may not be entirely fond of my overall experience with Shepherd University, but I can say this: The Communications and New Media Department is amazing! Anyways, onto my feedback.

The interesting and complex nature of my project makes it a bit hard to explain. I did not just make a website, but I created a Content Management System from scratch, and I built a website within it. I learned an immense amount of new methods for handling dynamic content. My feedback I felt was very positive, and it helped me when I was creating my display board.

My project is really hard to explain to anyone outside the field of Web Design and Development or Programming. This was very apparent when I was presenting to two of the three faculty members. So, when I was creating the design and writing the content for my display board, I made sure to define terms and include a diagram of the way PHP on the server side to deliver content to the web browser.

I have almost finished my display board, and I will be sure to upload photos when it is finished!

Application Status: Complete!

I finished my back-end application! I managed to use $_Post variables in order to send in photo ID's into the javascript photo-cropping application Jcrop. I now have a full fledged custom content management system for my website!

MySQL Database information is submitted via HTML forms and PHP.

Images are then displayed on the front-end portfolio after being sorted by category

Developer Mode!

I have learned a ton of information with my PHP course through Lynda.com, and sometimes I had to just simply stop for the day to simply process and remember everything I've learned. At some point this past week, I realized that the photo gallery I was building as part of the course was moving above and beyond the functionality I need for my portfolio. I decided I had learned enough code, I could re-write only what I needed, and I could customize it to my particular needs.

I sketched out my solution for my user interface with a very high-tech application known as pen and paper. As you can see it is a beautiful and stunning creation, but it saved my mind from exploding several times. Having a hard copy illustration makes programming a LOT easier because you can visually see what your end product will be. It is very easy to get lost in loops, if-then statements, MySql syntax, and functions. I cannot get lost when I have a blueprint for reference.

I have finished coding the "skeleton" of my portfolio application and written a very simple code to pull in the images according to category. I recently found an awesome Javascript/PHP crop tool jQuery code that I plan on implementing into my application in order to create thumbnail images through my user interface.

This past week I also finished my business application, payed the registration fee, and I faxed the required paperwork. I now have an official business, and I should be getting my Registration Certificate in the mail soon!

Finished Content!

I have finally finished writing all the main content for my business website, and I'm getting ready to switch over into "developer mode" once I make it a little further with my individual study. I was surprised at how long it took me to write the content, but I feel that I have revised it enough that it is clear and concise for potential clients to understand. This week, I am dedicating my time to working on my PHP: Beyond the Basics course from Lynda.com, and learning more about the mysterious realm of object-oriented programming.

Object-oriented programming is definitely a little harder to keep track of while creating the foundation of an application, however, once you have established the foundation it is much easier to call functions and data from MySQL. So far, I have grasped all the concepts, but the only thing I'm still adjusting to is the difference in syntax while calling information within a class. The course I am learning from goes into great detail, and I am going to work on dedicating more time to it in order to meet my deadline for review.

Preparing for the Transition

Now that the main design is all completed, as well as my stylesheets, it's about time to start working on writing and posting the content on all my pages. My professional portfolio site is pretty straightforward, but writing for my personal business site has taken me a little longer than expected. Luckily, I have already established my angle for appealing to the viewer which has made it much easier when writing out my home and about pages.

Transitioning from designing to developing now is where the true challenge will begin. I'm somewhat concerned by the amount of features I plan on incorporating into my portfolio application, but I'm glad I created a schedule and that I still have around four weeks to complete it. My goal for the end of the week is to have all my content finished and formatted in order to dedicate all my energy to the portfolio application which will appear on both of the sites I am currently developing. Time to make php work for me!

Ahead of Schedule!

Somehow or another, I've been somewhat obsessing over this project (who knew I liked learning and work?) I'm well ahead of schedule, and I don't plan on slowing down one bit. I have my overall designs and basic pages created, databases hooked up and running, and I'm now working on coding the CSS and bringing in content. I've hit a couple "life" snags along the way, but I've been able to stay focused and working on these projects even when I only have an hour to spare.

Things are going well with my individual study course, and I'm really, truly learning better work-flow methods in order to more efficiently work on my projects. My only concern is that I will not finish and absorb all the information and tools I'll need to create my gallery application for my portfolio, but I plan on refocusing all my energy on my Lynda.com course upon completing the other areas of each site.

In addition to my individual study course, I am also taking an Interactive Design course in the Graphic Design Department here at Shepherd University. I can now say I've been exposed to Wordpress (a breeze compared to Drupal), and my main challenge I've run into is how hard it is to keep switching directories as I am working on three completely separate websites simultaneously, but I'm pushing through it! My desktop is now covered with shortcuts and I'm surprised Xampp (similar to lamp, mamp, wamp, etc.) hasn't called in for a sick day yet :D

Researching and Trolling

The design and concept for my Professional Portfolio is very simple and straight-forward: A website showing my work and skills for graduate school. In contrast, I am having a very hard time with creating the logo, identity, and branding for my Web Design Company site. I've felt somewhat torn between what type of aesthetic style I want to employ. I have read several articles on the topic of web design portfolio sites (standard portfolios as opposed to mine which is for graduate school application) and through my research I found Jason Reed's portfolio site. I love how straight forward it is and how he employed such a unique method of displaying information tabs.

I have examined a multitude of web design / development sites, and I have noticed the cliche and ever recurring usage of light-bulbs and gears when describing / advertising their services. I want to stand out. The average business owner doesn't know what html, css, php, dns, and mysql are, and they shouldn't have to. This examination/critique has given me a idea for using a different approach which focuses on solutions as opposed to process. If I have to call a plumber because my sink is leaking I honestly don't care about all the possible solutions he has, I don't care about what tools he's going to use, the possible problems that are causing the sink to leak, and frankly I don't care about anything other than if he can fix my problem.

I feel that I want my site to promote solutions and not require a potential client to research what code languages, server side scripting, and content management systems are. I want them to see solutions and not my "toolset" I use to create solutions. I'm not going to remove my "toolset" from view, but I'm not going to make the process the focus. I want to provide clients with solutions.