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!