Shipwire WordPress CMS/Theme

url: http://www.shipwire.com

Shipwire

SDAC Inc. provided:

  • XHTML/CSS programming
  • WordPress theme
  • WordPress CMS configuration
  • Custom WordPress Plugins
  • Custom PHP programming
  • Ajax programming

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, WordPress, PHP, Ajax

front end:

I was given mockups to use as a reference as well as nearly completed CSS/XHTML from another designer and from that, I created the WordPress theme.

back end:

This site is built partially with custom code and partially with WordPress. I was responsible for the WordPress part of the site. I also programmed the AJAX accordion seen on some of the pages as well as the news ticker on the home page. This site relies heavily on categories and on category logic and really pushed WordPress to a new level for customizations. I did my best to make as of the content editable by the WordPress Admin as well so sidebar widgets, category descriptions, blogroll, and etc were all utilized throughout the site.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

At first I was not sure if this was a good fit for WordPress, but I am glad they stuck with it – it turned out great! (The WordPress pages have a /c/ in the URL in case you were wondering.)

WordPress Update: 2.3.1

  • 0 Comments

WordPress 2.3.1 has officially been released. The new version includes bug fixes and security fixes. For more information on WordPress version 2.3.1, read the official WordPress version 2.3.1 documentation.
Download the latest versions of WordPress: WordPress 2.3.1

Outside the Lines Designs WordPress CMS/Theme

url: http://outsidethelinesdesigns.net

Outside the Lines Designs

SDAC Inc. provided:

  • Original web design
  • XHTML/CSS programming
  • WordPress theme
  • WordPress CMS configuration
  • Custom PHP programming
  • Ajax programming

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, WordPress, PHP

front end:

The site owner wanted something bright, simple, and easy to use. The colors were chosen by the site owner and I used one of the existing pieces of artwork and created the entire header from it which pulled the whole site together.

back end:

This site is built using WordPress. The main sections are all WordPress pages with the exception of the “Gallery of Work” which uses WordPress’s blogging capabilities. The site owner wanted something easy to maintain after coming from a static site, so now when she creates a new piece, she can simply create a blog post with 2 images uploads and it will be available for everyone to see. The forms are done using a WordPress plugin so if she needs to change or add any fields, she can do that without any technical expertise.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

It is always a pleasure creating dynamic web sites for people who do not think they can fully manage their own site without knowing HTML – and it makes me very happy to put the control in her hands. I also cannot wait until my son can draw – I will definitely get a shirt made!

TIME Inc. – The Page WordPress CMS/Theme

url: http://thepage.time.com

Time - The Page

SDAC Inc. provided:

  • XHTML/CSS programming
  • WordPress theme
  • WordPress CMS configuration
  • Custom PHP programming

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, WordPress, WordPress.com (Hosting), PHP

front end:

The user interface was programmed and put together by another consultant and given to me to implement on WordPress.com.

back end:

This was my first WordPress.com VIP account and it was a pleasure to work with the folks at Automattic. TIME. Inc wanted several customizations that were outside of the normal WordPress functionality so I really learned a lot about how to bend WordPress in this project. The template files are complex, but really show off the flexibility of WordPress.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

It was a pleasure and an honor to work with TIME Inc. on this project and I look forward to seeing this site grow and develop.

Search Specific Category in WordPress

  • 13 Comments

There are some times when you want to limit your search to a particular category, or perhaps multiple categories. This is relatively simple to do in WordPress by adding a hidden field to your search code. (See example below)

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. <form method="get" id="searchform" action="<?php bloginfo('home'); ?>/">
  2. <div><input type="text" value="<?php echo wp_specialchars($s, 1); ?>" name="s" id="s" />
  3. <input type="hidden" name="cat" value="22" />
  4. <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search" />
  5. </div>
  6. </form>

You can see I added my hidden input field on the third line. When I add this in, it then adds onto the query used to search. Your search will go from something like http://www.sandboxdev.com/?s=WordPress to http://www.sandboxdev.com/?s=WordPress&cat=22 and will only return posts in the category ID you choose.