Sandbox Development and Consulting Inc.

url: Mutiple TIME Inc. Blogs (See Below)

• http://swampland.blogs.time.com
• http://tunedin.blogs.time.com
• http://china.blogs.time.com
• http://mideast.blogs.time.com
• http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com
• http://workinprogress.blogs.time.com
• http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com
• http://lookingaround.blogs.time.com

SDAC Inc. provided:

• XHTML/CSS programming
• Moveable Type to WordPress Migration
• WordPress theme
• Custom PHP programming

technologies used:

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

front end:

I used the existing TIME Inc. Moveable Type templates for the sites above and from those I created WordPress templates that would display everything so that the readers would not know there was any difference on the backend.

back end:

The templates are used across multiple TIME Inc. blogs and have custom functionality that allows them to be flexible enough for customizations across the sites.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

Creating a theme that would be used on several sites took some creative thinking and careful execution. This was an interesting and fun migration. (WordPress VIP hosting migrated the data).

url: http://www.bossip.com/forums

SDAC Inc. provided:

• XHTML/CSS programming
• vBulletin template/style customization
• vBulletin search engine optimization

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, vBulletin, PHP, CSS

front end:

I had worked with this client before with their WordPress theme so when customizing their vBulletin forum, I was already familiar with their design and layout. The client wanted it to look almost exactly like their WordPress site, so I reused most of their existing elements and then customized vBulletin to make it fit in with their existing design.

back end:

The client wanted some additional SEO (search engine optimization) so I added in some custom plugins and tweaks.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

vBulletin is a great product to work with. Usually I work with open source bulletin boards like phpBB and bbPress – but vBulletin is also another great piece of software to consider when looking at bulletin boards.

I have seen a lot of sites using the ShareThis button (including a few of mine) where the button in Safari was getting cut off (clipped) at the bottom. If this is happening to you - there is a quickfix. Add this line of CSS to your stylesheet and your button will no longer be cut off.

url: http://www.sandboxdev.com/

SDAC Inc. provided:

• XHTML/CSS/JS programming
• Custom graphic design
• Custom web design
• WordPress theme customization
• Custom AJAX functionality

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, JS, WordPress , PHP, jQuery

front end:

When creating a web site for my own company - I wanted to make sure the color palette was consistent with the previous designs for brand recognition. I also wanted to make the design as clean as possible and easy to navigate so prospective clients could easily find information and see what we value for layout and web design since those are services we offer as a company.

back end:

Just about every content area within the site is editable by the WordPress admin. I wanted to make something easy to keep up to date and not have to edit any template files when updating text or other content.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

Designing your company web site - which specializes in web development is tricky. It took me a long time to figure out how I wanted to present content, what worked, what would be a lasting design, and what would be something I could live with for some time since I am extremely picky. I also used the grid pattern for a background which was based on the unreleased theme for Mac OS 8.5 which I always admired.

url: http://www.protegek9.com/

SDAC Inc. provided:

• XHTML/CSS/JS programming
• Custom graphic design
• Custom web design
• WordPress theme customization

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, JS, WordPress , PHP

front end:

The client approached me with a blank slate. I put together the color scheme, layout, and graphics. The site needed to be clean, masculine, and easy to navigate. The client plans to have 50+ pages on the site so they also wanted drop down menus.

back end:

In order to make this as easy to use as possible for the client, I made use of a number of WordPress functions so that they could control the site for the most part by working in the WordPress admin. All the content on the site can easily be manipulated by using the WordPress admin. The menus are dynamically be generated from WordPress pages (any new pages will be added as soon as they are created, same goes for any deleted pages) and make use of custom menu CSS and javascript in place. The site is set up to use sidebar widgets so the clients can easily add new functionality as the site grows. The site also uses the "blog" functionality for their news section.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

The front page image was created inhouse by a talented graphic designer that does some work for me. He took four separate images of dogs in different settings/lighting and cut them out so they could be placed on one background and I think he did a great job!

url: http://www.calitreview.com/forum

SDAC Inc. provided:

• XHTML/CSS programming
• bbPress theme customization

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, bbPress , PHP, CSS

front end:

I had worked with this client before with their WordPress theme so when building the bbPress theme, I was able to resuse most of the WordPress layout and CSS and then add in and customize the existing bbPress XHTML/CSS. I used the basic layout and then added colors and styles that were clean and minimal.

back end:

The client wanted a simple, easy to use and manage forum and he was very familiar with WordPress so I recommended bbPress.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

bbPress gets better and better with each release.

url: http://travelfootprints.ca/

SDAC Inc. provided:

• XHTML/CSS programming
• WordPress theme customization

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, WordPress , PHP, CSS

front end:

The client came to me after purchasing a news theme (Remix) and wanted some customizations (colors, layout) and added logic.

back end:

I added in a lot of custom logic to dynamically control the header image which changes on per category, and also custom logic to the sidebar so the client can easily add related links and have them show up dynamically per category. I added some custom plugins to take care of these issues as well as the images on the homepage. All the customizations make it easier for the client to control the output of content while using WordPress's admin.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

It is wonderful to be able to travel as much as this client did - I look forward to seeing their upcoming trips documented!

I have been busy the past three months working on a site optimization project for a startup company where the code had been written by 10+ programmers who had come and gone over the last year. That left a big site with lots of unused and crazy CSS, images, javascript, and nasty HTML structure. I approached this project with two stages in mind:

1. Start clean with CSS and XHTML. The first thing I did was unlink the main 5 thousand line CSS file along with a handful of others which was wreaking all kinds of havoc. I then went into every view, standardized the overall HTML structure (so it could hold it's own without any CSS), and then only added in the CSS that was used.
2. Maximize HTTP requests. The next phase will involve spriting images and pairing down and combining javascript so the number of HTTP requests goes way down.

The initial results:
Total HTTP Requests: 192
Total Size: 1353141 bytes

After the first stage (finished today), the general results:
Total HTTP Requests: 67
Total Size: 693064 bytes

After stage two is completed - I think I can get those numbers down by another half.

From Yahoo!:
"80% of the end-user response time is spent on the front-end. Most of this time is tied up in downloading all the components in the page: images, stylesheets, scripts, Flash, etc. Reducing the number of components in turn reduces the number of HTTP requests required to render the page. This is the key to faster pages."

Why does all this matter? Think of a big, busy site. Think about the number of users - and then multiply that by the number of requests as well as the size of each page load. If you want good performance from your site - the pay off from optimizing your site will really pay off. It is pretty easy to go through your site and cleanup small things that over time will really add up. Not using a javascript you once did? Remove it from the header. Redid the site but still have a link to the old CSS "just in case"? Get rid of it! Remember, a little goes a long way.

url: http://topspinmedia.com/

SDAC Inc. provided:

• XHTML/CSS programming
• WordPress theme customization

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, WordPress , PHP, CSS

front end:

The client came with a basic layout and all the artwork finished and wanted to me to build a WordPress theme out of it. The layout is very clean and minimal which I really enjoy.

back end:

This was a very straightforward build - no fancy custom functionality - but I was able to help out with some of the Apache difficulties they were having which was a fun change of pace.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

Working with the people at Topspin was a great experience and I look forward to reading their blog.

url: http://www.brandinstinct.com/blog/

SDAC Inc. provided:

• XHTML/CSS/Javascript programming
• WordPress theme customization

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, WordPress , PHP, CSS

front end:

The client approached me with a table layout that they wanted turned into a CSS/XHTML layout for their company blog. I also re-created their javascript menu that was over 300 lines of code and reduced it down to only a few lines of javascript with some CSS.

back end:

This was a very straightforward build - no fancy functionality. There are only a few plugins that the client wanted and the theme is very lightweight and flexible for both pages and blog posts.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

Using Skype to communicate with overseas customers is great!