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!
SDAC Inc. provided:
- XHTML/CSS programming
- bbPress theme customization
- WordPress blog theme customization
- bbPress plugins and customization
technologies used:
XHTML, CSS, WordPress, PHP, CSS, bbPress
front end:
The client approached me with mockups for the site that I then turned into the XHTML and CSS in the bbPress and WordPress themes. The layout is simple and to the point.
back end:
The main site uses a heavily customized version of bbPress for the main site that I put together using custom functions and existing plugins. This functionality and layout that is not typically seen in “forums”, but the site is a great blend (functionally/visually) of a blog and a forum. The other pages and blog part of the site was created using a basic install of WordPress.
lessons learned/random thoughts:
This was a great project to work on and it really made me spend a lot of time looking through all the bbPress functions to turn bbPress into a flexible framework to get this job done. I look forward to more bbPress sites in the future because even though the codebase is still rather immature – there is a great base it’s lightweight footprint makes it really easy to work with.
SDAC Inc. provided:
- XHTML/CSS programming
- Custom web design
- WordPress theme customization
- Custom WordPress plugins
technologies used:
XHTML, CSS, WordPress , PHP
front end:
The client approached me wanting a very simple interface that would allow people to focus on her content. She wanted something that would be dynamic and easy to maintain so all content areas of the site are editable by using the WordPress admin.
back end:
The client also wanted an easy way to combine different posts to create a “master” post (the show) so her viewers could see a lot of content without taking up a lot of room on the page. Because of this – I used AJAX to show/hide content with an accordion in the “shows” section. I then created a custom plugin to tie in multiple posts in the “show” section.
lessons learned/random thoughts:
The shows and recipes are great and I look forward to the cookbook!
SDAC Inc. provided:
- XHTML/CSS programming
- WordPress theme customization
- WordPress CMS setup and configuration
- Custom PHP Programming
- aMember/PayPal Integration
technologies used:
XHTML, CSS, WordPress, PHP, aMember
front end:
The client approached me with a WordPress theme already picked out and in place for a basic blog. He wanted us to customize it for a content management system (CMS) which included multiple levels of membership and had public and private pages and post.
back end:
This CMS was created using aMember, a few WordPress plugins, and some custom template code to keep part of the site private for paying members only. When a member logs in they will see content appropriate to their user level per the membership package they paid with. This is the first site we worked with that used multiple levels of members – and displaying content based on the user level. Amember is used to automatically create WordPress members after their payment goes through and will expire the members when their membership is up.
lessons learned/random thoughts:
It would be great if we had more control on groups (user levels) could see. We also ran into some WordPress bugs with displaying private posts in some of the default WordPress functions and hope these will be fixed in the next version.
SDAC Inc. provided:
- XHTML/CSS programming
- WordPress theme
- WordPress CMS setup and configuration
- Custom PHP Programming
- Migration from ezPublish to WordPress
- mod_rewrite Programming
- Server Migration
technologies used:
XHTML, CSS, WordPress, PHP
front end:
The client approached me with a design in progress. From that, I created a basic WordPress theme and then further revised it after more design decisions were given to me.
back end:
This CMS was created after the client decided they wanted to migrate from ezPublish to WordPress. We exported all the data, mapped it to the WordPress tables, cleaned up the code, and imported into WordPress. We then created custom rewrite rules to make sure all old URLs would be directed to the new WordPress URL structure. This is a complicated WordPress theme with lots of conditional logic and some custom PHP programming for Openads integration.
lessons learned/random thoughts:
Overall, this rivals only one or two other sites in terms of sophisticated template logic and I learned a lot in the process of creating it. We also learned a lot about WordPress that we never knew before when importing and mapping the data from ezPublish into WordPress.
SDAC Inc. provided:
- Server Purchase/Setup/Configuration
- XHTML/CSS programming
- Custom PHP Form, Admin, and Scoring Admin
- Multi-Language Form (Localization)
technologies used:
XHTML, CSS, PHP, HTML_QuickForm, jQuery”, Smarty”
front end:
The client wanted a user interface that was easy to use and light weight since the users were mostly from foreign countries where internet connections were often hours away. I used minimal images, CSS, and javascript to ensure the application process (30 pages of text, radio button, and select fields, and long essays) would go as smoothly and quickly as possible why still providing feedback to the user if they missed a field or provided inappropriate data. The admin also had to be easy to use, as the Foursquare staff needed to easily access the data after the applications were submitted or if the submitter had any questions.
back end:
This form needed to be presented in English and Spanish so all text (labels, error messages, confirmation email, etc) was stored in both languages and then presented appropriately with custom logic. We used HTML_QuickForm and Smarty to build the form quickly and effectively and then used jQuery to handle custom validation rules given to us by the Foundation.
lessons learned/random thoughts:
This was by far the longest and most complex form I have ever worked on or seen. Adding in multiple languages this form was also very time consuming but a great experience. A special thanks to our talented developers on helping make this a success.
SDAC Inc. provided:
- XHTML/CSS programming
- WordPress theme
- WordPress CMS setup and configuration
technologies used:
XHTML, CSS, WordPress, PHP
front end:
The client gave me the design and wanted a WordPress theme created from the existing mockup/code. I set the site up to use a lot of excerpts so the owner could control how much content shows up on the home and main category pages, so web site viewers could quickly decide if an article or recipe interested them.
back end:
This CMS was created to give the site owner a way to start posting and sharing recipes – and then once they accumulate enough recipes, we are going to go back in and add more advanced WordPress functionality. For now, everything is category driven, and provides an easy way for the owner to create content, and receive content (via contact form, and user contributors). Functionally – this was a very simple site to set up using custom queries to pull all the data into the custom layouts.
lessons learned/random thoughts:
The client wanted a simple way to manage a web site and WordPress has worked really well. Using tags to tag ingredients will make this site easy to search for users in the future.
SDAC Inc. provided:
- XHTML/CSS programming
- WordPress theme
- WordPress CMS setup and configuration
- Custom WordPress plugin development
technologies used:
XHTML, CSS, WordPress, PHP
front end:
The client gave me the design and wanted a WordPress theme created from the existing mockup/code.
back end:
This CMS is pretty straightforward. The client knew exactly what they wanted and already had a lot of content from their previous WordPress blog. We created a custom plugin to display the news (5 most recent posts per every category). The code for the menus (drop down navigation) given to us was several hundred lines long split into 3 files with 20 images. We reduced the menu code to 12 lines of JS, a simple unordered list for the actual menu items, 2 images, and 23 lines of CSS.
lessons learned/random thoughts:
T
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.)
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!
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