The main challenges were:

• Work with an extract of courses data from their internal Oracle based database system to create a new MySQL database
• Rewrite the searching system so that it works and provides accurate results
• Restructure the URLs, Meta Data and HTML to improve the search engine page rank
• Implement a new design layout
• Develop a custom CMS to allow the University to manage extra content related courses and provide students with more engaging content

We decided to split the project into two phases to make sure that the searching system and search engine friendly structure of the site were sorted out by a specific date.  So for Phase 1 I developed the database and rewrote the software using Codeigniter MVC PHP framework to address the high priority requirements and we successfully hit the go live deadline.  For Phase 2 I then implemented the new design layout and developed a custom CMS so that additional content could be managed more easily.  Phase 2 is now live here.

Brighton University Course Finder developed using Codeigniter

In developing this project I :

• Converted the existing software from standard PHP to Codeigniter MVC
• Analysed the provided data and tested a number of different searching methods to provide focused search results
• Implemented pretty URLs, cleaned up the HTML and dynamically generated meta tags to improve SEO
• Implemented a new layout for the application from Photoshop files
• Added some Javascript animation to the application to improve the user experience
• Implemented a Custom CMS to make it straight forward for website administrators to add videos, images and other content to specified areas of the website
• Implemented group level security in the CMS  to restrict what areas of the website administrators can manage

This was a great project to work on and Brighton University are delighted with the results and the fact that they can now easily manage the content.  The page rank of the website has improved enormously and there has been a huge increase in the number of unique visitors to the website as a result.  So the website is now working really well for them.

To develop this WordPress website I did the following:

• Setup a WordPress staging site development environment
• Sliced the web graphics from the PSD (Photoshop files) provided by the designer
• Developed  and cross browser tested HTML / CSS templates from the designs
• Used some jQuery plugins and Javascript to develop the animations for viewing content
• Developed the HTML / CSS / Javascript templates into a custom WordPress theme
• Used WordPress Custom Post Type functionality to break up up the content in WordPress and make it easy to update
• Installed and utilised other WordPress plugins to optimise the development process
• Developed some specific functionality in PHP

Gent Monk, the designer and the project manager are all thrilled with the new WordPress CMS driven website and I enjoyed developing a site that has a fairly unique look and feel.  The site is here is you want to take a peek – www.gent-monk.nl

www.offthekerb.co.uk

The build of this site was quite involved and to put it together I:

• Sliced up all the PSD (Photoshop design files) to construct the initial HTML / CSS templates
• Added jQuery / Javascript to the designs for animations and other visual effects
• Converted the HTML / CSS templates into a custom WordPress theme
• Made extensive use of WordPress custom post types and a custom field plugin to make it easy for Off The Kerb to manage all the different content types that make up the site
• Integrated the WordPress theme with Google Maps API version 3
• Added Facebook features
• Integrated the WordPress theme with a Newsletter mailing system
• Wrote a WordPress custom plugin with custom short codes and custom template tags to produce all the specified functionality such as custom content type searching and integrating a custom post type with Google Maps API

After weeks of work the site went live and immediately started to receive great feedback.  Off The Kerb are extremely pleased with the new website look and feel, and delighted with the increase in traffic that it is experiencing as a result of redeveloping it. This was a great project to work on with Chris and Nick and I thoroughly enjoyed developing it.

To ease the use of this process for organisations wishing to seek approval for FIFApremiums.com branded products ADM designed a user guide with animation to provide an engaging way to understand the process.

To develop the guide I :

• Attended a consultation and took down a functional specification
• Sliced graphics from layered Photoshop files provided by ADM
• Developed the HTML/CSS template
• Developed the Javascript animations which incorporated the use of the jQuery library
• Cross browser tested the template on PCs, MACs, iPhone, iPad and Android
• Delivered the code and assets to ADM’s development department for inclusion in their custom Content Management System

IT was good fun working on this project with ADM Promotions and both they and FIFApremiums.com were delighted with the resulting guide template.

Microzone WordPress CMS Website

To produce this website I :

• Setup a WordPress staging site for development
• Sliced the PSD (Photoshop files) provided by Door 22 to create the graphics files needed to build the site
• Wrote HTML / CSS templates to look like the designs
• Added jQuery / Javascript to the templates to create subtle animations required
• Converted the HTML / CSS templates into a WordPress theme
• Added and utilised the functionality of various plugins to accelerate the development process
• Wrote some bespoke PHP functions
• Made changes as required by the client and then setup the site on their live hosting

Microzone are delighted with the results of this project and the with the fact that they can now change the content in their site without the need of a Web Programmer.

Product search system for Chartrite developed using Codeigniter

This site is in fact an integration of WordPress and Codeigniter in the same website.  The rest of the Website’s content is editable using WordPress as a CMS.

Here are some of the tasks I performed to develop the product search system:

• Setup a staging site with Codeigniter to use as a development platform
• Wrote and tested a system to import a CSV file which contains all the product data so that the database can be refreshed from thier office internal product database system
• Developed an admin interface so that they can login, do imports and edit the product data
• Added functionality so that they can add product images to the website
• Developed simple search and advanced search methods to meet with the required specification
• Conducted plenty of testing and then setup the new search system on their live website hosting

This was a very interesting project to work on and the client is pleased with the new product search functionality which is now live on thier website.

Wordpress custom plugin development for MDH

To construct the WordPress theme and get the WordPress backend to work the way the client wanted it to required some standard WordPress theme development techniques.  But it also required the development of some custom plugin functionality as the plugins already available only covered half of the backend requirements.  Here are a list of some of the elements I worked on whilst developing this website :

• Widgets development for job search functions and the display of featured and the latest jobs in the sidebar
• Widget development to display a Javascript rate calculator in the sidebar
• Development of WordPress template tags for SEO  (Search Engine Optimisation)
• Development of a WordPress shortcode for displaying job search results
• Development of WordPress functions for amongst other things rewriting permalinks inserted into the MySQL database for SEO
• Development of custom WordPress admin interfaces to  make it easier for the site administrators to find posted job content whilst referencing custom fields
• Development of forms which email CVs and integrate with the client’s internal ATS (Application Tracking System).  It is worth pointing out that I tend to develop forms in PHP and rarely use form plugins as they never seem to quite give me the functionality I need.

This site is well designed and thought out, and it provides a wealth of information about the company and the people that work there as well as video content.  So if you looking for a new job in HR why not take a look at this website.

This was a particularly interesting project to work on due to the highly original designs and navigation layout.  To develop this site I :

• Developed a custom theme functionality using PHP / MySQL,  which amongst other things allows the client to select which column they want the precis of a post to be displayed on the category post list pages
• Used Cufon to render title fonts
• Developed the theme from PSD (Photoshop) files using HTML / CSS / Javascript
• Integrated a small selection of WordPress plugins

This site does have a unique look and feel so if you have the time, please do take a quick look at it,  interieurinstituut.nl.

The main requirements were to ensure that the layout was simple and easy to navigate, only allow users to view content and download documents once they had logged in, plus search functionality.

Intranet website

I am no designer so I selected a standard open source theme and set about matching the various text and features with the colour in the logo. I showed it to the client and they were pleased with the result.

Finally I integrated the theme with the various plugins I had selected for managing private content, displaying navigation and enabling some slightly more advanced search functionality than that which comes with native WordPress.

The result, a great little Intranet which meets the client’s needs.

Here are two examples of sites that I worked on:

Enterprisealive website

(Click to enlarge)

Herts Police recruitment website

The project aspects they asked me to work on included:-

• Writing PHP, XHTML and CSS code to consume external RSS feeds, format them and output them on the websites
• Writing custom WordPress widgets
• Adjusting the functionality and output of WordPress plugins
• Writing a variety of forms in PHP
• Reconfiguring the DNS records of Domains
• Configuring virtual machines and virtual servers
• Developing Javascript/jQuery carousels that remember which image they were displaying when they are linked back to
• Developing and styling lightboxes for displaying video , images, forms and text
• Constructing aspects of site layout by slicing graphics, writing XHTML/CSS code and cross browser testing
• Developing a high standard of accessibility code for screen readers and browsers without Flash or Javascript
• Writing javascript to handle cookie information
• Preparing static XHTML/CSS templates for external application integration

On the Enterprisealive website all the pages had to be displayed in two languages as well so all the code that I wrote had to be put together with this in mind.

Working for Hodes Digital was very interesting and I hope to work on some more of their projects in the future.