Baptist Milestone.com

I haven’t been in the habit of updating this blog… ever. But I wanted to mark the launch of the new Baptist East Milestone Wellness Center site.

I recently helped Jay Lane Media finish up this project, which had seen several iterations and developers. Due to a heap of varying circumstances, the previous developers were unable to complete the site to the needs of the client. So I stepped in to help wrap everything up and finally launch this site which had been in progress for over a year.

While a considerable amount of code was in place, including versions of the now-live class scheduler, there was still a lot of work to be done. Among which was:

• Speed optimizations
• Transition of many elements such as the homepage from static images to readable, accessible, editable text
• Outline of a upgrade path as well as definition of which CMS utilites would be left accessible to the end client and which would only be accessible to the admin
• Security upgrades
• Rebuild several forms to match updated functionality requirements
• Cross-browser testing
• Provide a client-updatable system for controlling their personal trainer listings and other staff
• Rewrite parts of the class scheduler to allow interface options such as a weekly listing of classes

Some features of the site:

• Event Scheduler – filterable via AJAX, added Weekly tab, updated design to match client’s needs
• Membership Form – input data, receive customized printable trial membership card
• Section-specific collapsed navigation – you don’t need to see all 500 subpages of other child or grandchild pages in the same category. Doesn’t sound like much, but WordPress can make this a little bit of a pain at times.
• Customized backend – thanks to manipulation of theme’s functions.php file
• Security and speed optimizations via minification and .htaccess manipulation

Tech used: Photoshop CS5, Espresso, CSS3, HTML5, Javascript/JQuery/AJAX, MySQL, WordPress, PHP

TL;DR: Redid a bunch of existing work and added increased functionality, working both from designer’s PDFs and my own design elements, for both content pages and dynamic forms and content areas.

Wordpress Custom Dashboard Panel

I made up a little custom dashboard widget for our clients at Louisville Web Group. At current, we’re placing this on the majority of our client’s WordPress installations. It gives the client a quick, easy way to see our contact information as well as a central spot to download their support documentation/”how-to guide”. I’m going to look into expanding this a bit in the future, possibly with a bit of JSON so that instead of having to update each dashboard with new info individually, I could update all dashboards simultaneously. This would be great for alerting clients to upcoming server maintenance or holiday hours.

Unfortunately, none of the projects went anywhere, and these designs will never be used. Before the halt, the first two images were approved, and I began coding them into a wordpress theme as well as an OsCommerce theme. The video area was going to be custom built to interface with both of the aforementioned platforms via plugins/add-ons. I’m presenting the mockups here to catalog at least some of the massive amount of work that I poured into the project before it was ghostbusted.

Waverly Hills Mockup (2008)

Waverly Hills Mockup (2008)

Waverly Hills Mockup (2008)

Waverly Hills Mockup (2008)

Woodland Wildlife is a non-profit organization outside of Radcliff, KY that specializes in raptor rehabilitation. However, they have taken care of alligators, crocodiles, song birds, tons of rabbits, kittens, and much more. To help raise awareness and solicit much needed donations, we created this site for them.

The site is mostly XHTML/CSS. It also has a blog interface for them to update new kittens that they are taking care of. Though, I’m pretty sure they aren’t using that feature much. I hooked them up with some paypal buttons and a contact form.