Category Archives: Web Development
Why Your Business Needs a Website
I needed to find a variety of contractors to give us quotes for our patio extension. I opened my laptop and quickly searched for concrete/landscaping/decking contractors in my area.
After looking through the search results for a few minutes, I caught myself contacting only the companies that had websites. I shouldn’t have been surprised by that (after all, I build websites for a living) but it illustrates a very important lesson: If you don’t have a website, how much business are you losing? Continue reading
How To Run a Freelance Business
Running a small business has forced me to learn a variety of other skills, including accounting, sales, and marketing. If I’ve learned anything since starting my freelance web design business it’s that the key to success (i.e. making money) lies in managing your time wisely, and I’ve found a bunch of free software applications that help me stay productive.
I thought I would take a break from my busy schedule to share some of the software tools that help me manage my business. Note-to-self: they’re all free! Continue reading
ExtJS, Flickr and WordPress
I recently built a website for my sister (Jennifer Kay) to showcase her professional work as a reporter for the Associated Press. The design is simple – but I thought I might share something cool with everyone. For starters, byJenniferKay.com … Continue reading
Top 5 Reasons Your Website Sucks
Over the past few months, I’ve spoken to a number of small business owners about their websites. As a freelance web designer, I’ve been primarily targeting local small businesses because many of them don’t have websites; the few that do often have an amatuer design that hasn’t been updated since 1998.
Believe it or not, the sales process has been relatively tricky. Although many small business owners are keenly aware the benefits of a professional website, many others don’t seem to care. These people often manage their website themselves and are convinced that they don’t need an upgrade.
The sad truth is that your visitors do form an immediate opinion of your business when they see your website. This first impression can be the difference between gaining or losing a customer! Continue reading
Ext Scheduler
Here’s a look inside the Ext Scheduler application developed by Mats Bryntse! There’s been a lot of buzz in the ExtJS community over this tool, so I jumped at the chance to peek inside his code.
Included is an example of the Ext Scheduler tool that I built using the Twitter API. It’s a crappy example… but you still might like it!
Overall, my impression is that the Ext Scheduler will be an invaluable tool for most developers working with “events”. It’s easy to work with, offers an impressive set of features and should impress a lot of end-users. I would encourage everyone to check out the other Ext Scheduler examples and see for yourself! Continue reading
WordPress Automatic Upgrades on GoDaddy
It’s been a while since I moved this blog over to WordPress, and my only complaint since the move has been the periodic upgrades needed for WordPress and its plugins.
Why is that a big deal? After all, there’s this prominent link saying “Upgrade” when WordPress (or any of the plugins) detect a new version.
Well… for starters, I’m hosting this blog on a Windows IIS7 machine. To complicate matters, I’m also using GoDaddy. Rather than diving into why either of these factors is complicated (if you’re interested, do yourself a favor and Google it) I’ll simply jump into the solution for automatically updating WordPress on a GoDaddy IIS7 hosting plan. Continue reading
Book Review: ASP.NET 3.5 Application Architecture and Design
This review is part of a series of book reviews I have agreed to do for Packt Publishing.
ASP.NET 3.5 Application Architecture and Design (by Vivek Thakur) is a fantastic book offering insight into multi-layered and n-Tier software development. Although its title says “ASP.NET 3.5″, developers using any language can benefit from the concepts covered in this book.
If you’re looking for a book on application architecture – this book is definitely for you! Continue reading
JavaScript Tabs: ExtCore vs jQuery UI
ExtCore and jQuery UI are both JavaScript libraries which allow web developers to create all kinds of widgets. I have been using both over the past year or so, and specifically to use their respective “Tab” widgets.
How do these two libraries compare when you want to build tabs from existing HTML markup? Continue reading
Why Small Businesses Shoud Hire a Freelancer
Although websites are the easiest way to attract new customers to your business, roughly half of the small businesses in our country do not have a website. That’s an amazing statistic considering how many people use the Internet to connect with friends and search for products/services in their local area.
Your customers will judge your business when viewing your website, so you definitely want to make a good impression. Here’s why hiring a freelance web designer is probably your best bet. Continue reading
10 Albums That Inspire Great Software
It’s no secret that computer nerds often have strong musical skills… which is odd given that music is processed by the human brain’s right hemisphere, while math/logic are processed in the left hemisphere.
I have found that a good song puts me into a focused groove – like something just clicks inside my brain and the code writes itself. Complicated concepts unwind into simple solutions as if I can suddenly think in multiple dimensions.
The caveat, of course, is that a song isn’t long enough to maintain productivity like this. An hour (give or take) is ideal to generate some solid code, so finding an entire album (with no crappy songs) is almost priceless. Here are 10 that I suggest you try. Continue reading
