Website Development and Projects
This page contains a preview of the different websites developed and maintained
by First Century Thinking
Description:
Matthews Calorie Counter is a social weight loss site with several different weight
loss tools, in addition to the main calorie counter. Registration is free, supported with PPC ads.
Major Systems:
Food Journal (calorie counter), Exercise Log, Weight in Charts, Weight Loss Projections,
Personal Food & Exercise Libraries, Diet Articles, Weight Loss Support Groups, Weight
Loss Tickers for link backs (used in Emails/Blogs/Websites), Diet History Calendar,
Weight Loss Support Forums, Personal Daily Journal, Weight Loss Profile's, Google
Article Search else standard site search for other content
Sub Systems:
Private Messaging/Inbox System, Friend System, Profiles, Diet & Account Settings,
Membership Security, Food & Exercise Search Systems, Error Tracking, Member Tracking,
IP banning systems, Mailing List, Full Moderation System including Flagging, Comment
System
**Most of these systems were built from scratch
Development Blog:
MaCC was built from the ground up with little to no pre-existing modules and development
experience on my part. Why? Partly
for my own experience and also because it was fun! Not only did I learn allot but
it also provided me with template to create additional websites in half the time.
With a little programming knowledge I created a desktop calorie counter program
back in 2006, strictly for personal use. It was crude and simple, but it worked.
In 2008 I started school at Sothern Oregon University for my B.S. in Computer Science.
Since I could not always have my laptop with me, I decided to convert my calorie
counter into a website so I can access it anytime, anywhere.
This would be my first website. I was also knee deep into school at this time, so
it would have to be done on my own spare time. With no experience in web development
I got to work, starting with Dreamweaver. At first it seemed like a dream come true,
but quickly became a spaghetti mark up mess. I then decided not to use any preexisting
templates, but to try to create everything myself. I wanted the experience and control.
I spent the next couple
months building the sites core features. The more work I put into it the more I
realized this was turning into something that other people could use. I spent the
rest of the year building core features and support systems. Finally in the summer
of 2009 I launched the site.
Throughout 2009-10 I continued to add on new systems, finalize others and fix bugs
when I could. This was also my last year of school and the most intense. I was working
on my second website Easy-A.com as my senior capstone project. Through school and
personal experience my knowledge in programming and website development continued
to grow, to the point where it was becoming apparent that I needed to rebuild MatthewsCalorieCounter.com,
from the ground up.
During the summer of 2010 I decided to rebuild MatthewsCalorieCounter.com. Because
this was my first site, it contained allot of unorganized & sloppy code. I just kept adding
modules as I thought of them and soon my code, DB and html reflected that. So I
rebuilt the site, from the Database, back end logic to a brand new UI in the front
end. It turned out to be a huge success and another great learning experience!
MatthewsCalorieCounter.com is currently in its second iteration. With very little
advertising and mostly by word of mouth, we are closing in on 4,000 new members
so far this year (May of 2011). We hope to start a major advertising campaign soon.
Technology, Techniques and Software:
Technology:
Microsoft Visual C#, Asp.Net, JavaScript, CSS, JSON, AJAX, XML, XHTML, SEO, JQUERY,
JAVASCRIPT, MSSQL, ORM Database(NHibernate/ActiveRecord), some HTML5 & CSS3
Software:
Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio, IIS, Notepad, Photoshop, Illustrator (Xara),
Google AdWords/AdSense/Dashboard/Analytics
Techniques:
W3C Compliant Code, Cross Browser Compatibility (Firefox, Chrome, IE7+, Safari,
Droid), Object Oriented Programming, VPS but may soon move to a Cloud. Facebook
& Twitter integration
Description:
Easy-A is a Social Educational Resource that allows users to Rate & Review Teachers,
Classes and School Notes. Registration is free, supported with PPC ads. This is
a community driven site, all content being added by users.
Major Systems:
School Profiles, Leader Boards, Class/Teacher/Notes Ratings, Reviews and Additions,
Watch list System, Contribution System, Home Work Help Forums, Study Groups, School
Portal/Profile Pages, Highest Rated Comments
Sub Systems:
Private Messaging/Inbox System, Friend System, Profiles, Account Settings, Membership
Security, Error Tracking, Member Tracking, IP banning systems, Mailing List, Full
Moderation System including Flagging, Google Note Search else standard site search
for other content
**Most of these systems were built from scratch
Development Blog:
There were two main reasons for producing this kind of site:
- I used the construction of Easy-A.com to fulfill the requirements of my senior capstone
project.
- I was a teacher for three years and also a full time student. Being
both a teacher and a student gave me an advantage of seeing both sides of the fence.
With this experience in mind, I wanted to create a website that could be helpful
to both sides.
While I reused many systems from my earlier projects, much of this site was built
from scratch. There are three main functions for Easy-A:
1. Rate & Review Teachers
There have been many times that I have had to take a class that was being taught
by two different teachers, of whom I did not know. So like flipping a coin I would
choose one and hope this teachers teaching style matched my learning style.
Easy-A allows you to get teacher ratings and information before you take a class.
This is also a great feedback system for those Teachers, to see where they are excelling
and where improvement is needed. This is accomplished by other student ratings and
reviews on particular teachers.
2. Sharing School Notes
Many students have a hard time taking notes, don’t have time, or maybe are
out of practice. Many schools already allow note taking for other students (such
as foreign students).
Easy-A helps compliment this process by providing a place to upload, rate, comment
and print out notes for class syllabuses, assignment sheets, study guides, cheat
sheets, papers, essays, book reports and lab examples for your class.
3. Class Reviews
As a full time student taking on a full load of 12-16 credits, it’s nice to
try to get an easy class into the mix. We just don’t know how difficult a
class will be until it’s too late. Easy-A allows you to see information about
a particular class before you enroll in that course. This is accomplished by other
student ratings and reviews on particular courses.
Technology, Techniques and Software:
Technology:
Microsoft Visual C#, Asp.Net, JavaScript, CSS, JSON, AJAX, XML, XHTML, SEO, JQUERY,
JAVASCRIPT, MSSQL, ORM Database(NHibernate/ActiveRecord), some HTML5 & CSS3
Software:
Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio, IIS, Notepad, Photoshop, Illustrator (Xara),
Google AdWords/AdSense/Dashboard/Analytics
Techniques:
W3C Compliant Code, Cross Browser Compatibility (Firefox, Chrome, IE7+, Safari,
Droid), Object Oriented Programming, VPS but may soon move to a Cloud. Facebook
& Twitter integration
Description:
Unity In Grace is a religious non-profit social website that seeks to bring people
together to Love, Grow, Share and Encourage one another in Faith. As of now there
are no Ads on the site, but supported through donations.
Major Systems:
Prayer Wall with Prayer Requests, User added Inspirational Stories & Testimonies,
Bible Verse Signatures for link backs to be used in Emails/Blogs/Websites, Personal
Devotionals, Fellowships, Question & Answer Section, Support Forums, Bible Verse
Search with Bookmarking, several Help and Support Articles, Full integration with
Facebook(account creation and logging in), Custom Text Editor
Sub Systems:
Private Messaging/Inbox System, Friend System, Profiles, Account Settings, Membership
Security, Error Tracking, Member Tracking, IP banning systems, Mailing List, Full
Moderation System including Flagging, Google Blog Search else standard site search
for other content
**Most of these systems were built from scratch
Development Blog:
Basically took everything I learned from MatthewsCalorieCounter.com and Easy-A.com
and combined them to produce UnityInGrace.com. I started development in Jan 2011
and finished phase I in May of 2011. Hope to have phase II finished by June.
With this site I pushed myself and started using newer technology. This included
full integration with Facebook and HTML5/CSS3 techniques.
More information on this site can be found in the
About Us section of the website.
Technology, Techniques and Software:
Technology:
Microsoft Visual C#, Asp.Net, JavaScript, CSS, JSON, AJAX, XML, XHTML, SEO, JQUERY,
JAVASCRIPT, MSSQL, ORM Database(NHibernate/ActiveRecord), HTML5, CSS3
Software:
Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio, IIS, Notepad, Photoshop, Illustrator (Xara),
Google AdWords/AdSense/Dashboard/Analytics
Techniques:
W3C Compliant Code, Cross Browser Compatibility (Firefox, Chrome, IE7+, Safari,
Droid), Object Oriented Programming, VPS but may soon move to a Cloud. Full Facebook
& Twitter integration
Description:
K’shir Y’fe is a simple band website with a CMS system.
Systems:
CMS System, Event Addition/Edit, Recent News Addition/Edit, Account Settings, Membership
Security, Error Tracking, Member Tracking, IP banning systems.
This site is still under construction. The meat and potatoes are there, just needs dressing.
Development Blog:
I built this website in about four days (1st Phase). I reused a lot of my earlier
code but with a twist. For security reasons all my other websites are pre-compiled
with the HTML edited within Visual Studio, but with advances in security and for
ease of editing for the band members I built a simple CMS. It turned out very well!
I now have a great template for other similar sites in the future.
Technology, Techniques and Software:
Microsoft Visual C#, Asp.Net, JavaScript, CSS, XHTML, SEO, JQUERY, JAVASCRIPT, MSSQL,
W3C Compliant Code, Cross Browser Compatibility, Object Oriented Programming, ORM
Database(NHibernate/ActiveRecord), HTML5, CSS3
Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio, IIS, Notepad, Photoshop, Illustrator (Xara)