Tag: xhtml

NC State ACM/AITP Website Update

I just finished (or reached the publishing or pushing live step) the update to the NC State ACM/AITP website.

The improvements over the previous design are pretty drastic when it comes to user interface and ease of use.

I ended up going with a K2 theme for Drupal since I’m such a big fan, but it just didn’t seem right for the site at first. I ended up going through and modifying a great deal of a barely and poorly done version that I came across online so I had to finish up most of it myself, but that just allowed for making it suit my (read ‘our’…for the club) needs.

acm-aitp-site-upgrade-2009

After working with the html and tweaking it hardcore until I got it clean so it passes HTML Validation inspection it was time to tweak the CSS.

This became a breeze with Opera’s Dragonfly developer tools. I was able to select an element and tweak the style sheet live so I could see real-time results. After making an adjustment it’s as simple as updating the actual stylesheet.

After tweaking the style almost obsessively for hours the first day I decided it was time for a break. It wasn’t long before I got back into the groove the next day and finished it up (for the time being).

I really have to say that I am in love with Dragonfly now. I’ve used Firebug in the past and to be honest I’ve never been a Firefox fanboy…it’s a good browser, but it’s not pushing standards support at the rate that I want and Opera is just better at a lot of the things that I use and need from a browser… anyways, I got used to Firebug a while back and Dragonfly vs. Firebug isn’t a fair competition because the both are still very different, but I find Dragonfly being easier to use ever second compared to Firebug.

After getting the code working it was time to push the update. As a result, the NC State ACM/AITP club now has a much friendlier outlet on the web!

Now I have the pleasure of tackling any smaller issues such as stylesheet problems. 😀 Updating the content will now be much less of a pain now that it can be updated directly from the browser for most everything.

Coding: Online Alarm

I’ve been working on my Online Alarm clock that I start writing more than a year ago! Really, I’ve just been going back to try to finish more of the user interface and clean up more of the code.

The work that I’ve been doing to the user interface includes bringing the design into the years of Web 2.0 with cleaner, larger and simpler layouts.

Just take a look at the difference between the original log-in page (top) compared to the log-in page after I completed functionality and updated the styling to make it a little more Web 2.0 friendly!

It’s amazing to me how you can have a functional web application, but if you don’t make it look nice then it seems like it’s so much more difficult to navigate and use. User interfaces really help sell a product as well, so hopefully I can get this one setup nicely.

I had planned on uploading the source code to the Google Code page that I made for it, but I’m still waiting to work out some kinks.

Mainly, I’m waiting until I get the GUI finished a little more so I will know which MySQL fields are needed and should be installed by an installation script.

The script itself shouldn’t be too difficult, but I really need to map out the process before I start coding it so I can make the installation as simple as possible at the same time.

I’m thinking it will be as simple as uploading all of the files to your server and completing a setup form that just requires server credentials (of course) and an initial Admin username and password. That should be quick and easy and get everything ready to start using!

There is also the issue of completing the admin control panel. If I don’t complete it then the admin will have little control over the service unless they choose to edit everything via phpMyAdmin or something like that.

It shouldn’t be too long before I can bring this project to a version 0.1 level, haha. Then you’ll be able to download the source and do what you wish with it for free (hopefully submit bug reports and patches 😛 )!