So this process is still going and I’m not a fan. I’m still in the process of simplifying the page and giving it that professional and clean look. It is also very tempting, and I often fall into this temptation, of doing a lot of the edits directly on WordPress. It’s easier than jumping back and forth to do the simple things like changing the font or doing quick simple fixes.

However, I’m very sore I will not become a web developer or do this for fun. After fighting with FTP and trying to get WordPress into my GoDaddy, I’m very over it. I’m not a fan. I really don’t think I will do this from the developer side again. On the other hand it is nice knowing I can. It is rewarding going into Sublime and being able to do things, or looking at the ridiculously complicated code and sifting through to the place I need to edit. That’s cool.

What is not is trying to figure out how to make this PHP code work. I’ve been fighting with it for ages and I’m not sure how much longer I can before giving up. I barely got the code to work when we added the few lines to our web pages so I doubt I will actually make it work. I have looked through a few plugins and I’m choosing among a few. I might just use one and stop stressing myself out.

Again, I am not a fan of this process. When this is done, I’m sure I’ll be very proud of myself and happy I did it, but it will be a very long time before I CHOOSE to do this again. I jokingly told my friend that if I ever did this for anybody, that is how they would know our friendship is solid.

It was great getting input from the class on the site. I was so busy trying to do the things I originally set out to do that I didn’t even think of some of the easily implemented upgrades my site could have benefitted from.  The idea to make external links open up in new pages instead of changing the page was especially helpful, as I realize I flood the reader with links.  It forces them to continually hit the back button and start the article over at the top of the page, which is really annoying for a multi-tasker like me who needs multiple windows open and quick access to different pages at all times.  I found new ways to make my gallery better and to make my footer more playful and witty, and have found ways to edit nearly every text part of my site.

I didn’t get to do everything I wanted to do.  Still, my custom meta boxes haunt me.  This time I even copy and pasted the Smashing Magazine and WordPress files right into a plugin folder and didn’t touch them, and the meta boxes still failed to show up.  It’s the one thing that I think I really failed at and wished I could have gotten to work, although now that I think of it, I probably wouldn’t actually have much use for it given the nature of my posts.

I don’t consider my site done.  I think I’m going to continue to think of ways to improve the site (especially when it comes to design) and figure out how to make it more responsive for mobile. I now have a great base of knowledge (and great Googling skills) and think that with enough time and effort I can eventually get my site to where I want to be.  Maybe then I’ll actually start creating content on a more consistent basis.

I usually try not to compare my work to others’ — it’s a fast way to feel inadequate — but I truly enjoyed our sharing exercise last week. I was relieved to see that my site was on the same “level” as everyone else’s, of course, but even better was the inspiration I got from all of your sites. It’s amazing the kinds of creative things people come up with when you arm them with some code know-how and a simple WordPress parent theme.

Now that our class is almost over, I’ve started thinking about how I can use what I’ve learned to continue to improve my site. I definitely want to work through some more Codecademy lessons, keep studying the WordPress Codex and find more tutorials on CSS. So far, I think my site looks about average for a portfolio site, but I want it to be impressive. There were a few changes you all suggested that I didn’t get a chance to make this weekend, I want to make my heading stand out more with a shadow (with the plan to eventually design a graphic logo out of my name), find a better way to make my clip photos into a visually appealing grid (maybe using a plugin?) and make my site more mobile-friendly. After seeing how helpful it was to get feedback from the class, I’ve also sent the link to a few design-minded friends to get their thoughts on the layout and user-friendliness. I’m looking forward to seeing how everyone else’s sites progress even after our class ends!

I truly cannot wait for this phase of my journey to reach its end. The class has been quite humbling. It has brought to light those things that I do not comprehend. I mean, there is no hidding, even if you thought you got it, you really didn’t because when you click on view site, what you thought you got isn’t displaying. To top it off, you get a message which reads this is embarrassing. Wow.  Oh, then there is the fix that breaks something else on you site. Totally disappointing.  At this point, I really do not even want to go to my site. It depresses me. I am not a quitter, so I will not be giving up, but I will be stepping away from it for a while. Even if this site ends up just being about random thoughts.

Plan B for my business site. Upon registering for this class my hopes and expectations were to pick-up web-development skills quickly in order to launch a sophisticated interactive site for my business. Boy, was I wrong. I should have applied one of the mantras that I use to apply while in the Army: expect the worse, but hope for the best. My high expectations led to complete disappointment, but at the same time, I have accepted the situation. I cannot afford to be in denial. Time is too precious, so I have decided to call it what it is: WEB DEVELOPMENT and/or WORDPRESS Development is not for me. I like it, but I find myself devoting too much time to trying to find solutions to problems, which at times have been left unresolved because there are not enough hours in the day. To become better at development, I will need to devote more time than I have and/or possibly quit other things that I care about mentoring children, health and fitness, small business consulting and those things that I do to sustain my day job, consulting.

There are plenty of people out there that have a passion for web development, I pray that I find the right one to partner with to create my business site. The theme that I want is definitely innovative and interactive both are far from where my site is today.

I saw everyone was writing about Agile, so I figured I was on the wrong week. So here is my post for week 9.

I read the “Agile Manifesto,” and then watched the video just now. Needless to say, having missed Tuesday’s class, I was lost. I had no idea what Agile was, and why I was watching the video of this little bald head talking to me. A little Google/Wiki search, and I was on track.

So I think I understand why these developers had the idea to create the manifesto and a non-profit learning academy. I’m sure what they said about the “waterfall” technique was absolutely true. Unlike some other businesses, the business of computing and the Internet came from big government. I’m sure that means they both transferred over to big business, who in turn pushed out software in giant waves that crashed over and soaked their customer base. After all, that’s how big business works. Even Apple is like that … “Here comes the new iWhatever! You’re all going to love it and learn to use it.” They don’t function in small teams like ideas that are built from the ground up function … or at least how the good ones function.

We have a military concept that is very similar. Something designed to save us from big military ideas. It’s called “small unit leadership,” or “distributed operations.” The idea is phenomenal, and basically involves all decision-making authority being pushed to the lowest level of leadership. In many cases, that ends up being a 19-year-old kid. That means he is deciding when to drop bombs, when to attack a building, and when to call in for a medical evacuation. That may sound crazy, but it works. Decisions are made faster than the enemy can make them, because that 19-year-old’s equivalent on the battlefield has no authority whatsoever.

From what I understand, the Agile method is a lot like that. Low-level developer teams interact directly with the customer. They make plans and carry them out based on what the customer gives them. They also implement and follow guidelines that ensure success. If the customer tries to circumvent that process, developers have the authority to guide those customers back, without fear of reprisal from higher.

It sounds like a good method to me. I thought the manifesto was a little much, but the idea of small unit leadership and ideas makes me feel right at home.

The concept of Agile Web Development and project management are important to a complex web development project. It helps reduce the amount of miscommunication between all involved parties in the project and it allows for a change of direction. Agile development should also reduce errors, bugs, and mistakes in the code or project. When I watched the video it almost felt as if the screencast host was reading through my old company’s emails.

About two years ago my old employer was losing the battle for total domination of the first search engine results page. The first page was being dominated by customer review sites like Reseller Ratings and Trust Pilot with less than exceptional reviews from former customers. As a new social media analyst with the company, I was placed on a team with the SEO guy and the Marketing Technology team, which included a few developers. The goal was to build a website that showed off the customer service interactions on social media (more specifically Twitter). The project was difficult because it wasn’t a high priority item on the marketing technology team even though it was a fairly simple project using Twitter’s API. We would meet every two weeks but people brushed off the meeting or emailed their updates. The point of contact for the project would change every other week depending on who had more time on their schedule. Instead of the project taking a month (I know now it shouldn’t take anymore than two weeks to use an API) it took well over three months. Should I have known about this agile development concept, I would have sent the manifesto to the project lead to avoid constant headaches. It would have encouraged us to meet more frequently, get information from one source, meet everyone who was on the team, and the team would have gotten a better understanding as to why the project was necessary for the company. You can take a look at that project here: www.wireflytweets.com.

I’m finally done with the www.milagrocleaning.com project from the semester. Although it will never completely be done, since I’ll be adding content consistently to drive traffic to the website, it feels good to have accomplished the functionality aspect of the site. My classmates have asked a ton of great questions that offered up ideas in their critiques and issues section of my github repository that only helped further build out my site. Looking back on these summer months and what I have been able to comprehend is unimaginable. I always understood certain pieces of html, but to the depth that I have learned a little of all these coding languages and how they play a role in a CMS platform like WordPress is unbelievable. We have all complained, gotten frustrated, and struggled, but we’ve all learned great concepts throughout the semester.

This is a quote that has defined the semester for my classmates and I:

“If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress” – Fredrick Douglass

UPDATE: Amazon accepted me and the website as an Amazon Associate! Alternate income sources are awesome!

The Agile manifesto and best practices video really hit home for me. Remember early on in class when we had all of those glorious ideas about what our websites were going to look it? I initially wanted to build a custom slideshow using JavaScript… and that clearly did not happen. It’s takes a lot of time to plan out and create a personal website, and being realistic about what you can and cannot accomplish in a given time period is critical.

I immediately thought of work while I was watching the Agile video. I work on a project management team that builds a variety of digital programs for various clients. One of the most difficult aspects is getting on the same page as the client, and delivering a product that they truly wanted in the first place. It’s a constant give and take between exceeding the client’s expectations and not going outside the statement of work (putting more time in than we are getting paid to do). The principles of Agile are key to ensuring you deliver a valuable product, on time and on budget.

One of the most intriguing best practices that Jay talked about in this video is how you should only have the team members who are working on the project provides the estimate. I could not agree with this more. At work, we are always running into issues with the sales manager promising things to clients that we simply cannot deliver.

At the end of the video, Jay talks about the definition of done, which takes me back to our class sites. While there is a shared opinion of what “done” means, Jay says that one of the core tenets of agile is that when the team declares the project done, it needs to be in a releasable state. I think this was the ultimate goal for class. Yes, we are never actually done with working on our personal sites — there’s always going to be content and customization to add — but having a site that is functioning and ready to launch means that we are DONE. And right now, that’s a good feeling.

Side note: I’m really happy we went through a critique phase for our sites. I appreciate all of the feedback I received! Getting user feedback is truly an important part of creating a website.