Attackr.com » Developer Portal for web designers, developers and programmers http://www.attackr.com Come To Share, Come To Learn Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:09:25 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 A Tale Of Two Template Engines – How Frameworks Speed Up Development http://www.attackr.com/a-tale-of-two-template-engines-how-frameworks-speed-up-development/ http://www.attackr.com/a-tale-of-two-template-engines-how-frameworks-speed-up-development/#comments Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:55:37 +0000 Gregory Milby http://www.attackr.com/?p=588 Frameworks are best known for giving a developer an abreviated environment, where they can create basic pages with minimal effort.  How these frameworks are laid out greatly differ, but the logic is usually the similar by replacing content variables/markers in the inner array and using the framework to provide the infrastructure information like the header/footer/sidebar.clipart-3d_blocks

TemplateBlocks & LIME:VC appear to be the two latest entries on the block.  TemplateBlocks uses a segmented design that holds the “pieces” of each design template in a set/template so that a collection of objects are the template (e.g. CSS, JS, HTML bits and pieces).  It greatly speeds things up by allowing the user to merely naming a page, adding some content, then selecting which template to use (template being used in the appearance realm).  The only difficulty that I’ve noticed is implementing customized script, but the basic items are included and it works fine as long as you are familiar with .htaccess or not maintaining many virtual instances on your apache install.

The TemplateBlocks Admin Panel is probably the strongest element to the application.  It is well organized and very simple to use.  The only criticism I have is that the template sets are all displayed together – if you have a set named “Default” – when you go to the blocks page, ALL of the objects from every template set are thrown in the mix.  It would be helpful if the assigned attributes were marked or sorted by which template they’re associated with.

I’ve emailed with Makis (the developer of TemplateBlocks) on several occasions, he is always willing to listen and assist – which is a great asset to the application.

LimeLIME:VC is a very new development that works along the same lines, but the goal was to provide an extremely light-weight framework that would help the back-end developer create front-end content quickly.  It’s not CMS-oriented like TemplateBlocks, it’s slightly more manual, but it’s equally as easy to setup and use.

Louis Stowasser (developer) is the primary on the project, and has been working to implement plug-ins – a CMS plug-in exists at the moment.   By developing the add-on components as plug-ins, it frees up the developer to “customize” an install instance so that each instance isn’t dragging around dead weight or utilizing/committing server-resources that are not needed to make the application run. It’s programming  follows the Model-View-Controller design pattern to ensure clean code & reduce redundancy.

Keep an eye on LIME:VC in the future, it appears to be an upcoming trend as far as how applications may be made in the future using 3.0 technology (instance/object-based functionality that encompasses only the required applications to build out an instance of the LIME).

Products like WordPress, Joomla, etc… have been used for years as a make-shift framework to help expedite website production, but along with all the dead weight/luggage, comes an entire array of site variables.  Variables as which plugins are compatible with which version of the product (as it upgrades frequently), and how will upgrades effect customizations of the current instance.

If you can, download and try both TemplateBlocks & LIME:VC, and install them.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised how easy they both are to work with.   Using a framework will free up time to focus on the code more than the orchestration of building the actual pages.  More importantly, a framework will only effect the items that are implemented – separating the business layer logic – and not jeopardizing functionality during an upgrade/update.

Related Posts:

]]> http://www.attackr.com/a-tale-of-two-template-engines-how-frameworks-speed-up-development/feed/ 2 Geo Caching For Fun & Profit (a.k.a How to find your arse with a funnel script) http://www.attackr.com/geo-caching-for-fun-profit-aka-how-to-find-your-arse-with-a-funnel-script/ http://www.attackr.com/geo-caching-for-fun-profit-aka-how-to-find-your-arse-with-a-funnel-script/#comments Tue, 26 May 2009 13:18:22 +0000 Gregory Milby http://www.attackr.com/?p=540 Test Page...]]> searchwww.syrbot.com – when you visit the site it should say, “Thanks for visiting from ______ . This can be a critical component since you could ideally store the information from this visit in a database, recording exact zip code regions that your are targeting your marketing to.
If you have any intention of selling advertising, this can be good ammunition to show that you know who your audience is – where they’re located and their demographic profile.
To get an idea of how many variables are available about the person browsing your web page – look at this test page for syrbot.com: Test Page.
The first part of the test page is the geo caching element (finding out where you are, the apache var’s profile you as to which os you’re using, resolution and on and on. All critical info when you want to find out who you’re designing your site for. Knowing if your visitors are all using handheld devices would be a critical piece of knowledge – especially if you think you need to have a heavy flash site or graphic rich site. You could make all your customers happy by trimming the site down to streamlined graphics and mostly text arranged in a friendly format for a tiny pocket pc or iphone/palm browser.
It’s an easy argument to stress the importance of keeping up with who you are serving your pages to.
Please leave a comment if you know of any uses for geo caching/etc that would be useful to other people. A stronger point is to have ammunition when assisting a client with assessing their needs.  Here is a good link if you want to keep tabs on a good thread for how to get started with geo caching. The link is updated periodically – mostly questions, but some time saving advice if you can read between the lines.

bloidericon

Dare I Dream of Becomming Bigger Than Craigs List?

Related Posts:

]]> http://www.attackr.com/geo-caching-for-fun-profit-aka-how-to-find-your-arse-with-a-funnel-script/feed/ 0 Top 10 Freelance Web Design Sites http://www.attackr.com/top-10-freelance-web-design-sites/ http://www.attackr.com/top-10-freelance-web-design-sites/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:00:11 +0000 Web Developer News http://www.attackr.com/top-10-freelance-web-design-sites/ Working as a freelance web designer, developer, graphic artist, or outsourcing service provider can be challenging. Long hours, high competition for jobs, tight deadlines, and low budgets make running your own web design firm difficult. There are a lot of websites that provide a way for clients and designers to come together, but which of these are reliable places to find quality jobs? We did a review of the top 10 freelance job boards on webdevnews.net, and the results may be of interest to those looking for new places to network and find clients.

Our top 10 Freelance Sites for Web Design are:

  1. odesk.com
  2. getafreelancer.com
  3. elance.com
  4. rentacoder.com
  5. getacoder.com
  6. scriptlance.com
  7. guru.com
  8. serebra.com
  9. sologig.com
  10. Sourceforge Marketplace

These sites are also good when your workload becomes too much and you need to build a team to work together on projects. Outsourcing through the freelance boards builds a lot of new possibilities for independent web designers. If you need a custom theme designed, a new module coded, someone to do your SEO work, or to lay the installation groundwork for a site to finish up later, you can usually find good people on these boards to work together with from around the world.

We chose oDesk as the top freelancer site because of the number of jobs listed, the quality of the development projects, the innovative billing, collaboration, and work monitoring options, as well as its overall quality and professionalism. GetaFreelancer doesn’t even come close at second place, but the volume of projects posted their and the low rates for outsourcing make it a vibrant marketplace. We had issues with the membership fees at elance, but it is really a top quality site for finding good projects.

To see the full review and find out more information on these freelance sites, or to post your own comments and experiences with freelancing, visit the original review at webdevnews.net.

Related Posts:

]]> http://www.attackr.com/top-10-freelance-web-design-sites/feed/ 9 Starting out tips for freelancers http://www.attackr.com/starting-out-tips-for-freelancers/ http://www.attackr.com/starting-out-tips-for-freelancers/#comments Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:50:18 +0000 janpd24 http://www.attackr.com/starting-out-tips-for-freelancers/ Once, I got a mail through my site’s contact form asking: “Are you a professional or just a freelancer?”

I got back to him, telling him that I was a professional freelancer, but never heard from him again!

The point is, quite often, and especially where I live, freelancers are merely poor cousins of the so-called professionals.

While admittedly there are those who give us a bad name, most of us are hardworking individuals, trying to make a living (as opposed to those who need something to do pass the time).

Starting out is not always easy, but perseverance pays. Having been in the business for almost a decade, here’s what I’ve found:

  1. Respect your deadlines: As an independent professional, your credibility is your most important asset. Don’t take on impossible deadlines. You’ll often find clients who’ll say they’ll send you material to work on in a day, in two days, in a week, but don’t do so. Just because they do that, it is not okay for you to do the same. If you feel mid-way through a project that you may need more time, intimate them well in advance.
  2. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well: Do not take shortcuts. Your network and your goodwill quotient will depend on how happy your clients are with your delivery, so make an effort to do a good job. When they go home and tell their friends and business associates how good you are, you will get more work.
  3. Don’t be afraid to negotiate price: Plenty of people get uncomfortable when it comes to the price issue. In the early days I would feel “cheap” to bring up the matter of payment with a new client. Don’t undervalue yourself. Once you have calculated how much your services come for, stick to it. Clients will feel more comfortable dealing with a confident person who knows what they are going to deliver and for how much. On the other hand, no one likes an overbearing personality who thinks they are god’s gift to client-dom! Don’t get bullied by clients; at the same time don’t be so rigid that you miss out on a really good opportunity. Experience will make it easier to tell when the goodwill counts for more than money.
  4. Rome wasn’t built in a day: It takes years to build up a decent network of clients. If you’re lucky, early on you may find someone who agrees to pay you a retainer for your services. But for most of us, building our “business” is like watching grass grow.
  5. Take lean periods in your stride: Even when you have established yourself and usually have a steady stream of work—enough that now and then you have to turn down some—there may still be phases when precious little goes into the bank. It is easier said than done, but it is important not to panic. Think of lean periods as a well-deserved break. Rest assured that work will come, sooner rather than later. For that’s the way the freelancer’s world goes around.

So, don’t give up! And good luck. :-)

(Originally posted at Writeside.net.)

Related Posts:

]]> http://www.attackr.com/starting-out-tips-for-freelancers/feed/ 5