Skype Me™! 
05-Aug-2009

So as of today pbtonyhawkins.com is available to the world. It isn't perfect but I like it. I'm still working on style sheets for mobile devices and fixing the printed pages, maybe determine how to have repeating headers and footers on each page creating a sort of letterhead. Over the course of the upcoming weeks I want to get the site to a place where it can run on it's own, where a few updates annually will tidy everything up nicely.


Beta 2 to be released Sunday, April 20, 2008 
17-Apr-2008

Today I worked on the image subsystem more, I added image rotation as well as the hidden resources download script. Once again without any test data it is rather hard to determine whether or not the code is fully operational, but at least there are no runtime errors that I've seen thus far. No lists today but I'm still working for a beta Sunday so we'll see how the midnight oil burns in the next couple days.


16-Apr-2008

Working on the image subsystem currently working from the sizer function, then moving on. I don't have any images to test it on, but no runtime errors. That's all for today I'm passing out from exhaustion right now.


15-Apr-2008

TAX DAY!! Website Work Holiday... It has been rather crazy at the office and I'm crazy tired by the time I get home.


14-Apr-2008

Only one more day until the nightmare is over and I really can get chugging on the last huge core functions, starting with image manipulation and working my way through the administrative backend, from there taking care of album user control then I'll add the fun stuff like the lightbox. So as for progress today I made the templates for the login pages. But i also outlined the roadmap to the next beta/ milestone. Otherwise I made contact about getting addition content for the site and that will be a go in the near future. So below is the rod map to public release:

  1. image manipulation
  2. backend updates and content management
  3. authentication backend
  4. album viewing
  5. authentication album level
  6. feedback/ quote forms
  7. light box and fun stuff

13-Apr-2008

Today was a day of rest little to no coding went on. I fixed the gallery row maker, now if I can just make the darned thing centered I'd be all set. (Full rows are but single ones aren't... I'll keep working on that. Otherwise I've pretty much done nothing. Did it make 'BETA' status, um I guess, but not Release Candidate. Still TONS of work to do to even make this site viewable to the public but until that day comes I am committed to working on it. In terms of check lists nothing has changed since yesterday. So just look down the page a bit to grasp where we are. Next beta will be one week from today (20-Apr-2008) with more than one POTD album is up, and hopefully I get samples of the printed work.


12-Apr-2008

Today was fairly productive, charted a majority of the paths and the function calls throughout the majority of the site. I redid the sizing portions of the site so now instead of being built for users in the 800X600 range it's a for people with at least 1024x768. I like having non-scrolling pages for businesses when they aren't articles or stories etc. I also hope that the site doesn't just sit off in one corner and not really all that related to the browser windows. I like liquid designs... so I'm slowly retooling the site to use divs instead of tables. Another thing is that I am working on the gallery but until I have at least sample images it will be tough to determine what really is worth while and what is just a nuisance. After all that design work I looked over these key code base issues:

  • watermarking... the transparent png is already made, now to test it
  • make the gallery backend and sqls so we can make/break image tools
  • making the core beta-able by the end of the day **shifty eyes**

Ongoing MAJOR issues include but I doubt are limited to:

  1. photos outside root, multiple sizes at import
  2. determine if linking should be permitted for track backs
  3. round up content for the site
  4. user authentication

11-Apr-2008

So today with my new keyboard I actually got tons of work done. I didn't finish the check list from yesterday but I'm making serious progress. That damned src problem is fixed and now it creates a thumbnail in the cache folder. Minimizing load times and still attempting to bring the people the media they desire. Now as for the other things that I accomplished today, the basis of the gallery function, a rough gallery template, plan for the iWoW/POTD user interfaces, and the makings of the thumbnail maker for the gallery. Now for the things I need to do:

  • incorporate js light box or ajax to add to the user experience of the gallery UPDATE: Pushed back to later release
  • continue working on making an actual gallery and not a shell
  • begin on the user interface for iWoW... then POTD/gallery

Now for those core functions that I still have a lot of work on

  1. image subsystem: watermarks, image addition?
  2. user authentication for gallery
  3. hide original images
  4. .htacess files

10-Apr-2008

Another day, another excuse for not completing the task I thought I would. This is task is the backend programming of the POTD/gallery script. I have made progress and I have learned how to possibly make the thumbnails and a few other images using PHP and mySQL BLOBs. So today was a learning experience to say the least. These learning experiences are putting me behind schedule though, so I need to make huge strides on multiple fronts tomorrow, maybe pushing render testing back to Beta 2. Despite these minor set backs I hope that it will be done soon. In the meantime I need to make sure that I cover these things specifically:

  • completing src issue of pics
  • make gallery template
  • incorporate js light box or ajax to add to the user experience of the gallery
  • begin on iWoW user interface... maybe even POTD (will use thumbnails)

Continuing work on these core functions:

  1. image subsystem: thumb creation/storage, size, watermark?
  2. iWoW and POTD user interfaces (admin)
  3. making easier debugging paths: add possible verbosity

9-Apr-2008

Between the dentist appointment and people constantly bugging me at the office, today I did little to complete at goal. This does not mean that I wasn't productive. I added the shell of the POTD display and I've been learning more about the image functions in PHP so it actually seems to be possible that we can me this somewhat secure. So main points of the day:

  • figure out the src issue with pics from the db maybe create a prelim cache when the cache is created for the date
  • add in the CSS and call it from the template of the home page
  • work on multiple sizes and gallery functions

Since I didn't quite finish this task today it's the first thing on the list of stuff to do followed by:

  1. gallery backend/potd backend completion
  2. image subsystem
  3. iWoW and POTD user interfaces
  4. browser testing

date: 8-Apr-2008

Today was really light day a combination of tiredness and other work meant that I only got around to the template retooling. This went fairly smoothly but per usual I failed at my first 2 attempts at making it work easily still my PHP issue. Another tidbit that I did today was to add a switch to the index so I could more easily go between a gallery and text layout. This allows for continual improvement in both without writing mammoth functions very closely down the line. So I noticed a few issues with the retool that I should address eventually but it's not super important:

  • Making the left sidebar image auto center if not auto size to the correct width and maintain the correct aspect ratio
  • TABLES!!!! Yeah in a Web 2.0 world why am I still using tables? They are easy to get a layout then I can switch to div's most of the content is already in a div but still contained in a table. A fix will be pushed out eventually.

With the template retool complete now I can focus on a few larger issues. I'm debating whether to start on the image subsystem first or after the whole gallery rendering... Image subsystem allows the image protection to be there when the site comes online, while the actual presentation is the meat of the site. Either way the completion of this will result in the completion of the POTD script.

  1. gallery backend / begin backend
  2. image subsystem for gallery/ potd/ left bar
  3. iWoW and POTD user interface
  4. browser testing and fixing


date: 7-Apr-2008

So far today I have worked on the inspirational Word of the Week script function, it's progress is showing to be slow but I think this is more so due to my stretch away from PHP. I am getting more efficient with my actions and more deliberate with my technique. I think I'll go back through and clean a few of my debugging breaks out or if not have a switch to control them via url. Here is a list of things I need to do in the upcoming days.

  • iWoW user interface
  • pbth template retool to allow more dynamic content
  • begin on image work for the gallery
  • continue work on finishing render issues with iWoW may be linked to retool of template

With all of these things to do here is a slightly more organized view with ranking:

  1. pbth template retool
  2. render issues
  3. image work
  4. backend user interface
  5. front end gallery
  6. repackaging options