So…

I’m almost done with my new project (done in partnership with two other people, by the way) and am pretty proud of what I’ve accomplished so far. I’m learning way more this way that I have been in class. That is, actually, more than a little irritating considering the amount of money George Soros/Rahm Emmanuel pay for my tuition, but what are you going to do?

My favorite part of the project is learning jQuery. I actually dismissed that previously (figuring I’d learn about it in school…ha!) but then needed something from it and now I’m in love. Like I said on my FB, I love any kind of code I can get to run properly.

Anyway, my initial thought was to run the site on WordPress. I know WordPress and can make it do pretty much anything with a good plugin. Right? But that went out the window. I need to learn this stuff. So I built a static site– from the ground to almost up¹. We may decide later to change it into a php based site or use a CMS², but that will be when the site becomes too big to manage properly with just notepad and Filezilla.

First I put my Photoshop skills to the test. After two rejections of the initial mockup I was able to move on to the CSS/xHTML. Figuring out the layout was fun and challenging, but I learned some stuff and got it rolling (pretty much). The bells and whistles are being provided by jQuery because it pretty much rocks my socks right now. I was even able to build a basic PHP contact form with validation³.

Now, I know you’re thinking “What took so long?” and “What do you mean ‘learning’? Can’t you just copy and paste?” I’m learning by understanding how the code that I’m using works. I can do up a WP site because I understand how WordPress works (mostly). But what about without WP to run things behind the scenes? I want to be able to do this stuff without the help of other people (at some point) and, possibly, share what I’m learning with other people. That requires looking at what’s going on, tearing it apart, breaking it and then fixing it. And that gets my full attention. It’s a really fulfilling process. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about this problem and that and then finding solutions. I love it.

I’ve also got a paying client lined up. I’ll be doing for him what I’ve done on this project– but faster and with better results. Now that I’ve refreshed my skills in areas I already knew and learned some new stuff I should be able to pound something out in a couple of weeks⁴. Then, hopefully, he’ll send someone else my way⁵. I’m really excited about that, of course. Right now my portfolio is woefully lacking.

The bad news is that my husband’s irritated with me because I spend so much time working on this project (which is technically paid right now). He doesn’t understand the non-tangible benefits of what I’m doing. I’m not overly bothered about his irritation, but I’ve got to learn to pace myself better and not let my code OCD get the best of me. I get way too involved in what I’m doing and pretty soon my “I’ll be done in 10 minutes” turns into 2 hours later. Oops. I’ve got $10 that says he’ll feel much better about my endeavors once I start getting paid, though.

I’m having a lot of fun and learning a lot of stuff, so it’s all good for me. I’m also practicing not using foul language. ⁶. I can’t wait until my new “career” starts bringing in real money so I can quit waiting tables. Until then I’m going to keep practicing and learning– and being boring.

P.S.

I just realized that when you’re using the .htaccess to change file extensions that it’s a good idea to include all file extensions in the equation. If you don’t do that and use a php file to handle email coming from an html contact form your email will be broken. Just an FYI. And, yes, I fixed it.

Popularity: 4% [?]

1. “Almost” because I’m still tweaking and adding and learning stuff. [↩]
2. Content Management System [↩]
3. That’s going to need more tweaking, but I’m learning as I go. I keep getting database errors with my flippin’ checkboxes on the form. [↩]
4. Depending on whether he likes my initial prototype [↩]
5. Mostly because I’m cheap and easy– to work with. [↩]
6. Which, by the way, I’m very careful of with my clients and the customers at my brick and mortar job. [↩]

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4. Dear People
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