Professional Projects

It may be my own site, but it's worth pointing out a few things. As with a number of other sites I have built, the site is built with a LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) on a server I built, operate and administer which provides email services and hosting for a number of clients. The site runs from a PHP 5 object oriented framework put together back when PHP 5 was still in beta. It is currently using components from the Zend Framework as well as the Smarty template engine although most of the code and components that run the site are custom designed and built. The site was hand coded through and through by me and enjoys considerable traction in terms of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Dream Chemistry needed a web site quickly in anticipation of launching their debut album. They also wanted a website that afforded them the flexibility to edit and maintain it themselves. After surveying content management platforms, including Drupal, Joomla, Digitalus, Typo, and others, Wordpress stood out as the best option for them. Their site is a straightforward Wordpress installation, with a modified theme, Quick and simple. So far they are thrilled with their new site, and the reviews of their debut release have been overwhelmingly positive.

I was approached to take what was a very hideous web 0.5 site created with Microsoft Front Page and bring the site up to perhaps web 1.5 standards. Once the project got underway the site received a completely new design built on a completely new code base. The site utilizes the Zend Framework, the Smarty template engine as well as MySQL on the backend. This site also enjoys considerable traction on the major search engines for its key terms, all of which find the site on the first page of Google (V8 trike Kits, V8 trikes and many more).

Working with not much more than a black and white flier with less than a few dozen words and an Autocad drawing of the park layout, I was put to the task of creating a web site for the newest RV Park in Quartzsite Arizona. The site was built using the Zend Framework (even though that is most likely overkill, it's ready for anything we might throw it). The site also uses the Smarty template engine. Clean and simple, it gets the job done.

Starting in 2002, I was the engine behind the scenes that drove this site to its successful sale in the summer of 2005. In that time as part of a two man operation, I designed and developed a number of back end processes and front end initiatives aimed at improving the sites overall performance, general effectiveness, usability, and search engine rankings (which culminated in its success as a market leader and attracted its new owners).

• Converted all user facing applications from Cold Fusion to PHP.
• Normalized database tables and performed extensive query optimization.
• Cleaned up and rewrote front end HTML and CSS to meet validation requirements.
• Maintained 24/7 high volume availability demands using open source tools such as Linux, Apache, PHP, and MySQL.
• Played a key role in guiding the company's marketing strategy and overall direction, which lead to its significant market share and successful buyout.
• Maintained ongoing organic SEO effort leading to the elimination of a paid search campaign and eventual position as a market leader.
• Identified and implemented missed SEO opportunities that increased site traffic exponentially.
• Created a marketing platform for promoting the business that became an industry standard.
• Devised methods aimed at user retention and increasing customer transactions that increased company's bottom line dramatically.
• Devised and implemented a competitive pricing and promotion strategy that resulted in an increasing client base.
• Built and programmed intelligent features into the site aimed at maximizing the site's effectiveness, usefulness and keeping abusive elements at bay.
• Strategically planned and programmed applications that collected business minded intelligence and helped to better manage the site.
• Completed transition to new owners in the summer of 2005. Included technical setup and configuration, thorough documentation and an extended technical support contract.

Overall, built the site to be one of the most popular vacation home rental web sites on the Internet until it was acquired in the summer of 2005.

Started in 2005, Online Brands Inc. is an online services consulting company I formed to handle the contracting work I do. The site is about as simple as it gets. The site leverages Drupal (a popular open source CMS), and uses a freely available theme. The theme itself required only simple modifications to accomplish the end goal which was a straight forward presence for my company.

This site utilizes an extensive back end system written in PHP for content management and tracking. Site templates and design features are localized for easy site administration. Content is driven via a MySQL database. The Site is currently ranked #1 at Google for its top two search terms and has enjoyed top results in the search engines for years. A new version of the web site built on the Zend Framework is in the works due out soon.

I was approached to build a web site for Canyon State Imaging Inc. that would give them a presence on the Internet with some basic interactive administration features. Dynamic features were built using PHP and MySQL. Wrote both front end copy and technical documentation for the site, as well as worked to improve the sites overall search engine rankings.

Converted site which was originally written in the Cold Fusion scripting language to PHP. Involved extensive rewriting of all back end web applications and front end display framework. Involved extensive rewriting of SQL queries as well as a database redesign, conversion and normalization of database data. My contribution to the site was all behind the scenes programming, I did not have a hand in the design work. To put it another way, the site kept blowing up under heavy load when their season got underway no matter what hardware they threw at it, I was brought it to reprogram the site prevent that from ever happening again.

Worked on a team of programmers to implement a gateway application to tie together two legacy systems utilizing PHP. In addition to coding, maintained project documentation and assisted in application design. Site source code was tracked via CVS (Concurrent Versioning System).