Web Development in Newcastle, UK

Web Development Blog

jmz — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:59:08 +0000

What is this site?

This site is my development blog where I write articles on things I have developed in the past that I think other developers might find useful. In this site I’ve written about everything from HTML & CSS list menus to setting up domain keys for email.

How did I make this site?

To speed up the development of this site I used WordPress along with the Thematic framework as the base for the site.

Site move successful!

jmz — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:25:25 +0000

The move over to the new server took a little longer than I had hoped due to the A record for the domain taking so long to update. Anyway, the site is all up and running on the new server.

Site downtime scheduled

jmz — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:04:13 +0000

This site will be down for up to 48 hours from later on today (07/01/2011) while I move it across to my new server. I’ll do my best to keep it down to a minimum but the majority of the downtime will be due to the DNS updating.

Welcome to the new site

jmz — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:22:17 +0000

Welcome to my brand new portfolio site. I decided that the old site was starting to look a bit dated so I wanted to update it whilst still keeping close to the original colours & design.

The main changes to the site (apart from the look) are that I?ve removed the services section and added a blog section. I did this because I thought the services section was a bit useless as I go over what I can do in various other places on the site (home page, about page etc).

The idea behind the blog section was that every now and again (whenever I have time) I plan to write articles that will help people that need a website. I?m not planning on writing about anything particularly technical here, for that you should check out my other blog at jamesowers.co.uk

I?ll also use this section to keep people updated on what projects I?ve been working on and anything else that I think you might find useful.

Task Simple

jmz — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:20:08 +0000

What does it do?

The idea behind the site was to make a super simple to do list that was really easy to use. I wanted to make a to do list that did away with a lot of the features that can bloat and overcomplicate task management software.

How did I build it?

The whole site was built by me from scratch using the CodeIgniter PHP framework along with jQuery for the fancy javascript effects.

Cramlington Voluntary Youth Project

jmz — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:12:48 +0000

About the CVYP

The Cramlington Voluntary Youth Project (CVYP) are a local organisation that aim to improve the social and personal development of young people. Providing both on site activities such as music equipment, pool tables, cookery and arts and crafts as well as off site opportunities such as kayaking, mountain biking and Duke of Edinburgh’s award.

Their recent achievements include the opening of their sensory garden by Princess Anne and when they were awarded the Queens award for voluntary service in 2009. The Queens award is the highest award given to volunteer groups in the UK for outstanding work done in their local communities.

What did I create for them?

The CVYP website was mainly aimed at the young people the youth project was created for whilst still being informative and engaging for the sites other visitors. The top stipulation for the site was that it should look good, be interesting for young people and everything should be easy for the CVYP staff to update.

After talking with the CVYP staff I decided to go for a slightly urban, graffiti style for the website that would match the interior of the CVYP building and with lots of images to show the activities organised by the CVYP.

The whole website is updatable through a simple to use admin panel and the image galleries on the activity pages are automatically generated so adding a new image is as simple as uploading it.