My Portfolio

Quick-links to projects

Skullduggery Games Control v3 GCv3 is a customer and event management system developed with coding partner Adam Smith.	Skullduggery Booking System v2 Another project for Skullduggery LARP, this time enabling online bookings and payment handling. Developed with coding partner Adam Smith.	IB MYP Unit Planner The IB Middle Years Programme has a clearly defined method for planning lessons. This project allows teachers to optimise their planning time.
Jonathan's Order Management System Part of my job involves purchasing goods for the department and the JOMS project aims to streamline the process.	Jonsdocs (this site) This website is my personal home on the web. Jonsdocs hosts my blog, gallery, technical wiki and provides RSS feeds.	My Technical Wiki The Jonsdocs technical wiki provides advice and guidance on a number of computer issues and hosts helpsheets I create.

I have taken part in various coding or documentation projects and more detail can be found on each of the project pages above.

I've been writing websites for a number of years and it's no surprise that I've come on a bit in that time! Not much of a graphic artist, my sites tend to be more about function than look. I am currently solely responsible for jonsdocs.org.uk but also work on a number of other websites. I am also experienced in PHPBB3 setup, configuration and use.

Planning

Before embarking on a project I ensure that the project has at least a minimal amount of planning (at least a sketch). For more complex projects I plan the database schema noting the functionality and back end features the system needs - generally on good old fashioned pen and paper. Where relevant I also start to plan the documentation that will be produced as a result of the project (this can include end user and technical documentation). The image right shows an example of a planning sketch and accompanying notes (from the Skullduggery LARP Booking v2 system). Given the evolving nature of coding projects the documentation is continually under review with changes being made as appropriate. Backups are regularly taken so I have a fall back if required.

Development tools and standards

I am familiar with a number of development tools including the Subversion (SVN) version control system, TortoiseSVN (a Windows SVN client), Bluefish (a Linux text editor), Notepad++ (a Windows text editor) and various Firefox plugins that make web development easier (HTML Validator, Web Developer toolbar,Firebug). The majority of my development work is done under a GNU Linux environment using Apache, PHP and MySQL - I have grown to feel at home in this environment, one many would consider too complicated.

When coding web based projects I know it's important to be standards compliant. By following the W3C guidelines for webpages I can ensure my products appear the same in all standards compliant browsers. To this end I also test projects in a variety of browsers including Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.