Aldenta: Handcrafting the Web

It’s official. WordPress 2.5 is now out with a crisp new admin interface and great new features. They’ve even redone the website. Here are some of my favorite changes:

• A beautiful new admin interface.
• A much more intuitive flow when making a post.
• Multiple instant file uploads.
• Thumbnail, medium and full-sized image options (and you can change the image dimensions in Settings).
• A quick way to display your photos as a gallery
• Easily add/edit tags so no more plugins are needed.
• A visual editor that doesn’t break your code (this one is great for my clients).
• Search now looks at posts and pages.

I’ve always thought that WordPress is one of the best blogging and content management systems. It’s incredibly intuitive for the user (even more so now) and extremely flexible for developers.

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped with WordPress!

3 Comments

I apologize for falling off the radar for the past month+. I’ve been couped up in my hole (my home/office) working on a web-based revenue management simulation for the hospitality industry.

As many of you know, I do several training events around the world with the hospitality industry. Two weeks ago, we used the new simulation in a training course for HSMAI in Boca Raton, Florida. The course was fantastic and, as a web developer, it’s really special to see what you’ve built help others.

During the past 2, years I’ve been able to see the power of simulation based training first hand. The lazier side of us wants to believe that pushing someone into a training simulation will help them learn everything they need to know but I don’t believe that is the best approach. The most successful format I’ve seen comes from coupling learning concepts and techniques with participants applying them in a real-to-life simulation. There’s so much knowledge to be gained by presenting topics to a group but it really sticks after hands-on application of the new ideas. I’ve also seen that putting participants in small teams enhances the learning. They are able to collaborate and learn from one another during the process.

I’ll be in Brussels next month (June 11-13) using the simulation at a training event and also giving a presentation at the HITEC conference (June 25-26) in Orlando, Florida. On the way back from Brussels I’m stopping in New York so if you’re around any of these locations and want to chat please let me know.

No Comments

(Originally uploaded by sweetsexything)

One of the problems I’ve seen over the years, in corporations where I’ve worked and as a business owner, is the misconception that a builder (a developer in this case) can quote a project without the blueprints. I often times receive a request for a quote (10 pages long) and it says something like this:

We want a dynamic website with a unique design and easy to follow navigation that we can update ourselves.

That’s basically the equivalent of going to a car dealership and asking “how much is a car with wheels and doors?” Until you tell them the make, model, and all of the features you want they can’t give you a real price.

The Problem
The problem with this process is that the client and the developer both have expectations and a vision for the project but you’re not talking apples-to-apples. Sure, the developer can give a quote based on vague information but everyone loses during the process. The client loses because their expectations aren’t going to be met. The developer loses since they can’t possibly give a realistic quote. What do you do when you start working and the client expects the Ferrari (which they all do)? Both parties clash when they aren’t on the same page.

The Solution
Hire an architect. When I get a vague request for a quote I tell the client it will take a few hours of billable time and we’ll make a blueprint together. There is no reason for me to give a vague quote on a vague request. I’ll be quoting the Ferrari just to cover every possibility, and the client can’t afford the Ferrari. No one expects an architect to build a blueprint for free and it should be the same with a developer. Once the client has the blueprint they can send it out for quoting and will get apple-to-apple quotes back instead of a fruit basket.

No one is to blame for this misconception since the idea of web development is new and mysterious to most people. However, I challenge all developers to change things and educate the clients that come asking for help. They’ll appreciate the education, respect the architect idea, save money, save time, and you’ll prevent lots of future headaches.

4 Comments