http://greeninteractive.com/news/ en Doug Green Copyright 2011 2011-12-21T16:05:47+00:00 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/tribeach-holdings http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/tribeach-holdings#When:22:03:16Z I recently completed production on a website for Alan Hill Design. As with other projects we have collaborated on, Alan Hill designed the site, and I handled the front-end development. The website makes use of jQuery to load sections dynamically, and the content is editable via ExpressionEngine. http://tribeach.com/ http://alanhilldesign.com/ News, 2012-03-12T22:03:16+00:00 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/unstyled-jquery-galleries http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/unstyled-jquery-galleries#When:16:05:47Z Over the past year or so, I’ve needed to create basic image galleries with some minor variations. It’s easy enough to reuse bits and pieces of code, but I’d rather have a basic gallery, free of any styling, to use as a starting point. Here are some variations: Fade transition, individual image links http://dev.greeninteractive.com/js/gallery/fade-img-links.php Fade transition, next and previous links http://dev.greeninteractive.com/js/gallery/fade-next-prev-links.php Slide transition, individual image links http://dev.greeninteractive.com/js/gallery/slide-img-links.php Slide transitions, next and previous links http://dev.greeninteractive.com/js/gallery/slide-next-prev-links.php Vertical slide transition, individual image links http://dev.greeninteractive.com/js/gallery/slide-img-links-vert.php Vertical slide transitions, next and previous links http://dev.greeninteractive.com/js/gallery/slide-next-prev-links-vert.php I can think of things I might add, and also ways I might optimize the code further. But if I wait until it is perfect, you will never see it. Enjoy! Update 3/30/12: Added vertical transitions and updated links. News, 2011-12-21T16:05:47+00:00 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/100luquer.com http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/100luquer.com#When:00:13:57Z A recent project for Alan Hill Design. Alan Hill created the design, and I handled the web production. Technologies used: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Flash, ActionScript, and PHP. http://100luquer.com/ News, 2011-11-02T00:13:57+00:00 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/magnetic-expressionengine-theme-available http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/magnetic-expressionengine-theme-available#When:13:57:00Z I just released an installable theme for ExpressionEngine called Magnetic. The theme is suitable for a blog, or as a starting point for an online magazine. The design is clean and can be easily modified via CSS and a few image adjustments. The original Photoshop file is included to make modifications easier. The ExpressionEngine templates are organized into one template group for the site, and another for the search to keep URLs clean and optimized. Global Variables are used for Google Analytics, the extended title on the home page, and the site meta description. Snippets are used to organize other pieces of the templates such as the CSS links, feeds, JavaScript files, site header, and footer. The site uses four main channels and a featured channel to organize content. The four main channels could be used for different topics if creating an online magazine, or just one main channel could be used if creating a blog. The featured channel is used for featured entries on the home page. View the demo site. Purchase here. ExpressionEngine, News, 2011-08-14T13:57:00+00:00 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/upgrading-to-expressionengine-2 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/upgrading-to-expressionengine-2#When:01:42:37Z I recently upgraded this site’s content management system from ExpressionEngine 1.7 to 2.2. I had been holding off on the upgrade, as it always ends up taking more time than expected. I also did not like some of the changes from version 1.x to 2.x, but there were enough advantages to finally merit an upgrade. Upgrade errors When I first ran the upgrade, there were some on-screen errors which did not inspire a whole lot of confidence and harken back to the beta software (I experienced many errors when trying to use the beta version, which is one reason I delayed the upgrade for so long). The upgrade eventually went through fine. I basically just clicked through the errors. Why they were there in the first place, I’m not sure. Multiple Site Manager I ran into some issues upgrading the multiple site manager that I don’t see documented anywhere, so I’ll make a note of them here. According to the MSM update instructions, all you need to do is replace a few files. From the standpoint of the control panel that’s all you need to do. However, in order to get the individual sites working, there are some other steps required. I found that I needed to copy the primary index.php and admin.php to the individual site directories, and then modify as appropriate. This is the same process that you would use when setting up a domain or sub-domain. My sites didn’t show up after updating the MSM files per the documentation—but after copying these two files and editing for each site, the sites were functional once again. Note: Do not uncomment the MSM information in the primary index.php and admin.php. Only do that for each domain or sub-domain. The comments in both index.php and admin.php state: Uncomment the following variables if you are using the Multiple Site Manager: http://expressionengine.com/user_guide/cp/sites. Only do that once you have copied these files into your directory for the domain or sub-domain you are managing. You will want to leave those comments in place for the primary index.php and admin.php. One of my sites did not display correctly after configuring the multiple site manager settings. I eventually discovered this was due to how I used the the global variable {site_url} in the site templates, and how I edited index.php. In index.php, there is a line to specify site_url. When the site was set up originally, I included a trailing slash in the site_url. When I edited the new index.php, I did not include the trailing slash at the end of the URL, which broke links to CSS files, and links between site sections. This is something to be aware of if you use {site_url} in your templates. Leftover files I noticed that the path.php was leftover from ExpressionEngine version 1.x and is not needed once the system is upgraded to 2.x. The path.php file will also be present in your site domain or sub-domain folders if you are using the multiple site manager. You can move this to a backup folder or delete it. If you renamed files and folders to “_old” per the update instructions, move those to a backup folder or delete once the upgrade is successful. Updating the templates During the upgrade process, weblog is automatically replaced with channel in your templates. There are a few other manual changes that need to be made. Mike Boyink authored a helpful article that outlines the necessary steps when updating your templates from 1.x to 2.x code. Unanswered questions Why do both index.php and admin.php have a system_path variable? Maybe this is related to the CodeIgniter framework, but it seems like the variable should only be in one place. The same goes for the multiple site manager settings in both documents. What is the purpose of the “Synchronize Files” command in the file manager? Running the command generates errors for all the images in my portfolio, even though they display just fine on the site. According to the error message, they exceed a maximum file size. Unfortunately, the documentation does not make it much clearer. .htaccess I had been using the LG .htaccess Generator to remove index.php from the URLs. Now that ExpressionEngine has official support for clean URLs, I manually edited the .htaccess files instead. Final thoughts The upgrade process was not as smooth as I would have liked, and I have noticed some frustrating bugs such as the Writemode not working in Firefox, and the login screen intermittently not working in Firefox. However, there are enough improvements in the new software to make the upgrade worthwhile. And as long as I recommend and implement ExpressionEngine for clients, it would be irresponsible not to be up to date on the latest version. An automatic one-click update as seen in other software platforms would be desirable, but the system seems complicated enough that I don’t see this happening soon. I am hopeful for future improvements now that EllisLab hired someone versed in design and is officially listening. Development, ExpressionEngine, 2011-07-21T01:42:37+00:00 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/recent-projects-spring-2011 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/recent-projects-spring-2011#When:20:03:10Z Over this past winter and spring, I worked on a few development projects for graphic designers, and a redesign of a Boston-area residential architecture firm. I worked with Wilcox Design, a graphic design firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I provided consultation during a website redesign and acted in a production role to implement the new design. The resulting website moves from an earlier Flash format to HTML, taking advantage of natural optimization for search engines. The updated portfolio also features new design work. I also worked with Alan Hill Design, a graphic design firm in New York, New York. We recently launched a new website for the Constable real estate development project in the SoHo Cast Iron District. Alan Hill provided the graphic design, and I handled the Flash development and hosting. And I worked with Henry MacLean of Timeless Architecture to update the existing company website and implement a content management system. The new website features a photo gallery of the firm’s projects and is implemented with ExpressionEngine and SlideShowPro Director. We opted for a larger format to showcase the project images. News, 2011-06-28T20:03:10+00:00 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/recent-projects-fall-2010 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/recent-projects-fall-2010#When:00:52:35Z This past fall, I worked on a few Flash development projects. Two highlights follow. The Harlem Sol project was designed by Alan Hill of Alan Hill Design. I handled the Flash animation and development. harlemsol.com The 145 Hudson project is a custom Flash website originally developed by Basik. Changes and updates to the content were required and the original development team was not available. I was hired to reprogram the site, using the existing design and Flash assets. 145hudson.com News, 2011-01-17T00:52:35+00:00 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/january-5-2011-update http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/january-5-2011-update#When:00:15:47Z All has been quiet around here, and it’s time for an update. This fall ended up being busy with client work. I managed to redesign my site twice—once over the summer, and once again this past fall. I wouldn’t recommend such frequent design changes, but that’s how it goes. At this point, I think things have stabilized, and I will be making changes in the form of updates and tweaks rather than a wholesale reworking of everything. The news section was dropped in the last redesign, and I ended up bringing it back. The brochure-style site only gets you so far. Current content is important, even if it is only news updates. I favor the ExpressionEngine content management system, but there are many options that might work for your website to keep content fresh. EllisLab, the makers of ExpressionEngine, introduced a mini-CMS called MojoMotor over the summer. It’s designed for managing content on a smaller site that doesn’t need a full-blown CMS. I could have used this earlier on many projects, and I am looking forward to trying it out. This past year, I worked on a mix of design and development projects. I still had quite a bit of Flash-oriented work—both timeline animation and development. Contrary to the rumors, the Flash platform is still alive and well. It will be interesting to see how it evolves with the increased consumer use of mobile and portable devices. Obviously the past two years were challenging for everyone. I’m optimistic about the upcoming year. I think we are beginning to see improvements in the health of the economy and overall business climate. I’m very grateful to my clients for the work this past year. If you were a client, thank you! And here’s to a successful 2011! News, 2011-01-06T00:15:47+00:00 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/magnetic-themes-site-launch http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/magnetic-themes-site-launch#When:20:29:14Z This is a project I’ve been working on for a while now. The goal is to provide custom website themes for companies and individuals to be used for their own projects. This is best suited to designers needing a head start on a project, or to those without extensive knowledge of HTML and CSS. Some basic knowledge of HTML and CSS will be needed to edit the themes. The site has been launched with one flagship theme. Additional themes, and hopefully some templates for ExpressionEngine, will follow soon. Update: Site on hold for now. Find ExpressionEngine themes here. News, 2010-11-03T20:29:14+00:00 http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/magnetic-magazine-and-blog-theme http://greeninteractive.com/news/entry/magnetic-magazine-and-blog-theme#When:19:06:21Z A high-quality, customizable theme for magazines and blogs. Home Page Comment Styles Features Handcrafted HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Valid XHTML Transitional Easily customizable via CSS PSD file included IE 7+, Firefox, Safari, Chrome Stock imagery available separately at Veer. You may use this theme in personal and commercial projects. You may not resell it in any form. Coming soon: templates for ExpressionEngine. Update: ExpressionEngine templates are now available. View the demo site. Purchase here. ExpressionEngine, News, 2010-09-29T19:06:21+00:00