Introducing the new Portfolio

Finally. It’s done. And here it is.

I’ve been wanting to do this ever since I cleaned up this site, but kept putting it off because I knew it would be a job. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy this stuff, but toward the end I just wanted to finish it. It’s bitter sweet I suppose.

The design will remind you of this site, but that was intentional. There are plenty of subtleties that make each of them their own, but overall they both have that left justified, white column, right-hand sidebar feel. Plus the colors are nearly the same. Again, it was intentional.

The part that I may have enjoyed the most about this whole process was getting rid of that last little bit of slop from the old portfolio (if you’d even call it that) that I had on this site. I removed like 12 actions, 2 models (and hence, 2 database tables), and tons of views and helpers. It felt good. I left it alone during the last cleanup because I knew I would be back in here once I finished the new portfolio.

Why Is There Still a Portfolio Tab?

Rather than eliminate the portfolio section entirely, I’ve decided to integrate the new portfolio using REST (courtesy of ActiveResource), so it’ll just automatically update itself. I didn’t go crazy or anything, though. I’m more-or-less just giving a brief listing of the projects and photos. However, I did put a notice at the top of every portfolio page to alert those ghostly internet wanderers that there’s a new sheriff portfolio in town.

IE Blows

And like always, IE drove me nuts. I think I’ve got most of the kinks worked out, but I’m sure there are plenty I’ve yet to discover. Probably the biggest annoyance during this whole process was the non-support for alpha-transparency in .png images. I think that’s all I used, so initially, IE6 looked ridunculous to say the least. The fix I’m using has a hard time catching every CSS background-image (especially concerning the response of an Ajax call), but it’s better than nothing. I’ve decided to let the petty stuff slide for now, but let me know if you see anything major.

RSS Feeds

There’s a project feed and a photo feed (which I’ve also linked up at the top of this site). Oh, and the feeds don’t give you per image descriptions, just per photo/project descriptions. And for a photo you’ll get the image itself in the feed and for a project you’ll get the first of many screenshots. But again, no image descriptions in either case. So to see everything you may have to click over to the site itself. Boo hoo.

If you’re seeking more details, I’ve posted the new portfolio as a project within itself. I believe there are 16 screenshots and I explain a little bit about each one. Check it out if you’re so inclined.

Over the next few weeks you should see a flood of content as I try to get caught up. I think I previously had 10-12 projects here, so I at least have that many right off the bat. Then there are a few that I’ve been neglecting for a while.

So that’s it. Feel free to post your thoughts. Goodnight.