Web
I believe in making useful, well-organized, beautiful web sites with creative design and elegant code. I'm an experienced front and back-end developer with knowledge of WordPress and other CMS platforms. I build sites using a local workflow with Node.js/npm, Bower, Grunt/Gulp taskrunners, SASS, and version control.
Client Work
Years of experience with a variety of clients has taught me many important lessons, the most important of which is to do what's best for your users. Ultimately, that's what is best for your business.
CrowdStrike
Corporate marketing site for global cybersecurity leader. Website makes extensive use of WordPress custom post types and custom fields to manage heavy content and Bootstrap for responsive mobile design.
responsive layout, WordPress, Bootstrap, webpack | Sr. UI Developer
Pitcher List
Baseball articles and statistics website. Responsibilities included managing small team of developers, maintaining a scrum-based agile workflow, organizing documentation, working closely with the data science team, and overseeing deployments to production. My primary development focus was the data-heavy player pages, which involve API data pulls, local data storage, on-the-fly processing, nightly cron jobs to get updates, and server-side caching.
WordPress, Foundation 6, REST API-driven data, Grunt | Web Team Manager
17th Street BBQ
News and events from an Illinois restaurant group. Site features updatable menus, a carousel with merchandise, a newsletter subscription form, and a blog. The client's Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube feeds are featured in the footer.
responsive layout, WordPress, Twitter/Instagram/Facebook/YouTube feeds | Lead Developer
Tilted Kilt
National restaurant chain requested a new site to update their corporate brand and streamline the experience for franchise owners. Features menus and event calendars that can me managed at the corporate and franchise level. Franchise owners can offer unique menu items, drink specials, and integrate local social media accounts. A corporate approval system manages content before it is published to the live site. Geolocation services find the nearest locations for users. A new Kilt Girl is featured on the calendar every month.
responsive layout, WordPress, Foundation, Facebook/Instagram feeds | Tech Lead
4-H
Global youth organization needed a refresh of their internationally recognized brand. An updated design was created, and a new back-end content management system allowed for easier organization and maintenance of their deep content. Structured page templates ensure that content is always cleanly presented. Section 508 rules for accessibility were respected.
responsive layout, WordPress Multisite, Foundation, Webdam integration | Tech Lead
DMI
Digital mobility company needed a site that showcased its newly acquired divisions and business capabilities. Content and image-heavy site features angled content areas, magazine-style transitions, multi-level horizontal navigation, and embedded video and PDF content. A government subsite with graceful degradation to IE7 was required.
responsive layout, WordPress, Foundation, Google Tag Manager integration | Tech Lead
TDI Security
A showcase of a technology security company's products and service offerings. The WordPress site features a custom theme based on FoundationPress, a mobile responsive layout with breakpoints for phone, tablet, and desktop. JavaScript libraries like Isotope and D3.js enable dynamic filtering, interactive page elements, and subtle animations to data presentations. Sticky subnavigation and sidebars ensure that users never get lost in long, scrolling content. Page and browser caching ensures fast site performance. Social networking tools increase shareability. A comprehensive WordPress back-end allows for easy maintenance of site content by the client.
responsive layout, WordPress, FoundationPress, Isotope, D3.js | Developer
Professional Athletes Foundation
Organization works with the NFLPA to collect articles and resources for former NFL players. Features dynamically filtered content, social media sharing tools, and an accordion-driven FAQ section.
responsive layout, WordPress, Isotope | Lead Developer
FosterPort
Collection of resources on issues impacting older foster youth transitioning out of foster care. Client requested that the resources be easily filterable and fully functional on mobile devices. Site features advanced filtering logic and dropdown panels showing all available filters. Preloaded content and dynamic animation quickly delivers results. Back-end tools allows the organization to easily add new resources and categorize them for proper filtering.
responsive layout, WordPress, Isotope | Lead Developer
Juniper
Mediterranean-inspired restaurant in Wellesley, Massachusetts. One-page site features navigation with animated scrolling, an online menu populated by SinglePlatform, gift card and cookbook ordering integration with PayPal, and a photo gallery.
responsive layout, WordPress, Foundation, PayPal integration | Lead Developer
Jaybridge Robotics
Autonomous vehicle and industrial robotics software company requested a site which showcased the technology. A hero carousel with content transitions and scroll-driven parallax interactions were added to make the browsing experience more dynamic.
responsive layout, WordPress, Foundation | Lead Developer
Apellis Access
A gated site where users with the right access code can browse and download a selection of published PDFs as a ZIP file.
responsive layout, WordPress, Bootstrap | Developer
Weekly Resourcing Summary
Web app that uses the ResourceGuru API to determine appropriate resource allocation for our team of account managers, project managers, strategists, copywriters, UX, designers, and developers. Visual charting of the data helps determine at a glance if resources are appropriately allocated for the week. A detail view shows specific clients and projects assigned to each resource. Filters may be used to display resource from specific departments.
responsive layout, Foundation, ResourceGuru API | Lead Developer
Other clients include:
- AARP
- Discovery Channel
- Honest Tea
- Volkswagen Credit
- Audi Financial Services
- Euro Café
- Golden Monkey Publishing
- Laurel Eye Physicians
- Y&S Marine
- Renewable Fuels Association
- National Get Outdoors Day
- Adfero Group
Personal Projects
When I have a need for a site that doesn't exist or an idea for something clever, I'll build it myself. Here are some of my favorite personal projects.
Loveline Tapes
A community effort to collect, organize, and share recordings of old Loveline radio shows. Loveline was a nationally syndicated radio call-in program featuring Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew that offered medical and relationship advice to listeners. Over three thousand recordings are stored, all of them indexed, searchable, and available to public for free. Features include a jQuery MP3 player, call tagging, integrated message board, and search functionality. Back-end tools allow admins to upload and archive new recordings, moderate content, and ban users. Cloudflare CDN delivers cached content for the best performance.
custom PHP, phpBB integration, CloudFlare
FlikPik
We only have so much time left, so why waste your time watching bad movies? What if there was a way to pick your next movie to watch from a list of the best movies ever? And what if you could filter that list to reflect your personal preferences? Using data from IMDB and some proprietary algorithms to come up with final rankings, a list of the best movies ever is presented. Daily cron jobs keep the data fresh. Dynamic filtering allows you to find hidden gems, mark movies as seen, and add them to a watchlist. Movies on your favorite streaming services are a click away.
responsive layout, Foundation, Isotope, TMDb/OMDb/Guidebox API, Google AdSense integration
IssueGrid
An attempt to clearly and objectively present the opinions of each presidential candidate on the issues so that people can more confidently choose the candidate who best represents them.
custom PHP, ChatGPT
Divvy It Up!
After growing tired of the complicated math involved in sharing costs when traveling with friends, I decided to make a tool to do the math for you. You can add events, friends, and costs, and it will tell you who owes money to each person in the end. Now, it's a site where people can split costs for travel, rent, or anything. Pie charts show how costs have been shared.
custom PHP
MonkeyStats
There weren't any good, free web sites for managing the schedule and statistics for recreational baseball and softball teams, so I made this. Team managers can keep player rosters, post schedules, send game invites, and keep team statistics. Features advanced form functionality and data validation, intense baseball math. Also included is a physics simulator showing how far you can hit a ball under various conditions.
custom PHP, Mailgun integration
Ball Catchers
Catalogs the fans who have caught the most famous home run balls in Major League Baseball history. Features stories collected from news outlets, modals with videos showing each home run, and photos of the lucky fans.
custom PHP, Facebook comments
Super Bowl Squared
Pick numbers before the big game, and win big if the scores at the end of each quarter matches your numbers. Site features secure logins for each user and email notifications using an external SMTP service.
responsive layout, WordPress, Mailgun integration
Home Run Derby
A goofy game I played with friends as a kid and still play today. I've added an intense Glicko-2 ranking system and charts to display each player's performance over time. Also includes fun stories, rules, pictures, and videos.
responsive layout, custom PHP, Bootstrap, Chart.js
Ping Pong Rankings
A ranking system for office ping pong or any other competitive event. The system is built as a ladder, where players can challenge players above them and must win to move up. Email notifications for challenge matches and reminders of upcoming games are automatically sent out. Playing statistics including all-time records, streaks, and easiest/toughest opponents are calculated on the fly. Back-end tools allow admins to add and remove players.
responsive layout, Foundation
eBay Inventory
An app that uses eBay's RESTful API to pull in transaction information and thumbnails for recent eBay purchases. The data is stored in a local DB, with additional functionality to comment on items, add tracking numbers, mark items as received, and leave feedback for the seller.
RESTful API, custom PHP
Prospects Tool
A tool I use to find professional and amateur baseball prospects. The goal is to find future stars so that I can get invest in their baseball cards and make millions when they become major league stars. Not in my best interest to share this publicly at the moment.
custom PHP
DMB Analysis Tool
I play in a historical fantasy baseball league using Diamond Mind Baseball simulation software. To do the research necessary to be successful, I built an analytical engine to help me crunch the numbers, by far the most complicated web application I have ever built. To maintain a competitive advantage, I can't share this tool online!
custom PHP, API
Stock-Picking Tool
As a technical investor, I use another CURL-based analytical tool to track stocks and make recommendations for investing on the stock market. I'm not sure if it's in my best interest to post this online just yet.
custom PHP
Philosophies
Some thoughts on web development.
On design:
I don't have the creative brain to produce a design from scratch, but I have the analytical brain and critical eye to identify good design when I see it. Instead of hacking something together myself, it's best when I work with freelance design experts or teams. My expertise is the implementation.
On links:
More is not better. Site content should be properly organized, and well-placed links should clearly direct users through this organized content. Duplicated links annoy and confuse users. Can you imagine a library with 48 badly placed signs pointing to the Fiction section?
On music:
No. How rude is it for a web site to assume that I am not already listening to music or having a conversation or doing something else with my ears at that moment? The only time I should hear music or sound effects from a web site is when I ask for them.
On advertising:
Keep it tasteful. When ads become an obstruction to site content, they ruin the user experience and potentially reduce revenue by annoying users enough for them to leave the site and not come back.
On pop-ups and overlays:
The only time I should see a pop-up or modal overlay is when I've asked for it and it will do something useful for me.
On content:
Users should know who you are and what you do in five seconds. Bulleted text should be short enough to read in a single breath. "Email" and "website" should always be spelled the same way (I believe those are now the accepted spellings), "click here" is not a good link, and a serial comma should always precede the "and" or "or" when items are listed (like in this sentence). Consistency is paramount.
On collaboration:
I enjoy working with expert graphic designers, developers, and IT folks to deliver the most beautiful and functional web sites.
Contact
Need help with a website project? Send me a note below.