frugi is a web developer in leeds

about frugi

If you wanted a wealth of details about me, you'll be disappointed, as I have little interest in disclosing the banal minutiae of my life to strangers, unless of course I am offered a stinking pile of ducats to do so. Then I'll pretend to be a country girl from Utah and fabricate the lot. However, allow me to bore you senseless with some technical details instead (or, if you're desperate for pretentious verbiage, try the blog).

not too cool for sql

This website is hosted on my Jaunty Jackalope server at home, using the popular WAMP now LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) configuration to deliver and manage dynamic content. So far I haven't succumbed to installing a GUI (Gnome/KDE) for it. :-) I changed the A records of my registered domains to point to my IP address, which changes so infrequently it is practically static. My iptables firewall, Apache and PHP configuration files are adjusted for common security loopholes, while the public MySQL user is granted only the table access he needs. Yep, I've seen root used on new sites like this! Thanks to capped upload speeds I'm afraid the site is a little sluggish, especially the photos.

dynamic content

The Links page, among others, uses PHP to extract and present records from a table in a MySQL database. I can edit the page content using an admin form (which appears to be under attack from comets). This page features a tiny frosting of AJAX, used to power a dynamic dropdrown and is available through SSL if required.

Then we have the Contact form and the Photos page registration, both of which I have also attempted to secure with some strict input validation routines (including against spam Email bots, session hijacking and multiple registrations) though I'm sure a determined script kiddie could break them if (s)he wanted. Secure coding is essential and I try to remain aware of possible vulnerabilities in everything I write, especially XSS and MySQL injection.

Some of the photo sets use my custom gallery script which allows me simply to drop images into a folder, instead of having to edit the HTML. Thumbnails are created as necessary.

My most complex project is a basic shopping cart application which features a slice of object-orientated code and a five table database swollen with one-to-many relationships. It is fully functional at the moment, but would benefit from a properly styled layout, product images and an admin access panel to analyse stock, customers and orders.

software

Minimal. The pages are composed in Notepad++ or Dreamweaver 8 (code view) and sometimes even through Putty using nano, with a splash of Fireworks for the graphics and then tested on Internet Explorer 6/7/8 beta, Firefox and Safari. Most earn the coveted XHTML Strict 1.0 tick. I hand code as I learn far more by thrusting my paws deeply into the floats, queries, loops, functions and inner joins than I would by letting DW take over.

seo

I've only just started to care about SEO - purely from a technical perspective of course (though I secretly dream of creeping up on the illustrious vendor of baby clothes that is the frugi shop) - but was pleased to see that after a few improvements, such as tidying up my meta tags, compressing most of my content using Apache's mod_deflate module and providing a sitemap, I've earned a Grade A rating from the first SEO checker I could find. I imagine this achievement counts for little.

numbers of stumblers

Greetings 38.107.191.81
This is your first visit. Welcome!

Frugi has claimed 13980 victims since birth

so you wanna be a web developer?

The ultimate purpose of this desultory patch of web space is uncertain. However, the current reason for its pitiful existence is simply to provide a canvas on which I can experiment. After ten years' of self-employment as a derivatives trader, a rewarding but perhaps somewhat narrow field in which to develop an entire career, I am decidedly eager for change and inspired to nestle under the welcoming umbrella of web development, where logic and creativity sing a mean harmony. Obviously this means I need deft skills in the relevant areas:

• XHTML (structure) and CSS (style) that conforms to WCAG accessibility guidelines
• Graphic design and typography expressed in Photoshop and/or Fireworks
• Server-side scripting (e.g. PHP) with sound knowledge of the object-oriented approach
• Structured query language (SQL) and relational database design
• Secure, efficient and modular code
• Copywriting
• Javascript and AJAX (including Prototype, JQuery, MooTools, script.aculo.us etc. )
• Facebook/Maps/Search Engines API applications and mashups
• Flash
• XML / Xpath

These are the typical tools of the contemporary dynamic site developer so I must know them intimately. Fortunately I have a minuscule head start as I once tarnished the internet with my own dangerously loose HTML several years ago, when Dreamweaver was but a wee lad in the short trousers of version 2. It would have knackered a modern validator engine.

More dubiously I can offer, erm, a history of programming the BBC Master 128k in assembly language at school, often in order to coerce it and twelve of its friends to play an indescribably irritating rendition of Cavatina with a 50ms delay between each; or to build elaborate trojan horses to capture the occasional password (for ethical use only, of course!). Neither activity brought joy to my poor computer master, but at least I discovered a peculiar love for coding. At school I also benefitted from an excellent grounding in Latin and Greek, neither one a particularly easy language, especially when required to translate from one to the other. Currently I work for a University as an IT Helpdesk monkey.

web development portfolio

Pouring theory into my head is only a quarter of the battle, of course. The proof is in the pudding, so I need a site like this to demonstrate tangible (well, visible) results of my mental labours. So far, they are not going to raise an eyebrow, except in derision. However grant me a handful of aeons and this may change. Meanwhile I seem to have about five projects on the go at once, so nothing is satisfactorily finished, but I'd rather include those than nothing at all...

Here's one sketch : a childishly simple page that sports offputting complementary colours, a style sheet switcher and a vaguely cunning CSS/PHP navigation bar.

Here's an inappropriate Facebook application that helps helped one find photos of people, even when their profile appears impenetrable. It doesn't do anything illicit, merely takes advantage of the fact that often people will fail to set their photo privacy to the highest possible level, like Fearne Cotton. Update: Sadly Facebook recently changed their database configuration so this application no longer works, unless the profile is totally open. Still, at least I managed to borrow a few of Pixie Lott's Facebook photos first. Tsk tsk.

Here's an opportunity to buy some kittens, a basic CMS admin page and a handy alcohol units calculator.

For a full, completed project, here's an ancient woodland information site that features an Ajax image search, a subtle JSON Wikipedia search, a dash of script.aculo.us effects and a PHP gallery script that automatically scavenges two directories and builds thumbnails if necessary. This allows the site owner to simply drop new images into a folder without having to alter the page HTML afterwards. It also fully validates to Strict XHTML standards and displays correctly on IE 6/7, Firefox and Safari (Mac and Windows).

The projects du jour: I'm at last delving into the wonders of Wordpress, to make this wedding photography site for a colleague and a trail bike tour site for a friend. The former has required some quite savage hacking of the template files and even a plugin. For instance, the portfolio page fetches photos from Flickr which Chris has selected with Flickr tags, with pagination and links to the originals. I've just added Wordpress to my new articles page too.

I also coded up this Pool League page on behalf of some friends, who specified parts of the design and will be adding their own dynamic content later. This taught me a lot about responding to client needs and sharing workflow among a team.

Finally, here is a shopping cart application using PHP OOP. As you can see I have a way to go with this, but the basic functionality is there.

please hire frugi

If you happen to be a potential employer who wants a bright and eager junior to join your development team then please get in touch. As I am simply looking for a creative and intellectually rewarding way to spend my time, the level of salary is unimportant (within reason). If I can build these pages from scratch in 23.35 months (frugi was born on 1/3/08) with no previous knowledge of CSS 2/PHP/SQL, while working full time, imagine what my undivided attention could do for you in a few months. If you are not convinced (and I admit I might not be on this scant evidence) then please check back soon, as I am determined to create a portfolio that demonstrates my ability to tackle every stage of a site's development with aplomb.

For what it's worth I'm also accumulating several vaguely useless bits of paper: ECDL (passed in Sep 2007), CIW Master Designer (passed in Sep 2007), Dreamweaver 8 Adobe Certified Developer (passed in Jul 2008), CompTIA A+ IT Technician (passed in Aug 2008), MySQL CMDEV (if the Uni. agrees to fund it when they've finshed putting me through the horrible ITIL Foundation), Zend PHP 5 certification (which looks pretty savage, so probably by end 2010, if I'm lucky). I'd also like a Linux qualification, perhaps the RHCE or easier LPIC route. Please feel free to contact me here.

i only want to see some llamas

For family and friends who have choked on this technical self-aggrandising nonsense and who simply want to see some low quality snaps of Patmos, Bequia, our wedding, or yes, llamas, please click on the red portion of the "Simon" game above this column (or here) and you shall be faintly rewarded. I'm afraid you'll need to register first so I have a vague idea of who's looking at them. Well, actually I don't care at all, but it was a good excuse to write some more code. Oh and the Kitty Cam sometimes works too!

Soon I will integrate Wordpress... Integration ahoy!

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