www.therussianchoir.org.uk

• Design
• Installation and customization of WordPress
• Developmet of a system for managing events
• Optimization on search engines

As I usually do, I started the project running it on my local machine. Once I started transferring operations of the web site to an online environment I started to have a few headaches. I discovered that there weren’t any evident ways I could use the stored routines that I previously created.
I love phpMyAdmin, it’s very powerful and the interface is really usable, ut unfortunately recent versions of this database management software do not support views, functions and stored procedures.
Beside this some hosting providers do not offer SSH/telnet support to connect to the database and perform more advanced operations.

So I have done some googling and some research on phpmyadmin wiki and decided to to install an older version of this database management software, precisely the 2.11.9.5. It worked perfectly for the job. All I had to do was to run my prepared queries in the SQL editor.

However another route is to build a bespoke script that runs on the server. I have found spEditor which is a script based on PHP and it seems to be a valid solution: easy to install and configure, but also less demanding than phpmyadmin.

Working as a web developer I have to access several times a back-end areas of web sites. Typing in the web address in the browser’s URL bar can be very time consuming, especially if the URLs conform to a pattern. And this is why I started to think at bookmarklets as a little help for this problem.

In my case I have to access MySql dtabases via phpMyAdmin and most of the websites I work on are hosted on servers using cPanel. This means that the URL to access the hosted databases are almost the same. Only the domain name in the URL changes (eg. www.domain.com:2082/3rdparty/phpMyAdmin/index.php).

The following code is the bookmarklet I have created.

javascript:window.location=%22http://%22+document.domain+%22:2082/3rdparty/phpMyAdmin/index.php%22;

The code can be copied and pasted in the browser bookmarks. To access phpMyAdmin you will just need to be on any page in the domain of the website you wish access the database… and launch the bookmark.

I have added the code in my my delicious account, and I must say that bookmarklets work very well using the delicious bookmarks browser add-on.

I have always taken for granted that people could perfectly understand what work I do without needing to give any further explanation to those few words that I’m used to say: I am web developer.

Just recently I’ve reflected on the fact that I am so used to hear people asking me if I can design them leaflets or fix their computer that it even doesn’t surprise me. But it should had surprised me, and it should had made me think much more time ago that the problem is me not helping this people understand what kind of job I do.

How much do other people, who are not in my same working industry, understand what my job role is involves? A few days ago I decided to ask my family and close friends to give me a brief description of what they think my technical skills and daily tasks are, and so I could have a better idea of how they think I spend a big part of my time. Well, I must say some descriptions where quite amusing, others went more close but still inaccuracies and lacks.

The different feedback that I have received made me understand where the lacks are and above all made me understand what level of language I must use in order to give an effective explanation.

I am not a big fan of elevator pitches, they seem to put limits on the creativity and the passion of the intuition of the moment, but I have to admit that it can be used as a guideline. I find it a good idea to have a few sentences that I proved to be effective so they are ready to be adapted and used whenever the situation requires it.

There are many resources on blogs about how to write a successful pitch, if you are interested visit the following resources. My only advice is to avoid whoever sponsors the tips stating how they can make you sell more/earn more, think only about quality tjhat you can provide and how you can be useful for clients and employers.

• Writing a 30 second elevator pitch
• How to craft a killer elevator pitch
• The elevator pitch test

By the way, this is how I like to describe what I do:

I’m a web developer – which means I help people turn ideas and needs into web applications able to perform powerful functions and manipulate information. My role goes beyond building for the front end view: I also take care of making web sites and applications easy to use and access by all users, secure and simple to maintain.

Italian Wedding Dream organises destination weddings in Umbria in the heart of Italy.

Their wedding planners take care of all the details for Civil or Catholic wedding. An interesting list of wedding themes are available to be viewed through their website along with information about their valuable services.

Visit the website Italian Wedding Dream

I have actively collaborated with the client and the graphic designer who was in charge of the identity design. Being able to update the website contents in a quick and slick way was one of the main requirements of the client. I have adopted a solution based on Wordpress and exploited a few of the great functions built in this system in order to satisfy design and navigation requirements.

Montecristo is artisan cheese-maker factory with a passion for their products.

Their cheese factory is in the midst of a cattle breeding area within the agricultural farm of the local area.

Visit the website formaggimontecristo.it

I have developed this web site using HTML and also developed a software to manage the products, recipies, pictures and categories. The technologies that I have used are PHP language and MySQL.
I have optimized this web site for search engines using also url rewriting technics.

• Content Management
• System coding
• Design
• Search Engine Optimization

Visit the website iacoponetodi.it

Official website of the 7th centenary of the death of Jacopone da Todi, an important italian poem writer of the 13th century.

I have worked at this project with Crìmic design studio.
I have developed the web site using XHTML 1.1 standard, CSS style sheets, PHP and MySQL.
The web site is compliant to the W3C guidelines WAI-AAA.
Also I have optimized the web site for search engines.

The Shejnaze Juka is an Albanian school that offers both Albanian and Italian learning. This project has been developed thanks to the Liceo Jacopone of Todi and the collaboration of the Italian Embassy in Tirana.

Visit the website bilingueshejnazejuka.net

In this project I was involved projecting the navigation structure, the design and the code development.
All information contents are saved in a MySQL datase to offer an easy way to manage and update. I payed particular attention to offer an high accesible website, using the available technologies, like separating the structure from the style using XHTML and style sheets compliant codes, paying attention to colours and alternative informations.

* Designing the interface and layout
* Developing the code with XHTML compliant to the latest standards, and keeping contents separate from style
* Developing CSS code to keep style separate from contents
* Making this website accessible paying attention to the latest WCAG guidelines of the W3C
* Planning a usable navigation interface
* Using PHP server side language to make this web site dynamic
* Using MySQL database to store and edit data
* URL Rewriting technics to present nice and smart urls

Todi is a small town with a beautiful and charecteristic style, rich of Etruscan, Roman, and medieval monuments, surrounded by beautiful country side and great food and wines.Visit the website todionline.it

I have worked on the web design, and development using XHTML 1.1 and CSS style sheets.