where the web, music, and faith collide
Finally I can announce with a great deal of joy, that BeatsBase is live. It’s been a lot of work, but every bit has been enjoyable and Robbie has been the most fantastic client.
I’ve spoken about BeatsBase quite a bit before, so I just recommend you take a look yourself to get the lowdown. Suffice to say we’ve still got loads of ideas for the site so the work has really only just begun, but for now I’ll crack open a bottle of beer and eat this final chocolate eclair.
The projectGenie website has had a little makeover using the estimable WordPress system. While not much has changed on the surface, underneath the bonnet it’s an entirely different animal which means it’s a whole lot easier to update. So, hopefully, that will mean no more 5 month gaps between announcements.
And speaking of announcements, there’s good news. I’ve started (albeit slowly) to rewrite the projectGenie software for the forthcoming Brookmeyer version. As well as using my JavaScript library based on Prototype for click-candy purposes, it also has a few neat new features. For example user flags for items, sortable lists, finance management and time management.
projectGenie (yes the ‘p’ is meant to be lower case, don’t ask me why) is a completely free project management system written in PHP and using a MySQL database. Designed for website development teams it could also be used by pretty much anyone else wanting something better than a stack of scribbled notes on the back of envelopes, but without the budget for something all-singing, all-dancing.
Here’s an interesting idea. In the same way that you can automatically compile multiple CSS and JavaScript files for a speed boost you can concatenate images. The file and HTTP request savings are obvious, but this method introduces a few CSS questions. Not impossible to overcome, but you need to be careful.
Nathan Smith, himself no slouch when it comes to things webby, is recommending a new book by Paul Haine entitled HTML Mastery. If the title and premise are anything to go by this, as Nathan rightly says should be required reading for everyone involved in building websites.
You see, it all comes down to the quality of your foundations. Whether you’re talking about architecture, drumming, or pretty much anything else, getting the basics right and keeping them right is fundamental to your success. When developing websites the basics is the HTML your pages are made up of. get that right and you’ve got a great foundation from which to build. get it wrong and you’ll come unstuck sooner or later.
There’s been another little development over at the Performer academy. If you want to create popup windows (yes, Popups Are Bad, I know) then you can now do so in an unobtrusive way using Performer.
Because I realise that the prototype framework that Performer runs on is quite large (over 30Kb event when compressed and packed) I’m looking at a way to create a PerformerLite version that will include just the few prototype features that Performer actually uses, rather than the whole thing. I’m aiming for a file that will be less than 15Kb with all the Performer features you’ve come to know and love.
If anyone is interested in helping out with that effort just drop me a line.