Front Porch Forum

Front Porch Forum is the second coming of a long-standing neighborhood email list. With a short-term goal of branching out from the initial neighborhood in Burlington’s south end to all of Chittenden County, we needed a way to scale the original third-party mailing list to a grander scale and to offer more web-based access than was originally available.

To accomplish these goals, I developed a site to help introduce the concept to newcomers, a managed user’s section to view, search, and post messages, and an administrative control panel for Front Porch Forum staff to manage member accounts, messages, and other aspects of the site. Members can post to their neighborhood forum via email or the web interface.

http://www.frontporchforum.com

Role: IA, design, front-end development, back-end development
Tools: Illustrator, Photoshop, CSS, AJAX, PHP, MySQL

Vermont Rural Water Association

Vermont Rural Water Association (VRWA) needed a site redesign that that looked fresh and that made content more easily available to their users. Additionally, office staff needed to be able to maintain the dynamic portions of the site with ease.

I came up with a new design that captured Vermont and conveyed VRWA’s sense of no-nonsense dedication to their profession. All of the really pertinent information their audience is looking for is available in a persistent sidebar. Additionally, this new site sits on top of a streamlined content management system that enables their office staff to input any continuously changing data.

http://www.vtruralwater.org

Role: Front-end design, back-end development
Tools: Illustrator, Photoshop, CSS, PHP, MySQL

UVM Center for Teaching & Learning

The CTL is in a time of great change, becoming part of the newly-formed Learning Resources Group, and launching a national search for a new director. We wanted to seize upon this opportunity to re-build the CTL Website from the ground up, including massive re-writes of the copy, a streamlined navigation system, and more dynamic content to keep fresh, up-to-date content in front of our users.

Based on the UVM Web Template, we were able to add numerous helpful features to the site, including a streamlined events calendar and management system, RSS and iCal feeds, support request interfaces, and plenty of daily/weekly maintenance solutions.

http://www.uvm.edu/ctl

Role: Front-end development, back-end development
Tools: CSS, PHP, MySQL

FOREST

Natural Resources faculty wanted a clearing house website for students to access data on field sites maintained by UVM, and to practice some of the skills they’ll be required to use in the field.

Working with faculty and TAs from the Rubenstien School for Environment and Natural Resources, the FOREST (Forestry Online Resource Exchange of Sites and Tools) site was designed and developed to meet this need. Students can download numerous types of data for UVM-managed field sites, including Jericho Research Forest and Niquette Bay State Park. Additionally, students can upload their own data to be reviewed by faculty and then published back to the site. The site also contains simulators of several key tools that students use in the field for practice, including compass & topop maps, a GPS unit, and a 10-factor wedge prism (for counting trees!).

http://www.uvm.edu/envnr/forestry

Role: Graphic design, IA, site development; simulation conceptualization, design, and development
Tools: Photoshop, CSS, Flash, PHP, MySQL, XML

National Institute on Leadership, Disability and Students Placed at Risk

The Institute’s goal is to support the preparation of school leaders in educating students with disabilities and students placed at risk of school failure. To this point, the Institute wanted a website that enabled them to allow school leaders access to modules prepared by educators for use in their classrooms and training.

I developed a website that enables users from around the globe to search and download these modules (primarily PDF & PowerPoint content). Users create an account at the site, and then have full access to the modules. Downloads are tracked and users are contacted 30 days after downloading for follow-up evaluation. NILDSPAR staff can update all aspects of the site via a content management system.

http://www.uvm.edu/nildspar

Role: Graphic design, logo design, front-end development, back-end development
Tools: Illustrator, Photoshop, CSS, Flash, PHP, MySQL

Lisaius Marketing

Lisaius handles clients from Burlington to Los Angeles and everywhere in between, but was having trouble when it came to the Internet. They needed a site that touted their design skills and offered clients the ability to check in on projects at their convenience.

Working with their designers, I implemented their designs and built in a password-protected client lounge and proof delivery system.

This site is now managed by Lisaius Marketing staff.

http://www.lisaius.com

Role: Front-end development, back-end development
Tools: CSS, PHP, PERL

Signature Properties of Vermont

Signature Properties of Vermont was created by a former member of a larger real estate firm in the area, and he wanted a site that gave more of a hometown feel while still offering all of the services that a larger real estate firm could offer.

Working with the Idea Design Group, we came up with an attractive layout that gets customers the information they need right away. Signature Properties was one of the first local MLS members to utilize the Broker Reciprocity System to offer MLS listings on partner websites. Through some creative shell scripting, the Signature Properties site is able to offer hundreds of listings in northwestern Vermont, with more being automatically added each day. The remainder of the site is updatable via an administrative control panel available to office staff.

http://www.signaturevermont.com

Role: Front-end development, back-end development, shell scripting
Tools: CSS, PHP, MySQL, BASh