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MyBiblio

Development & Web Design, 2007

Ruby on Rails, MySQL, XHTML, CSS & AJAX

MyBiblio

Third year web project.

When I found out we could develop a website rather than write a dissertation I jumped at the chance. Upon reflection it would have been a lot easier to write 10,000 words on the usability of certain Flash-based websites.

Anyway, this was a year long project in which I developed an online tool for managing academic references to assist students in creating better bibliographies.

Academic referencing tools exist. They are generally desktop-based, expensive and difficult to use. I wanted to create a free, centralised and usable application that students wont find intimidating.

The accompanying research covered the technical aspects, usability and the demand for such "Web 2.0 Applications".

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The Shop

Development & Web Design, 2007

Ruby on Rails, MySQL, XHTML, CSS & AJAX

Sticklebricks

An example of eCommerce for a fictional Anime eTailer, developed with Samantha Bailey & Alex Efthymiou.

The assignment was in two parts a) to analyse current eCommerce technologies and perform a feasibility study and b) create a prototype system.

We developed this application (in a couple of days, I might add, thanks to Dave Thomas' 'Agile Development' book) using the Ruby on Rails web framework, a MySQL database with an AJAX'd interface. Sadly there were no marks for buzzwords.

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Sidewalk

Web Design, 2005

XHTML & CSS

Sidewalk

The assignment was to take an extreme sports magazine and reflect the contents on screen.

Rather than force the irregularly shaped content into my own structure I chose to follow each page's style and layout, demonstrating the power of CSS. Being a failed skateboarder I chose the very excellent Sidewalk.

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Edge Hill Business School

Web Design, 2006

XHTML, CSS & JavaScript

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Southport Christian Book Centre

The thorn in the side of my final year.

There often comes a time when you can either do what's right, or what someone else believes to be right. In this case my lecturers asked us to create a website that asks for the user's name before entry, and allows them to navigate by radio-boxes and drop-down menus. It was a 'web scripting' module after all.

I met them half way and used XHTML and CSS to perform some of the tasks, rather than their broken JavaScript, and subsequently got 42% for the assignment.

However, I liked the site, so I thought I'd strip it of bad JavaScript and put it online.

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Cooking With Caroline

Web Design, 2007

XHTML, CSS + Wordpress

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Cooking With Caroline

Caroline wanted to develop a simple, clean and easy to read cookery journal that could develop over time.

We looked at developing a bespoke CMS for this project before discovering the latest release of Wordpress, and realising, that with some slight modifications, it offered pretty much what we needed.

The custom theme is designed to cater (no pun intended) for additional features as the blog develops an archive of content, without having to change the layout too drastically.

Samuel Cotterall is a web development graduate who specialises in standards-based front-end development using XHTML & CSS to create websites that are clean, usable and accessible.

A copy of Samuel's CV can be found here (.pdf).

Skills

  • Comprehensive knowledge of XHTML, CSS, JavaScript & XML.
  • Experience with dynamic, database-driven, content using Ruby on Rails, PHP & MySQL.
  • Experience with content management systems such as Mephisto, Drupal, Wordpress & Movable Type.
  • A thorough grasp of web standards, SEO, accessibility and usability principles.
  • An expanding knowledge of Adobe Flash, Photoshop & Illustrator.
  • Strong knowledge of Mac, Windows and Linux (and command line), as well as server administration, DBA, security, networking and hardware.
  • Experience with sound design, video editing and streaming multimedia technologies.
  • Skills in both film and digital photography, lighting and digital editing.

Education

  • 2002 - 2004 Southport College BTEC National Diploma in ICT.
  • 2004 - 2007 Edge Hill University BSc (Hons) Web System Development.

For the moment you can reach me at samuel at itssamuel dot com, or use this lovely form.