Responsibilities

You can also look at this website's development checklist to see what the process for getting this website up and running.

Design & Layout
I design the graphical look & layout of the website in Photoshop.

Original
From scratch, it is my own work. Contrast to what I may note as "Client-Specific," the majority (if not all) of the design is something I would agree with.

Overhauled Template
It's "overhauled" because I manipulated the design (and clean it up) so much so that the original template barely resembles the new layout and visa versa.

Why use a template? Sometimes development cost along with turnaround time are a concern for the client, and as such, an existing design template allows developers to complete a site in half the time (and cost) while still being able to deliver a professional & competitive website.

Client-Specific
I make a note of this if the client has a very specific or strict design & layout preference in mind, which may potentially look unappealing to others (including myself). I also tend to start off with what I think would look best, but the end result is what it is regardless of my original design & professional advice to do otherwise. Sometimes there is middle ground but in the end, if the client is pleased, that's what matters.

Photoshop Splice & Website Development
I slice up the layout, develop the html & CSS, apply any necessary scripting, and put it all together to make a fully functional website.

CSS Only
For the overarching UI, no tables are used in the development of the site. Cross-browser issues become more sensitive but overall, the development is much more flexible.

SEO CSS Optimization
Using CSS, I do a number of fun things. Code hierarchy is just one example. I change up the source code location. For example, if you have a DIV full of content & you need it to sit higher in the source code over something like a bunch of navigation images, that's what I mean by code hierarchy.

W3C XHTML Compliance
I develop just about all of my sites to w3c guidelines. If you parse the page via the w3c html or CSS validation engine, the website will validate. If I'm including a note about CMS interference, this means that the WYSIWYG editor that is built in to the CSM does not generate valid code, and thus, any pages that are "dynamic" and pull content edited/generated by the editor, will not validate.

Web 2.0
Some people wrap a definition around this & some think of it as just an idea. To me it's just a term that defines a set of simple guidelines for the graphical design. Most common are concepts like rounding things off, using reflections, glass-like elements & gradients, and large or spacious content. Basically it's lots of eye-candy that's not too over the top.

Tables
This means that the project was developed using tables (and is probably old).

Programming/Live Project Integration
I may not be the one that finalizes the site and makes it live. Some projects are handed off to a programmer that takes my development and integrates that with their programming. The result is sometimes disastrous and this is entirely based on either the programmers skill level or a careless approach to making sure that the integrity of both the design & the development is preserved.

This is one of the reasons why not all of my projects are linked the live URL. Only those that accurately represent the developed design have links to the live site/project.

This is a problem because looking at a project from an outsider's perspective, one might wonder if the design you see is the development you get. It is, and I have the original source for every project to prove it :)

Involved Integration
My work was integrated with some oversight on my part and the majority of the site reflects the original design & development. It gets my stamp of approval :)

CMS Integration & PHP Programming
If there is a Content Management System that drives the website, this is generally step #2 in the development process. I integrate the development code with existing programming: most of the time having to adding/changing/modifying some of the programming.

Flash Design, Concept, & Animation
Authoring Flash from scratch, I conceptualize the animation sequence to see how elements will animate before I go ahead and make it happen. After I've sketched or formed a mental visual of how things are going to move around on the scene, I go ahead & create the sequence.

Programming with ActionScript
I use ActionScript in my Flash to achieve things that either require its use, or to just make sure the animation itself is scripted efficiently (as opposed to frame-based animation).

Flash Detection & Alternative Content
Now a day this is typically common sense but if I have it explicitly specified, it indicates an older project when doing so was either a pain or simply overlooked by developers. There is a check in place to detect if a user has Flash, and if they do not, then they not only get some sort of a message indication to install Flash (or enable JavaScript), but the alternative content ensures that the design and layout of the site is not just missing or broken. FlashObject lets you set things up to where you can seamlessly have either Flash or no Flash and the visitor will not notice a difference.

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