How This Site Was Developed

Development of this site started during the summer of 2009. The purpose for launching this site is in part to meet the requirement for an electronic portfolio for my Master’s degree through the University of Northern Iowa.

As with most projects, I started outlining the site using Mindjet’s Mindmanager. In creating the mindmap, I outlined the scope of the project, the different sections and the various articles that would ultimately create the content of the site.

As I moved into the actual site development phase, I choose to build the site using Joomla, an open source Content Management System (CMS). While Dreamweaver is my standard tool for web development, I have started employing Joomla on more and more projects. The advantages of a CMS are many. For me, personally, I like the ability to work cross platform. Early in 2009, I purchased my first Mac, a 13-inch Macbook. While I could work with Dreamweaver on my Mac using VMWare Fusion, it has proven to be simpler to work with Joomla given that all I need is a web browser.

With my mindmap as a guide, I started developing the site in Joomla. It was fairly simple to create the sections and categories Joomla requires given that I had the map outlining my site in advance. I also choose to work with a template. As with any development tool, there are thousands of templates available to choose from. Templates are important to my workflow. While I consider myself a solid production artist, I am not a great design artist. It’s much easier for me to begin with a basic design and customize than to start with a blank screen.

Given the nature of this site, it will be a work in progress. The great thing about Joomla is that I can make site-wide changes in a flash withouth affecting my content.