I make websites and things that make websites work better.

Justin and Sally

This is me and my wife in Central Park.

What does this have to do with my work? Well, nothing…But it is pretty.

First, an introduction

The Work
My name is Justin and I do cool things on the internet using secret computer code and fancy-schmancy graphics software.
Honestly, the code is not that secret and the fancy software is really just Photoshop. And in reality there's more to the web than doing "cool things." If you run a business, you want to market or sell your product. If you're an artist you want to showcase your work. If you're a musician…well, you should just get a MySpace site.

Seriously though, the web is a communication medium like no other, and it requires certain levels of expertise to know what works and what doesn't. I don't do print design. I don't do video. I don't do photography. I do web. I know the web.
The Person
I live in Clinton, Mississippi with my wonderful wife Sally and crazy dog Jack. During the day I work at Mississippi College. During the night, I prefer not to work at all. That is, unless you're in the mood to shell out a few bucks, in which case I'll gladly reconsider.

Oh, and you should follow me on Twitter.
The Name
"But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don't take yourself too seriously — take God seriously."
Micah 6:8, The Message
While it would seem perfectly plausible that i just rolled a pair of dice to decide on the name of my "company," (outside of the fact that you couldn’t actually roll an eight), there is actually more to it than that.

"Six Eight" comes from a verse of scripture in the Old Testament - Micah 6:8. It's a verse that's gotten a lot more press lately, but I think for good reason. Our lives tend to get pretty complicated. This helps simplify things quite a bit, and makes it clear what really matters.

Work Play!

"find something you enjoy doing and you'll never have to work a day again in your life."

Well, you'd be super-lucky to do something that never feels like work at all, but it is true that work can be a little more like play if you enjoy it. And unlike many people, I (usually) enjoy sitting in front of the computer for hours at a time making things for use on the www. Most of what I do falls into one of two categories:

web design

At it’s most basic, web design is about creating the “look” of a site. However, there's more to that "look" than meets the eye. Sure, having a site that looks nice is important and valuable, but other aspects like the user interface and information architecture are just as important, though often perhaps less thought about.

First and foremost, design is about communication. I recognize that and design sites accordingly.

web development

Web development involves making websites work properly and do cool (and useful) things. Most of my development work is done in one of two arenas: Concrete5 development or site implementation (Photoshop to HTML).

For the nerds out there, this is where I drop terms like HTML5, CSS3, Javascript/jQuery, MySQL, and PHP to impress you.

Drop Me a Line

Dear Justin,
Feb 7, 2012

Data Display Update

comments (22)
Posted by admin 579 days ago under

Many of you have taken advantage of the Data Display package for Concrete5, which is available at the Concrete5 marketplace.  The purpose of this add-on is to display any sort of structured data...a list of questions, a real estate database, a audio or video archive...just about anything.

 

However, the block was built with one major limitation: that data that it displayed is stored using the core form block that comes with Concrete5.  While this block is great for basic data storage, it has a lot of limitations.  For this reason, we have built an entirely new form block that will be a part of the new Data Display package.  Here are some of the new features:

 

  • 16 field types (text input, textarea, number, email, dropdown, multi-select, radio buttones, checkboxes, date, time, file upload, file from file manager, WYSIWYG, sellable item, credit card, and hidden)
  • Tableless layout with multiple style options plus the ability to create new styles
  • Conditional email notifications (if X field is equal to Y send an email to someone@example.com)
  • User confirmation notifications (send an email to the user when they submit the form)
  • E-Commerce integration!
  • Ability to edit records after they have been submitted
  • Ability to approve/unapprove records
  • Import data from CSV!

 

Additionallly, the Data Display package itself has received many major updates, including:

 

  • The ability to show only approved records
  • Caching feature in order to speed things up when there is lots of data
  • Ability to dynamically create pages when new records are added

 

Once everything is ready to go, these will be available as two separate packages on the Concrete5 marketplace - Advanced Forms and Data Display.  Data Display will required Advanced Forms (using the core form block will no longer be an option).  We're hoping to finish everything up within a month or so.  We will keep you updated!

HTML5 vs. Flash: My Opinion

comments (5)
Posted by admin 609 days ago under

If you are a web developer you are probably very aware of the recent debate over whether or not HTML5 will/can/should replace Flash.  One of the strongest supporters of letting HTML5 taking the place of Flash is Apple, as they have chosen to not support it on their iPhones and iPads.  As you've probably read, even Steve Jobs himself wrote a letter expressing this opinion and why the company is taking this stance.  I want to take a few minutes and throw out my opinion and the reasoning behind it.

 

I'll just be honest: I don't like Flash.  Not because I have anything against Adobe (I don't).  Not because I am an Apple fanboy (I'm not).  I have not liked Flash since a long time before this whole debate started.  Part of this has to do with the type of developer I consider myself to be...and it has nothing to do with how I write code or approach projects.  It has to do with how I live my life.  Let me explain...

 

There are some programmers/developers/geeks who live, eat, and breathe technology.  When they leave their 9-5 gig, they go home and do more of it.  They sit on the computer writing code until they can't keep their eyes open anymore and then go to sleep for 5 hours and get up and do it again the next day.  I am NOT that type of person.

 

I love what I do.  And yes, there is the occasional night where I stay up late working on a new Concrete5 block or some other project.  But when I get home, I usually don't want to sit on the computer for another 4+ hours.  I want to hang out with my wife.  I want to take my dog for a walk.  I want to watch Seinfeld.  I want to go hang out with friends.  I do NOT want to sit down and learn yet another web development application, along with all it's quirks, methods, and best practices.  So, all that to say, I don't know Flash that well, because I do not have time in my life to know Flash well and I'm not willing to sacrifice other things in my life so that I can become proficient at it.

 

That is my "personal preference" argument.  Now for a more objective argument...

 

I know HTML well.  I know CSS well.  I know Javascript well.  I know PHP well.  I am learning HTML5.  I do not know Flash.  I once felt that this was a weakness of mine.  However, I do not any longer.  I honestly believe that anything useful that Flash once could do that HTML could not, HTML can now do (when I say HTML, I am referring to HTML + Javascript + CSS).  And you don't even necessarily need HTML5 in many cases.  Fading, moving, dragging-and-dropping and all sorts of other interface "effects" can now be done in HTML quite easily now, thanks to Javascript libraries like jQuery.  So if we can all use a single standard that will work in all browsers without third-party add-ons...why shouldn't we?

 

Flash was created in order to do things that you couldn't do with plain-old HTML.  Now that you can, why do we need Flash?  Answer: we don't.

Data Display is Out!

comments (21)
Posted by admin 775 days ago under

So, after months of development and hours of tweaking and adding features, the Data Display package for Concrete5 has finally been released!  In case you are unaware of what the Data Display package is all about, here's a brief synopsis...

 

The Data Display package allows you to create a listing of any sort of data you would like.  Some general examples include an FAQ, a real estate listing, a car sales listing, or classified ads.  In order to best understand the package, it's helpful to think of it in 3 parts: forms, templates, and front end (the Data Display block).

 

On the backend, you create your forms and templates.  Forms are simply an instance of the core form block that comes with Concrete5 that is used to structure your data.  Let's say you are create a list of frequently asked questions.  If so, in your form you would need to fields: question and answer.  If you were creating a real estate listing, you would need quite a few more fields: address, city, state, zip, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.  Once your forms are created, you simply start adding data to them.

 

After you create your forms, you then create your templates, which are used to display the data that you have submitted to your forms.  Templates consist of HTML (and Javascript/CSS if necessary) with special Data Display placeholders that are replaced with the actual form data when the template is displayed on the frontend.

 

Finally, you add the Data Display block on the front end, which puts your form data into your templates, thus creating a nicely formatted listing of your data.  The possibilities of what can be created with this block are literally endless, and we look forward to seeing how you implement it on your site!

View the Data Display Intro Screencast on YouTube

Purchase the Data Display package from the Concrete5 Marketplace

What We've Been Up To Lately

comments (137)
Posted by admin 802 days ago under

Ah, free time.

 

It's been a good Thanksgiving break so far.  As you can see, part of it has been spent creating this new web site, with a new blog and re-tooled content and a new logo.  We're feeling pretty good about it.  And of course, the whole thing is running Concrete5.

 

If you have visited before, you may notice that a few things are missing - particularly, the Concrete5 block information.  I will be re-adding those shortly as time allows.  Of course, the blocks are available at the Concrete5 Marketplace.  The block examples and details will be re-posted again soon in the form of blog posts.

 

Lastly, I've had quite a few questions about the status of the Data Display package we've been working on.  This is still in the works.  After having been reviewed by the C5 Peer Review Board, I have a few changes to implement, so as soon as those are complete, it will be reviewed again and made available shortly thereafter.

 

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!