doodlehaus

Oh my poor blog. Neglected for several a fortnight, I have returned. Under intense pressure from no one in particular, I plan to post regularly here again.

I promise to be funny, or at least attempt to be funny.

I promise to be thoughtful, save for those times when I don’t feel like it.

I promise to check back to make sure that the comments are not hawking erectile dysfunction drugs or hot, monkey-on-greyhound action.

Well, that’s pretty much it for now. Not terribly funny or thoughtful. I’m a failure already.

It’s day two of Sharepoint Webpart training. Today, we fight to the death! Er, not really. A closer look at security and the object model. Which will be good. I just wish I was better at C#. Coding interfaces is not exactly the peak of my skillset. I understand them conceptually, but they make my brain hurt.Yesterday, we made a little widget and actually intalled it on the server. Very nifty. It’s a cool little tool and it will be nice to build sandboxes for my day-job constituents. They often have some weird ideas with the ultimate crux being to share documents. That’s it. It’s often only a handful of documents. It’s not like we’re the Library of Congress. I often ask myself, “don’t they already have email and share drives?”, but then I relent. They never listen. Hopefully, this will help. I’m nothing if not a helper.

The good news is that everybody has problems with software. Even training centers technical glitches. Trial software expires. Overhead projectors cease to function. The better news is that I get to write this entry and consume some free coffee. Not the best tasting coffee, but the best priced coffee I’ve ever had.

Today we, and by “we” I mean the “royal we”, will learn the intricacies of programming webparts for Sharepoint 2003 Server. It’s Webpartlicious. For the price, Sharepoint seems to be a nice alternative to the five-figure-priced alternatives and the patchwork free portals that are out there.

Given my personal druthers, I’d probably go with one of the free portals (phpNuke, .Netnuke). However, there are end users to think about. Code oblivious, uncurious acolytes who don’t want to tinker for days with a portal platform. They just want to post a calendar. I sympathize with their plight.

That’s what’s pretty nifty about Sharepoint (gawd, I’m shilling for Microsoft). The Webparts are drag-and-drop and provide functionality without the hassle. They’re just a little too clunky. It will be nice to learn to customize them. So, as soon as the virtual PC license issue is sussed, we’ll be golden.

West side.

http://www.clubinferno.com
Madison, Wisconsin

From punk to techno, goth to the Red Elvises, the Inferno Night Club is a destination for the imp in you. The Doodlehaus provided layouts, XHTML markup and CSS stylesheet consulting on this redesign project.

Site no longer online
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin

The Kalahari Resort Web site redesign effort focused on integrating with a new image campaign and providing visitors with tools to help them plan their vacation.

The site uses a SQL database to manage rates, specials, and menus. It uses interative tools to help families plan their stay and meeting planners to plan an event. Flash is used to give visitors an interactive tour of both waterparks.

Site no longer online
Madison, Wisconsin

This Flash site augments promotional material, introduces the partners, outlines the depth and breadth of clients, and illustrates Hiebing Consulting’s process.

[launch]
Madison, Wisconsin

This CD was prepared to accompany the Hiebing Group’s new business materials. I used Flash, an object-oriented approach, and external copy for maximum flexibility.

*You may experience a decrease in performance when viewing this piece online, as it was designed to be delivered on CD-ROM.

http://www.jungseed.com/
Randolph, Wisconsin

Programmed a shopping cart engine, search engine, and converted layouts for 10 sites. Development was in Cold Fusion, SQL, and integrates with a legacy Unix-based order processing system. This project required a great deal of database consulting and data clean-up.

http://www.heidelhouse.com/
Green Lake, Wisconsin

The Heidel House Resort in Green Lake, Wisconsin needed an site to round out its new brand image. Working closely with print designers and art directors, I helped create a site that helps to pay off the print creative with details about the resort, its rates, and amentiies.

A small Access databse manages rates, menus, and homepage content.

http://www.uwc.edu/
Madison, Wisconsin

The UW Colleges redesign project’s goal was to consolidate the institution’s online presence with their printed materials. Palette, imagery, and information was consolidated to provide prospective students and their parents with a unified brand experience.