Working with Bower

While working on the redevelopment for the Xavier University V4 project. I’ve determined that I needed to get a better understanding of the various components that I’m using to manage the project. One of the components is Bower. I didn’t quite grasp the idea between a dependency and a devDependency within pacakge.json. Luckily I’m not the only person that had no idea. Dependencies - Intended for use in production, and implied that it will be required for development purposes too. devDependencies - Intended for use in development only. Does not imply that it will be used for a production environment. It’s times like this I’m thankful that StackOverflow still has good people out there to answer questions instead of bashing people for not knowing.

Nov 11, 2015 · 1 min · 124 words · Greg McMullen

Project Update

After a beginning minor development in PHP for the temp v4 project, I’ve decided to go ahead and install a ColdFusion development server locally to begin developing the template in ColdFusion. Luckily I’ve had some experience converting PHP to ColdFusion, although it was rather simple since all I used were a few variables to determine what stylesheet loaded on the page and a few includes. Header Improvements While it may not seem significant, I’ve been able to do some cleanup with the actual HTML code for the header file. Instead of dropping in two different navigation elements for Mobile and Desktop, I was able to create a new header combining the two using flexbox instead of Bootstrap, or an inefficient position:absolute structure. ...

Oct 20, 2015 · 3 min · 448 words · Greg McMullen

heweb15 Notes

AIM2 - Open Source Accessibility tools. Presentation URL: http://presentations.cita.illinois.edu/2015-10-highedweb-tools/slide1.html Accessibility Tool: http://fae20.cita.illinois.edu Sections are already “landmarks” All content must be contained in a landmark add :focus on elements Additional Resource: http://accessibility-bookmarklets.org AIM5 - Slacking off at Work Team of 2 grew to 12 Great form of collaboration Voices of SM and work on entire web presence Great communication tool Brings everything into one place Not a replacement for the PM tool Slack and PM software are linked Reduction of email - could be great for Form Manager Channel - Public Groups - Private Direct Message - between each individual Develop channel nomenclature ...

Oct 15, 2015 · 8 min · 1546 words · Greg McMullen

HEWEB13 Notes

Web Content Migration - Regis University 5-7 year old site - 2 years to plan; 10 weeks to build Nav = confusing 7,000+ pages (duplicated and outdated) 1,000 Undergrad - 150+ editors - operating under silo (just like us) No goals or strategy No the “Regis” Story ITS Owned; kept it functioning New Architecture/Focus New CMS Platform (error prone proprietary) - SiteCore New Design and marketing/content strategies Hired CMO after web project was started Accountability (university asset; marketing ownership) New governance Project Teams 3 Admissions Deans, CIO, communications director Wrote request for proposal, chose vendor Chose and purchased CMS Guided discovery, strategy and creative processes Approved new architecture and design Web Advisory Committee (did not serve much; obligation to include) 40-50 mid-level managers, faculty and student Presentation and Q&A Web Marketing Team Accountable for build, strategy and branding Built site in CMS and migrated content Evolve content, design, strategy and function Partner with ITS Web analytics Governance Editor training Assist with faculty/staff/student pages Content Owner Meetings Need content updated? What it needs to say? What forms do you need Structure Let’s talk strategy Content Inventory and Mapping Development of Image and PDF library (avoiding PDFS) Forms Development Moved to SharePoint… Custom CMS Development Server and software setup Acquitted and integrated 3rd party software Redeveloped custom apps Processes and policies: Content and Layout Testing/implementing features and upgrades Community COMM Editor training/permissions Governance policy Visual/writing style guides Mobile policies Build and Launch Built pages/layouts Plunked (cut/paste) edited and wrote new content Uploaded and placed images Client content reviews app integration testing launch announcement and celebration Lessons: Involve web experts in the entire process, not just the build (group of 5) Insist on detailed costs, timelines and deliverables from vendors Be aware of business referral partnerships ITS was pushing for SharePoint! May not be the best thing! Project went WAY over budget because PM did not know what was being promised Evaluate business need and effectiveness or developing and/or redeveloping custom features Clearly communicate new process and policies to community Educate Leadership on process, milestones and resource requirements Get leadership support, don’t be afraid to name drop Make sure leadership is aware of consequences of change! Insist on client review and sign off on content, document all client communication Client is responsible for the content Determine brand strategy BEFORE you develop the website Clear, consistent voice and look/feel Document details along the way Really mean it when you ask for input and participation Success Earned - Be transparent Set up project site post proposal, status reports, committee members Hold update meetings Make ITS your friends, meet with them and content owners early! One team, same team policy Emphasize partnership and common goals TEDIOUS DOCUMENTATION IS WORTH THE EFFORT Content Inventory Content mapping Detailed Site Map timelines status meetings vendor website Improvement is contagious!!!!! Don’t get burned Expect and plan for time and money shortage Expect one major thing to go wrong Sales pitches vs requirements Stick to your story Communicated causes and effects Squash Rumors Comprise team of people who care Set up team support during overtime head out before burn out celebrate small wins play = stress relief participate All other duties were forgone 10 weeks of web dev only If you build it, will they come? - Grinnell College Goals: ...

Oct 15, 2014 · 18 min · 3652 words · Greg McMullen

2013-2014 Season Recap

The 2013-2014 season at Rose-Hulman ended better than I ever could have imagined. After breaking more than 20 records in the 2012-2013 season, I never would have imagined breaking another 13. We sent two to the NCAA Division III National Championships. Both swam well and earned All-American status by finishing in the top 8. Personal Challenges This season was easier than last year. From my point of view, I had a very successful season. I worked to understand the ideology behind the training structure, I trained starts and turns exclusively toward the end of the season and even had a stroke of genius, helping a freshman finish in the top 8 in a new event after observing his awesome back start. ...

May 22, 2014 · 1 min · 197 words · Greg McMullen

Embedded Twitter Feed for Umbraco

Basic embedded twitter feed macro for usage on your Umbraco website. There is a 7.x version and a 4.11.x version available. Takes parameters to embed a twitter timeline including the ability to: Change height and width Link Color Data-Chrome settings (header, footer, scrollbar) Number of Tweets to show Embedded Twitter Feed CSHTML

May 21, 2014 · 1 min · 52 words · Greg McMullen

Umbraco Package: Form Wrangler

Form Wrangler is a package for Umbraco that assembles a list of files, with links, from a selected media library folder ID. This package was initially designed for the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Website and released to the Our Umbraco community on 22 November 2013. Form Wrangler Parameters: Name: Media Folder Alias: mediaFolder Type: mediaCurrent Form Wrangler CSHTML Disclaimer: Form Wrangler was designed “as-is”. Greg McMullen does not provide any warranty of the item whatsoever, whether express, implied or statutory, including, but not limited to, any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or any warranty that the contents of the item will be error-free.

May 6, 2014 · 1 min · 107 words · Greg McMullen

A Farewell Letter

As many of you know, my time at Rose-Hulman was always limited. Sarah and I knew that match day would come and we would inevitably be told where we were going to live, not by our hearts, but by a computer system. On Friday, March 21 we opened a letter, read the words and to saw we will be starting a new life in Northern Kentucky. When I started coaching, I never envisioned leaving a program would be as hard as it is today. I’ve had the opportunity to coach a variety of swimmers ranging from 6-22. From people just happy to learn the strokes, to (now) NCAA All-Americans. Believe me when I say it’s just as hard to leave this team as it was a 6-year-old that held on to my leg at a swim meet. ...

Mar 24, 2014 · 2 min · 236 words · Greg McMullen

Photos: IWU vs Rose-Hulman

Meet photos from the Illinois Wesleyan vs Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology swim meet on November 2, 2013.

Dec 12, 2013 · 1 min · 17 words · Greg McMullen

Reaching Your Full Potential

People look towards family and close friends for support. How often do these requests get laughed at? Ignored? Supported? Or encouraged? No matter the outcome, these situations strengthen connections and can often help when reaching your full potential. Find what you love. I’ve come up with some fairly off-the-wall ideas from paintball, laser tag to a web design/development firm. All of them have come crashing down with love and support of our families. They knew we wouldn’t succeed, because we were capable of so much more and our hearts weren’t in it. ...

Aug 20, 2013 · 2 min · 304 words · Greg McMullen