What is this Vircara thing? Is it a name, a website, a place, or something else? Well, it's definitely a name, and if you guessed it was a social media website you're onto something. If you'd like to read more and get a better understanding of what Vircara could potentially do for you, you'll have to check out their blog post on "What is Vircara".
They also have a great post on Student Mentoring, which is what the site is really about. You'd know that if you read the above post. They are looking to grow their current user base of professionals, which will be needed to provide the quality mentoring for the students once the site is launched.
Edit: Well as of early November 2013, the site is live. They are actively looking to recruit members, so check it out here: Vircara - A Career Network. You can also check out their full blog by clicking here.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Starter Motorcycles
If you've ever wanted to ride a motorcycle, the hardest part is selecting what your first bike is going to be. You'll want to ensure you find a bike that is easy to operate, easy to control, and doesn't have too much power that it will get you into trouble. The key to finding your first bike is selecting one that has a low center of gravity, one that you can get your feet flat on the ground. You want to find a motorcycle that you can learn from and gain experience on.
There are a number of bikes one can begin with, from the basic 250cc Ninja to a more advanced 600cc bike. It really depends on your comfort level and maturity level. A good article to get you started looking for the right bike is Beginner Motorcycles. This post covers a number of motorcycles that are considered started bikes, and gives you some very basic information to get you started in your research.
There are a number of bikes one can begin with, from the basic 250cc Ninja to a more advanced 600cc bike. It really depends on your comfort level and maturity level. A good article to get you started looking for the right bike is Beginner Motorcycles. This post covers a number of motorcycles that are considered started bikes, and gives you some very basic information to get you started in your research.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
While this has absolutely nothing to do with Web Development, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get some love for a site I've developed. It's actually a blog that's a sub-domain of my site, but you get the idea.Well I guess it has something to do with web development, since I created the site. Anyway...
If you are interested in mentoring others, click on.... Vircara is a social network, developed based upon a question I've asked myself from time to time. If I knew then what I know now, I most certainly would not have picked the same profession I find myself currently in. If I had the chance for a "do over", I may have picked my profession, but I would find myself in a different line of work. That's the premise of Vircara, except you are help students understand what you do during the course of your daily job.
So, if you have a love of help others, and would like them to avoid the same mistakes that you've made, head on over to Vircara to sign-up and be notified when this site is available.
If you are interested in mentoring others, click on.... Vircara is a social network, developed based upon a question I've asked myself from time to time. If I knew then what I know now, I most certainly would not have picked the same profession I find myself currently in. If I had the chance for a "do over", I may have picked my profession, but I would find myself in a different line of work. That's the premise of Vircara, except you are help students understand what you do during the course of your daily job.
So, if you have a love of help others, and would like them to avoid the same mistakes that you've made, head on over to Vircara to sign-up and be notified when this site is available.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Highlight Default Selection in Spry
I had successfully created a Master / Detail relationship on my site using Spry, the kind where you select a specific record on your page, which then populates any additional detail associated with that record on another part of the page. The master side of the page had some basic CSS associated with it that would show when you were hovering over a record or when that record was selected.
The problem I was having, was when the page was initially loaded, the first record on the Master side of the page was initially selected. I liked this since it also initially populated the detail associated with that master record, giving the page a "filled in" look. The only issue I was having, was the Master record was not "selected" and highlighted, so while it may have been obvious to me what was going on, to the end user they couldn't necessarily tell that the data on the detail side was associated to a record on the master side of the page.
Here's my code prior to the fix I put in place:
Nothing really fancy going on here. Standard Spry code that is generated by Dreamweaver for a Master / Detail region, unfortunately it doesn't highlight the first entry in the Master list that is selected by default.
Here's my code after the fix:
You'll notice the main difference between the two sets of code lies in the conditional logic that I included, which will ensure the initial record is marked as selected so the CSS can do it's thing.
The problem I was having, was when the page was initially loaded, the first record on the Master side of the page was initially selected. I liked this since it also initially populated the detail associated with that master record, giving the page a "filled in" look. The only issue I was having, was the Master record was not "selected" and highlighted, so while it may have been obvious to me what was going on, to the end user they couldn't necessarily tell that the data on the detail side was associated to a record on the master side of the page.
Here's my code prior to the fix I put in place:
Nothing really fancy going on here. Standard Spry code that is generated by Dreamweaver for a Master / Detail region, unfortunately it doesn't highlight the first entry in the Master list that is selected by default.
Here's my code after the fix:
You'll notice the main difference between the two sets of code lies in the conditional logic that I included, which will ensure the initial record is marked as selected so the CSS can do it's thing.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
JQuery Beginners Guide
As I was doing research to come up with some new more exciting functionality, I came across something called JQuery. JQuery is really nothing more then a Java Script framework, but it has lots of neat functionality that can be added to you web pages to enhance the user experience. If you do a quick search on JQuery, you'll get a fell for the things you can add to your pages.
The trouble I had with trying to learn JQuery, was that it functioned a little differently then plain old Java Script. Perhaps it was just me, but I was having a hard time grasping some of the basic concepts. A good example of this had to do with firing events upon page load. Easy enough to do in JavaScript, as I'd create a function that's called after the page has loaded. Easiest way to do this is to add the "onload" event to your body tag.
Using JQuery was a little different. I finally came across a series of video tutorials that helped explain things much more clearly. So instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, I thought I'd share the site I found and let you check it out for yourself. Do try to follow things in order, as there's a series of 16 videos that walk you through different pieces of functionality that you can implement with JQuery.
Enjoy...
http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/web-roundups/jquery-for-absolute-beginners-video-series/
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Create an XML File in PHP
One of the things you may find yourself needing to do in your PHP Development, is to create an XML file for one reason or another. Creating an XML file is useful for a variety of things, and I've found it useful in situations where I use SPRY (JavaScript) to create an interactive environment for the end user.
When I first started researching this, I didn't quite understand the benefit of creating an XML file. I was under the false assumption that this file had to be static, and couldn't figure out why you would ever create this file other then for static code tables. I was quite delighted that I was able to create a dynamic XML file, meaning I could create this on the fly from any PHP screen without having to have previously stored it.
Here's an example of how I use this in one of my applications, and the code used to generate the XML file.
Requirement
Create a Master/Detail region on a page that allows a user to click on an entry in a "master region" on the left side of the screen, and populate a "detail region" on the right side of the screen. All of this should happen in real time, without having to re-send the page to the server and without having to re-populate the screen.
Solution
As part of the initial page creation and after the normal PHP processing that is required, I created a SPRY data set based upon an XML file. This is where the beauty of the solution comes into play. The XML file is created right at the moment of creating the SPRY data set, and is based upon the data in the query that you write. So in reality, you are creating a temporary XML file based upon the data in your database at that moment in time. Once I've created that SPRY data set, I'm then free to use it on the client as part of my Master/Detail region.
This above code creates a SPRY data set called dsAdvisor, by executing the xml-advisor-list.php file which creates the XML file.
Now for the XML:
This code loops through each record returned in the rsAdvisorList record set, and creates an XML file using the database column names as the tags.
That's all there is to it. You can run this file that creates the XML script and when it opens in your browser window simply do a Save As to save it off as an XML file.
When I first started researching this, I didn't quite understand the benefit of creating an XML file. I was under the false assumption that this file had to be static, and couldn't figure out why you would ever create this file other then for static code tables. I was quite delighted that I was able to create a dynamic XML file, meaning I could create this on the fly from any PHP screen without having to have previously stored it.
Here's an example of how I use this in one of my applications, and the code used to generate the XML file.
Requirement
Create a Master/Detail region on a page that allows a user to click on an entry in a "master region" on the left side of the screen, and populate a "detail region" on the right side of the screen. All of this should happen in real time, without having to re-send the page to the server and without having to re-populate the screen.
Solution
As part of the initial page creation and after the normal PHP processing that is required, I created a SPRY data set based upon an XML file. This is where the beauty of the solution comes into play. The XML file is created right at the moment of creating the SPRY data set, and is based upon the data in the query that you write. So in reality, you are creating a temporary XML file based upon the data in your database at that moment in time. Once I've created that SPRY data set, I'm then free to use it on the client as part of my Master/Detail region.
This above code creates a SPRY data set called dsAdvisor, by executing the xml-advisor-list.php file which creates the XML file.
Now for the XML:
This code loops through each record returned in the rsAdvisorList record set, and creates an XML file using the database column names as the tags.
That's all there is to it. You can run this file that creates the XML script and when it opens in your browser window simply do a Save As to save it off as an XML file.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
How To Create Your First Website
So you want to create a web site, but you don't know a thing about how to get started huh? The purpose of this article is to outline the things you will need to get your first site up and running. The intent is to give you a basic overview and not dive in to all the details required for each step, that will be reserved for future posts.
Step 1 - Determine what it is you want to create
You'll have many different options based upon what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to create a Blog (similar to what I have here), a static web site that simply displays information about you or your company, a dynamic web site that allows users to query and/or update information, or a shopping cart type site where users can purchase your products?
A blog or static site is very easy to create on your own. If you have an analytical mind or have done some type of programming in the past, you can also create a dynamic site, although be aware there will be programming and database development involved.
If you are looking to create a simple blog, you can do so without any cost, and have something up and running in a matter of minutes. Head over to Wordpress.com or Blogger.com, create an account, and follow the on screen instructions to set up your site. The one thing to keep in mind is that you won't be able to define your own domain name (this is name of the site you would type into your browser). Your domain name would look something like:
Step 2 - Secure a domain name and hosting options
I've combined these two steps as most hosting providers will not charge you for "buying" a domain name if you purchase one of their hosting options. In either case, you will need to purchase a hosting plan if you want to get your site on the Internet.
First things first, determine what you want your domain name to be. This is the name that a user will type into their browser to bring up your web site (see figure #1). You may want to come up with a few options in case the domain name you've selected is already in use.
Now find a hosting provider. You've probably heard of godaddy.com, but there are many others that you can find by doing a quick google search. I happen to use inmotionhosting.com for a number of my sites, but this is really a matter of personal preference.
Each hosting provider has a number of hosting plans that you can choose from, and each plan varies in cost based upon what you need. Chances are you can go with the cheapest plan offered if you are looking to create a basic site, and most providers will allow you to upgrade if you outgrow your plan. A couple of things to keep in mind when choosing a plan are any limits the provider places on disk space (the amount of data you will store on your site) or bandwidth (how many visitors your site will receive and the amount of data transferred in a given month). EAch hosting provider will define these options in their hosting plans.
Step 3 - Create your site
Now that you have a domain name and hosting provider, it's time to set up the site. If you are going the blog route, you can install Wordpress or some other Content Management System (CMS) directly from the hosting providers control panel. The control panel allows you to administer the site you just created. There are a number of features on the control panel that allow you to view statistics regarding the visitors to your site, set up email accounts, restrict access, and so on, and so on. I would play around with this so you can get a good feel for what you can do to control your new site.
If you will be creating a web site, you'll need to find some software to create your web pages. If your new to HTML you'll want to find a software package that has a designer which will allow you to create pages based upon a graphical user interface (GUI). This software will generate the HTML for you, so you won't spend a great deal of time having to learn this markup language. Chances are, your hosting provider has some software you can leverage for this, or a quick search of Google will give you some free options that are available.
Step 1 - Determine what it is you want to create
You'll have many different options based upon what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to create a Blog (similar to what I have here), a static web site that simply displays information about you or your company, a dynamic web site that allows users to query and/or update information, or a shopping cart type site where users can purchase your products?
A blog or static site is very easy to create on your own. If you have an analytical mind or have done some type of programming in the past, you can also create a dynamic site, although be aware there will be programming and database development involved.
If you are looking to create a simple blog, you can do so without any cost, and have something up and running in a matter of minutes. Head over to Wordpress.com or Blogger.com, create an account, and follow the on screen instructions to set up your site. The one thing to keep in mind is that you won't be able to define your own domain name (this is name of the site you would type into your browser). Your domain name would look something like:
 |
| www.yoursitename.blogger.com or www.yoursitename.wordpress.com |
Step 2 - Secure a domain name and hosting options
I've combined these two steps as most hosting providers will not charge you for "buying" a domain name if you purchase one of their hosting options. In either case, you will need to purchase a hosting plan if you want to get your site on the Internet.
First things first, determine what you want your domain name to be. This is the name that a user will type into their browser to bring up your web site (see figure #1). You may want to come up with a few options in case the domain name you've selected is already in use.
Now find a hosting provider. You've probably heard of godaddy.com, but there are many others that you can find by doing a quick google search. I happen to use inmotionhosting.com for a number of my sites, but this is really a matter of personal preference.
Step 3 - Create your site
Now that you have a domain name and hosting provider, it's time to set up the site. If you are going the blog route, you can install Wordpress or some other Content Management System (CMS) directly from the hosting providers control panel. The control panel allows you to administer the site you just created. There are a number of features on the control panel that allow you to view statistics regarding the visitors to your site, set up email accounts, restrict access, and so on, and so on. I would play around with this so you can get a good feel for what you can do to control your new site.
If you will be creating a web site, you'll need to find some software to create your web pages. If your new to HTML you'll want to find a software package that has a designer which will allow you to create pages based upon a graphical user interface (GUI). This software will generate the HTML for you, so you won't spend a great deal of time having to learn this markup language. Chances are, your hosting provider has some software you can leverage for this, or a quick search of Google will give you some free options that are available.
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