Periodicdesign

I’ve been using, rather successfully, Ryan Duff’s contact form plug-in for some time now, but the only problem is, it works a little too well. I get email from all kinds of people. Folks saying they can enlarge my male organs, or keep me going longer in the sack, and then their was this lady from Russia who wanted me to check out her website. Weird thing is, she was the same lady, but always had a new URL. I mean, domain names aren’t expensive, but they aren’t cheap either, especially when you buy every alteration of the domain www.anitchkadoes[insert goat, xxx, Vladimir].com.

With that said, I had to come up with a solution, and instead of having to program my own, I found this little number by Douglas Karr. It inserts a simple question that even the slowest of humans can figure out. The cool thing is, you can set the question/answer to your liking.

Well, I’m going for two at this point. I added the flickrRSS plugin from Eightface, which is pretty slick. The only downside was that my Del.icio.us plugin was making for some interference (Post 21) with the way WordPress was parsing data. A small fix was in order, which Pete pointed out. In del.icio.us.php, look for:

require_once($magpie_install_dir . ‘/rss_fetch.inc’);

and replace it with:

include_once (ABSPATH . WPINC . ‘/rss-functions.php’);

Now both of the plugins will work with no problems!

Yeah, it’s been quiet for a while. Actually, it’s been too quiet. I’m currently in the middle of redesigning my site and decided to add a feature I got working on my development box. It actually only took about 10 minutes to get this up and running, so I figured I would go ahead and lock it in for data aggregation purposes. It’s in my sidebar, but may migrate as I do more updates and additions. I figure if I do one of these a day and rebuild one page a day, it will only take me a few weeks to get all of my changes. With that said, here’s to more free time and a finished site.

Update: Roles have shifted a bit, so there will be a higher level Experience Architect position being hired. Thanks to all that applied. There are more positions coming.

Well, I said I would let you all know when Siteworx was hiring again, so here you go.

Experience Architect

Siteworx, Inc., an Internet application and development company located in Reston, VA, works to transform clients’ business objectives into powerful interactive solutions. Utilizing strategy, technology and creativity, Siteworx creates fresh, functional solutions that serve many industries.

The Experience Architect will be responsible for performing a lead role in the research and design efforts for Siteworx’s client applications and large-scaled websites. This position requires working directly with client stakeholders to develop strategies and specifications to improve the performance, usability and effectiveness of customer and user facing interfaces. You will use information gathered from client meetings, best practices, and competitive analyses to develop, site maps, wire frames, requirements and specifications which represent the layout, flow and organization of complex Web sites and Web applications. You will work closely with the client and the Siteworx technical and visual design groups.

Applicants please note this is not an opening for a graphic designer. Photoshop designs do not meet the qualifications listed below. All applicants must be able to provide samples of user interface diagrams/wire fames. Specifications and requirements are a plus.

Key Responsibilities

• Meet with clients to gather requirements based on existing business processes
• Research the competitive landscape and make recommendations relating to website organization and information hierarchy
• Document strategy by developing site maps, wire frames, representing website and Web application layouts
• Interface with the internal creative and technical staff to ensure that website designs meet both client and end user needs
• Develop navigation and interaction systems
• Develop nomenclature systems
• Experience changing the Web presence of large or multinational companies

Qualifications

• User focused, highly motivated, organized, able to multi-task, and work under tight deadlines
• Excellent client-facing consultative skills including the ability to lead client meetings
• Deep knowledge of user-centered design principles and information architecture and information design
• Knowledge of general business strategy and specific knowledge of Web strategy
• Ability to analyze business requirements to define and improve applications and business processes
• Experience with a large-scale websites or Web-based applications
• Portfolio that includes examples of wireframes and specifications
• Familiarity with industry tools for generating flow diagrams, wireframes, and specifications

If you’re looking for a career where your contribution will be recognized and rewarded, if you share our philosophy that hiring the right people is the secret to success, and if you believe in working hard and having fun with a team that enjoys doing the same is for you — we want to talk to you!

Yeah, it’s not mine, but it’s something better than the basic one that comes with Wordpress and it fits my design style a little better. I’m not much of a fan for the beveled edges anymore. I think there’s a time and place for them, but the Kubrick theme that comes with Wordpress is a tad overkill, although a slick theme for someone with no design or CSS skills. I will be building my own theme over the next few weeks and at some point this site will go straight text as I migrate attributes. All content will be in place over the next few weeks, but watch for changes and hiccups as the look and features shift.