(in alphabetical order)

• ChicagoKids.com

  Chicago Kids is a well-established resource for kid-friendly places and events all around the Chicago area. The site needed notification and reminder features to go live alongside a site redesign. Despite running into (and working around) the limitations of its current hosting platform, everything went live by the deadline.

  Technologies: "Classic" ASP/VBScript, MS SQL Server, JavaScript, git

• FireHIRE

  FireHIRE is a paid subscription service that puts prospective firefighters and fire departments in touch with each other. Currently focused on departments in midwestern states, FireHIRE is expanding nationwide.

  With Andrew Rench handling visual design and the user interface, we built FireHIRE.net from the ground up.

  Technologies: Apache mod_rewrite, PHP 5, Perl 5, Paypal API, JavaScript with jQuery, JSON, Flash, Subversion, Linux, MySQL

• The McCall Pattern Company

  Orbit Media built McCall's a new platform for selling sewing patterns. I replaced its existing payment system with a custom interface to PayPal's Payflow Pro, and implemented much of the sales reporting back-end.

  Technologies: Payflow API, PHP 5, MySQL, Linux, JavaScript, git

• MICA

  MICA, a leader in microscopy instruction, consultation, and analysis, depends on its web site for course registration. As this type of functionality wasn't built-in to their chosen content management system (Wordpress), I worked with Chris Nibeck of iMedia, Inc. to assemble a system using FileMaker Pro as a friendly front end, with a combination of Open Source and custom Wordpress modules handling the back end.

  Technologies: Wordpress, PHP 5, Perl, MySQL, FileMaker Pro, git

• Our Favorite Moments

  I wrote the sign-up, Payflow Pro payment backend, and EZ Prints print ordering interface for this reworking of futureLAB's media sharing platform EZArchive.

  Technologies: Apache with mod_perl 2, XML-RPC, XPath, XSLT, JavaScript, PostgreSQL, Linux, Subversion

• Roman Office Support Services

  This site was not getting the traffic it deserved, and the traffic it was getting was too often misdirected. The original designer also targeted Internet Explorer only. The results on other web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari were sub-optimal, and this was becoming increasingly important as IE's marketshare was (and is) declining. With code cleanup, page consolidation, and some small, calculated text changes, the site's Google rankings improved significantly within two weeks.

• Runbox

  I've worked with Runbox, a premium e-mail service based in Oslo, Norway on various projects. I wrote a domain purchase and DNS management system (currently in beta) using the Enom and cPanel/WHM APIs. I integrated the ATD spellchecker into its TinyMCE-based e-mail editor. I also migrated the Runbox codebase from the CVS version control system to Git and integrated it with the Trac project management system.

  Technologies: Apache with mod_perl, Template Toolkit, CVS, git, cPanel/WHM API, Enom API, Perl, JavaScript/jQuery, Linux, MySQL, ATD spellchecker, TinyMCE

• Smallflower

  Smallflower, the online arm of Chicago's Merz Apothecary, wanted to improve their URLs. What began as inscrutable strings of numbers and letters became http://www.smallflower.com/soap/body-washes/dr-bronners. It not only improved the readability of their URLs but their search engine rankings as well.

  Technologies: Apache mod_perl 1 with Mason, FreeBSD, PostgreSQL, PHP 5, Wordpress, MySQL, qmail, daemontools, JavaScript, git

• Soderberg's Floral & Gift

  This florist already had a web site through FTD, but also wanted a companion site fully her own. Working with Bil Bitz of WebZone Marketing handling graphics and site layout, we built a site based on Wordpress and the WP-eCommerce system, including a custom offline payment system.

  Technologies: PHP 5, Wordpress with WP-eCommerce, JavaScript, Linux, MySQL, git

• The Thurstons

  The musical group The Thurston Family wanted to give their web site a new look, and to replace their aging back end system with Wordpress. Bil Bitz of WebZone Marketing provided the redesign. I gave them a custom Wordpress theme based on his work, and adapted calendar and photo album plugins to their needs.

  Technologies: PHP 5, Wordpress, JavaScript with jQuery, Linux, git

• Zoomshare

  Time was, adding a new web site to an Apache server meant updating its configuration file and restarting the server manually, fingers crossed that it would come up cleanly without errors.

  This was impractical for the kind of volumes my employer (I-Works, Inc. of Chicago) dealt with, so in 1998, I designed, implemented, and managed a platform for mass virtual web site hosting on top of Apache for dynamically adding and removing virtual hosts on the fly.

  In 2004, the company (now DigitalWork) launched the social network Zoomshare on this same platform, and is currently supporting a community of hundreds of thousands of active users.

  Technologies: Apache mod_perl 1 and 2, the Apache C API, FastCGI, qmail, djbdns, daemontools, JavaScript with YUI and jQuery, JSON, Subversion, git, Paypal API, ImageMagick

• ZS Cities

  ZS Cities is an offshoot of the Zoomshare community launched in 2010, focused on discussions by topic and targeted geographic locations, worldwide.

  Based initially on the open source PunBB system, much of what makes ZS Cities what it is comes from custom extensions integrating it with Facebook, Twitter, and Zoomshare itself.

  Technologies: Apache 2, PunBB, PHP 5, JavaScript, Twitter API with OAuth, Facebook Graph API, PostgreSQL, Subversion, git