Portfolio - University Work
While I attended university, I completed a number of websites and other projects. Some of these have been listed below, with links to the websites in question. Some projects did not require a website to be made, but instead required some non web-related software to be written, or did not require anything at all. In these examples, no link has been provided, but a description of the project has been written.
University Final Year Project
Visit my Final Year Project website: Final Year Project Website
My Final Year Project was undertaken between November 2005 and April 2006. It forms a major part of the final classification of my degree, and I used the opportunity to create something that I hadn't previously attempted throughout my academic career.
I saw it as a way of demonstrating things that I had previously learnt while at university, but also as a way of experimenting with new technologies and building on knowledge gained throughout my studies.
Firstly, I wanted to create a website that was easy to use and displayed a lot of the typical characteristics of a website. This was because many users of a website are happiest when veiwing familiar-looking websites. It means that they don't get lost or confused while browsing the site, and they can apply principles learnt on other websites to this one. All in all, it makes navigation a lot easier if people are looking at a familiar layout.
At the same time, I also wanted to attempt something that I hadn't previously done. While the website may appear to do nothing more than a standard web-based management system, it does so in a different way to most. This website uses XML to store and present data to the user, rather than using a traditional relational database.
The website is purely experimental, and as such, is only partially implemented. To login, use the username "test" and the password "test". You may add, edit or delete a Tenant, and search the properties stored on record. Please note that the website will only function correctly when being viewed on Mozilla Firefox or Opera, but NOT Internet Explorer.
This website was also the first website that I have built while following a methodology. For more details about my project and the methodology I used, I have provided the report which accompanies the project. Be warned, though, it doesn't make for light bedtime reading!
Download: Report (Microsoft Word 2003 / 1.86 Mb)
E-Commerce Project
Visit my E-Commerce website: E-Commerce Website
The E-Commerce module was the first in which I produced a website that used server-side code. It uses PERL to provide an online theatre ticket-booking system, and also to display information about the plays and shows being performed at the Teesside Royal Theatre.
The website allows you to search for the show times for various plays that are being performed, and also allows the user to select the number of tickets they wish to purchase, along with the area of the theatre they would like to sit in. The website does not deal with the payment mechanism, as this was not in the design brief.
Currently, the website does not provide the necessary functionality, as the server on which the website resides has not been configured with the PERL modules.
Advanced Multimedia Project
Visit my Advanced Multimedia project: Advanced Multimedia Flash Application
This module allowed me to experiment with the possibilities of Flash with server-side scripting languages. The application itself is an online portfolio for a fictional Multimedia student who is in search of work. It uses some advanced Actionscript and PHP to provide the functionality. There are one or two bugs that need to be ironed out, but otherwise it is functioning perfectly.
When viewing the application, please give the application time to download. It is 3.5 Mb in size.
User Interfaces Project
Visit my User Interfaces project: User Interfaces Website
This was one of the first university modules in which I produced a fully functioning website. It focuses on the user interface of the website, rather than any server-side code that may be necessary. As a result, Dreamweaver templates were used to construct the interface for the individual pages, and javascript was used to create the 'drop-down' effect of the navigation system.
The website was designed to be a portal of information regarding the electronic music scene in the UK. It's aim was to provide information about different events, music styles and record labels in a clear and simple way. The users should be able to navigate the site well and find the information they are looking for quickly and easily.
I chose to use a silver colour scheme as this gives a more professional look, and rather than using the traditional 'breadcrumb' method of site navigation, I used colour to indicate to the user where they are in the site. The coloured borders around the main content correlate to the different sections of the websites, allowing the user to see clearly what section they are in without the need for a 'sitemap' or breadcrumb trail, which would otherwise take up valuable screen space.
Advanced Markup Languages Project
Visit my Advanced Markup Languages project: Advanced Markup Languages Website
My interest in XML and XML-related technologies started with this particular module. Although the tasks that we needed to complete were relatively basic, it provided a solid foundation on which the rest of my XML knowledge has been built.
Three of the four tasks were XML-based. The first task shows how data stored in an XML file can be displayed using traditional CSS stylesheets. The second task produces a similar result, but uses XSLT documents to produce the HTML. It also incorporates a conditional statement that outputs content differently depending on the value of the data in the XML.
The third task is a small Space Invaders game built using an XML language called SVG. It gives users control of a spaceship which they must move from side to side to avoid oncoming asteroids and other ships. It is only playable on browsers that support SVG or with Internet Explorer 6 with the Adobe SVG Viewer 6.0 installed.