Joe Sak

Ruby on Rails Photo Gallery & Shopping Cart with RESTful Authentication

Sunday, May 31st, 2009 | Design | No Comments

Tonight I launched another web application for Michael Youngblood Photography which allows him to build online photo galleries that his customers can privately view and order online with qty, size and framing options. The customer must use paypal to complete the transaction (because I’m still a rails n00b, guys. no serious SSL stuff for me yet).

So I grabbed the RESTful Authentication Tutorial as my base framework for the application, so I automatically had user accounts, roles, logging in and session stores to work with right off the bat.

I’m very proud of this application from a knowledge/skill expanding aspect, a UI aspect, project complexity, and the fact that I was careful to write this in “The Rails Way” as strictly as possible. Remember guys I’m still a n00b but I’m coming along. Enjoy!

Demonstration of the User Interface process and application

What I had to add on to it was the ability for Michael to create galleries which belong to the user accounts he creates in the process.

So he begins by creating a customer:

Michael begins by creating his customer

Then he names the gallery:

Michael names the gallery

Then he populates the gallery with photos:

Michael uploads photos to the gallery

This is what the customer sees when they log in (minus the edit gallery link, only admins see that)

The customer interacts with their gallery

*note, the “Add to Cart” gray bar is triggered by mouse hover.

They can add to cart:

The customer adds an item to their cart

After completing the checkout process in paypal, the user can see their order list, and Michael can access their order list directly off their private user page.

To see the full demonstration, check out my Jing! Screencast here:

View the 5 minute Screencast Demonstration

*note -> the photo uploads actually work much better and without wonkiness on the production server!

If you’d like to get your hands on the source, or would like to work with me, please contact me.

Lansing Sports given Outstanding Web Site award by NASC

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | Design | 1 Comment

Lansingsports.org, one of my favorite projects as a web developer for Artemis Solutions, was given the award for Outstanding Web Site by the NASC. I don’t have proof because no one is blogging or writing about it, but @greaterlansing says so, and they’re the ones who got the award, so I’ll trust them. Especially since they seem to like working with me.

LansingSports.org

Stop those damn AIM coho, trout & salmon bots!

Friday, April 10th, 2009 | Design | 2 Comments

AOL Instant Messenger. Y’all are using it.

You randomly get an IM from <adjective>coho or trout or salmon. It’s nonsensical but you reply to it out of curiosity. Then you find out the person on the other end is some random AIM user. It’s annoying as all hell. Your block list is probably long, and it doesn’t even matter because it changes its name every time!

HOW DO YOU STOP THE DAMN AIM COHO BOTS?

Thanks to some info from Morouxshi, it’s actually really easy to stop the bots:

When that stupid thing IMs you respond to it with

$optout

It will ask you to respond with something like ‘$optout blah’ and once you do that it will stop sending you IMs.

Some known AIM bot names (to help with people searching this problem):

• clingycoho
• sinistercoho
• surefootedcoho
• toroidalcoho
• passedoutcoho
• racingcoho
• bipolarcoho
• ingeniouscoho
• analyzedcoho
• merrycoho
• bisexualcoho (haha what?)
• nieceofacoho
• witchycoho
• welltimedcoho
• infuriatedcoho
• puritanicalcoho
• fiercetrout
• dramaticcoho
• swabbedcoho
• brunchingcoho
• xenophobiccoho
• stupendouscoho
• alchemicalcoho
• lopsidedcoho
• varyingcoho
• roudingcoho
• immoveablecoho
• cateredcoho
• lilliputiancoho
• falsifiedcoho
• affectionatecoho
• liberalcoho

Guys I’m still here!

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 | Design | No Comments

I’m still here,  I swear! I have so much going on right now I don’t know where to begin, but stuff is coming.

I’ve been getting awesome responses on my autofill jquery plugin and I really appreciate all of it. I’d like to share some more of the things I’ve built for the repeatable parts of my HTML/CSS frameworks.

So sit tight, stuff is coming, I swear.

Coming soon:

• Create a solid HTML/CSS/JS project startup framework that you’ll use over and over again.
• http://www.michaelyoungblood.com tutorial & showcase videos of the backend CMS. Related: My first real-world rails app part IV

Currently moving to Chicago

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 | Design | No Comments

Hey I’m in the middle of moving to Chicago right now. I’m already working downtown, commuting from Orland Park, and looking for a place to live. So I’ll be busy for a while!

Organize yourself with Ta-Da lists

Friday, December 12th, 2008 | Design | No Comments

The geniuses at 37signals have been offering their free Tada List service for a number of years now, but I only recently started using it. Absolutely pleased with Basecamp, I had no doubts it would be a useful web site.

Boy was I ever right. Tada List makes it so easy to stay on top of your game and your tasks. With so many bloated task managers out there, it’s nice to have a simple list that I can add to, edit, and re-order to prioritize. It’s awesome that it’s free, as well.

Thanks, 37signals!

Also, putting your dinner dates into iCal isn’t nerdy in any way, shape, or form at all.

Tags: 37signals, manage, prioritize, task lists, to-do

My First Real-World Rails App, Part IV

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 | Design | 3 Comments

Continuing my series about my first real-world ruby on rails application, I’m posting my 4th screencast, where I demonstrate the front facing Photo Gallery.

Enjoy!

View the Screencast now

My First Real World Rails App, Part III

Monday, November 24th, 2008 | Design | 1 Comment

Continuing my series about my first real-world Ruby on Rails application, I’ve added a very simple photo gallery management tool to the Admin side of the app:

Enjoy:

Watch the Screencast now

My “Functional Requirements” documentation

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 | Design | 1 Comment

For my first real world Rails Application:

Who needs 'em?

There’s no need to have anything more elaborate than this. Rails lets me respond to change! I have a general outline because I know the little things will come up as I work! I am able to make decisions quicker because Rails allows me to try several ideas in minutes! If I spelled every detail out painstakingly in some arduous document, I’d get bogged down with heavy commitments and feature creep. Having a rough outline allows me to focus on the core ideas of the application and make judgement calls while I work.

My First Real-World Rails Project, Part II

Thursday, November 20th, 2008 | Code, Custom Development, Programming, Projects, Ruby on Rails, Web Development, Websites | 2 Comments

Continuing my series on my first real-world rails project, I’ve made some great advancements.

Using attachment_fu, following Mike Clark’s Tutorial for Uploading / Resizing images in Ruby on Rails, and Rmagick with ImageMagick, I was able to add Categories functionality with featured images.

I also used lightbox and Coda Slider for Admin & Home presentations, respectively.

Enjoy!

http://screencast.com/t/Jli6m3lzL