Main Site

Blog portion.

Client: Tracy Joy

Active Link: http://www.tracyjoy.com/collection

Project Description: Originally, Tracy just had in mind to have me add some illustrated icons to her navigation, but we ended up doing a full site redesign while we were at it.  I created some fun and stylish custom icons for her navigation, freshened up the look of her logo to match, and rebuilt her entire site on WordPress, making it much easier to manage and maintain.

Client: Tracy Joy

Project: An update on Tracy Joy’s original logo, designed to match her site’s recent redesign (also by me).

Client: Benson’s Building Supply

Active Link: http://bensonsbuildingsupply.com

Project Description: Benson’s Building Supply is a family owned and opperated business in southeastern Michigan.  They wanted a professional-looking website that would provide customers with easy-to-find information about the products they carry and services they provide, as well as contact information for their two store locations.  They also wanted a website that could be easily added to in the future, if they decided down the road that they wanted to accept online orders.  I built the entire site on Expression Engine, which suits their needs perfectly.  It makes their current content easy to manage and maintain, and has nearly limitless capabilities for future addition.

I also helped Benson’s Building Supply polish their logo, and added it into a clean, sleek site design that is easy to navigate, and displays content clearly and attractively.

Client: Jan Hosford of Jan Hosford Designs

Active Link: http://www.janhosforddesigns.com/blog

Project Description: Jan wanted a blog design that did two things: showcased her digital scrapbooking designs, and stood out from the crowd.  I used several of her paper designs to create a blended background peppered with various artsy elements from her designs.  The posting area also features a brushed, painted look that completes the blog’s arts & crafts feel.  The blog also features a top navigation block with mouse-over graphics for a fun interactive touch.

Client: Rocco & Son Construction LTD.

Live Site: http://roccoandson.com

Project Details: Rocco & Son Construction LTD. contracted me to help them bring their business website up to date.  Their previous site was an html-only site that was dificult to update and didn’t offer the professional look they desired.  They needed a content management system, and a site design that would make the best use of their content.

I chose to build their site on WordPress.  Although WordPress is most commonly used as a blogging platform, I was able to customize their install to utilize WordPress as a CMS.  I created a custom theme with clean lines and attractively spaced content designed to draw visitors’ eyes directly to the most important content first, while at the same time giving a professional and sophisticated impression of the company.  The design also features a Flash header.

What do I need to back up?

Your Theme Files. If you are running a WordPress blog/site, there are two things you want to be sure you keep backed up: your theme files, and your database.  If you’re using a free theme you found on the internet, backing up the theme may not be as big of a deal because you can easily download the theme from its original source.  But if you’ve had a custom theme created for you, or you’ve extensively modified a theme you discovered online, you definitely want to make sure you keep a back up on your computer (or maybe even burned to disc).  Do not count on your designer keeping a back up of your theme for you; many web designers delete finished project files off of their computers in order to save space, and keeping back ups of your files is your responsibility.

If you don’t already have a copy of your theme files on your computer, you can download them from your server.  Using the FTP manager in your cPanel or an FTP program such as FileZilla, navigate to your themes folder.  The path will be something like this: public_html (not used on all servers) > your blog directory > wp-content > themes.  Then select your theme and download the entire directory to your computer.

Your database. Your blog’s database contains all your posts and pages, and all of the customized settings specific to your blog.  This is the core of your site and the item it is most important to back up.

Backing Up a MySQL Database

Your site’s database is most likely a MySQL database.  You can find it by logging into your cPanel or hosting account and clicking on phpMyAdmin.

Once you’re in phpMyAdmin, you’ll see a menu on the left hand side that will list all databases your site is using.  It’s a good idea to back up all your databases, but you can only do it one at a time, so select the database you want to back up.

On the right side, select “Export” from the horizontal menu across the top.

You should now see a screen that looks similar to the figure below.  Under “Export” make sure all options are highlighted, and the SQL radio button is checked.  Under “Structure,” check “Add DROP TABLE,” “Add AUTO INCREMENT value,” and “Enclose table and field names with backquotes.”  Under “Data” check “Complete Inserts” and “Use hexidecimal for BLOB.”

Then at the bottom select “Save as file.”  Under compression you can choose whichever option you’d like, although I recommend selecting either “None,” or “zipped.”  If your blog has a large number of posts, “zipped” might be the better option.  Then click “Go” and the database backup will download to your computer.

How Often Should I Back Up?

That depends on how often you post to your site, and how critical your content is.  If your site is business related and you update it frequently, backing up weekly (or maybe even more often than that) would probably be a good idea.  If you only post once every other week, you might be okay to only update once a month.  Ultimately, you need to decide when and how often to back up based on your needs.

My Site Crashed - Now What Do I Do?

If something has happened to your site and you have a back up of your database, your site can be restored to the way it was at the time of your most recent back up.  If you’re not sure what exactly has happened to your site, contact me and I can try to diagnose the problem.  From there I can help you decide what steps to take next.  I provide a variety of maintenance services including database restoration and general troubleshooting.

Project: Sweet Genevieve Designs Website Redesign

Active Link: http://www.sweetgenevievedesigns.com

Project Description: A redesign of my digital scrapbooking site.  The site is built on Expression Engine and includes, two blogs, a gallery, a links page, and the redesign now includes a private team area that features an Expression Engine forum, a protected downloads area, and an interactive team calendar for event planning.  The home page header is a Flash showcase of my digital scrapbook designs.

Client: Jan Hosford

Project: Jan wanted a new look for her brand of digital scrapbooking supplies.  She knew she wanted something that aluded to art supplies or perhaps included the Eiffel Tower, so these were two concepts created along those lines.

Here’s what I’ve been up to in August:

Cat of Your Memories Live was ready to start up her own scrap-for-hire business, and wanted a professional-looking blog to use as her business front.  I created a sleek, monochromatic design for her, complete with drop-down menus and an extra-wide posting area.

Erin of My Urban Suburban wanted to start a blog to inform people in her area of all the hip and trendy restaurants, shops, & events available to them.  Here the goal was clean and simple with a touch of retro-chic.  In addition to the blog design and installation, I hooked her up with site stat tracking and social bookmarking tools through Feedburner to help her understand and expand her readership, and a double opt-in mailing list that will allow her to keep her readers up-to-date on all the latest posts.

Jillian Kirby was one of my first blog design clients, and I was so flattered when she and her business partner came to me to help them get the site for their new business venture up and running!  La Storia Studios combines the talents of two amazing photographers to cover all of life’s milestones.  They had already purchased a WordPress theme they wanted to use, so the design is not mine, but I helped them customize the graphics and colors to match their logo, and I added a secure “client’s only” area to the site.  They are not officially launching until January 2009, but I can’t wait to see what these talented ladies come up with next!

Client: Me

Live: http://www.genevievesays.com

Project: This is a new semi-personal, semi-professional blog I’ve been building for myself in my spare time (so, late, late at night). I wanted something fun and girly and colorful, and this is what I came up with. I built the site on Expression Engine, and it features three integrated weblogs, dynamic image replacement for the post titles, and a member login feature, to name just a few of the bells and whistles.