My old work portfolio website is also a showcasing of my abilities. It is designed by me in Photoshop and developed using two different approaches: Flex and HTML. I first made this site in Flash and then later recreated it using JavaScript to make an HTML version. For the most part both sites look identical, but I was having so much fun with jQuery I added some extras in the HTML site.
Flash Version:
Using ActionScript 3, JavaScript, PHP, and XML this Flex based website loads information via an XML file for easy updating. All information can be edited through the XML file. In addition the contact form uses PHP and allows users to send emails to me that are HTML formatted. Also as can be seen by my logo upon first entering the website, I do possess animation skills.
This site was later updated with improved performance, better image gallery viewing and a custom deep linking feature. A part of the update also included converting the site from the Flex 3 to the new Flex 4 framework. All code/classes/libraries used in this project are written and developed by me excluding GreenSock’s TweenLite library.
HTML Version:
Using the jQuery JavaScripting library I attempted to recreate all the features and animations in my Flash site and succeeded. The site is made up of CSS, HTML, JavaScript, PHP, and XML. It is basically an AJAX website, but to overcome some of the downsides of an AJAX website I have implemented deep-linking functionality that allows direct linking and the use of the back button. Every page and image can be directly linked too with a standard looking URL. Also the XML that holds all the content in the site is the same as the Flash site so updating one file will update both sites. However, some content, like my about page, is put directly into the HTML for SEO reasons. Also the PHP email form validates the users email address, subject, and body text before sending me an email that may be HTML formatted.
Lastly I must say I had to work a little harder for the HTML version of this site simply because cross browser compatibilities that a Flash site does need to worry as much about. While Flash can be much more interactive than any HTML site, I found jQuery made it pretty easy to duplicate many of the simple animations and effects used in Flash. So I attempted to push jQuery to see how far it can go when duplicating Flash features and found it did well but couldn’t do some of the more complex things I would do in an RIA (Rich Internet Application), but as far as doing anything seen in a normal website it is pretty capable.
View website here.