If you don’t know, I work with lasers aside from being a professional photographer and the founder of the National Photographer Group, llc.  I repair and align them and, in some cases, re-design them.  While researching a new dry box for some of our optical components I came across xdry.com and noticed that they have a box specifically for the storage of cameras and camera lenses.  The idea of storing a camera and their lenses in a dry box had never occurred to me in the past, but it makes complete sense.  Not only are the optics inside the camera susceptible to moisture damage, in the form of mold and fungus growth, but the electronics can also become non-functioning due to sub-micron sized defects from humidity.

I have no idea how much one of these dry boxes costs [am waiting on a quote as I type], but surely when you have thousands of dollars of equipment, and your photography clients who are depending on you, the cost is almost negligible.

One of my main concerns when building a website is whether or not the website will scale, in other words, if the website becomes popular, will it still work?  There’s nothing more frustrating for me than a website that takes forever to load either because the web developer has built in every possible function to every possible page or because compression isn’t being used, or both.

Case in point: Sharebuilder.com it’s a website with a fantastic product; it offers $4 trades when you automatically trade stocks, and there’s no minimum balance for other stock transactions.  So what’s the problem?  The problem is that just for me to log in, I must first enter my username on one page, submit, and enter my password on another page.  Why?  I don’t know, but I know this: even though both the username page and the password page are really only used to enter this information, the page loads, get this, 46-different objects most of which have absolutely nothing to do with displaying the text boxes to log in.  46!!  Load time: 8.22-seconds.  This is only after I was able to get the site to load initially; I was having trouble loading the website on a SUNDAY when internet usage is generally at it’s lowest.  I couldn’t believe this!  So I did some digging with Firebug and found the problem.  Ok, the main problem is they are using ASP pages, which, for those not in-the-know, is the slowest web technology ever invented and should not be used anywhere near a high-traffic website.  Problem #2: no page compression.  So, the 346kB script that isn’t used during the log in is coming down the pipe in it’s entirety.

I shallnt go on because I don’t want to embarrass Sharebuilder.com too much, and frankly, I’m doing my taxes so after the half-hour I waited to get to the forms, I’m tired of dealing with the website.

Word to the wise, if you’re developing a website stay the fuck away from ASP pages, and IIS altogether, and please, for the love of the web gods, at least use compression if you’re going to send crap that I’m not going to use.  Thank you.

It’s really funny to see what people come up with in their ideas, especially when it comes to lasers.  After doing some online research for my company, in the field of lasers, I stumbled upon some silly forums such as the one explaining how to take a simple DVD burner laser diode and make a flashlight “laser” out of it.  I’d much rather spend my time building a green laser that output a decent amount of power rather than some silly DVD burner laser.  But, it is nice to know that the red pointer can be used in this manner.

If only they knew what I know.

Tonight I worked on the website a little bit more. Lately, I have been working on the image licensing module, which has taken a lot out of me. I’m hoping to be PLUS compliant so naturally, it’s difficult to work under the standards and terms of someone else; it’s one thing if I create a schema, but it’s an entirely different thing if somebody else does and it doesn’t conform to my standards.

I decided to take a step back from that though because during my lunch break at work today I played around with my website to see if there was anything minor that I could change in order to make the user experience divine. There were many things:

1. There was a disconnection between adding something to the cart and the indicator that displays what is inside the cart.  This was a simple addition of a object update.
2. There was no indication on how to view the cart just an anchor link at the top so I’ve made it to where the cart is viewed directly after adding something to it.
3. When a lead was added to the cart, the lead still remained in the list of available leads to purchase.  While I do check to see if the lead is already in the cart before adding it, it didn’t make sense to display it so I created an object update for that, too.
4. When adding or deleting something from the calendar the “Upcoming” section of the site would not refresh.  Yet another object update.

There were a couple of other minor things, but not really worth mentioning.

I want to take a break from the licensing module, an extended break, because I really feel like it’s time to start looking more seriously into the feel of the site and how easy it is for the user to use.  I got this idea from using the new vending machines at work.  The old vending machines were easy, and self-explanatory, to use, but the new ones are SO cool, however, I didn’t quite understand how to use them.  After that first experience I realized that this may be exactly what my users are facing.  How do they create a PDF estimate?  It seems simple enough, and it really is, but there are no instructions on how to do so, so I’m thinking of creating a FAQ.

Also, it’s time to really start thinking about marketing the site.  I’ve been experimenting with Google, but have not been satisfied with the results.  I think I need to create an RSS feed for the site that displays news about what the company is doing and what it plans to do next, etc.  I also considered writing a blog which could be connected to that same RSS feed.  It’s a toss up, though.

At the end of the day, I think I really need to focus on userbility of the site combined with the overall aesthetic of the site.  The external goods need to really convey what the site is all about and I’m not sure that they do that effectively.

There’s a lot in the works though… I mean, from image licensing, to the RSS feed, to the FAQ, to tweaking the site, to the aesthetics of the site, and not to mention that I still need to do some work on the client side of the site.  Granted, the client side will be much easier to code, it’s just sitting down and having the time to do it, is all.

When I was a kid, 14, I had so much ambition and so many things that I wanted to accomplish.  From designing my next fort to building a three wheeled car, every day it seemed that I had a new idea.  My grandmother heard them all, and never once did she tell me that I couldn’t do it… heck, she even helped me load the lumber into the truck when I built that first fort.  As I got older the amibitions became more complex: a self-piloted aerobot that measured the height of waves, various robots for the company I used to work for… just anything one could imagine, I always knew that it could be done if enough thought and resources were put forth.

All this is why the story about Adrew Loder, a 17-year old who built an electric car, made me smile from ear to ear.  I was proud of him and what he did not only in terms of the car, but for the recognition he got for doing it without any formal eduction.  It doesn’t take a 4-year course to make somebody smart, it just takes will, dedication, and persistance; when one thing doesn’t work, try something else.  It’s what I’ve been doing for years… I may not do something right the first time, or the second, but eventually I’ll figure it out, I’ll know it, and I won’t do it wrong again.  Look at me now… I’m a service engineer for a laser company and building my national photographer group company, yet to some, those who turned me down and failed to give me a chance, I wasn’t good enough.  Let me prove it to you.

http://www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=10665825&nav=menu486_2_2

These past few weeks have been very fruitful in terms of getting the uploads and advertisements working on the site. I am confident that the uploads are 95% finished and the ad script has just moved out of the prototype stage and is about 25% developed. When these two things are complete then adding license management, image management, profile images, and ad management will be easy.

I can’t wait!

Finally!  The site is active!  There have been many developments since the last update.  The site didn’t launch on January 1 as expected… in fact, I took about a two month hiatus on it so that I could just figure out what exactly I wanted to do with the site.  I guess you could call it refining the concept.

I have been back at work at it though… I’m moving the entire site over to Dreamhost since early tests have shown that their servers are much faster… this, along with their easy integration into the Amazon CDN, makes my site fit right in.

I have just integrated an upload script from Aurigma.  This is the script that I believe Myspace.com uses for image uploads… it’s versatile and allows multiple uploads with ease.

The direction of the site has changed.  The estimate creation algorithym is going to take more data than what I have available before it will work accurately.  In lieu of this, I am creating an image licensing portal.  I don’t want to go into great detail about this, but I think it will add a great value to photographers all over the United States.  It’s tools like this and the networking aspect of the site, that are the reason why the site will do so good.

Once the image uploader is complete this will speed the process of the creation of the other scripts, for licensing, networking, and project completion… many things really depend on this one script.

When I get leads in I am sending a message to photographers letting them know that a lead has arrived in their area…  well, since there is very little traffic to the site at the moment, the users are forgetting their passwords.  This means that I’ve added the function where a user can log in with either their username or email address.  They can also request a new password the same way.

At this point I’m not speculating on the official launch of the site–when we will push the marketing of the site.  There is still much that needs to be done.

It has been a while since I have updated here… I’ve been quite busy building the website, so I’d say that’s a pretty good excuse.  So much progress!  I setup the SSL certificate yesterday and today… I’m moving the main domain over to Dreamhost and mirroring on thenpg.com for the time being… I’m really unsure what I’m going to do with the 70-something other domain names… I just don’t have a lot of time to develop them into something useful, but I’m hoping that will change once I get the main site active.

Aside from the SSL certificate, I have done a major change to the style of the site and have received great feedback–the other two styles blew compared to this one.  Thanks to my Graphic Design/Video friend, Matt, who has offered his expertise on the matter.

Also, I’ve started implementing the networking portion of the site and I will probably do some more work with that this weekend to get the basics down.  It’s not unlike many of the other networking sites except that it will have a professional flare to it.  I understand the need to keep people interested in the site, which is why I am currently working on the ability to build a private lead.  The scenario goes like this:

• A potential client navigates to a photographer’s website–not directly associated with my site.
• The client wants to get in touch with the photographer, but maybe the photographer doesn’t encrypt this personal data, or maybe the photographer only has an email address listed.
• Well, I’m proposing that the photographer put a direct link to my site, and their networking profile, where the client can register, using an encrypted site, submit the information for the project and then ONLY that photographer can see that lead, at no charge.  If the photographer feels that she/he doesn’t want the lead, or maybe she/he isn’t available, then the photographer can put the lead into the pool to have other photographers purchase the lead, and provide the client with the services they need.
• This helps the photographer in many ways… it lets my site handle the hard work in terms of gathering the proper information on a secure site; it builds the credibility of that photographer because even though the client wasn’t able to hire her/him, he was able to connect the client with a photographer who could do the job; it allows easy management of the photographer’s projects and, above all, it also helps the photography community.  It’s a great thing.

Another thing that I will add towards the end, which I already have outlined, is the “Featured Photographer” section… this section is on the very front page of the website and is the first thing that anybody will see when they navigate to the main page… it’s purpose is to promote photographers and the fine work they do… in the begining of the site I won’t be charging for this, pictures will be posted based on merit alone; however, this does have viable potential once the site is popular… with the domain tools that I have, I can tell where a visitor is located in the world and can customize that featured section to that area of the world, which, when combined with the private lead service mentioned in the last paragraph, would offer a great opportunity for photographers.

Other than all of that, there are a few bugs that I’ll be working out here and there… I also need to add some more data to the various options used in the project survey… the data I have there now was put there as test data and doesn’t fully cater to a real-world situation.

I’m excited!  This is going to be a great thing for photographers and the photography market.

Ok, so maybe I’m pushing it a bit to say that November would be a potential launch date… I’ve done some more research regarding web site use, in particular the use of the client side of the site, and learned a lot which means changes are being made to that portion of the site… in short, the script wasn’t flexible enough, so some things have been moved around, and there have been some database changes–which will affect the other scripts and queries which are already in place, which means more time to change those things.

One huge addition we made is the ability to suggest cities and states, or even zip codes, when the client is entering the location of their project.  The old way was to simply have the client enter the zip code and then an AJAX call would determine if the zip was correct.  While this was helpful, it was an extra step that didn’t need to be there… why not allow suggestions to be made while the person is entering their text?

Another large addition, which is in the works and may not be fully function by the time the site launches, is the update of the zip code database… this database now includes census information, city aliases, and even information on financials for businesses in the area.  While I won’t go in to how this will affect the backend processing of the script, I will say that I think this feature alone will be extremely helpful to the photographers as they attempt to create their estimates.

Other than that, there are relatively smaller changes and additions being made as the site develops… we continue to remain focused on the core function of the site, and its purpose, so as to work towards the launch of the web site.  Motion in progress, progress in motion.