ZVGQ v2.0: Project Kickoff
This is first post of an on-going series of posts from Wesstyware on the ZVGQ v2.0 project. To find a listing of all the posts in the series, please refer to the posts section of the project page for the ZVGQ project.
Introduction
A very close friend of mine, kiggidykev used to be part of the team for zanyvgquotes.com many years ago. In late 2009, after not being part of the project for many years, he was given the chance to take possession of the site and decided to seize the opportunity to bring some life back into the site.
He approached me with the idea of working on the site with him, where I would take point on the development side and he would take point on the content. After looking over the site, and the source I came to the conclusion that we needed to build the site from scratch and port over the current content.
The Catch
The catch is simple: I am a .NET developer and have been my entire career. That means all of my development strengths lie within the realm of Microsoft technologies and tool. ZVGQ is hosted on a Linux based server, hence the catch. Although, after thinking about it for a while, I too found the chance to seize an opportunity.
I have been a user of Microsoft Expression since WPF was still in beta. Version 2 of the software proved to be useful, but not really full enough to be used on its own. With version 3 release in 2009, I felt as though the software was ready. The thing is without some kind of proof or personal experience showing that it would hold its own, it felt odd for me to recommend that as a tool to my colleagues and co-workers
Enter ZVGQ.com…
The project is a real web development project that can benefit from the tools that the Expression Suite bring to the table. I see the ZVGQ project as the opportunity for me to see if Expression Suite is all that it can be. Here is how I plan on using the software:
Expression Blend: Prototyping & Silverlight Development
Prototyping out this site is a must, and SketchFlow is the best tool for the job. On top of that, I plan on revisiting Blend when we tackle some Silverlight development as there are a few components where I see Silverlight producing a far richer UX for the users of ZVGQ.
Expression Web: HTML/PHP/JavaScript Development
Web is meant to be a web development tool for all types of web development mark up and code, including those that live outside of Redmond. This will be the test to see whether Expression can hold its own considering that all the technologies that will be used within Web will not have stemmed from the depths of Redmond.
Expression Design: Screen Designs
I’m not a designer, nor do I think I have the abilities of a designer. Still, we will want to build some sample screens that have some styling applied so we know what the site is actually going to look like before we release it. For that, we are going to use Expression Design.
Expression Encoder: Media Updates
ZVGQ has a large amount of media that will be updated which includes videos. The plan is to update these videos using Encoder to test the waters and see what we can do to improve the quality of what we have.
Development Schedule
The next thing, is the development schedule and what kind of milestones we have in front of us. This may be changing over the next little while, but here is the plan for the time being:
- Phase 1: Prototyping [January 18, 2010]
- Phase 2: Database Implementation [March 1, 2010]
- Phase 3: Security Implementation [April 1, 2010]
- Phase 4: Administration Section Development [May 1, 2010]
- Phase 5: Public Site Development [June 1, 2010]
- Phase 6: Styling [July 1, 2010]
- Phase 7: Beta Launch [August 1, 2010]
- Phase 8: Go Live [September 1, 2010]
I realize that it seems like development is going to take quite a while. Keep in mind that this is a part time thing for me, and I will be learning from the ground up how to program in PHP. There are many pieces to this software that I will need to research and determine the best way to implement, but with time and effort we will build a new and improved ZVGQ.
With that, I believe that there is work to be done. It is time to kick the tires and light the fires and get this project under way. Add comments to the bottoms to provide some feedback or to ask any questions you may have.
Catch you on the flip side.
Wessty,
So, .NET developer to try out PHP and such in Expression. Why not try the Mono framework? I might have to go on the LAMM after suggesting this (yeah, that was bad, even for my tech jokes). Why not extend to your current development skills, unless you REALLY want to learn PHP?
Also, I believe it is time to kick the tires and light the fires, unless you like being really environmentally unfriendly
I’ll be following this project with interest
Csharphacker,
I did consider using Mono, but that some other IT requirements that I would need to manage. On top of that, I think it is a good idea to test MS Expression for what they offer. Every time I see an example of someone doing anything with the software, they are always doing something with .NET technology. I figure if the features are there, someone should see if they do the job.
Plus, I have never had the opportunity to work with PHP, and wouldn’t mind checking it out to see what it can do in comparison with regular ASP.NET….plus, I want to see Silverlight run somewhere other than in ASP.NET as well.
Also, I was being environmentally unfriendly by attempting to light the tires. Given, I have corrected it as it proved to be too challenging.