Online portfolio creator
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- dajaniel
I need to create 2 or 3 portfolio websites for people, so to do that I'm going to create my own application to handle them, particularly since I don't get on with any of the other ones out there.
If I'm going to do that I may as well open it up for general use, so I was just wondering which portfolio apps you liked and disliked, and what features you feel are missing from most sites...
I'm talking a new version of Indexibit (but hosted), Cargo (not just thumbnails), Krop Directory (but not ugly... sorry QBN...) and so-on.
Would be interested in your opinions.
- baseline_shift0
sounds intriguing. id love to see what you come up with.
- dMullins0
Same.
- version30
i have comps and expectations for such apps, and am working on one with another member of qbn on it. Then again, my recent la tour design houses has incidentally shown me one of my best friends has developed one that pretty much kills everything out there. can't wait til that free install ;)
- arthur0
My current site was built with Indexhibit, but I'm looking for a few more features and more options. Playing with Cargo right now but really want a sub nav, which they currently don't offer and I don't know css well enough to create my own.
I'd be interested in seeing the combination of the subnav feature of Indexhibit with Cargo's aesthetic (and far superior admin). Yeah, and add Krops' thumbs and ajax. That would be faptastic. Need a tester?
- dajaniel0
That's a feature that I will be including since I found others can't handle different 'sections' with sub projects/pages.
Agree that Krop handles thumbs and presentation well, but one question is whether thumbnails are the optimum way to navigate through projects? Open question - what do you reckon?
- baseline_shift0
im personally a fan of thumbnails. Being that im presenting something visual, its the easiest way to show someone what they will get when they click. Other than text, (which i dont think works as well in portfolio sites) what would you use?
- arthur0
I like thumbs as well. I wouldn't need to to navigate through projects, but rather to see the work once within a project. I'm an illustrator so I like the idea of presenting thumbs to view individual samples once the viewer is within a topic/project.
- typist0
can handle swf and flv
- baseline_shift0
it would also be nice to be able to include 3rd party apps and scripts. I wish my cargofolio had a contact form.
- designbot0
I can see the draw for pint designers, photographers etc. who don't know web, but otherwise I don't see why any designer would use a portfolio template/app over designing a custom site themselves. With Krop it makes some sense, since it also gets people exposure.
Sorry if I sound negative, I just think you need to make it pretty rad to be worthwhile. Plus as a web designer, these always kind of feel like a stab.
- *pint = printdesignbot
- im more of a pint destroyer than designer.baseline_shift
- hehe :)designbot
- I'll only release it generally if it is rad. 98% chance that it will bedajaniel
- version30
there is only one correct way to do it imo. through "tagged feeds".
this allows for easily customized navigation, but also separation of content when needed.Think of a blog system, but with every entry having the option of images, videos, documents, text, etc. but also with a tag field which would hold however many you want to set as the max. with that tag field the user sets the nav options, so say you tag it... "Project Type, Project Year, Project Month, Project Client, Project Agency, Project Assistant" any of those words could now be used as nav options by using it as a url...
www.yourdomain.com/project_year and you would see everything from that year
www.yourdomain.com/project_clien…... and you would see all the work done for that client.this system would work well in the fact you have much more "links" than you need. allowing direct links of content a specific agency you worked on, or if it were non profit, or if your friend Justin Gum was involved on the project. ;) to prevent a huge tag cloud becoming your nav, you would have the cloud inside the admin and an ajax app that allowed the user to drop from the cloud into the nav field to build what will be available for site visitors through the offered nav on the public side.
as far as thumbnails, etc just output the raw info. with systems such as cachecrop by stolen.la, developers can edit images on the fly by editing the url with some extended code
http://cachecrop.stolen.la/demo
the image sizing is now done for everyone if you add these options to the admin side of the cmsIt would be in the providers best interest to allow as much css control as possible. to allow people to make things look bad, also allows them to make things look beautiful as well, that's why the others are boring or monotonous, because they chose "safe"
that being said, allow a 'front page' with image size, text limits, contributor, date, title, subtitle, all of which would link to an "article page". make sure feeds can kick out to flickr, facebook, rss, xml, etc
- you've described wordpress essentiallyacescence
- wordpress is a clusterfuck and no i didn't adding pages is not done in this fashionversion3
- front end is not database schema.acescence
- if you know php, making it work as you describe is trivialacescence
- I see what you're saying and yeah, nice approach.dajaniel
- acescence0
trying to be everything to everyone is difficult. i would start with an existing system, and extend it to add the features you feel are missing. i'm sure you can find something out there that does enough right, rather than reinventing wheels. you will also have a community of support and a lower barrier to entry for potential users.
- There are tonnes. But nothing suits my needs IMHO.dajaniel
- ryngo0
I've just see this guys work on some of the blogs.
http://www.diftype.comIt seems it was made with this;
http://core.weareastronauts.org/…Never heard of or seen it before but thought it was worth mentioning.
- This is interesting - thanks!dajaniel
- i just saw this the other day. looks really nice.baseline_shift
- not seeing much difference between this and Cargoarthur
- thisis810
@dajaniel - a new version of indexhibit?
- dajaniel0
Thanks for all this guys - really good information.
I'll keep you posted on how it comes along. Hoping some might want to be beta testers!
@thisis81 - well I like some features of indexhibit but hate the system itself. Plus this will be hosted, rather than having to install it on your own server which is a barrier for so many people.
- arthur0
so, did you build it yet?
- dajaniel0
Ha - will be in touch when I have!