New site – yourbodytheteacher.com  09/15/16

New site yourbodytheteacher launched! YBTT focuses on Somatic and Hakomi healing. Located in Grand Rapids, MI, YBTT takes a different approach to healing. The site features a flat approach to the design, and is powered by WordPress. A complete revamp gives the site a clean and easy to use feel.

Check it out at http://www.yourbodytheteacher.com.




Ferret rescue site launched!  04/11/16

To celebrate National Ferret Day (yes, that’s a real thing), I’ve launched the redesigned website for the West Michigan Ferret Connection! The WMFC is a no-kill ferret rescue located in Grand Rapids, MI.

Ferrets are wonderful, devilish, curious little creatures. People often see them at the pet store, buy them, and soon realize that they are quite the burden to maintain. It’s fun to watch the videos online, but in reality owning one and giving it the proper care is very difficult!

Luckily, there are numerous no-kill shelters across the nation. I’ve teamed up with the WMFC to provide a modern, updated, easy to use site that will help adopt these little furballs. The new site features widgets to adopt, is mobile friendly, a Facebook feed, and a complete content re-organization for easy site flow. Don’t shop…adopt!!!

http://www.westmichiganferretconnection.com




AngularJS and WordPress – a great combination for Single Page Apps  03/11/15

WordPress – the most popular CMS on the web, is great for allowing users with non technical skills to update and modify websites. WP combined with AngularJS  allows developers to create some crafty apps for their clients. Since Angular works with custom HTML directives and JSON, data can be added for various interactions. One popular use is to showcase a product with a lot of details – for example computer with different specs. A website user can interact with a gallery, viewing different products while having the various data loaded. Angular is made by Google, so most web developers will have this JavaScript Framework in their toolset.

A great tutorial to get up and running with WP and AngularJS can be found here: https://1fix.io/blog/2014/11/05/angularjs-json-api-wp-theme/




Angular JS is awesome  06/2/14

A few years back a new JavaScript framework was introduced that takes a different approach to the usual MVC workings most web developers use. AngularJS enhances HTML, giving it custom directives built within the framework. It’s  backed by Google, so you know it’s going to be powerful.  There are pro’s and con’s to this new framework.

Whereas jQuery allows you traverse the entire DOM, AngularJS has a limited scope and model that it can modify. It’s great for Single Page Applications that have numerous interactive features. AngularJS it great for working with AJAX and JSON, I’ve already began creating apps with it, and if you’re a web developer and haven’t had a chance to check it out, I highly recommend you do!

https://angularjs.org/




Using CodePen.io for Front-End scratch pad  04/22/14

If you don’t know, now you now – CodePen.io is a great tool for Front-End development! Codepen is made by Chris Coyier – the grand master of CSS. Codepen is a great tool for building HTML/CSS/JSS projects. It features a live update, so there’s no need to refresh the page after putting something together. You can also easily add libraries and pre-processors such as jQuery, Jade, Angular. Just about every popular library, framework, and processor is available to use.

Another great feature of this website is the showcase. Here, you can see what other developers have created to give you ideas of not only how a particular language can be used, but also to inspire new ideas for what you already know. CSS3 is really starting to turn up some cool uses. It’s making browsers rely less on JavaScript for interactions and animations.

Check out my profile at https://codepen.io/rtro92/, and feel free to follow me!




Introducing DaleWicks.com  02/28/14

Dale Wicks is a singer/song writer out of Grand Rapids, MI. If you’ve ever been out to an outing or event featuring live music, chances are you’ve heard Dale. With 2 professional studio albums under his belt, his music is a mix of Americana, CBGB, and indie rock.

I create Dale a new website that he could easily update. It’s powered by WordPress, and features a live event widget, a blog he can easily update, and a widget that live streams his music.

The design was inspired by old-west, rustic moods. I chose a black and white theme to keep the focus on his music, and let the colors pop where needed. The site is fully responsive and is easy to navigate. Check out his music at http://www.dalewicks.com