Twig Template Engine

I've been working on a pretty major rebuild for Easy Event Planning over the last few weeks.  It was originally developed by a team of outsourced programmers in a certain country and the sites a bit of a mess.  Instead of fixing what's wrong, I'm rebuilding from the ground up.

That means that I had to tear apart the database structure, and make it optimized.  There were tables with 115 columns of data and 9 million records that were being queried by multiple "if exists" -- 12 second response times when the server didn't crash :)

As part of the rebuild I looked into ways to speed things up across the board. Caching both queries, and php executions helped, but there is another way to speed things up even more.  It's called twig and it's a template engine.

Unlike most template engines Twig compiles and caches and does all it's magic on the back end.  If it was complex just that might be enough.  However, it's simple to use and anyone who's programmed a little python will love it.

http://twig.sensiolabs.org/

Enjoy!

Ed Charkow:  http:www.edcharkow.com

Rejigged two websites today!

One of the SEO/SEM firms I work for has a co-owner that likes the word "re-jigged".  At first it was funny, but it turns out it's a great way to express certain kinds of work.

So today, I re-jigged a couple websites that were bothering me:

1.) Delaware Webmaster:  http://www.delawarewebmaster.com

This was always a portal to showcase seo/sem work here in Delaware.  However, I'd rather be poked in the eye with a flaming hot stick multiple times than do PPC or serious SEO work.  I'm a programmer and that's what I'll keep doing thank you.  Since my main activity at Delaware Webmaster has been turning down work for years, I decided it was time to do a little "re-jigging" today and redo the website.  

2.) J.C. Bib General Contractors, LLC:  http://www.jcbib.com

By necessity this site needs to be based on wordpress for ease of use for the client.  However, the pictures they were taking just didn't look right in the side show unless other steps were taken first.  It was an annoying step that was beyond their tech abilities.  That means in the big view I hadn't done my job right.  So Merry Christmas Jeremy and Casey...  you've got a brand new website.  A training video is on the way to show you how to use the slideshow!

This might just be the week of "re-jigging".  It's just one of those things that happen over time, sites get stale and they need to be re-done to current standards and expectations.  

Edward Charkow

Website: http://www.edcharkow.com

Google + https://plus.google.com/u/0/106990074746950846619/posts/p/pub

PHP and Object Oriented Programming For Dummies ( OOP TUTORIAL)

I know it's tough to wrap your head around the whole concept of OOP programming if you are new at it.  If you've only learned PHP, you have always been able to get away with out dealing with objects.  However, if you jump into a new language that is object oriented it's like a brand new world that makes zero sense.

I'm making a little tutorial series that does not cover all the details, and doesn't even follow best practices.  It's one and only purpose is to allow someone who isn't familiar with OOP to get an idea how it works.  Enough to be dangerous :)

You can read all about it here and follow along!

Remember - this is NOT best practices.  I barely scratch the surface, and I highly recommend you pick up a good book on the subject.  Sometimes it's better to sit and read and have a solid reference on your desk.  It's also a great idea (a must?) to code something while you learn.  It will give your fingers the muscle memory of the keystrokes you need for structure, and believe it or not that will help you remember the concepts.

The javascript challenge!

If you are following along with the Codecademy challenge I issued you can follow along over at the Ed Charkow blog.  If you just want a good place to start we are nearing the end of the "javascript" section.  If you've never done any programming you might find you get a little confused and that's why I'm offering some help.

http://www.edcharkow.com/blog/codecademy-challenge/

Personality Issues?

I read a little review today about a product some "Guru" is pitching called nanoblogger.  In a nutshell this product/ebook/guide thingy is a "course" about how to make small blogs and interact with social networks.

It involves being different people and faking things of course.

This got me thinking about how many people are going to screw this up big time if they try it.  Normally when you make a lot of small sites it involves a lot of organization.  You just can't "wing" it and hope it all works out.  If you are crafting a social network experience it involves personality, different names, pictures, hobbies, etc...

Here is how this would probably actually play out if you tried it.  Your name is "Eric" and you start the first site with your name and life is easy.  As you join different social networks it's easy to keep track of because it's "you".  As you move onto different personas though it's going to be a nightmare.

Imagine your newest "blog" is written by "JOE".  However you screw up and the social networks you are trying to build up traction with you start calling yourself "Sally".

My point? If you are pretending to be a reviewer for your website, blog, web 2.0 entry,  or faking a persona to separate a topic from yourself you should stay consistent.  Let's face it, you are going to screw up.
In fact, anyone who deals with social media for clients (I do - and It's tough) is going to have to keep it as real as possible.

Here is how I do it - and it's up to you how you would deal with this depending on your client. It's simple really....

1.) If you are creating a "persona" for a client make sure it's an employee that exists.  For example, it could be Ron from accounting, or Debbie from the receptionists desk.

2.) Have that real person write for you a little bit.  They can tell you about their hobbies, family, and what they do at the business.  Get a picture or 10 if they are willing.  (their boss should give them a cookie or something).

3.) That's your "blogger" even if you do the social networking stuff for the company.  You don't have to go into personal stuff very often, and when you do it can be a post or snippet the person has actually vetted.

However, just basing this around a real person helps me make the "posts" real and from the first person.
If I don't do these things I find myself messing up tense, patterns, and in general just screwing up and not delivering the best results for my clients.

Delaware Programmers? Marketing Help?

I'd love to catch up with a few local programmers or developers.  If you live in Delaware and do any kind of programming drop me a note.

Codecademy Challenge Help!

I've started a little "Code Academy" challenge where anyone who needs a hand can get it from a programmer who doesn't mind helping :)

You can read about the whole deal here:  http://www.edcharkow.com/blog/codecademy-challenge/

No strings, no opt ins (on my end at least), friendly help, and some connections can be made for when you are a full blown pro!

See you there!