// Projects /

Tarek works with a variety of content management systems (CMS) including Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress. I have also developed my own custom CMS that I use for clients that need a significant amount of design and feature flexibility. The custom CMS features an easy to use website editor, an events system with registration and registrant management, a file uploader and link generator, user administration, and more.

New website with jQuery-powered Historical Timeline

2010-07-21

NCLD-Youth's website (http://www.ncld-youth.info), a site I designed and developed, was recently launched.  The site is managed via my custom content management system.

One compontent of the site is an interactive timeline about disability history.  The timeline was developed completely without the use of Flash, so it fully accessible, diplays on non-Flash supported devices like the iPhone, and prints nicely.  It uses plain old XHTML, CSS, and javascript (jQuery).


 

Improved file uploader

2010-04-28

Modified the file uploader used in my custom content management system so that it can work with websites that do not allow storage of user uploaded files on the same server as the actual website.  The new uploader allows specification of a secondary server for storage of files.  I also developed a "reader" script that improves security by masking the actual location of uploaded files.


 

Developed/contributed a new function to the open source editor CKeditor

2010-04-19

I wanted a way to insert small snippets of executable PHP code into instances of the open source WYSIWYG editor CKeditor.  The only solution I found on the web was a function that allowed you to insert one such snippet per page and field in your database.  I needed more than one snippet per page though, so I modified the script and posted a more robust, scalable version on the project's development forum.  My full post is available at http://bit.ly/arIi1o (dated 4/19 as post #19).

I will be using this function so that I can insert PHP includes and other PHP functions into WYSIWYG based content (e.g., to serve up Google AdSense ads).  The PHP code will be completely hidden to non-source code editors using CKeditor's native ProtectedSource configuration option.  I will be rolling out this feature to all installations of my custom CMS shortly.


 

Launched Redesigned Website for Foundation Client

2009-12-17

Finished design and coding implementation for a site that I originally developed in 2007. The site is for a project of a large U.S. foundation.  Sample and reference available upon request.  The site is built on my custom content management system.


 

Event Registration Form with Custom Skip Sequences and Validation

2009-10-28

Developed a conference registration form for a client that has custom skip patterns and validation. Registrant data all stored and managed through CMS.


 

Added Twitter API functionality to CMS via PHP's Twitter Class

2009-09-15

Added Twitter API functionality to my website via PHP's Twitter class. My project updates are now automatically tweeted via my custom content management system.


 

Website Meetings and Events Page Overhaul

2009-08-12

Completed a major "renovation" of the Meeting & Events section of a client's website. The visually redesigned section dynamically displays upcoming events in several different event categories and highlights quotes and photos from past events. The event data is fully integrated with my custom content management system (CMS) and is easily updated by my client's staff.


 

Joomla Fireboard Installation

2009-08-06

Installed Joomla Fireboard (discussion board) component on a client's website. Worked with server administrators to conduct pre-install backups and set proper permissions.


 

Added Page Search to CMS

2009-08-01

My custom CMS now includes a page search that allows website managers the ability to quickly find the page they need to edit.


 

CMS Architecture Day

2009-07-21

Conducting a large-scale reworking of my CMS' architecture, especially the PHP and MySQL stuff. Foreign keys, arrays, joins and unions, etc etc.


 

Joomla Media Player

2009-07-08

Identified and helped to install the FlowPlayer media player onto a client's Joomla site.


 

Joomla Development Site

2009-06-26

Set up a development instance of a Joomla-based website.


 

Drupal Google Analytics Module

2009-06-01

Installed a Google Analytics module onto a client's website to expand their data collection efforts and add consistency across the several sites that they manage.


 

QA Testing of New Website and Joomla Backend

2009-05-06

Conducted QA testing on both the third party developed front-end and customized Joomla CMS back-end for http://state.rti4success.org.


 

Trouble-Shooting Adobe Contribute

2009-05-05

Troubleshot an array of problems an organization was facing with a pool of Adobe Contribute CS4 users (e.g, connection problems, lost drafts, publishing errors etc). At least 4 users connect using Dreamweaver CS4 and another 10 or so connect using Contribute CS4.


 

Added HTML Email Formatting to Event Registration System

2009-03-29

I added the capacity for administrators of my event registration system to send HTML-formatted confirmation emails, in addition to the originally offered plain-text confirmation emails. The system now provides a WYSIWYG interface with advanced formatting options to compose the message. For each (automated) message sent by the system, it sends the HTML version, as well as a dynamically generated text-only version for those with text-based email clients (e.g., some Blackberries).


 

Conference and Event Registration System

2009-03-01

For NDTAC, I deployed an event registration and content management system (CMS) that I previously developed for another project. As part of this work, I designed and developed a custom conference registration page based on the client's mock up. NDTAC can now easily create their own registration pages for an unlimited number of events. The system builds a custom registration form for each event, collects registrant data, sends registration emails, and allows NDTAC to track, update, export registrant data.


 

Hosting Set Up, Configuration, and Joomla Installation

2009-03-01

Set up a client's new hosting account, configured several users and unique permissions, and installed Joomla (to be modified by third party developer).


 

Added Mail Personalization to Event Registration System

2009-01-15

My custom developed event registration system now allows administrators to include personalized information (e.g., the person's name or job title) in their confirmation messages.