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Ray Elliott 2020-02-18 18:39:30 +00:00
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@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ series = ["Portfolio"]
+++
**Marc Leopold** is an apocryphal photographer and visual artist based in Chicago, USA.
He recently decided his previous (and rather imaginary) website, whose purpose was to showcase his work, was beginning to look dated. He decided that it was time for a more modern, up to date portfolio site.
He recently decided his previous (and rather imaginary) website, whose purpose was to showcase his work, was beginning to look dated.
He decided that it was time for a modern, up to date portfolio site.
Being a photographer's portfolio site, the requirements are fairly basic.
Aside from the portfolio items, we just need some brief background information and an outline of the services provided along with a contact form.
@ -25,12 +27,15 @@ class="icon-inline icon-right sm-order-rev svg"
caption="For the front end of this project, I went with [Vue.js](https:/etcvuejs.org) — a fast, modern JavaScript framework used to create web interfaces."
>}}
The site's content will mainly consist of examples of Marc's portfolio in the form of images that are organised into a number of galleries.
The main task of a user will be the browsing and viewing of these images.
The site's content will mainly consist of examples of Marc's portfolio Photography.
These are organised into a number of galleries.
The main task of a visitor will be browsing and viewing these images.
I feel that using a **Single Page Application** will give a nice user experience whilst browsing through and viewing the images.
The images will be able to be dynamically loaded when required.
There will be no need for full page reloads, when we only need to update the required on-screen images.
I feel that using a **Single Page Application** will give a nice user experience whilst browsing and viewing the images.
The images will be dynamically loaded when required.
There will be no need for full page reloads.
We only need to update the required on-screen images.
Instead, we can dynamically update page components to create a fast, responsive site.
## The Back End
@ -43,7 +48,7 @@ class="icon-inline sm-order-rev"
caption="For the backend I decided to use [October](https://octobercms.com/), a Content Management System, based on the [Laravel](https://laravel.com/) framework, which is a popular, open source, PHP based framework."
>}}
The major requirements of a backend for this type of project is simply to store and organise images.
The major requirements of a backend for this type of project is to store and organise images.
It would be possible to create a fully bespoke image based CMS to handle these requirements.
However, this would involve a considerable amount of work and a lot of considerations, such as security best practices, browser compatibility, testing of code, etc.
@ -76,22 +81,22 @@ alt="TODO - do properly with shortcode"
October is targeted towards developers.
High quality documentation and a clean and modern codebase makes it easy to extend and add functionality.
Plugins are entirely separate - have own database and namespaces preventing conflicts between them.
Plugins are entirely separate - they have their own database and namespaces preventing conflicts between them.
The templating system and text file based website structure allows for separation of data and presentation and gives easy version control management.
* **Community**
There is a large developer community.
This means a large number of plugins and themes provided by the community. Not as many as WordPress but many of the WordPress plugins can be considered to be poor quality, particularly among the free ones.
This means a large number of plugins and themes provided by the community.
Not as many as WordPress but many of the WordPress plugins can be considered to be poor quality, particularly among the free ones.
It can also be difficult to extend WordPress plugins.
* **Secure**
Relatively secure when compared to alternatives like WordPress.
There is a single point of entry into the application, with only one file that can ever be accessed - `index.php`.
This reduces the attack areas available.
There is a single point of entry into the application, with only one file that can ever be accessed, `index.php`, reducing the potential attack area.
There is also more rigorous approval process for plugins and themes, that with some alternative platforms.
Each one must undergo a strict verification progress.
@ -101,39 +106,37 @@ alt="TODO - do properly with shortcode"
This is very useful for a site that will involve a lot of users with the ability to manage their accounts and decreases development time substantially.
So, these reasons are why, in this case, I consider a platform like October to be better for building a backend CMS than, for example WordPress - it is easier to customise and add the required functionality without the inherent bloat of some alternatives.
So, these reasons are why, in this case, I consider a platform like October to be better for building a backend CMS than, for example, WordPress.
It is easier to customise and add the required functionality without the inherent bloat of some alternatives.
Having said that, it may sound like WordPress isn't very good when compared to something like October.
This, however, just isn't true.
Having said that, it may sound like WordPress just isn't very good.
Not when compared to something like October.
This, however, I don't feel to be true.
{{<
figure
src="/images/logos/wp-logo.png"
alt="The WordPress icon."
class="icon-inline sm-order-rev wp-icon"
caption="WordPress is very good at what it actually is - a platform that allows users, who may have limited technical ability, to publish a website. For this it is very successful, after all it powers [over 30%](https://wordpress.org/news/2019/03/one-third-of-the-web/) of the world's websites."
caption="WordPress is very good at what it actually is -- a platform that allows users, who may have limited technical ability, to publish a website. For this it is very successful, after all it powers [over 30%](https://wordpress.org/news/2019/03/one-third-of-the-web/) of the world's websites."
>}}
However, it is also a victim of its own success.
It is a very high profile target with a lot of effort expended in finding exploits and vulnerabilities.
That, combined with its start as solely a blogging platform, with CMS features bolted on over time, can make leaner, more focused alternatives more appealing to developers.
Combined with its start as a blogging platform, with CMS features bolted on over time, this can make leaner, more focused alternatives more appealing to developers.
## The Design
As the primary purpose of the site was to display a portfolio of images, then naturally the focus should be on those images.
I felt that having striking, interesting images on the home page would create interest.
Interest that would encourage visitors to explore the site further.
Interest that would engage visitors and encourage exploration of the site further.
The site has a colour scheme that is intentionally, lacking colour and fairly dark.
This is to draw the attention of visitors to the full colour photographs that are intended to be the focus of attention.
{{<
figure
src="/images/leopold/medium-2.jpg"
alt="A screenshot of the website of Marc Leopold Photography as seen on a mobile device."
>}}
![A screenshot of the website of Marc Leopold Photography as seen on a mobile device.](/images/leopold/medium-2.jpg)
## The Deployment