Creating an Online Portfolio

I chose to host my portfolio on a free blogging platform. I had a blog on Wordpress, but without your own server to host your files, you need to use the free Wordpress. I didn't like this, because they make you purchase many plug-ins to use the same features that you can get free with Blogger. I absolutely hated Tumblr. Not all Tumblr templates offer the basic Comments widget that allows users to comment on your posts. This annoys me as a user and it discourages interaction. I've seen blogs on Tumblr where people ask you what you think, but there is nowhere to tell them... no Comments section, no contact info.... Other popular platforms (I haven't tried) include LiveJournal and many of Six Apart's platforms (TypePad, Movable Type, Vox...).

The easy choice for me is Blogger. For beginners, they offer many drag-and-drop or click-to-add options for designing your layout and publishing your blog. For those who know HTML or CSS (and anyone can learn the basics easily), Blogger offers the ability to load your own XML document with your custom design, the ability to use one of many free templates online, or the option to just use one of their default templates. It is highly customizable in the simplest way and it is FREE.

I added a few features that I think are essential for any blog:

1. A custom banner at the top. (Your template should tell you the size. ex: 860 x 130 px)
2. Add This buttons (you can see them at the bottom of each post in my blog) make sharing info from your site as easy as the click of a button. You can customize the look, the list of sites you can share to (more than 200)...
3. A Contact Me form allows readers to contact you/give you feedback/interact. You can either write your own JavaScript code or use an online service. I use WuFoo. It is free and allows you to customize your form (choose what fields to include, which are required and which are optional...) and embed it on a page on your portfolio site. This helps by keeping your email private. Otherwise spambots (evil programs that search the Inernet for email addresses, so they can sell it to all those annoying marketers that send spam) will find it on your site and you will begin getting loads of spam mail.

As you can see on this site, Blogger also allows for several pages. I have my pages listed just below my banner: Home, Bio, Resume, Videos, Design, and Contact Me. Name them so that they are self-explanatory.

ESC Merit Awards

I have been really busy lately and did not get to submit anything for merit awards. I have been re-designing my site from a mere blog to an effective portfolio to direct potential employers to. This new site features a home page with a bio, a resume page, a video portfolio page, a design portfolio page, my blog page and a page with a form to contact me. I learned more HTML and CSS than I ever cared to learn, but I believe the site is an effective form of communication. I even created a favicon for the bookmark and address bars, as well as an iPod/iPhone icon to display if iPhone users add my site to their homescreen. I can't help it that I am very detail-oriented.

Anyway, I was bummed that I did not get to submit anything for the merit awards, but I decided that I'd rather have a solid portfolio that shows employers my skills rather than a piece of paper that claims I have them. Not to write-off merit awards... I am merely saying I had only enough time to dedicate to one pursuit, so I chose my portfolio. Good luck to everyone who submitted entries. I will be attending the ceremony on May 11th and look forward to seeing who receives the awards.

Hemaware Adds My Life With Hemophilia Video to Site

The National Hemophilia Foundation launched a new site for their publication Hemaware this month and they asked me if they could post my video to the site. I am very happy that a project I had almost given up on took a turn for the better and has reached so many people. My hope was to raise awareness of hemophilia by showing how it affects a person in one specific way. I would like to produce many more in a series that highlights the impact it has on specific aspects of a hemophiliac's (or caregiver's) life. I am very excited that Hemaware liked it and posted it to their site for more people to see. On a technical note, I noticed that the video was sized much smaller and compressed even more, so when you click full-screen it is bad quality, but I understand they must consider file size and space on their servers.

I have also been asked to allow the Hemophilia Federation of America to post it on their site and am working those details out now. Hopefully it will be on their site very soon and the video gets the exposure I had hoped for.

I appreciate everyone's feedback and help with promoting this video. You can see it at the following links:

http://hemaware.org/community-pulse

http://hemaware.org/topics/community-voices