JamalahBryan.com (JB) was an expansion of the WordPress Maasahan theme created by Padd IT Solution. While most of the original layout was maintained I added a lot of new features to suit my needs along with the color change. The original theme used multiple CSS files to match layout, colours etc., but I prefer to have all my CSS in one stylesheet which is much easier for future editing and reduces loading time. Similar to my choice to combine the stylesheets I also changed the implementation of some features.

I added the ability for persons to log in to the website using their existing Facebook username and password or create a JB account if they feel the need to. I also expended the footer to be able to extend the blog features more. The footer now hosts the category links, archives etc. which is convenient than having a menu item for those. The reason is that the website has scope to be expanded to more than just a portfolio, it can be used to represent my virtual world and in order to facilitate this growth I needed to utilize as less menu space as possible .

I also added a custom write panel for creating a portfolio item. It allows easier input of project details such as client, company and other useful project details.

Here are the original features of the theme followed by the extended version. You may need to browse both websites to understand the extent of the changes – or maybe they are evident enough.

Original Features:

• WordPress version 2.7 compatible
• Twitter Account Integration
• Built-in Page Navigation
• Featured Post Gallery
• Option Page for Easy Customization
• Feedburner Email Subscriber
• Popular Posts
• Tabbed Sidebar
• Automatic Thumbnail Resizer
• Adsense Ready
• Advertisement Blocks Ready
• Gravatar Enabled

Features added:

• Single CSS Stylesheet
• Facebook Login
• Extended Footer
• Custom Write Panel for Portfolio Item

This design and development was for a company that does entertainment events management and production. The company, YaadStyle Entertainment, is geared towards providing reggae and dancehall entertainment to Jamaica, the Caribbean and the World. The company needed the system to be able to sell tickets and other merchandise and also be able to allow it’s users to blog. To facilitate this, I fused Magento commerce and WordPress a blogging systems to have one coherent theme. I then used a WordPress event plugin and modified it for my needs.

The website uses the CMS engine of Magento but is not limited to that alone. It is able to use the CMS functionality of WordPress if necessary.

Technologies used:

• CSS
• XHTML
• PHP
• jQuery
• XML
• Photoshop/GIMP

Major Website Features:

• Events creation
• Bloggable events
• Events calendar
• Upcoming events
• Image Gallery
• Video Gallery
• E-commerce
• Blog
• CMS