Introduction

This portfolio is a collection of my work in PHP/MySQL, XHTML/CSS, and Flash. Use the navigation bar at the top to view different categories.

This site itself is an example of integrating valid XHTML, CSS, and Javascript. Be sure to try out the style switcher in the top left and the View All function on the top right. All of this is done on a single page with no reloading or frames. Tables are sparsely used, and the only images are the screenshots of my work samples.

Resumé

Samples of My Work

PHP/MySQL Demo

XML Document Creator
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This page will output an XML document based on types, attributes, and values that you enter. It is a demonstration of PHP and MySQL.

Photo Album
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This is a sample of a photo album I created that uses PHP to construct the pages and handle forms, and XHTML/CSS for layout and design.

WebCT Exemplary Courses
I have designed and implemented several websites for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute courses, two of which have won WebCT Exemplary Awards.

International Business
Professor Frank X. Wright
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For this site, I implemented the various designs in XHTML and CSS2. I took the professor's notes and put them into a format that was most accessible for students taking the course. I also handled the daily maintenance of the site, including updates, tracking hits, and fielding technical questions.

GUI Building
Professor Michael Danchak
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I designed the visual theme of the site and created the HTML pages. I took the professor's notes and put them into a format that was most accessible for students taking the course. I also handled weekly maintenace of the site.

Other Examples

Course contacts web page
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This page features the use of Javascript to hide and show different parts of the page and to move an image. It was used as the basis for this portfolio site. The page was used in two courses at RPI.

Software design project
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This is the result of a semester-long team project from my senior year at RPI. The project goal was to develop a real-time traffic simulator that provided a car with the fastest route to its destination. This link contains the documentation for the entire project, much of which I wrote.

Tutorials and Guides

• HTML Tutorial (opens in new window)

• CSS Tutorial (opens in new window)

See also patik.com/guides/ for more of my tutorials and guides.

Flash Examples

Here are some examples of my work in Flash.

"IDEA" - View (opens in new window)
2.25MB, runtime: 3:50, contains streaming audio

I created all animations and images in this piece except the school logos and the atom at the end. This movie was used for faculty instruction during a workshop at RPI.

"Elluminate Tutorial" - View (opens in new window)
706KB, runtime: 6:00, contains large streaming video file - may take a while to load

I created all animations and images in this piece except the globe and application icons. This movie was used for faculty instruction during a workshop at RPI.

About Me

I am about to complete a Bachelor's of Science in Computer & Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. I have several years of experience in designing and maintaining web sites, especially ones for use with classes taken by graduate students on- and off-campus.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach me at craig@patik.com or (518) 785-5619.

Web Design Principles and Philosophies

I design web sites such that they provide the most useful interface for the user. This includes having a simple, easy to read look; readily available navigation tools; and a consistent structure. It is important that a person be able to find what they are looking for in just a few clicks. It is also important to follow consistent, expected patterns so that a person who frequents one section of the site can easily use another section.

I prefer to either hand-code or generate pages to make the code easy to read for other developers. Clean coding practices make it easy to update the site, quickly apply changes across many pages, and renovate the visual style. I opt of using tables in favor of the more versatile DIVs.

Standards compliance and accessibility are also important to me. Web sites should contain valid code which will display properly in browsers yet also degrade gracefully for older or less-capable (i.e. mobile phone, PDA, etc.) browsers. The most important thing is that every person may still read the site even if his or her browser does not support all techniques employed on the site. For example, if you remove the style sheet from this site, all information is still readable (return to the Blue, Green, or Red theme).