Last month, I was honored to participate in Engine Summit for the second year in a row. Hosted by Environments for Humans, the online conference was a full-day of ExpressionEngine goodness from talented folks like my fabulous co-host Lea Alcantara, Erik Reagan, Joel Bradbury and Mark Huot.
For my part, I discussed Designer-Friendly ExpressionEngine, sharing some of the tips and techniques that have made working with EE even better for me, as a designer.
Three Main Areas
My presentation is divided according to the three main areas of my EE development that have improved over the years thanks to add-ons and tricks from the community. I first discussed ExpressionEngine, straight out–of–the–box, focusing on the importance of documentation and the tools I use to manage my EE projects efficiently. I also discuss ways I've streamlined my install and update process.
I then focused on add-ons. I've said it at least a dozen times: I only just began using add-ons for EE. But the ones I've started using, instantly became musts for almost all of my projects. I detail my favorite add-ons that give me more power to deliver a rich, interactive experience for my clients.
Finally, I talked about the user experience. Not on the web site front-end, but the EE control panel. I've learned several simple techniques that help me give my clients a great experience in the CP, from customizing publish forms to managing member group access permissions.
My deck has a bunch of links and resources for your pleasure and edification:
To-Do List Goodies
Whenever I give a presentation, my ultimate goal is to share information so that someone else may benefit from what I've learned. So it's always nice when I find out that I achieve my goal …
Inspired by the project management and documentation tips I shared in my presentation, James Buckley gave his own project management and to-do lists a review and revision, and then he posted it all (awesome).
I am uber-OCD about my lists for projects, but even I got some new ideas from James, particularly about the 3-6 month follow up. Definitely check it out, because I truly believe that to-do lists make all the difference in how smoothly a project will go.
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