Tools of the trade...

[Scott Watkins]

For those of you that get deep into the code of your web pages, what software/hardware set up do you use? What technologies are you using for your sites?

[Scott Watkins]

At the College of Education, we have a Max OS X server running Apache, PHP, MySQL. I generally use Aptana Studio for coding, but will resort to Dreamweaver if I just need a quick form/page that doesn't need much customization. I design with PhotoShop and Illustrator. I currently develop on a Windows machine. However, will be getting a new Mac with Parallels soon.

Although our current website is rather new, I'm planning a full architectural rebuild of the site. Before I was hired, the College hired a 3rd party firm to build the site. It's a very generic CMS that leaves a lot to be desired in the way of flexibility. However, it is a great build for someone that isn't much into development (which is what they were asked to build, before I came on board). I'm planning to rebuild the site with CodeIgniter, the PHP Development Framework.

[Scott Watkins]

Update to this post: I'm meeting with the great folks at web communications tomorrow to discuss the flexibility of the new CMS. I may be integrating with this and not doing a full overhaul of our site, but just developing APIs that I can use within the CMS (maybe, I'll find out tomorrow if it's possible). Hopefully, I'll get a test account and can try some integration.

[Eric Bruning]

Python / Django running under Apache. For a database, I've used MySQL, but will use whatever's sitting around; Django's object-relational mapper is agnositic in that regard. I'll probably try out PostgreSQL for my next project; I'd like to play with its GIS support. Django makes it really fast to develop web apps, especially with the automatic admin interface. I created a complete moving-box tracker app to sort our moving boxes by room in about two hours. The availability of the Python standard library is a huge plus since it provides xml parsers, etc; I've used its xmlrpc server to support a Cocoa plugin to upload images to the server from Aperture. Previously, I worked with PHP/MySQL, which I wouldn't go back to.

My development is done on a Macintosh using TextMate. I've deployed to Mac OS X server, which was an easy choice having done the development on my Mac first.

[Scott Watkins]

I've been interested in trying out Django, but haven't made the time to do so. I've also not been exposed to Python. What do you think of the learning curve for a seasoned PHP developer?

I'm also getting a new MacBook Pro for development soon (I've been using a Windows machine). I've always heard good things about TextMate, but being on a Gates machine, I've not had the chance to try it out.

[Eric Blazek]

Dreamweaver (code view, or split screen), Firefox, XAMPP (Apache/MySQL/Php/phpMyAdmin) on XP for custom tools. Lotsa of Dreamweaver templates and a few Server Side Includes (SSIs) for common content.

[Laura Gibbs]

Unlike the folks here who are developers for departments/colleges at OU, I'm pretty much off on my own, without any special resources (no server, no scripts, no nothing), so I depend A LOT on free hosted tools. Thank goodness there are more and more of these hosted tools to use. Here are the ones I use pretty much on a daily basis - they are all free!

http://Blogger.com - I blog, and my students blog
http://Bloglines.com - my RSS reader, and one I recommend to my students also
http://PBWiki.com - they have ad-free educator version!
http://Ning.com - we're here now!
http://del.icio.us - this is how I maintain dynamic lists of links for my students
http://Calendar.Google.com - this is how my students can get email and cellphone notifications of class assignment deadlines
http://FeedBurner.com - this is how students subscribe to get an email of my class announcements blog (IF they want the announcements by email)
http://RotateContent.com - you input an HTML table and it outputs a javascript with either date-based and/or randomized versions of your content. I am totally dependent on this tool (I paid one of my students to build it for me - some of the best money I ever spent!)

Free website building tool: Mozilla Seamonkey Composer - since this is free for both Mac and for Windows, this is the software I use with my students, although I am seriously debating a move to GooglePages.

Audio recording tool: I use Audacity, free for both Mac and Windows, so I can also share adn recommend it for my students. It's easy to output the audio as mp3.

I used to build websites with Dreamweaver, and I am a proficient user of the software. I built my course websites several years ago with Dreamweaver, but over the past two years my development emphasis has been not on websites, but on dynamic content. Basically, Dreamweaver has two main drawbacks for me:
1) It is not free, so I cannot share this software with my students or teach them how to use it (all the other free tools I use are tools I can teach my students to use - and I enjoy sharing those tools with my students very much; it's an important part of my teaching)
2) I do not have the skills to create DYNAMIC websites with Dreamweaver, so I do better with blogs and wikis, tagging services like del.icio.us, where the dynamic features of the web are fully available to me, without my having to do any programming

So, my focus is very much on free tools I can share with my students, and dynamic content. I spend a fair amount of time prowling for good tools, testing them, seeing how I can use them to improve my online courses. My courses have improved a lot as a result of these tools! :-)

:-)

[Konstantin Tovstiadi]

I used to be a heavy Dreamweaver user (in the DW MX / 8 days); also used the StyleMaster for CSS. The last 2 years I have been moving from writing code and into using open source php/mysql applications, such as:

Serendipity - simple but good blogging platform
Pixelpost - a photoblog tool
Moodle - online course support
LimeSurvey - SurveyMonkey killer
WIKINDX - EndNote killer
WordPress - blogs / simple CMS
Phorum - another forum solution

If I write code these days, it is to connect the applications or to create pretty front ends to these applications.

At work and at home, Mac OS X only. For web hosting I use icdsoft.com - have used them for three years now, they are awesome. No gimmicks and no used-car-dealership approach to clients.

[Laura Gibbs]

Hi Kosta, I am also a long-time user of icdsoft.com. I have found them to be great! I also keep one domain at SiteGround.com, just to hedge my bets, and they have also been very good.

I will not go on here about how I do so wish we had a Moodle option at least here at OU for online courses..... :-)

[Konstantin Tovstiadi]

Laura,
I would be happy to give you full access to my installation of Moodle if you want

[Laura Gibbs]

Thanks, Kosta! That's actually why I got a SiteGround account; they use "Fantastico" which let me run a Moodle installation (even though I am script-phobic) so I played around with it a lot about two years ago, and loved it. I esp. liked the many options for creating and uploading quiz question with MANY smart tricks possible that way, none of which are possible in Desire2Learn alas. I'm a big believer in lots computer-graded stuff online to cover the basics - that way I can spend my teacher time on things less basic.

Anyway, I was delighted with Moodle, whereas Desire2Learn is just frozen in time. The features are not really in any way different from three years ago when we first acquired it. Very disappointing: there has been an explosion of genius stuff on the web in the past 3 years, but Desire2Learn remains untouched by it all... sigh...