Portfolio

I wanted an application that would help me track my calorie and water intake while staying out of my way. Instead of using the bloated industry standard apps that struggle to respect the privacy of their users, I decided to build my own. While helth.app started as a joke, it’s quickly become a passion project of mine that I couldn’t see myself no longer using.

Of course, it had to be a mobile-first application which made it a great candidate for being built as a Progressive Web Application (PWA). Being a PWA means that it can be installed on nearly any device that includes a modern web browser. I also wanted it to include a barcode scanner so I could quickly and easily add items I regularly consume. This led to some deep dives into completely unrelated technology but they were fun nonetheless. I decided to build it with SvelteKit which very quickly became my new favorite tool.

After having written an entire book about SvelteKit, I needed a way to tell people about the book. Because I happen to know about SvelteKit and web development in general, it seemed fitting to build a website for marketing the book itself.

Of course, the website for the book is built using SvelteKit but I also took the opportunity to learn Tailwind CSS. This website even takes concept like server-less deployments and applies them. Like any website I create, it is mobile friendly and looks great on devices of any screen size!

If you’ve ever met a CrossFitter, you know that they take their workouts very seriously. In fact, they take it so seriously that they sometimes need technology tailored to their specific needs. When a client of mine expressed his desire for a timer that would allow him to ensure he wasn’t resting for too long, I jumped at the challenge. We began brainstorming and discussing various features to suit his and his clients’ needs.

The CrossFit Minot Work:Rest Timer is the result of our brainstorming. Not only does it track active intervals and total time, but it also allows users to set custom rest intervals between sets. The rest multiplier option can be adjusted to ensure that rest times are proportional to active intervals. When a user presses the “start” button, the text and color dynamically change to “rest,” ensuring the user stays on track for their workout goals.

When a long time friend of mine started his business, he knew it would need an online presence. He was aware of Facebook Pages but realized that if he ever lost access to his Facebook account, he would also be locked out of his business’s page. He came to me looking for a website that would look great, be affordable, easy to use, and ensure potential customers could easily get in touch with him.

We sat down and discussed details. In the end, we settled on using WordPress with a popular theme that included page building tools. I put together contact forms as well as pricing information and included various professional photos taken of the gym. The site also incorporated a third party extension to show the gym’s schedule throughout the week. However, his gym members expressed the desire to access information about the Workout of the Day (WOD). To get this data on the site would take more than just a 1-click installation of WordPress with a fancy theme.

To achieve displaying the WOD, the website would need to interface with a third party service where the data was all stored. Conveniently, that service provided a simple JavaScript (JS) snippet that could be easily included on any web page. Unfortunately for us, the display and styles of the button it created weren’t easily customized since it was controlled by the third party provider.

It was at this point we decided to create a custom WordPress plugin that would fetch all of the same information the original third party script could but display it directly on the website via a WordPress shortcode. The plugin was called CrossFit Minot SugarWOD (SugarWOD is the third party provider). Now the gym members have easy access to get the WOD that is dynamically updated every day and looks great by incorporating design elements consistent with the rest of the website.