MrDiscountCoupons.com – We’ve Only Just Begun…
Mr. Discount Coupons is a project I'm currently developing. The idea is simple: create a way for people to save big bucks while making sure I profit a smidgen in the process.
Of course, there are a number of ways to do this and I'm sure this is just the beginning, but so far I have three ways for people to save (a toolbar, actual daily updated coupons and a few affiliate offers that promote specific services). I got the idea from a buddy of mine who runs the Printable Coupons Guide. He gave me the thumbs up to create a "competitor" website, so this is my hack at it.
Thanks, buddy ... now let the games begin!
SweetDate.org
Sweet Date
| Language: | PHP w/ Smarty |
| Database: | MySQL |
| Javascript: | jQuery |
Sweet Date is a very straight-forward dating service web site. People sign up, browse and find people that interest them, and they can either send them an instant message or they can send them a message using the site's built-in mailing system.
As far as the look goes, I chose blue because I think it looks great and because I thought I'd try adhering to some standards for emotional targetting this time (e.g. Color Wheel Pro / Blue). Additionally, I'm taking my time with the feel of the site as I don't want it to have a "thrown-together" appearance. Instead, I want people to know intuitively how to use the web site and where to go if they need help.
The reason I'm able to pay attention to these elements is because I'm using Smarty Templating Engine again, which makes development go a lot faster. Now I can focus on jQuery and Photoshop.
While I'm very aware that dating web sites are a dime-a-dozen these days, I've always wanted to build one for several reasons:
- Ads pay reasonably well
- The structure is reasonably simple
- I need more large-scale web sites on my resume
Although at the moment, the web site is currently being built, the basic frame is in place with the look & feel largely intact. Once registration is open, feel free to open an account but the site will be largely in beta until I feel it is relatively complete.
ProfilesFree.com
Profiles Free
| Language: | PHP |
| Database: | MySQL |
| Javascript: | GreyBox |
Profiles Free, I'll admit, was something made purely out of curiosity. I wanted to see whether I could build a site that Google would like enough to keep users coming back to while at the same time generating a small stream of income, and it does just that.
The site incorporates Google AdSense and affiliate marketing ads in a very "in your face" kind of style.
One of the best things about this site is that it's almost maintenance-free. I check on it about once a month just to make sure it's still there and functioning.
All of the back-end code is done in PHP and the database is, of course, MySQL. Instead of using any kind of JavaScript library on the site, I decided it was a bit overkill for a site like this and just went with the light-weight GreyBox framework to display images in modal forms.
Sitdiary.net
Sitdiary
| Language: | PHP w/ Smarty Templates |
| Database: | MySQL |
| Javascript: | jQuery |
Sitdiary started back in 2001 as a very simple idea: I wanted other people to be able to post blog entries about anything they wanted. What started as a small idea soon grew into a user-base of over 250,000, where at its peak had over 100 users online at any given time.
Time after time, the bandwidth wasn't enough for this "small" site and I was forced to continuously upgrade on a monthly basis. At one point, the cost became more than I could handle and that's when the popularity of the site started to take a downward turn.
As the site would be out of commission for days at a time, the user base soon dwindled down to around 50,000 and all of a sudden, bandwidth wasn't too much of an issue.
BillManager.org
Bill Manager
| Language: | PHP |
| Database: | MySQL |
| Javascript: | jQuery |
Bill Manager was initially built as a way to remind me to pay my own bills, but as I talked to other people I found that they were interested in such a service -- especially for free.
On top of reminders, the site also features a few informational articles, a series of tips on financial responsibility and calculators.
Currently, the site is still going an upgrade to facilitate multiple users but should be up shortly.
It should be noted that since this site was created, several others have popped up on the 'bill manager' search that do pretty much the same thing. This is no surprise, but I'm in the process of coming up with a killer feature to set it apart (if only temporarily).
TheWeightLossTracker.com
The Weight Loss Tracker
| Language: | PHP |
| Database: | MySQL |
| Javascript: | jQuery |
The Weight Loss Tracker is exactly as its name implies: a weight loss tracker.
Users create an account and enter their weight loss goal and starting weight. Immediately, they can begin logging their weight on a daily basis. This way, they can see their progress over time.
Additionally, the site provides code that will allow the user to display a graphical ticker displaying their progress on their way to their weight loss goal.
This site was the result of a personal challenge I gave to myself: to create a simple, fully functioning website (with code documentation!) within ten hours. And actually I completed the site in about seven (7) hours and spent the rest of the time making the code and documentation prettier.
Blogflare.com
Blogflare.com
| Language: | PHP |
| Database: | MySQL |
| Javascript: | jQuery |
Blogflare.com, started in 2007, was made to allow blogs of all varieties to be ranked according to traffic and several other factors. In addition, they receive free traffic and better search engine rankings as a result.
The biggest challenge for a site like this is the ongoing calculation of traffic statistics. Version 1.0 of the website calculated statistics every hour on the hour, which seemed efficient at the time but drained resources, especially on a shared hosting environment.
Version 2.0 of the website changed things up a bit. After testing, I found it was best to calculate ranks every 5-10 minutes to keep the data load small and the impact on performance minimal during the update. The reason for this is that data isn't allowed to grow too large before being reset in that five minute window.
Of course, I've toyed with the idea of spacing the updates 30 seconds to one minute apart but at that point, the updates become noticeable.