iPhoneDeck
iPhoneDeck uses simple PHP with Magpie to display iPhone related information from RSS feeds.
You can easily set something like this up yourself even if you have very little experience with this kind of thing. Download Magpie and upload the magpie folder to your webspace and get started
I set mine up for someone else to manage so I made it as simple as possible to maintain. I also had to add something to it after it was done – otherwise, I might have done it differently. Here is what I did.
First, I include the magpie library
include('magpie/rss_fetch.inc');
and then I set up two associative arrays – one for the RSS and one for the links to the main pages
$ufeeds = array(
'Digg' => 'http://digg.com/rss_search?search=iphone&area=promoted&type=both§ion=all',
'delicious' => 'http://feeds.delicious.com/v2/rss/popular/iphone?count=20',
);
$homelinks = array(
'Digg' => 'http://www.digg.com/',
'delicious' => 'http://www.delicious.com/',
);
and then I iterate over the data and build out the html.
foreach($ufeeds as $name=>$url) {
$lname=str_replace(' ','-',strtolower($name));
$feed=fetch_rss($url);
$data=$feed->items;
echo "<div id=\"$lname\" class=\"news\">\n";
echo "\t\t<h2><a href=\"$homelinks[$name]\">$name</a></h2>\n";
echo "<br style=\"clear:both\" />";
echo "<div id=\"{$lname}-news\" class=\"news-holder\" style=\"height:230px;\">";
$i=0;
foreach($data as $item) {
$i++;
if($i<21) {
echo "\t\t<p><a href=\"$item[link]\" class=\"headline\">$item[title]</a></p>\n";
}
}
echo "</div>";
if($i>10) {
echo "<div id=\"{$lname}-more\" class=\"more\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"javascript:viewMore('{$lname}');\" class=\"more\">+ more</a></div>";
echo "<div id=\"{$lname}-less\" class=\"less\" style=\"display:none;\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"javascript:viewLess('{$lname}');\" class=\"less\">- less</a></div>";
}
echo "</div>";
}
Then I wrote the JavaScript functions I needed for the expand functionality.
Then I hired someone to do the CSS. 
Rent Back Direct
Amazing uderstanding of wordpress, this guy really knows what he is doing. excellent work. thanks very much Bill!!
WordPress as a CMS
I set up a custom WordPress theme to be used as a complete CMS for this website.
Google Maps – Click to Add
I set up a map for a client who wanted to track firefly sightings in Europe.
I don’t remember all of the specs on this one but I know
- Users can click to add a sighting
- Users can upload sightings in bulk if they have lat and long data
- It uses the lat/long scheme used in the UK
- It updates live
It was built with functional and valid xhtml so that it could be placed into another site and styled accordingly. I don’t know where this ended up on the web, but you can see my fully functioning (as 7/12/2007) version at http://mashedpotatoearth.com/fireflies/
ReallyCheckYourself
Boist did a great job on this project. It was completely quickly and accurately. He even went above and beyond to ensure it was done right.
Google Maps
I created a Google Maps site which helped users locate medical testing centers. You can see it at http://www.reallycheckyourself.org/.
WordPress Theme
I finished up a custom WordPress theme for this website.
1000 Moms
bsoist offers incredible support & documentation. He has also been very adaptable to a few curve balls thrown at him, and willing to do what it takes to make me happy with the results.
1000 Moms
I took an existing PHP website set up by a novice and worked in some real programming without disrupting what was already very comfortable for the client. You can see the site at http://www.1000moms1000dollars.com/.
Event Tickets Center
I provided a combination of PHP, Perl and JavaScript to solve a cross domain security problem for this website. This was much more difficult than I’ve made it sound but the details are protected by NDA.
Knoxvoice.com
Communicated several times a day on project, responded to emails within hours, completed the project exactly to my original specs. Can’t say enough good things, would definitely work with him again!
Betsy Flanagan
excellent work, he’s very conscientious, responsive and upfront. I highly recommend him and will definitely use him again.
–Betsy Flanagan, StartupStudio.com
Startup Studio
I set up and configured a Wordpress powered site for this client. The work included a custom template based on the client’s original design, several plug-in modifications, and two custom plug-ins. The site is inactive now, but you can see it at http://startupstudio.com/.
WordPress Modificaitons – selfinvestors.com
Bill dealt with a project that was was far more difficult and time consuming than imagined with great professionalism and patience, continuing to work to find solutions. Clearly, Bill is highly experienced programmer with wordpress expertise. I would use him again.
WordPress Modifications – selfinvestors.com
I wrote a few custom plugins and theme modifications for this website.
Sport.co.uk – Sport Resources and Information.
I was hired to build a complete sports website in the UK. Site is no longer in operation but you can see it in the wayback machine.
Sport.co.uk – Sport Resources and Information.
Experience
automation awk bash Books Code csh eBay Google API Google Maps grep JavaScript ksh magpie Moodle osCommerce parsing PayPal API Perl PHP Python RSS SQL WordPress xhtml/CSS XML-
Good Books
