I’ve always ben going back to past projects and fixing some bugs and adding some new small features here and there. But there’s always been a small part of me asking, what’s next? What bright idea will hit me next? Don’t get me wrong, I’m very pleased with Vine’s results and some other small projects I’ve done for either personal or for some of my classes. But I do want to start getting a little more serious in some of my approaches when it comes to working on either new or old projects.

For my Senior Project Development I am working on Vine and restructuring it from the ground up. It’s being powered by a MySQL Database and uses extensive caching to provide the information in a more efficient way. It’s taking up most of my current time apart from work but so far it’s definitely looking good, and not only will it get a framework update (my code-word for back-end stuff), but it will also get a refresh in the design which will also support wide-screen monitors.

I have been toying with an idea for a new project but I’m not sure whether or not it will be successful, isn’t that the story for everything? Hopefully over the next few weeks I can flush out the idea into something substantial.

What are you working on?

A while back I discussed one of my newer web applications called Apricot, a small application aimed towards small teams wanting a central place to communicate and share information.

It was set to have a beta release early June but with some things not working on the production server (online), it has been delayed until all the bugs are ironed out for a beta release. Thankfully, I have a good friend from MeltingIce.net helping me out on some of the issues and optimizing the entire application.

Hopefully I will be able to have a release date soon. Keep your fingers crossed!

So I am working on incorporating a tagging system into Orange. The first of the few basic tags would be Home, Play and Work. Not sure if I want to add more of have users add their own. It’s definitely work a look. Below is a quick walkthrough of the preliminary tagging system.

Let’s have a look at the selection screen:








It uses a simple drop down selection menu where you can choose pre-made tags. When you add the task, the JavaScript will do the rest in adding the tag to the task in the list below it. Not much room in here for creating your own tag, but will see how to implement it.

Tags in the list:

The screenshot above, shows a left-aligned tag system. Which links each task to its own tag in a more straight forward way. The other layout, below:

In this screenshot, the tags are right-aligned. This layout creates a more cleaner look for each individual task, but the problem occurs with a person easily connected a task to its tag.

No I’m not talking about the fruit, although it’s always good to have a glass of fresh orange juice. Orange is a small task or to-do list editor. It’s the first of many applications to be released under the ’simple’ brand (more information coming soon).

Orange goes back to basics of creating a task list. No registration required because it doesn’t save the information into a database. Instead, the task list is powered by javascript and css (and obviously xhtml) to provide you with a fast and simple interface. You do have options to import a list (copy/pasting) and exporting a list to a .txt file.

So visit Orange and tell me what you think.

It’s been a while that 07Designs.com has been refreshed and updated. So today I am going to start working on the next iteration of my main site. This redesign will also be part of a ‘remodel’ that 07Designs will undergo. Meaning that the way it’s presented will change a little and incorporate all of the projects I’m working on. Currently I have neglected to update the home page and that has been a big mistake. Hopefully with the next update, I can fix this problem and get 07 back on its feet.

On the subject of change, I would like to highlight an article I recently read in the latest Wired issue. The article talks about why $0.00 is the future of business. (The article is available online, but support the magazine and buy it!) The article really inspired me to look at 07 and make a big decision. I’ve decided to make a promise that all software, both desktop and online applications, that gets produced or published by 07 will be free to everyone.

Might there be a premium membership? Currently, I have no plans to incorporate any sort of premium in my current and future projects. How do I survive, where do I get money? Well, I’ll get money from other places. Work, minimal ads on my projects, donations. Why make this announcement? Some of my projects might not be worth a cent, but I still want people to know that even if I create an application that’s simply amazing, it won’t come at a price to you.

On the subject of free things, I created a small widget for NewsPond.com that displays the latest news from their RSS feeds. More information here.