Site Information - The Ciolinos
July 2003
Technologies
PHP with some content stored in a MySQL database.
Site layout is CSS-based without the use of tables (except for the Calendar portion). Could use a little clean up in places.
Transparent PNG images are downgraded gracefully for IE 6 and below.
Custom photo album database design for Photos section using MySQL.
Header icons from RefreshCL Icon Pack by TPDK ©2005 www.tpdkdesign.net
About The Ciolinos
I've been very fortunate to have a strong support system within my extended family. The Ciolinos is my way of giving back, allowing relatives and friends near and far to stay in touch with everyone. Since the site's been up, I've posted photos from my wedding, the first birthday party for one my cousins, pictures of my grandfather's new bulldog puppy, and a slideshow of the family's most recent addition, Baby Zach. In fact, take a look at the April calendar if you want to know when to send me a birthday card.
How It Started
By 2003, I was well on my way to shedding my old Java ways and committing all new development with PHP. In fact, the core of the template-based content management system I use today was mostly in place by then, so I was prime to spin off new sites at the drop of a hat.
For as long as I can remember, my grandmother (hi grandma) had a calendar on the refrigerator that had everyone's birthday on it. And every year, when she got a new calendar, she'd sit down and copy all the dates, month-by-month, over to the new calendar.
As the years went by, she had a picked up a knack for the computer and started using some random discount software program to manage the calendar. That was fine for awhile, until my grandparents bought a house in Arizona for the summer and then had a computer down there and one at my mom's house (where they stayed in the summer). Since whatever program she was using at home would not work on my mother's PC (it was rather old), I decided to build a better mouse trap.
In about a week (mostly after work and late at night), I was able to get the framework together for the Ciolino family website, with the main navigation and the functionality for an authorized user to add and edit birthdays and anniversaries on a web-based calendar. The calendar even printed rather nicely from the start (for the refrigerator, of course). I had also borrowed the functionality from the photo gallery I had just implemented on the hockey website, with a few tweaks.
And on the eighth day, I slept in.
History
In October 2007, I launched the newest version of the website, using a more traditional web design approach than I had originally. To most web designers, it may not seem like that big of a deal, but since the original site was built with a bigger emphasis on the database backend and the content management, it came out a lot nicer when I put the layout and look and feel first.
Features
This site is basically simple with only a few extras.
Calendar - The site features an online calendar which includes web-based admin interface to add/update birthdays, anniversaries and holiday. My grandmother is the one who maintains it, so you know the interface is simple.
Photos - A custom photo album with pictures grouped in different categories, browsing with thumbnails, and larger individual photos. Will probably be integrated with Flickr at some point.
DVDs - My grandfather is a movie buff, and as his collection of DVDs grew, everyone in the family had a hard time keeping track of what he already owns (especially during winters away in Arizona). So, I added a section for him to keep a master list that all of our relatives can print out and keep with them when go shopping.
Guestbook - The guestbook was a hit when the site first launched, however, it later became subject to a lot of spam. With little time to moderate all the non-sense that was being posted, I took it down temporarily. Will be added back eventually with the some type of that ugly "try and read this" type of validation.
What's Next
I have thought multiple times about maybe adding a blog to the site and setting up various relatives with access to post and just talk it up. Haven't had a big push to do so yet, but as my cousins get older and more Internet savvy, it might be something to consider in the next few years.
Previous Designs - Archive.org
Below is a list of previous designs of theciolinos.com that have forever been preserved courtesy of archive.org.