About www.chrispearson.org

BACKGROUND

I developed this version of the site using Dreamweaver MX in the autumn of 2003, with content updates since then. This is the first step in converting all the tables-as-layout-tools and in-line formatting to CSS. It also represents my first .NET outing, migrating some ASP to .aspx pages. The site should render acceptably in browsers that don't support fully CSS (although some features may be suppressed) but only if those browsers do process layers - <DIV> tags and suchlike. The previous version, launched in early 2003 and the first version to include PHP pages, looked like this. The current site retains a number of PHP pages.

I'm still using Dreamweaver templates, though! They're just too useful to give up. Perhaps when DWMX04 has me totally CSS I'll make the transition . . .

Back in October 2002, an earlier version was produced, also using Dreamweaver MX. There had been a still earlier version created using DW4 and Visual InterDev, from early 2002. The original site, from the summer of 2001, was created in FrontPage 2000 and Visual InterDev. A mint-green theme was adopted in July 2002 (This was the mid-2002 home page).

The most recent update to the site is dated Friday, 4. July 2008

Creating the site was inspired by a desire to share the knowledge I've (sometimes painfully) gathered in the course of meeting business requirements by developing and implementing applications. I have been accumulating examples of business techniques, improvement methods and software development over the years. I've always been grateful to find workable examples and this site is an opportunity to recycle a few of them and to create links to some others.

Browser compatibility
Until recently, most of the web development with which I've been involved has been destined for a Microsoft (equals Internet Explorer) environment. I concentrated on getting web pages and web applications to work on that platform.

I have been working with Opera 6, and more recently Opera 7, as well as IE. During the summer of 2003 the repertoire was extended to include Mozilla, so recent additions to the site should reflect an additional layer of testing and compatibility. Where possible I have incorporated browser-compatibility testing into code but, where clarity has been an issue, I have sacrificed broad compatibility to clarity of coding. Netscape from NN4 to NN6 didn't feature very highly here. (On occasions, time constraint or just plain laziness is the reason!)

The current site design reflects the constant design-development-deployment cycle of software applications. The content, I hope, adds to the internet's useful resources for business and technology.

I confess that at resolutions as low as 800x600 you may need to use horizontal scroll on some pages, especially those that include screen shots. But, then again, I noticed only this morning that the BBC home page - (http://www.bbc.co.uk) had a similar issue at 600x800 - as shown!

With this revision of the site I have endeavoured to improve sizing and address other accessibility issues - If you have any specific ideas on possible improvements please let me know!

After having some articles published in Cognos' SupportLink magazine and in MV User I was encouraged to write up some others, including some on business process optimisation and on techniques for IPS Ltd.

It is my genuine belief that the way forward is to properly integrate IT - what we used to call computing - and the communications media with the mainstream of business.

I'm using the word "integration" here to describe how we should use computing, in exactly the same way that we think of "design" and "engineering": as core business disciplines. Which is why there is an unashamed mixture of process, systems and technology in the content of this site. And some opinionated comment, too!