The final day was finally here but it started off according to Murphy's Law in waking up late and missing my lift to uni but luckily i was able to get a lift from Craig. when we got to uni on our way to the meeting the law according to this fella called Murphy continued as walking to the meeting in the rain we found out it was cancelled as there was a problem with the site in the middle of the night when everything from a current version appeared to vanish, which also sticks to murphys law of anything that could go wrong would go wrong.
When everyone met up in the labs we then established what point we where at and how close we were in being able to launch at midday. what i had been set to do was to add meaningful test data to the website so i set out to add test data to the timetable so that the users that are to be used in the demostration would have lessons to attend. after spending 30mins adding information to the timetable i went to the integration team and realised that they wernt working of the website that was working online and i had spent that time doing nothing.
The demonstration which started at 12 in my eyes went superb and the website was working without any problems at all. with the questions that where asked by JP Morgan and the Student union i feel that the 3 weeks were completed with success. After the demo it was time to mingle and chat with the visitors but this only got as far as lecturers and not the visitors from JP Morgan.
TThis was a completion to a very stressful and large lack of sleep of the 3 weeks. i have to admit that i was very impressed by the final outcome of the website and i was happy with what i had added to the website. In whole i feel that SB was worth while and i benefited from it as i learned alot to do with the management of a project and also benefited from talking to people alot more and not being as quiet although i still get abit annoyed that people havent got over me and other people that arent english saying things differently!
Monday, 7 April 2008
Thursday 24th March
After another late night and early start the day was to focus on getting the sessions working, so the work began straight away on thursday with Paul, Stephen and myself working on getting the sessions on my feature complete. by the time this was completed it was looking like a late night was ahead as the rest of the features that had sessions working had to be changed as they werent done in the right way, according to Stephen.
Also having to be completed today was the documentation and the testing for my feature and this was left til late as i wasnt able to get the tests for my feature until i had completed my feature but this was fairly straight forward and was done without any complaints.
So after the completion of the sessions and the integration to the website, the documentation and testing completed, and my mini feature implemented to the site i have completed what i assume was the main areas of work in my week complete.
After grabbing a bite to eat and relaxing for abit i went back to then work with Gregg on the homepage and the design of what was going on it. this had already been looked at earlier in the day and it was just finalising what went where and making sure it had been complete.
Also having to be completed today was the documentation and the testing for my feature and this was left til late as i wasnt able to get the tests for my feature until i had completed my feature but this was fairly straight forward and was done without any complaints.
So after the completion of the sessions and the integration to the website, the documentation and testing completed, and my mini feature implemented to the site i have completed what i assume was the main areas of work in my week complete.
After grabbing a bite to eat and relaxing for abit i went back to then work with Gregg on the homepage and the design of what was going on it. this had already been looked at earlier in the day and it was just finalising what went where and making sure it had been complete.
Wednesday 26th March
After my long walk home i made it back to uni for 9am for the morning meeting, when we reported to how we had got on with our features overnight as the project managers had planned to have the features finished by today so that integration could be started and we would be totally ready for the launch on friday. in my opinion i did not think that this was feasible as it meant that week 3 people where only given 1 day to complete a feature, where as there was still some week 1 developers making changes to their features so long after they had been locked.
My main focus for today was to get the sessions completed and have my feature implemented into the website. with changing the versions that i was working with and finding it hard to find someone that was willing to help without getting a harsh response or someone who knew what they where doing. after still trying to work it out and working with other people with their features. with being set the deadline of 1 paul then help me work through the sessions and with it not being me that asked for the help on the sessions people seemed willing to help and tell where we were meant to go with the sessions and how we where meant to do it.
At the demostration that we had at 1 of all the features that where meant to be completed and if not they where to be scrapped the sessions where not integrated but we were close so the feature was kept. By the time we demo'd to the lectures we still hadnt got the sessions working and the features that were to be scrapped, where now being kepted and everyone was to help the individual developers get them to work.
The first aim after this meeting was to get the sessions working which we worked on with Stephen and by the time Stephen was leaving we still hadnt managed to get this working and we left it til the morning.
My main focus for today was to get the sessions completed and have my feature implemented into the website. with changing the versions that i was working with and finding it hard to find someone that was willing to help without getting a harsh response or someone who knew what they where doing. after still trying to work it out and working with other people with their features. with being set the deadline of 1 paul then help me work through the sessions and with it not being me that asked for the help on the sessions people seemed willing to help and tell where we were meant to go with the sessions and how we where meant to do it.
At the demostration that we had at 1 of all the features that where meant to be completed and if not they where to be scrapped the sessions where not integrated but we were close so the feature was kept. By the time we demo'd to the lectures we still hadnt got the sessions working and the features that were to be scrapped, where now being kepted and everyone was to help the individual developers get them to work.
The first aim after this meeting was to get the sessions working which we worked on with Stephen and by the time Stephen was leaving we still hadnt managed to get this working and we left it til the morning.
Tuesday 25th March
Today was the start of my week to develop. After looking forward to a relaxing weekend and expecting to not get much sleep this week, i spent my weekend doing my business assignment and writing about stuff that i didnt understand. so starting the longest week of my year with 3 hours the night before was never a good idea.
We started with a meeting to see if anyone had bothered to come to uni and waste their Easter Monday developing their feature , of which i did but didnt get to far as i was trying to see what i could get done of my business whilst also working out how i was going about my feature and the actual design of it which had changed since i had finished my documentation.
After editing the temp database that i had made for my feature on Monday to meet the one's that where being used in the website i was stuck on getting the information that i had added manually to my database to the table that i created. after help from steve as he had done something similar with his feature i had it working to an extent but the tables where duplicating so the timetable was looking abit of a mess. after sorting out the way that the loops worked and the layout of the tables it was time for the demo's but just before we demo'd myself and paul managed to link our features together and i was able to output the information that paul added to his database.
After the demo i went back to the lab and finished working on the functionality so that the tables had all of the days displaying as in the demo i had only managed to get one day working.
After this it was time to go for some food which was nice as 1. i got a lift to my mates and 2. i got dominos. Then it was back to uni and going back into uni at 8pm is never something i want to do. the night ahead was set aside to integrate to the website and have my feature implemented into the CSS. thankfully as everyone was still working on their features there was no new versions of the site coming out so i could work away without having to copy my code into new folders every 15mins like others have previously had to do.
By the time it hit midnight and i was still trying to implment the CSS into my code whist also helping out other people with problems as there was only a handful of people left. After asking people for help with this i was told that i needed to have the correct div tags within my code which lead to me learning what div tags where as i hadnt previously been told about this although appearntly there was emails about it which probably should have been made abit more important.
Then after i actually managed to get the timetable on to the site it was quite late in the night/early in the morning when i started to look at the sessions that i needed to implement in to the feature but from the tutorial that was sent out by sam i wasnt able to work out what was to be done to only show the timetable according the correct user in relation to year and course they are on. with not being able to work it out with the tutorial and the notes that where available from the php book that we where given, i felt that it would be best to leave it until the rest of the cohort was in and would be able to provide help.
With making this decision made i felt it would be best to go home and shower to feel refreshed for the next day, so i began my hour long walk home at 5.45am!
We started with a meeting to see if anyone had bothered to come to uni and waste their Easter Monday developing their feature , of which i did but didnt get to far as i was trying to see what i could get done of my business whilst also working out how i was going about my feature and the actual design of it which had changed since i had finished my documentation.
After editing the temp database that i had made for my feature on Monday to meet the one's that where being used in the website i was stuck on getting the information that i had added manually to my database to the table that i created. after help from steve as he had done something similar with his feature i had it working to an extent but the tables where duplicating so the timetable was looking abit of a mess. after sorting out the way that the loops worked and the layout of the tables it was time for the demo's but just before we demo'd myself and paul managed to link our features together and i was able to output the information that paul added to his database.
After the demo i went back to the lab and finished working on the functionality so that the tables had all of the days displaying as in the demo i had only managed to get one day working.
After this it was time to go for some food which was nice as 1. i got a lift to my mates and 2. i got dominos. Then it was back to uni and going back into uni at 8pm is never something i want to do. the night ahead was set aside to integrate to the website and have my feature implemented into the CSS. thankfully as everyone was still working on their features there was no new versions of the site coming out so i could work away without having to copy my code into new folders every 15mins like others have previously had to do.
By the time it hit midnight and i was still trying to implment the CSS into my code whist also helping out other people with problems as there was only a handful of people left. After asking people for help with this i was told that i needed to have the correct div tags within my code which lead to me learning what div tags where as i hadnt previously been told about this although appearntly there was emails about it which probably should have been made abit more important.
Then after i actually managed to get the timetable on to the site it was quite late in the night/early in the morning when i started to look at the sessions that i needed to implement in to the feature but from the tutorial that was sent out by sam i wasnt able to work out what was to be done to only show the timetable according the correct user in relation to year and course they are on. with not being able to work it out with the tutorial and the notes that where available from the php book that we where given, i felt that it would be best to leave it until the rest of the cohort was in and would be able to provide help.
With making this decision made i felt it would be best to go home and shower to feel refreshed for the next day, so i began my hour long walk home at 5.45am!
Thursday 20th March
Although today was demo day we still started with morning meeting and we done the norm of checking progression. Also after the criticsm of the website not being a website yesturday we felt that we needed to get the mini features added and there was also the suggestion of the CSS being changed as it looked 'childish', so this was to be implmented in time for the beginning of week 3.
With the demo being done at 3 there was alot of work to be done to get the website looking respectable to show the lecturers. so after the meeting it was to the labs to provide help to the developers but it was mainly down to the integration team so that they could get the features uploaded to the website and make sure that everyone was working off the correct version of the website.
After the demo of the site which personally i felt seemed alright although not everything was there to display, we decided on the management teams for the upcoming week as managers this week where developing features and things where due a change. With developing a feature this week i had no input into this.
Final thoughts on the week are that i yet again feel that i should have got more invloved with the management side of the project although i dnt feel i would have benefited or made to much of a contribution but thats beside the point, it lead to me having a quite and outside role which i didnt want to have.
With the demo being done at 3 there was alot of work to be done to get the website looking respectable to show the lecturers. so after the meeting it was to the labs to provide help to the developers but it was mainly down to the integration team so that they could get the features uploaded to the website and make sure that everyone was working off the correct version of the website.
After the demo of the site which personally i felt seemed alright although not everything was there to display, we decided on the management teams for the upcoming week as managers this week where developing features and things where due a change. With developing a feature this week i had no input into this.
Final thoughts on the week are that i yet again feel that i should have got more invloved with the management side of the project although i dnt feel i would have benefited or made to much of a contribution but thats beside the point, it lead to me having a quite and outside role which i didnt want to have.
Wednesday 19th March
As usual we started with our daily meeting and discussed progress, but as we had been cut short this week with Good Friday we were put under more pressure than last week as we had to lock the website by thursday at 4 rather than going over the week in week one.
As the main problems with the demo's yesturday where relating to the integration of the features to the main website, i spent the morning trying to understand how the implementation of the CSS was done to add features and using the most up to date version of the website as previously this didnt concern me too much as i was helping correct functionality of code . The understanding didnt go as according to plan as without having a feature to work with and try and test what i had been given in the presentation emailed out, although i did feel that i understood the basics to it.
As the main problems with the demo's yesturday where relating to the integration of the features to the main website, i spent the morning trying to understand how the implementation of the CSS was done to add features and using the most up to date version of the website as previously this didnt concern me too much as i was helping correct functionality of code . The understanding didnt go as according to plan as without having a feature to work with and try and test what i had been given in the presentation emailed out, although i did feel that i understood the basics to it.
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Monday 17th March
After a relaxing but poor weekend in sport, we started the 2nd week with the new features starting to be developed and the final touches being made to the 1st week features.
With my role staying the same for the week I was in the labs after the morning meeting and helping people when help was needed. Then seeing as it was Paddy's day i went for an early pint. may as well keep up the stereotype of the Irish.
After bite to eat i was helping Steve with his feature on making comment boxes on the photos that get uploaded as i had been looking at some of the scripts for something similar last week.
We then had another meeting in which we had a progress update and found out who required help with their feature but hadn't mentioned in the labs.
A following meeting at 5 was when we took up the idea of developing mini features so that the website has abit more functionality and look more like a website, and with this i got the exciting task of finding the term dates.
Overall with the day i found it was more productive than last week as i was able to help people with php rather than not being able to help with the integration at the end of last week.
With my role staying the same for the week I was in the labs after the morning meeting and helping people when help was needed. Then seeing as it was Paddy's day i went for an early pint. may as well keep up the stereotype of the Irish.
After bite to eat i was helping Steve with his feature on making comment boxes on the photos that get uploaded as i had been looking at some of the scripts for something similar last week.
We then had another meeting in which we had a progress update and found out who required help with their feature but hadn't mentioned in the labs.
A following meeting at 5 was when we took up the idea of developing mini features so that the website has abit more functionality and look more like a website, and with this i got the exciting task of finding the term dates.
Overall with the day i found it was more productive than last week as i was able to help people with php rather than not being able to help with the integration at the end of last week.
Tuesday 18th March
Today started off the same as every other day with our cohort meeting which got through the same points as the previous days, on who had done what, what needed to be done and by when.
With keeping on the role of being a helper for the feature developers i was in and around the 2 main developing labs helping people with any problems that they came up with, and provided them with the assistance that i was capable of and the errors that i was unable to solve i researched on the web while the developers got on with other aspects of their features. i often found that this was abit of a pointless task in going of to research the errors as when i would find an answer to their problem the programmer would have done the smart thing and found someone that knew more about the problem and already got past the error. an upside of this was that if i came to the problem with my feature i would know the way around it.
today was also the demo of the functionality of the features that had been developed so far. as per usual the features were working as expected but seeing as they where just being shown as white boxes Mr McKearney wasn't to impressed. So this was something that would concern me as i would have to help the developers sort this and develop into their code and lead to an eventful day tomorrow.
With keeping on the role of being a helper for the feature developers i was in and around the 2 main developing labs helping people with any problems that they came up with, and provided them with the assistance that i was capable of and the errors that i was unable to solve i researched on the web while the developers got on with other aspects of their features. i often found that this was abit of a pointless task in going of to research the errors as when i would find an answer to their problem the programmer would have done the smart thing and found someone that knew more about the problem and already got past the error. an upside of this was that if i came to the problem with my feature i would know the way around it.
today was also the demo of the functionality of the features that had been developed so far. as per usual the features were working as expected but seeing as they where just being shown as white boxes Mr McKearney wasn't to impressed. So this was something that would concern me as i would have to help the developers sort this and develop into their code and lead to an eventful day tomorrow.
Monday, 17 March 2008
Friday 14th March
Today we started with a meeting to talk about the demonstration and how it was going to be run.
Seeing as I wasn't developing my feature this week today didn't deal me with any stress as it had been left to the website integration to get the features on to the site.
After the demo of the website we then had another meeting to discuss the upcoming week, relating to the features and who will become the leaders of each development group.
With the week as a whole i feel that my role as a helper was worthwhile on the first 2 days when people were focusing their feature and working with php but when it came to them integrating it and using functions for the database i wasnt able to help anyone with this, leading to my role not doing that much.
Seeing as I wasn't developing my feature this week today didn't deal me with any stress as it had been left to the website integration to get the features on to the site.
After the demo of the website we then had another meeting to discuss the upcoming week, relating to the features and who will become the leaders of each development group.
With the week as a whole i feel that my role as a helper was worthwhile on the first 2 days when people were focusing their feature and working with php but when it came to them integrating it and using functions for the database i wasnt able to help anyone with this, leading to my role not doing that much.
Friday, 14 March 2008
Thursday 13th March
Today we started with a meeting in 334 and discussed the situation of the project and what had to be completed by the end of the day.
Throughout the day I was checking if people needed any help with the development of their feature but at this stage of the week it was all down to the integration of their features to the site so they were all working with the website team. With this i spent some time looking at my own feature on how i would develop it and thought through it in more detail. Also with my day I looked on placements for a bit and also looked at the Business Context assignment.
Then we had the afternoon meeting where we discussed how close to completion everyone was and the areas that needed work on and again it was work through the integration and database.
Throughout the day I was checking if people needed any help with the development of their feature but at this stage of the week it was all down to the integration of their features to the site so they were all working with the website team. With this i spent some time looking at my own feature on how i would develop it and thought through it in more detail. Also with my day I looked on placements for a bit and also looked at the Business Context assignment.
Then we had the afternoon meeting where we discussed how close to completion everyone was and the areas that needed work on and again it was work through the integration and database.
Wednesday 12th March
Having turned up unexpectedly early I sat in on the project managers meeting and learned what was happening with the upcoming day and where we had progressed to from the previous day. Then on to the cohort meeting where we discussed the previous day and what point everyone was at and decided on the logo.
Then up until the afternoon meeting i was going around the rooms seeing if people needed any help with their features but the majority of people had already finished the main php and coding so the stuff that i was working on was being focused upon by the specific areas such as database and website integration.
In the afternoon meeting we found out that the process of the feature to the database could be done alot easier by adding functions but again with this concering the database team I also didnt get involved with this, whether it was down to myself getting involved or database team working within themselves.
With the day as a whole i feel that i was a bit out of place as when i asked people to help i got a bad response but seeing as im not apart of a group it can be expected.
Then up until the afternoon meeting i was going around the rooms seeing if people needed any help with their features but the majority of people had already finished the main php and coding so the stuff that i was working on was being focused upon by the specific areas such as database and website integration.
In the afternoon meeting we found out that the process of the feature to the database could be done alot easier by adding functions but again with this concering the database team I also didnt get involved with this, whether it was down to myself getting involved or database team working within themselves.
With the day as a whole i feel that i was a bit out of place as when i asked people to help i got a bad response but seeing as im not apart of a group it can be expected.
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Tuesday 11th March
After having stayed later than planned on Monday, it was back to trying to fix the same problem than before but yet we still couldn't add a placement to the database through Adam's code. Although after a lot of comparing of code and help from Sam, he managed to get that working.
Throughout the rest of the day i was helping others with errors on coding but mainly with Jason and trying to get the forgotten password code to work but to no avail.
With my role of the week to provide help to people on features I feel that I don't know enough of the coding to be able to help that much but i feel that this is a benefit to me as it means that i have to then search for how the errors need to be fixed and this will develop my knowledge on php and the other areas that are used within the features. It also helps me learn more about other peoples features and how the website is going to work, also it will help me when I come to create my feature in the 3rd week as i should have came across many of the errors that people have encountered.
Throughout the rest of the day i was helping others with errors on coding but mainly with Jason and trying to get the forgotten password code to work but to no avail.
With my role of the week to provide help to people on features I feel that I don't know enough of the coding to be able to help that much but i feel that this is a benefit to me as it means that i have to then search for how the errors need to be fixed and this will develop my knowledge on php and the other areas that are used within the features. It also helps me learn more about other peoples features and how the website is going to work, also it will help me when I come to create my feature in the 3rd week as i should have came across many of the errors that people have encountered.
Monday, 10 March 2008
First point of the day was to define the attributes for the relation that we would need for the timetable in the database. The attributes where defined by Paul and myself and emailed them to Anton to help with the development of the database.
Following this I helped others with the use of Php and Ftp. I feel that I was able to provide sufficient help with the errors people came across but there were also others that I needed to read up on which has also helped me as I may also come across these errors.
With the meeting that we had at 3 o'clock I gained a broader knowledge of what was happening with the development of each feature as I still found it a bit vague previously.
Following this I helped others with the use of Php and Ftp. I feel that I was able to provide sufficient help with the errors people came across but there were also others that I needed to read up on which has also helped me as I may also come across these errors.
With the meeting that we had at 3 o'clock I gained a broader knowledge of what was happening with the development of each feature as I still found it a bit vague previously.
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