About Me
Hello! My name is Thomas Porter. I work with small businesses to provide simple programming solutions. I am currently employed full time in sales but I really enjoy coding in my free time!
I am 30 years old and I have been interested in computers and coding since before I can remember. I grew up in a family of computer guys (my grandfather worked on ENIAC) Before I was 10 my father helped me write my first program in BASIC. A short time after that I created my first HTML web page in Microsoft Word complete with Word Art, clip art, and tables. At 12 I built my first PC (also with help from dad) with custom case, AMD processer, LED lights, and Windows 2000. It wasn't long before I learned about Macromedia Dreamweaver and started expirimenting on my own.
In middle school when we were required to buy a Texas Instruments TI-83 (Mine was Plus Silver Edition) calculator for math class, I was excited to find out it was capable of programming. I promptly created formula applications on it for geometry class to easily calculate area, volume, etc... I also got caught playing games on it instead of doing my school work sometimes!
I created my first full functioning public website a year or two later. It was a site where people could download classic arcade games. I used html and PHP to make dynamic links to all the game files. In high school I got in trouble for making an "underground" website that I told all my friends about. It showed novice computer users how to get around the school website blocker using proxies. The school would constantly block the proxy address so I was always searching for and adding more to my database. It also had a PHP/MySQL message board for all the students to talk about school. I was pulled out of class by a school resource office and told to take it down or I would be expelled!!
I have read several books on different programming languages throughout the years while working in retail. I have made several small test applications and websites but I currently only have two ongoing projects. (see below) I have done all aspects of my projects alone but I am willing to collaberate on larger projects.
Portfolio
Web Project: School field trip reservation system for Page Farms of Raleigh
Created to specs provided by Farmer Page & Family
Tools used to create: HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL Database
Features:
- Ability for teachers to make reservations online automatically sending a confirmation email to farmer
- Ability for teachers to opt to make a password to be able to make changes to reservation later
- Popup Calender day/time selection page for ease of date selection when making a reservation
- Admin controls on how many poeple total can have resevations in 30 min time blocks
- Admin daily report page to view all reservations by day in order of time with totals for each day
- Public Calender page showing all schools coming to farm
- Admin Kid Count Calender page for quick refernce of reservation loads
Web/On Site Project: Customer Portal Website for my employer Durham Polaris (seperate from main website)
Created without prompt just to make my daily job easier
Tools used to create: HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, MySQL Database
Features:
- Automatic backup data from in store point of sale software (old DOS software) to web server everyday
- Converts column delimited text data from backup and stores in MySQL database
- Allows customer to log in and view previous invoices, work order information, etc online
- Automatic invoice emailer that sends invoice copies to customers who elect to receive them.
More to come...
