I'm an IT Manager based in the UK, undertake freelance web projects, mountain sports and am a husband & a father. Here I blog about web apps, all things Apple & life in general. I also highlight my posts & status updates from around the web.
After months of work, on and off, we can finally announce the launch of the new look Mountaindays!
New look mountaindays.net
I created this website over six years and it now attracts in excess of 50 thousand visitors a month. To try and keep up with the demand for reviews of books and other climbing related kit, I decided to implement the site in a content management system. This would also allow me to implement some additional dynamic functionality such as a membership and commenting scheme. Plus it also needed a new look and feel made using schematic HTML.
After much trawling around and a few false starts I settled on ExpressionEngine. This is a php based content management system build around a blogging metaphor but with a large user group. There is a free version available for individual use, I decided to purchase the personal edition, mainly to make use of some of the additional features available such as the photo gallery.
As with all new software and development environments it took some getting used to but I have to say I am very impressed with what can be acheived and the new version of ExpressionEngine looks very promising indeed. In terms of the Mountaindays rewrite, well the new design and template creation was the simple task. As with all projects of this sort, the migration of the existing content was the real time consuming job, especially seeing as the bulk of the pages were static and used table…
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Hi, my name is Giles Thurston and this is my personal site.
I'm based in Ely, the second smallest city in the UK just north of Cambridge. I have over 15 years commercial software development experience, spending the first few years as an application developer before moving into web development and consultancy. I've led teams, managed multi million pound contracts and have a number of years of business development experience. My day job these days tends to focus on IT management and in particular Business Development but I keep my hand in by undertaking personal web development and design projects.
In 2008, after 16 years using Windows based PC's, I made the switch to a Mac and boy was it worth it! Although I continue to use PC's on a day to day basis, my personal preference is always to go with Apple products and I hope to blog about my experiences as a switcher here on this site, with various hints and tips which may be of use to anybody following me over the fence from Windows
Away from software development and technology, I am a husband to Leanne and father to Arlo James, who joined our family in April 2009. I'm a keen sportsman and enjoy a variety of mountain sports, including mountaineering, climbing (rock & ice) and mountain biking. I've recently got back into running and am hoping to do my first triathlon in 2010.
On this site I hope to blog about web apps, all things Apple & life in general. I also highlight my various posts, links & latest twitter updates from around the web.
Feel free to get in touch and give me your feedback on the site. You can contact me directly through twitter or the other networks I use regularly, links to which you will find below. Alternatively feel free to join the discussion and comment on my blog posts, all contributions are welcome!
You will find me across the web, using many of the latest social media and community sites. Some of these accounts are now dormant, however the following are those that I keep returning and using in day to day life. Feel free to connect with me through these sites.
I got the Mac Heist bundle. 7 awesome Mac apps worth $260+ for only $19.95 and got 3 sweet bonus apps free! http://bit.ly/heist-it
I have officially reached Inbox Zero on my work email account, first time in six months. Dead chuffed, now just to ensure it stays that way!
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