Nicholas Westby: Polymath Programmer
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Nicholas Westby: Polymath Programmer
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Nicholas Westby: Polymath Programmer

If you can dream it, I can build it.

Accuride

Nicholas Westby: Polymath Programmer
  • About/
  • Contact/
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As the lead developer, I built the backend of Accuride.com from scratch using the Umbraco 7 CMS and ASP.NET MVC. I also assisted heavily with the frontend (Sass, jQuery, Node.js, AngularJS). My journey to build this project included:

  • Interfaced with Accuride IT to ensure every page is served over HTTPS.
  • Created the CacheInvalidator for an self-maintaining cache that repopulates itself when changes are detected (e.g., when products are published).
  • Interfaced a custom web service with Google Maps to provide a location-based search of distributors of Accuride products.
  • Used Archetype to facilitate extremely customizable yet easy to use complex content compositions.
  • Submitted a pull request and implemented further customizations to improve performance of Archetype.
  • Videos intelligently extract screenshots from YouTube when the user does not provide one.
  • Bottom modules are created in a central repository and can be picked from any page. Some are intelligent and automatically incorporate information from the context they are used (allows for maximum reusability). As an example, the related products module displays products related to the current product and displays them along with the information defined on the module itself (header, links, and so on).
  • Imported hundreds of members from the legacy extranet, and hundreds of products using provided data as well as scraping the legacy site using a variety of data gathering and manipulation techniques (processing markup, transforming with regular expressions, and so on).
  • Optimized to the point that page requests take only a few dozen milliseconds of server processing time.
  • Build a custom search (the product selector) and integrated a product-centric auto-suggest for the main site search.
  • Built the entire site with internationalization in mind (to ease the potential later implementation of a multilingual site).
  • Built a custom Umbraco member dashboard to view and download extranet member information.
Accuride.com Homepage

Accuride.com Homepage

A sophisticated slideshow that shows progress, "slides" at an angle, and is fully customizable and responsive.

Accuride Product Page

Accuride Product Page

The top of the product page. Features a gallery (images and video) as well as an overview and related links and information. Can be printed or shared on social networks.

Accuride Product Details

Accuride Product Details

Product details, presented in an accordion. Load ratings are automatically converted to multiple units. Related products are shown at the bottom.

Accuride Bottom Modules

Accuride Bottom Modules

Most every page supports pickable "bottom modules" (three are shown here). Some feature an image with a description, some show a list of products, and some are a collection of buttons/links. All support an optional header text, header link, and header summary.

Accuride Extranet

Accuride Extranet

The extranet is a place where hundreds of member can log in to view resources appropriate for them. Permissions allow pages and downloads to be secured. Members can also manage (create, edit, delete) other members.

Accuride Forms (e.g., Literature Request)

Accuride Forms (e.g., Literature Request)

The literature request form is shown here. A graphic presentation of literature the user can select and a form to capture data so the literature can be mailed to him/her. Custom workflow steps are setup to email individuals who can process requests.

Accuride Distributor Locator

Accuride Distributor Locator

All distributors are searchable by region (state, province, country) or a free-form address, which is geocoded and used to search for nearby distributors in a pageable table. Users can filter by industry.

Complex Composable Rich Content

Complex Composable Rich Content

Content can be composed of arbitrarily complex combinations of rich text, infographics, tutorial steps, and videos. See Woodworking & Cabinetry or About Slides for an example.

Geographic Map of Locations

Geographic Map of Locations

The interactive homepage map shows Accuride's global presence.

Market Page

Market Page

Shows the page navigator (drop down in the top right) and inline video.

Product Selector

Product Selector

The product selector (aka, slide selector) shown to the right allows for intelligent filtering of product offerings. The categories to the left offer an alternative to instantly search for common categories.

Product Selector Results

Product Selector Results

Results are shown in a grid with images and important product attributes, as well as a form that allows for results to be refined.

Search Results

Search Results

Search results intelligently present information in a format appropriate to the type of page (e.g., product pages use a thumbnail of the product, whereas other pages use a header image).

Accuride Extranet Member Dashboard

Accuride Extranet Member Dashboard

I built this custom Umbraco member dashboard to help the client better manage hundreds of extranet members. Includes a button to download the list in CSV format.

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Accuride.com Homepage
Accuride Product Page
Accuride Product Details
Accuride Bottom Modules
Accuride Extranet
Accuride Forms (e.g., Literature Request)
Accuride Distributor Locator
Complex Composable Rich Content
Geographic Map of Locations
Market Page
Product Selector
Product Selector Results
Search Results
Accuride Extranet Member Dashboard

© 2018 Nicholas Westby