Final Project Reflection

For my Final Project in NMIX 6010 Web Development, I decided to build a Professional Portfolio for my brother. Through an advance and in-depth approach, created a WordPress site for him.

Nap Hill is a private contracting Videographer, Photographer, and Editor who is based in Los Angeles, California. While he wears many hats, the main portion of his work consists of pitching, filming, and producing popular skits, photoshoots for models, and content for micro-influencers, influencers, and celebrities. A majority of Nap’s content can be found on his Instagram, his partner‘s Instagram, and influencer Adam Waheed’s Instagram. There is more content in other places, however, he was in need of a central hub where individuals can go to see the content he has produced.

The Project

This was what the home page, the introduction to what people would see first, used to look like. I had free rein on this project and originally wanted to have a title screen with a hero section that would slowly introduce a person to Nap Hill’s content. This was the start of my project and I spent a lot of time, in the beginning, figuring out what vibe I wanted the portfolio to present. As I consulted with Nap, I decided to delete this version of the home page because it wasn’t as impactful.

In the about section, I put a quick description of who Nap was, and a sentence below that encouraged people to reach out. While building up this page, I started using the Elementor plugin to organize this project. Using Elementor allowed for smoother workflow and content redesign, and I quickly learned that using it would reduce the time I spent working on a website exponentially. 

While using Elemtentor to build the about page, I struggled using plugins with Elementor because I was using the free version and it was my first time building a WordPress site using Elementor. By using tutorials, I learned how to integrate the contact form plugin seen in the image and other plugins as well

This was the home page version 2 where I wanted to make a more impactful experience on a site viewer by having Nap’s content readily available. In this, I utilized my previous experience with plugins and imported a “new social media slider” plugin that would show Nap’s Instagram feed, and would automatically update when he posted new content (whether a picture or video).

Below the social media slider, I  inserted photos that Nap took and laid them out in a grid format. This was another tedious process, and I wanted to find a better way to post his pictures.

This is the final home page, version 3, and I learned how to embed Instagram content into the Elementor editor WordPress site. After talking with Nap, I decided to keep the previous content on the page and add the embedded Instagram post on top of it. This would allow direct linkage and interaction with the content, as well as a content gallery just highlighting the photos themselves.

I also learned how to add and manipulate the directory menu while building this page. I enjoyed examples of portfolio websites that had a simple navigation bar and one that was centered. Because this final project is hosted on my domain as a trial run for Nap, I also decided to include my NMIX 6010 project directory at the top so people visiting this site that want to view my NMC portfolio can do so.

At the bottom of each page, I also learned how to input social links and decided to add not only his contact information in a simple icon, but also a “Hire Me!” button that would lead to the contact form on the about page.

On the video page, I used my previously learned skill of embedding Instagram posts to embed video content that he had produced but was on other influencers’ pages.

In Summary, I thoroughly enjoyed creating this WordPress sight for Nap. This project allowed me to glimpse what was possible when working with a client, where to set boundaries, how to present creative input in a project, how to manage to separate personal design interests from what a client wants, etc. After completing this project, I am much more confident in my ability to manage interactions with a client and in building personalized WordPress websites for people. Going forward, I will work with Nap to help manage maintenance on his portfolio, as well as update any future content that he wants to upload or rearrange. I will take the skills that I learned in this project and in this course and continue to polish my graphic & UX design, as well as my web development skills.