Improving your workflow (EECI EU 2012)

We probably all hate doing the same processes over, and over again. This will show you how to cut on those time consuming tasks by improving your workflow. "Investing in the future" is the message.

Transcript

1. Improving your workflow.
2. Hi, I’m Filip. You can find me on twitter @Filipvds. I work for @GlueWebdesign and I build add-ons for @ee_zoo.
3. #1 Time flies.
4. Does anyone know of an add-on that will add more hours to each work day? — @jacobgraf (Graf Technology, LLC) - Appleton, Wisconsin “
5. The facts. When I retire, I will have worked more than 80.000 hours. 22% of your online time is spent on social media. The average employee finished the unpaid days on february 24. In times of economic crisis we have to work harder with limited resources and budgets.
6. Taking care of personal planning, sports, health and... the internet.
7. The internet is the biggest time waster invented. Cut instant communication like e-mail, twitter, IM, telephone... Block distracting websites. Look up the cool stuff when you finished work.
8. Prepare your work well. Use protected time for unexpected work. Make lists and a planning. Create a positive working environment. Create your own environmental noise using headphones.
9. What else worked for me: Picking the low hanging fruit. Unitasking helps focussing. Being healthy.
10. Keep calm and carry on. — Ministry of Information, British Government, 1939 “
11. #2 Supercharge EE.
12. Using a base install.
13. Advantages of using a base install. Stop wasting time on clean installs. No more clutter from copy / pasting existing installs. Everything is included from the start. Lowers the risk of human errors. It’s under version control.
14. What should be in it? Latest stable build of ExpressionEngine without the clutter. Predefined members and groups. Generic master config. Common used templates, snippets and global variables.
15. What about the database? Keep it version controlled. Use a sql file. Commit a new version with every change.
16. How do we use it? Keeping our ExpressionEngine & add-ons up to date. Only install the add-ons we always use. Test changes before committing.
17. Using deploys.
18. Why should I use deploys? Less mistakes, more progress. Never mess with an FTP client again. Use a development and production environment. Keep your team up to date with notifications on each deploy. Keep your servers more secure.
19. Webapps offer automatic deploys. Many other solutions for GitHub. Set up multiple servers. How to deploy? Automatic or manual?
20. Endless asset possibilities with webhooks. Compile your SASS / Less server side. Unify and compress your JavaScript. Have your images optimized with Smush.it
21. Endless code possibilities with webhooks. Some even run code tests to block deploy when tests fail. Checking file permissions. Cleaning up the caches (ExpressionEngine, Varnish, CE Cache ...)
22. Automated setups.
23. Done in 60 seconds: Development & Production environment. Git repository & deployment settings. Base install cloned to repository. Team notifications.
24. Create the robot of your choice. Build a custom application (CodeIgniter) or app. Make it accessible for your team. (Interface, Hubot ...) Let it complete fit your needs...
25. What we build in CodeIgniter. Set up the environments on our cloud with Curl. We create a new repository using the Beanstalk API. A bash script is setting up the git branches. Automatic deploys are set up using the Beanstalk API. Base install is cloned into the new repository.
26. #3 My toolkit.
27. Don’t reinvent the wheel, dig the goldmines. Often very well documented. Save development costs and time. Great services have great API’s. Easy to integrate in EE.
28. My weapons of choice.
29. User Guide is your best friend. ExpressionEngine resources. 1.520 ways to extend EE. EE Podcast for great discussions. EE Hub grouped several EE news feeds. CI User Guide nice coding reference.
30. Books Learning ExpressionEngine. Videos On-demand training Workshops There’s more...
31. The best code editor does not exist. Coding like a boss. A lot of great text editors. An IDE can even do more. You can use both.
32. Webapp vs native app. Managing your database. SequelPro is great free client. Coda 2 has a similar one built in.
33. Going further and beyond.
34. Better searches with a full-text search engine. Communicate with a RESTful interface. Let you easily create facet filtering and advanced searches. Solr & elasticsearch are made for indexing a lot of data.
35. Improve performance with caching. Need more? Go with CE Cache or Varnish. Start with built-in ExpressionEngine caching. Caching let you save money on resources.
36. #4 Make your own way.
37. Keep your clients happy.
38. Don’t forget to communicate. Plan meetings carefully. Communicate often. Be honest. Always have a Plan B.
39. Use the right service providers. Go for long-term and close cooperation. Save you time and money. They must have a Plan B. Stick with your core business.
40. Track your running costs. Check performance. Reduce resource usage. Don’t forget annual invoicing.
41. What about your workflow. Don’t change your workflow continuously, but polish it slightly. Every situation is unique. Share experiences.
42. Invest in people. Be fair and reward hard work and success. Control work hours. Recruit the right people on the right moment.
43. Change is hard. It takes failure to succeed.
44. Use WELOVEEECI on devot:ee to get 50%.
45. I’m available for questions in the lounge. Slides will be available on Speaker Deck.
46. Thank you for listening. Slides will be available on Speaker Deck.