This will be a game changer. Coming (really) soon.

New Media Campaigns’ forthcoming content management platform. Makin’ PROGRESS!

I am applying the finishing touches on the next RapidSearch update. Several of my RapidSearch customers have reported a drastic reduction in results returned by RapidSearch (via Google). This appears to be caused by an issue on Google’s end.

This RapidSearch update will be released very soon (I promise!), and it will give you drastically improved control over your website’s search results. Stay tuned!

I love jQuery. I use it in most of the projects I work on. Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve learned that you can add to your jQuery skill set.

I’m wrapping up development on the HiFi theme editor, built with Javascript and Mozilla Labs’ Bespin. Full-blown code editor with syntax highlighting and tabbed editing.

I’ve started a Tumblr blog! I’ll be posting my new articles on Tumblr from now on. If you already subscribe to my existing RSS feed, my Tumblr posts should automatically start appearing in your feed reader in a few hours. Otherwise, you can subscribe to my Tumblr posts at [http://feeds.feedburner.com/joshlockhart/tumblr].

As described in my recent post, New Beginnings, I’ll be focusing less on RapidWeaver and more on emerging web technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript. I’ll be posting about what I learn, projects I am working on at New Media Campaigns, and other thoughts about the web in general.

I’ve just launched my own custom Tumblr theme. I hand-crafted this Tumblr theme in TextMate using HTML5 and CSS3. I wanted a clean, simple theme written using semantic HTML5 markup. The markup and CSS should degrade gracefully in Internet Explorer (although I haven’t tested it just yet).

I hope to soon convert this Tumblr theme into a responsive web design so that it adapts appropriately to various clients such as iOS and Android mobile devices. Let me know what you think!

I’ve enjoyed calling myself a RapidWeaver theme developer since RapidWeaver was only a little-known fledgling application. However, my participation in the RapidWeaver community has diminished significantly over the past two years.

I’ve been working (quite happily) with New Media Campaigns (NMC) as a Lead Developer and in-house web standards evangelist for the past two years. At NMC I have the fortunate opportunity to work on many different types of projects that let me constantly expand my web development knowledge and skill set of HTML, CSS, Javascript, Ruby, and other exciting emerging technologies. When time allows (ie. not that often), I also freelance for clients of my own.

To be perfectly honest, my interest in RapidWeaver has waned as of late. I am no longer excited by the idea of creating a new RapidWeaver theme. Sales have tapered off. And I receive minimal return on investment for the time spent creating new themes. The theme market has become saturated, and I would rather spend my time experimenting with new and exciting web technologies or enjoying the free time that has otherwise proven so elusive.

What does this mean?

If you are a customer of mine, fear not. I intend to fully support my existing products. I also intend to update my existing products (soon I hope) so they provide at least minimal support for HTML5 and the latest features available in RapidWeaver 4.0. However, do not expect new themes for the foreseeable future. I don’t intend to completely withdraw from the RapidWeaver community; I’m only going on hiatus so to speak.

What next?

I don’t know. I recently read Jeremy Keith’s amazing HTML5 for Web Designers; it was a great read and inspired me to further explorer the intricacies of HTML. I’ve had little time to explore the latest advancements in CSS3, or new abstractions of CSS such as LESS or SASS.

I’ve recently enjoyed working on the Recess Framework for PHP with its creator, Kris Jordan, and on HiFi, the forthcoming totally awesome content management platform from New Media Campaigns. The future is wide open. And I intend to write about what I do, what I learn, and what I find interesting right here on this blog.

So subscribe and stay tuned. Exciting times are ahead!