Pete Montaldi

Montaldi Internet Development

Design Philosophy

On the content side, I believe that websites should be the definitive sources of information about the businesses, organizations, and people that they represent. More information is better than less information.

On the technical side, as a web project leader, I now develop all websites to successfully validate as XHTML 1.0 Transitional - I am a fan of web standards. I try to design with ease of maintenance in mind, and to develop applications that allow those without technical skills (ie. non-webmasters) to update site content. I try to avoid the use of technology for technology's sake. I like pages that load quickly, even on dial-up connections. I think that simplicity in web design is desirable.

In general, I like to view the web as a medium that is all about questions and answers. Before beginning any project it is important to me to know as many of the questions as possible, because I see the finished project - the website - as the means of delivering the answers.

Technical Skills

* DHTML (Dynamic HTML) is the coordinated use of XHTML/HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to manipulate the Document Object Model.

Current Portfolio

www.turchincenter.org
The official site of the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, turchincenter.org employs PHP throughout with heavy use of MySQL. Of note, the dynamic PHP/MySQL calendar is cross-referenced with exhibitions to provide crosslinks from exhibitions to associated events, and vice versa. Promotional banners found at different points through the site are spooled using PHP/MySQL. Most maintenance for exhibitions, events, news articles, and media resources is accomplished through administrative routines using PHP/MySQL. The intent is to maximize the amount of content management that can be undertaken by people with little or no technical knowledge of the web - ie. most maintenance does not need the involvement of a webmaster. turchincenter.org makes use of XHTML, CSS, PHP, and MySQL. Art direction by Montaldi.
www.rosensculpture.org
The official site of the Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition & Exhibition, rosensculpture.org employs PHP throughout with heavy use of MySQL. The heart of the site is the Archives, which are completely PHP/MySQL driven utilizing multiple tables and cross-references, allowing for artist listings, exhibition listings, and entry searching. Most maintenance is accomplished through administrative routines using PHP/MySQL. A feature added in 2006 was online management for competition participants. Upon successful registration, participants received individual access to allow them to enter extended registration information, personal information, and upload images of their work. Substantial time savings were realized from previous years throughout the registration process, as well as receiving encouraging comments from many participating artists. Preliminary plans for 2007 include expanding the process to the juror to allow him/her to view all artist information, including images, online. rosensculpture.org makes use of XHTML, CSS, PHP, and MySQL. Art direction by Montaldi.
www.appsummer.org
The official site of An Appalachian Summer Festival, appsummer.org is a traditional low-tech site employing PHP throughout, but MySQL only for the spooling of news articles. As the actual appsummer season is only one month long, the calendar is static rather than dynamic. Cookies make an appearance on appsummer.org to direct traffic from some outside sources to specific internal pages. appsummer.org makes use of XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and is XHTML 1.0 Transitional compliant. Art direction by Montaldi.
pas.appstate.edu
The official site of the Performing Arts Series, pas.appstate.edu is a traditional low-tech site employing PHP throughout, but MySQL only for the spooling of events. The calendar, which is shared with oca.appstate.edu is very simple and simply spools events names, dates, and links to static event pages. appsummer.org makes use of XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and is XHTML 1.0 Transitional compliant. Art direction by Montaldi.
oca.appstate.edu
The catch-all site for the Appalachian State University Office of Arts & Cultural Programs, this site mainly distributes traffic to other sites in the OACP family. PHP is used throughout the site. Incorporated here are a general calendar employing MySQL for OACP related events, some drawn dynamically from other OACP sites and their related MySQL tables; a general news page incorporating features identical to the calendar mentioned previously; the main home of the OACP Mailing List, a PHP/MySQL application; and general contact information. oca.appstate.edu makes use of XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and is XHTML 1.0 Transitional compliant. Art direction by Montaldi.
www.hayescenter.org
The official website of the Mariam & Robert Hayes Performing Arts Center in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, this site employs PHP throughout with heavy use of MySQL. Very similar in design to turchincenter.org, this site uses a complicated grid-style PHP/MySQL calendar to accommodate multiple occurences of essentially singular informational blocks - ie. one show with multiple performances. Extensive use of PHP/MySQL applications is made in multiple situations to encourage maintenance by those with little or no technical knowledge of the web. Events, news articles, press releases, and photo galleries are all maintained through administrative routines utilizing PHP/MySQL. Cookies are used on hayescenter.org to direct traffic in compliance with an existing public performance license. hayescenter.org makes use of XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and is XHTML 1.0 Transitional compliant. Art direction by Montaldi.
www.blowingrockmuseum.org
The official website of the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, this site was produced in conjunction with The Meridian Agency. This site employs PHP throughout, with moderate use of MySQL for spooling events, news articles, newsletters, and historical documents. Future plans include an archive of the museum's permanent collection, including artist information, descriptive text, and images. blowingrockmuseum.org makes use of XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and is XHTML 1.0 Transitional compliant. Art direction by The Meridian Agency.
www.blowingrock.com
As part of the official website of both the Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority and the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce, I was asked to develop several PHP/MySQL applications including procedures for information interchange between MySQL tables on the webserver and a database used internally by the Chamber. One procedure involves an upload of information from an ACT database on the client side to MySQL tables on the server side. Another application involves a download of visitor-entered information from a MySQL table on the server side to an ACT database on the client side. The goal of both of these procedures was to streamline data entry activities, and to preserve informational integrity by eliminating multiple updates.
members.ncpresenters.org
As part of the official website of the North Carolina Presenters Consortium, I was asked to create a members area where NCPC members could maintain their registration information and reference documents posted in a members-only library. This subsite uses PHP throughout, with heavy use of MySQL. Of note is the management of users in a password-based environment with restricted access to features based on the users' identities and privilege levels. Usernames and passwords are maintained individually with crossover features employed for master users - ie. a master user may update all information, a member user is restricted to his/her own member information.
www.highcountryparkway.com/vacations
As part of the official website family for the North Carolina High Country Host in Boone, North Carolina, I was asked to help program a shopping cart application to facilitate vacation planning in the region. Participating lodging partners, restaurants, attractions, etc. could present their products and services as part of a 'menu' from which a user could pick and choose, compiling a custom vacation package. This subsite uses PHP throughout with heavy use of MySQL.

Academic History

Employment History

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