Spots Kenya – Timothy West

Spots Kenya Rough Design

By adminSpots KenyaNo Comments

Here we have a simple splash together of a design that i did in Illustrator. I have never used illustrator properly so this is one of my first times with it..

What i want to do is to keep things simple but quite artistic and quite textural…
I intend to use charcoal and pastels to draw up my textures and then scan them in and use them as the main borders and Header and footer sections

I am still working on the Spots Kenya Logo at the top likewise with the visual side of the paw prints..

I know its really rough but its just, as mark said, done from the eye. I will then tweak and make sure that it flows better in the css and web design part.

You can click on the link below to open it up in Light box

So if people could let me know if they like the design in general…

– if it will work in CSS?

– not a white background?

– Any other thoughts tips trick and crits??

03/02/2009

SpotsKenya – Buddy Press & WordPress MU Vs WordPress OR From Scratch?

By adminCoding, Spots KenyaOne Comment

Basically i am not sure what i want to use a separate installation of wpmu and wordpress…

benifits well these are simple..

————–

WordPress

for

more stable and easier to use. plugins and code is simple.

themes and design is simple.

editing and making my own theme is simple.

against

having two set up mean they are not nicely integrated

i will be working double time on each installation

it will just be a blog really.

———–

Wordpress MU & Buddy Press

for

the ability to have multiple users

an already set up social networking system

less work and more time to work on Geo Tags and Mobile functions.

easy integrated design

theme design can have a widget enabled system to syndicate all sorts of content.

against

DNS wildcard settings means no sub-domain creation on a shared hosting package… (could be over come with VPS but i dont have the budget for a VPS)

Code and already created php would have to be learnt (not such a bad thing as learning will give me the best of the best in this field) more complex coding.

limited to what wordpress can do and buddy press ( Just means i can add and develop my own settings)

————-

From Scratch I rather not…

Basically no i don’t want to waste all my time creating a CMS and social networking system as i want to focus on the main important aspects like the Spots and the Geo tagging and google maps integration and the Mobile site.

The questions that came out in my presentation were i cant just create an editorial blog that i spend all my time censoring and editing… i have to create something new and innovative that i am designing as i wont get marks for using wordpress MU except for “engaging with current issues” so what was recommended was exploring the new areas and utilising those and that is what i want to invest time in and on..

These new areas are the use of Geo Tags and locations services using pin point gps tags and the google maps API … I want to integrate this by using the similar system that google use on there maps.google.com site or what Joe Flintham used for bournemouth sound seeing. So help in creating this type if php and mysql integration for google maps is needed.

As Kenya has a huge mobile network i want to explore and develop a simple mobile site that allows for spots to be submitted and spots to be searched for.. I want this to have a simple search feature a add spot and top spots by genre and location. Probably using a mobile optimised site eg m.spotskenya.com with nice lard text tabs and also the possibility on how to use a text message service.

I also need to make sure i focus on a few key types of spots here in Nairobi. One definite will be eating or restaurant spots. The other may be hotel spots or maybe hospitals.

The main thing i am worried about is not having something set up and ready to go. This is why i want to launch buddy press quickly with spots Kenya to at least start getting people creating there own spots.. and to be honest i think generally people are sensible which means i wont have to worry about filtering and censoring content until it gets big and people do start creating silly stuff.

I would appreciate some feed back on all of this thanks so much.

https://trcwest.com/blog/baimp/spots-kenya-project-synopsis/

above is an old post that has a bit of a synopsis of the idea.

27/12/2008

The new WordPress 2.7.. woop…

By adminCool Things, Design, Spots KenyaNo Comments

I am so excited about the new wordpress 2.7 i am now a fully fledged wordpress geek and lover of the whole platform and don’t care what anyone else says but it is probably one of the best blogging and potentially one of the most powerful CMS structures available.. I am just as we speak downloading the new 2.7 release and can wait to get her kick started…

check out this video of what its all about..

I also cant wait to start integrating the socail aspects of it and linking it in with buddy press for the purpose of getting spotskenya run by it..

what do people think do you like it or not..

12/12/2008

Spots Kenya Project Synopsis

By adminBAIMP, Spots KenyaNo Comments

Spots Kenya is a holistic response to any place or location based in Kenya. The notion of a “Spot” shall be based on a circumscribed area or allocated location.

There will be two levels of spots. That of the general location for example a shopping centre and then the exact spots defined within that area. Tags and categories will be able to be created in these spots to identify and create a large network of regions. An example of this is simply having Hotel spots or Eating spots as a tag this will be separated by location categories such as Nairobi this will then be categorised filtered accordingly

The application of this is to provide simple information and resources about different spots and allow users and businesses to interact through the social website.

Kenya is expanding and developing country that has incredible opportunities in the realm of new media. Tourism and Exports of Tea Coffee and Flowers are the main sources of income. As a rapidly expanding middle class emerges people are also interacting more with the entertainments of Kenya. This need highlights the need to have a service that enables and empowers people to interact on the web community.
This will also appeal to tourists and visitors as they plan to travel to Kenya.
The spots branding will be there to engage people to think up various spots that they have visited and would like to visit or would even not like to visit. The spots brand is not limited to just a web service but a viral and merchandise campaign of promotional content such as stickers, t shirts, badges, flyers and other viral videos and posters.
The expansion of this could stretch into an office being opened in order to process and manage this like a travel agent or estate agent.
A host of traditional social networking features such as user profiles, geo tagging, video and photography shall be incorporated. With the ability to share and collaborate across a host of platforms such as flickr , panoramia, twitter, google maps, and blogging based platforms.
The concept of each spot shall have 3 main elements to it.
1.    A featured section – which would be created by the admin (me in this case)
2.    A users section – created by a user and incorporating the social aspects
3.    A corporate or sponsored section – this would allow a company to use this as a point of sale or promotion for their spot. This shall not be a main feature just a section to allow for income and money to be generated by the spots.

The featured spots that I will be coving will be based in Nairobi as this is the hub of economic growth and easily accessible to me. I would like to cover two areas one is the aspect of restaurants or eating spots the other will be hotels. At least 5 Features of each genre shall be covered.

Featured spots will consist of a text review and as series of photographic shots including panoramic views and a video review that gives a light hearted experience of the area.

29/11/2008