At the start of this year, I wrote a post about my goals for the year.
How did I go? Here's a point-by-point breakdown.
I've made: https://espionagesydney.com.au/ http://gobigorgolocal.com.au/ One custom shop, that the client is taking a LONG time to populate. (Was done partly by me, partly by a contractor) One more bigger site that will be released early next year.
So, only 2 live, but 1 more completed, and one in the pipeline. I'm calling that a check.
I've learned more, and did go through the book. But I'm not using an automated solution for server setup - more on that in the next point. (So this is a fail - though I'm happy with the outcome.)
I've decided that really, properly learning server admin is too much for me to take on. I've got enough on my plate keeping on top of the rest of the stack.
So, for small, straight-forward apps we're using Digital Ocean - one-click rails server setup, with minimal knowledge required.
For large, business-critical sites we're using Anchor. They're not cheap, but they're good. They know servers, so I don't have to.
It's not the solution I imagined, but I'm happy with it. Check.
I presented at RORO, at DevHub, and at RailsCamp Perth. And I'm an accepted speaker for Ruby Conf Australia. While it's up to others to judge wether or not I sucked, I'm calling this one a big fat win.
I did this… it was pretty unofficial. I just started wearing the blue 'mentor' badge rather than the white 'student' one. I still take the opportunity to gain knowledge from seniors, but I'll also answer questions if they come my way. So I guess that's a half-hearted check for this goal?
Nope. Fail. I tried to get it going at DevHub, but basically, the idea sucked
I mentored at Rails Girls - but that's it. Speaking to people who've organised events, it's a HUGE amount of work, and with my kids the age they are, I think I'll have to put this goal on the back burner for a few years.
Although I technically did mentor at one event, I'm calling this one a fail, because I'd aimed for more.
Yeah, I did this. I'm not stoked on the quality. A lot of it is just unpolished stuff for my own reference. But that's a check.
Fail. I've done zero, but there's still a bit over a month left in this year, so I'm going to try get this done.
I'm just doing a basic theme with Bootstrap, and I'm happy with it. Nothing spectacular, but it works. I'm definitely confident with the decision not to use ActiveAdmin or Rails Bricks or similar.
I haven't made a generator, but I've added bootstrap support to Rails Admin Scaffold generator
I may go further with generating my own admin theme, but for now I'm happy with what I've got. Check.
Check. I made PR's to a few gems: Spree Slider - tidy admin interface Rails Admin Scaffold - add bootstrap option for views (It hasn't been merged yet…) Rails Footnotes - 4 PRs merged
Yeah. I've made admin interfaces with them. Not sure if I've done it for a frontend? Anyway, they're a bit over-rated. Good for an admin area, but to get a frontend looking super nice on devices of all sizes, it takes more than just a grid. Grids help get the easy stuff done I guess.
I feel I'm satisfied, and know when to use them, and when not to. Check.
I know I've improved on some things, though I wish I'd recorded where I was at exactly in the beginning of the year. Check. But that's another blog post in itself.