Tiny Update
Not much of an update. I've been doing a lot of thinking and not much action. I've explained the issue in other updates, so I won't repeat myself.
The big question I haven't figured out is how to use the data that's available. I can create databases, I can write python scripts to update those databases, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what is the correct solution. I'm about to just do something and throw caution to the wind. Who cares if the data is stored in the most optimal way? Who cares if it takes 5 seconds longer to update a database? These are important questions, but it's slowing down production.
I've made good progress so far with the frontend and some of the backend, but this automatic PO generator is a doozy. Maybe this week I can get something figured out and will have an actual update!
My head.....
So my app is coming along, but it's proving to be very difficult on my poor brain!
The problem is how to maintain inventory. Using RICS is pretty straight-forward because all the data is there. But I'm trying to build an automated purchase order generator that relies on RICS data, without connecting directly to RICS. I have to rely on reports. But how do I account for inventory changes? Should I use a stock status report? What about ecommerce orders then?
It feels like I'm in the process of creating a new inventory management system! That's exciting, but seems a bit excessive! I don't want the solution to be a manual one because then I'm just creating more work for people. This is supposed to save time and effort for people!
For now, I'm exploring every option I can think of, but I have to make progress on something, so I might work on another part of this project for the time being.
Wow, an update?!
Today felt strange. I felt my mind wasn't focused enough to solve a lot of problems. I made some progress on my app, but I also became really confused for a while too. The further I go with this app, the stranger I feel. I want to do great work, but I keep questioning whether this is the right path to take.
I was going to mention the upgraded PO generator, but as I was typing, a different idea came to my mind. If I can't control if vendors change their excel files, maybe I can make an admin section where we could change which columns are used for the PO generator. Example, say Hoka adds a new column on their exported excel file. If values are hard-coded in, I have to manually go in and make a change to the code, then restart everything. A pain! (this reminds me, I need to look up how to automate that shit). Maybe I can code a way for an admin to make that change. So if columns change, an admin makes the change in the settings backend. Hmm, that sounds interesting.
So I might not have made as much progress as I wanted, but some is better then none. It seems I have more ideas than solutions. I hope I'm making the progress that needs to happen!
Small Update
Finally have some of the styling done for my project. It looks pretty cool in my opinion. I'll still have some CSS to write, but a large portion is done.
I think I need to make more commits and pull requests on github when creating features. If I add too much, it can be really complicated to see what feature was added. I tried to do commits when something small was changed, but forgot to pull request and merge when a feature was done, so my latest pull request was awkwardly large. It's a learning process!!
I think I'm getting close to having a "beta release". What that means, is putting the project on the web for people to use and test. The database needs work, but it is coming along.
With a release will come another learning opportunity...CI/CD. I need to learn how to go from writing code to pushing it to a live service. It doesn't seem super overly complicated, but I've never done it in an automated way. Once I learn it, I'll probably kick myself for not learning it earlier.
Captains log stardate...oh wait
Remember the captains logs from star trek? I thought those were silly, but how silly was the show Star Trek? What's funny is the battle between nerds over star wars vs star trek. I've never been obsessed over either one, but I've enjoy both. I think adopting some cultural references from both is fun!
Anyways, not much to report. I've been working pretty hard on the styling of my project since I started over yesterday. It's not a quick process but I am trying to learn as much as I can about CSS in order to make things look good and organized. I know it's not the most important part, but I think user interface and user experience is important. If things look crappy, nobody will use it. The bigger question....will anybody use it anyways?
Once I get this basic styling figured out, I'm going to expand on the admin functions and give time and thought to what kind of settings are available.
Hopefully the styling won't take much longer, but I am being meticulous about writing comments for future me and/or other developers that might see my code. I'm commenting where necessary, and I hope the comments make sense. I'm also getting better at github commits, trying to do them often.
Oh CSS, how I hate you.
CSS is not a strong skill I possess. I feel like I'm ok at it, but it takes me so long figure out, and things still remain wonky. I read an article that explained the difficulty around learning it, and the main idea is, there's no errors! In python, there are plenty of errors when you make a mistake, but with CSS, all that happens is your site looks weird.
Anyways, with my project, I had to start over with my CSS. I only have a few pages, but for some reason, my CSS was super unstructured. So I erased it all and had to start new. The difficult thing with that is now I have to go back through my HTML to find what I named my classes and id's. Since I did a poor job structuring it at that beginning, that's another challenge.
I did learn how to put a modal on the project though, so that was cool! That's going to prove useful with some of the things I want this project to accomplish.
Still trying to stay positive with this project, but some hesitation crept in today. I'm creating a tool by hand, and I enjoy the process, but is this the right path? Should I be digging into the data more? Should I be trying to provide insights with the data? Should I focus on the machine learning aspect? I do have a webinar coming up on Friday the 10th, so we'll see what that's all about. It's free, so they will probably trying to sell me something.
Start of the week update
New week, new update. Development on a new site has been slow. I've been stuck trying to figure out how to get the data from RICS to a system. At first, I thought to add some admin functions where you could add products manually. But the more I think of it, it's very similar to how RICS operates right now, and I'm trying to create add-on functions, not a replacement. I don't want to create more work, I want to make the work easier.
I've been so consumed with solving this problem, I haven't moved forward. I started to get out of that rut today when I finally switched gears and created a way to add products to a database, update them, or delete them if necessary. The idea behind this is to give us a clearer picture of new products. One major idea is to add a compare screen. In a product database, we can select up to 3 products and compare them side-by-side. I think that would be a cool feature.
I'm still working on the 'data analysis' part of the site too. My PowerBI reports are still going strong and have some really cool features, so I don't need want to take away from that. I would like to have at least a prototype of the 'one-click' PO tool.
On a side-note, I hate eyeglasses! Mine are really bothering me. I'm switching to an old pair and seeing of that helps. It's not he prescription, it's physically around my ears! They either are too tight or they slip off my face, or they sit weird. I can't get them right!
Anyway, that's the extent of it for now. I'm still locally developing my webapp, but hopefully will have at least a prototype up soon to share and test properly.
Happy new year
Updates for the new year!
Was 2024 good? I thought it was fine. Not great, not bad. It had it's moments for each, but overall, we made it through!
As for recent updates...that's another story. I have been working on my new project, but I have been questioning how it will actually save anybody time. For example, why make another layer for PO creation when RICS already has those capabilities? Is there a better way to integrate the forecast with RICS data? If I continue to develop this, should I make different choices?
Those are just a few questions I've been asking. The past couple of days I've been struggling with my choice to develop a web app. This isn't data analyst stuff anymore. It's software development. Should I just be pulling in the data and asking question and finding answers? I know it will help, but do other believe it will help? Is this a lost cause and no one will realistically use it?
I'm not going to just toss this project out, but I do have to dig deep to keep moving forward.
Not so much a "happy" new year post. Kind of a bummer post.
With that, I'm still developing. Today working on more admin functions. Starting to get iron out some ideas for adding products.
Freakin' updates man!
Developing my project has been a steady pace and I haven't run into many roadblocks. I've decided on Flask as my framework, been developing some basic stuff so far like user authentication, and also have learned some things! The most recent is how to write decorators in Python. Pretty cool!
A really cool thing is the initial setup. If there are no users in the database, then the initial setup prompts to setup an admin user. It's a pretty simple thing, but I thought it was an interesting idea.
I'm working on the basics of adding to the database. My idea so far has been to add products and posts, but I'm sure there are other things I will think of. The PO generator will be built into the site and will use the products table and some other table I haven't setup yet. I'm still working on the database, and learning a lot about SQLAlchemy (a python database ORM(object relational mapping)).
I've added the ability to add posts, and also comment on those posts! I like that feature, but I need to style it better. Right now, styling is pretty minimum because I'm still doing a lot of testing when adding these new backend / database features. The styling won't be difficult, but will be time consuming.
Development has been steady, and I'm hoping to continue at this pace, just need to stay focused and dedicate my time to it. I think this project will be able to help everyone by providing a place to share products, new and existing, collaborate ideas, generate PO's and stock balances, and visualize our forecasts. I have some pretty lofty goals with this project, but trying to stay positive.
To style or not to style
So I've come to a crossroads when it comes to development. I want to continue working on the data and backend stuff, but my web app looks horrible! I've styled it with very basic colors and layout, but it needs a lot of work. With the current iteration of my app, should I really focus on the UI experience, or should I continue with the backend?
I can do both, but it will slow me down. Honestly, as boring as this site is, I kind of like the simplicity of it, so I might take inspiration from myself. I want to include other more advance styling that would make things a better experience, but for the basics, I think something that looks like this site would work well.
I'll use my previous post to help keep me moving forward on what to develop, but I think pausing backend and taking a few days to get a better grasp on what I want the front to look like is important. I also want to program a dark and light mode, so an extra challenge!
Work Update (mainly for me)
Today I worked mainly on a new application. The idea is to have a "one stop shop" for Bobkat needs. After doing a whole lot of thinking over the past few weeks, I ended up on an idea to use what I already know. I'm using Flask as my framework which handles the routes and kind of "glues" the frontend and backend together. It's a python micro framework.
I'm spent all of today developing the authentication and admin functions for logging in and logging out. I started working on a "post" section where updates can be made. There are a few things I think will be helpful with this application:
- Like this site, it will have a product database
- Products can be bulk added, or added individually
- Posts: Updates for products and any other relevant data
- Purchase Order Generator: Like on this site, but increased functionality
- Build PO's using PowerBI reports and/or RICS reports
- Automate PO creation
- Products added based on rules can be kept, changed, or removed from PO
- And More!
- Notes and todo lists per user.
This isn't an exhausted list and can be added to based on needs and observations. If an idea is not on here, but we need it, I can look at the options for adding.
This is a start. A lot more needs to happen. I've currently wrote no CSS and no styling. This is going to take a little thought, but my initial thought is to use bootstrap for the styling. It might speed up development on the front.
I'm excited to get started on it.
On mobile update
So I found out this site mobile updates are broken, it's actually pretty funny because things behave weirdly. But, it does work!! So I'll do this quick update tonight on mobile.
Not much to report, trying to work on ideas for developing software to use for work. E-commerce is a big thing to incorporate into the reports so will spend some time working on that!
That's about it.
Sales updater live
...And it works! I refreshed PowerBI today and ecom and instore sales are both there, all automatically! So now I don't have to manually update ecom! Hurray!
That's it. Short update.
Unrelated, I can SSH into my server, so that's also exciting.
Sunday funday!
So another weekend down. My daughter was in the Cary Parade, so that was cool. Luckily it wasn't as cold as last weekend. Still slightly chilly.
I didn't get any work done this weekend (I didn't plan or need to so yeah). But some things probably going to happen this week.
First, I need to get my Ecommerce script live on my server. I'll probably do that tomorrow (Monday 12/16), then monitor it through the week to ensure it's running as expected.
I'm not getting close to a PO generator, but I am getting closer to processing the data, but I still haven't figured out how to store the data. A part of me wants to store the data in database which would make it easier to incorporate into the project. But if I use RICs reports, anyone could use it. Maybe a combination of the two. I'm not 100% certain yet.
I need to remember that the forecast excel document still exists and could be very useful. I worked pretty hard at it, so I need to make sure to take that data into this whole thing as well.
I solved the riddle
The riddle was at work, it was silly, but I got it!
I did some pretty good work on developing the start of a PO generator. I'm using Flask, the same framework that powers this site. I didn't get an actual PO generated, but I was able to have an upload system.
A couple things I wanted to keep in mind while developing. The system needs to use data, whether that's RICs reports or databases. Maybe a combination or option to use either would be good. But either way, I need a way to process this data. That's where python comes in.
Using Pandas, I could group very easily. The process is coming along. Mainly my indecision of what technology to use. But I'm working through it and hopefully getting something close to a beginning.
Also and update: Ecommerce sales are going to be included on the Sales2024 PowerBI report. They will be TransactionCode 5. I wrote a script, but it's not live on my server, so I have to manually run the script, but it will be up soon.
Simplicity wins?
Something funny is happening. I need a todo list because I feel discombobulated with so many tasks but no direction. But I also want a place to keep notes and document my time so I can figure out what I am doing.
I tried using notion, but it seems completely overkill for what I need. So what do I do? Use this site of course! I have a todo list here, and sort of a way to take notes. I don't think my notes need to be display for everyone to see, so I might actually do an update to this site by adding a section to take notes.
I did write a python script today that I need to test more. It puts E-commerce sales into the Sales 2024 database. I need to test it, then push it to my server where it will run, then do a final test to make sure it works in production.
I also ran today. One mile.
Short update
Today I looked at inventory turnover ratios in excel all day. I didn't mind the work, it was challenging, but it felt like I was spinning in circles at times. It was a good project to work on for the day, but felt a little wasted.
I tried a very short code challenge tonight and learned at least one new thing. If I learn one thing, it's not a wasted effort. But I also only wrote about 8 lines of code and started falling asleep.
So we'll see how things keep going. I want to work on more, just running out of energy!
Later and later
I run out of time so quickly!
So coding takes time, not only the act of writing code, but thinking about solutions to problems, working through logic, and deciding how to structure code...it all takes concentration and time. Most of the time I have no time and lack the ability to concentrate.
Between work and responsibilities, I have time after everyone is in bed. So I sacrifice my sleep. I don't want to, but I also want to learn new things.
Things are just blah right now. I make the same meals, do the same stuff and continue to have no time. If I don't get sleep, things will just be worse! I won't be able to concentrate as much and feel miserable.
So for now, updates will still happen, even if I'm the only one reading them (kind of like my little journal that is technically available to everyone, but no one reads). Something has to give, but I don't know what yet. I guess that's my next project.
Updating about...nothing?
So today was pretty uneventful. At work I felt pretty sluggish, kind of explored a few options for building this new "one-click" PO generator. At the moment it seems like Streamlit might be the best option to getting something up and running quickly. But I also want to explore making it similar to this website, using Flask, a database, and a frontend framework like React.
Streamlit comes with it's own challenges, mainly managing state and how to update the display. It's kind of a weird concept, different than I'm used to. But it parses data very well.
As I was thinking about what technology to use, I noticed a large gap in my experience. I haven't actually coded anything serious in a long time. The last serious thing was this website, and I haven't done a great job of maintaining it. I need to actually sit down with a goal and code.
Didn't run or workout, mind needed a much needed rest. I felt disconnected from work today, like I was there but couldn't hold on to a thought for very long. Concentration was pretty low. I did organize the shoe racks which look much better.
I mounted our TV to the wall so our cat would stop pawing at it, and guess what!? It didn't help, she can still reach it. At least it looks better, but we'll try and find other solutions.
Daily Update
Today I did a little bit of coding and felt pretty good about it. I'm working on improving my skills and not specific projects. For my practice today, I did some more Javascript, adding event listeners and creating elements. Pretty fun.
Finally did another run today, very short distance, about half a mile. Then did some strength training. So far I have no plan when I go to the gym, but my daughter is trying to get faster at her mile and I want her to succeed, so I'll go with her and do random stuff!
Happy Thanksgiving
I enjoy using my 'homemade' site for updates and notes, it's fun! What's really funny is when I say I'm going to do daily updates and I don't! So here is an update.
Update about work: I have some ideas for a new PO Generator and stock balance tool using Streamlit. I've explored the code and concept and think it will fit the needs very well. Now I need to code and get working copies. I expect it to be a different docker container.
Non-work: Moved in a few weeks ago and it's going well. I haven't run again since I did that one. I am thankful for my family the most! They are wonderful!
The shoe database needs a rework before becoming a training tool, but I think it could be a useful thing for people to see info about the shoes and updates coming.
Adding quick updates like this is helpful for me to keep track of my thoughts, so more will come!
Notes and stuff
So today I was very tired! Like holy moly tired. But I know the reason...
I went to bed late last night. I was working on a new PO generator and couldn't get a pandas dataframe into a CSV the way I needed it. So RICS expects a CSV file in a specific format. My plan is to make this PO generator have the ability to select which column in an excel file that is downloaded from a vendor, and pick the appropriate spot in the CSV file to insert it. I have a prototype but I need to do more testing.
Side note, the mobile version of this update page is not mobile friendly. Do I really want to dive into the CSS to fix it? Not really, but I'll make note.
Did a short 1.25 mile treadmill run tonight. It felt bad, which is pretty normal for not running in a forever.
I have some project ideas for my coding journey, but time and energy force me to put a lot of things off. Chore tracker and inventory management are the first two that come to mind, but also some automation tasks.
I almost fell asleep writing this again so I'll end the update here.
Daily update
After giving thought to the update cycle, I decided to use this opportunity to start posting everyday. If all I say is some boring stuff, so be it.
Today was fine, nothing surprising happened. The work I did was pretty basic, did a lot of thought work and not much coding.
This post is written on my phone which makes me frustrated! I don't mind typing on my phone so anything quick, but writing anything at length sucks.
A quick to-do list for tomorrow:
Work on streamlit app for PO and stock balance.
Edit, fell asleep while writing this lol
Update because why not
Hey just a quick update!
So I haven't been using this site much, it's kind of just a placeholder for who-hell-knows. It does have the PO Generator which still works but is kind of broken. The really cool stuff is tic-tac-toe and todo lists. Yep, exciting stuff.
My little passion project, the shoe database, kind of fizzled out, but it's still there. It hasn't been updated in a while, so it needs a little touch up.
The main point of this update is to keep my thoughts on track. I created this site for a purpose: to learn new things and create things that could actually be useful. Hopefully with a little inspiration, I will start working on things here. If you start seeing more updates, that means I'm doing stuff.
I'm not sure if I will change anything about this site, or add a 'sister' site for development purposes. Right now, I plan on documenting things better, and these updates seem to work pretty well for that. Longer updates will be my 'blog'.
That's it for now, wish me luck!
Recent blog menu
Yes, the recent blog menu on the right is broken. It's supposed to only display the last 3, but it's displaying more, and the content is hanging out the bottom (edit: only on smaller displays) . I have an idea about what is wrong, so will fix it later.
Brooks Update
After fixing the New Balance PO Gen, it was brought to my attention that Brooks was having an issue as well. Fixed that bug as well. Did one test and it worked, so it should all be good now.
New Balance PO Gen Fix
Finally implemented a fix for the New Balance PO Generator.
Turns out, I'm not as dumb as I thought. The fix was actually easy, just change a 14 to 15, and a 15 to 16. But I was nervous stopping my docker container, removing the image, rebuilding the image and starting the container. Luckily, past self wrote a script to automate that...so go me!
Anyways, I tested it with PO from April 2024 from New Balance and it worked, but if it doesn't work, let me know!
New Balance PO Gen is broken
New Balance PO generator is broken. I don't know what is wrong, I have to debug it, but it's broken and doesn't work.
Sales 2024 update
Starting a new update session. I'm starting to use and do minor updates to my PowerBI reports so I need to make updates to keep track of changes. Mainly for my sanity so I remember what I am doing. I'll provide a better update to the ideas I have for keeping track of changes. Right now, it's just here!
Change Log:
Sales 2024 updater:
- Fixed an update I technically didn't apply (changed Python script to update, never pushed that change to the server).
- The fix was loyalty15 not being updated to the SQL database, it was skipping it because it's not a SKU.
- Continue to monitor sales figures for accuracy.
PO Generator update
Applied an update this morning.
- Qty Order and UPC is now a number (int) for all suppliers.
I have tested Brooks and Hoka, they are working, but did not test others. Like any other update, let me know if things aren't working.
Update
Holy cow, fix one bug, another comes up!
Everything as of NOW is working. I did proper testing, all PO's for all brands that are available for the PO generator work. Turns out, just turn everything into a string!
Discovered another bug while fixing this one. Depending on the character of the start of the PO#, if it is lowercase it is broken. While typing this, I figured out I will just force the PO# to be capitalized, but will implement the live fix after some testing. As for now, DO NOT enter lowercase PO#.
Asics bug fixed
A fix was implemented tonight.
Changed the size columns to cast as a 'float' and not int. I forgot sizes have decimals, in python, int's can only be whole numbers, no decimals. Silly me!
I changed it for all the PO's, not just Asics. There SHOULD be no problem with the others, but please let me know if you encounter any. It's too late to do proper testing tonight.
Bug found
Found a bug today, Asics was throwing an error when creating PO's. Took a look at the code, it looks fine. After opening the excel file from Asics, it looks like numbers are stored as text. The reason it throws an error is because my PO Generator does not convert those fields to integers because it wasn't needed. Now I know I need to 'cast' those fields to integers. It does no harm when the number is already an integer, so no big deal. Just need to make that change and update it.
Some styles will change as well, nothing major. As of now, Asics PO Gen does not work.
Update on PO Generator Issue
Further testing has revealed Brooks is the only vendor that throws an error when trying to use it. I have done tests for Hoka, Asics, ON, and New Balance, and they all passed at least one PO creation without having to open the excel file manually, save it, then generate the PO. Brooks must have changed something with how they export the .xlsx file.
So for the time being, all Brooks POs need to be opened and saved manually before uploading to the PO generator. All others SHOULD be ok.
A "fix" to a bug
What is happening with the PO Generator?
I have no idea....but there is a work around.
If you download the excel file from the vendors, and use that file without opening and saving it, the PO generator doesn't work.
If you open the file and save it, then use that file inside the PO generator, it works!
Do not ask my why it has decided to fail, I haven't updated a thing! I think it is some formatting that excel is doing (or not doing) that causes this bug. Luckily it is a pretty simple solution even though it is dumb to open and save a file for no good reason. It adds and extra step to the process, but it is still easier than copy and pasting.
Major styling changes!
Tonight I went live with my styling changes!
You can see that I changed quite a bit! It looks better, not super professional, but better. Lets highlight the changes:
- New colors
- Background image
- PO Gen layout redesign
- Various small tweaks to spacing
- Cleaned up CSS
- Added error handling for PO Gen
The last item is pretty important. Since adding more things to the PO Generator, I knew I needed some error handling. I finally added some, but it's not perfect.
If the file is going to crash the program, it SHOULD no longer give internal server errors. But if an attempt is made where the data is valid but in the wrong format (example: trying to create Hoka PO with a Brooks file) it would allow it, but the data is in the wrong place so the PO is garbage. Delete the file and try again. Still needs in the field testing, so any feedback is nice.
Big news!
Finally added more to the PO generator!
- On
- New Balance
- Asics
That brings the total up to 5! I say that's a pretty good accomplishment! The other manufactures are pretty small so it shouldn't be a problem not having them in the PO generator, but we will see. Also, Saucony is not small, but their back-end sucks so I can't add that at the moment.
Not other updates, still working on ideas. Trying to look at front-end learning, but again, time is limited!
Added new store in PO Gen
Small update:
Added the new RVD store to the PO Gen for Hoka and Brooks.
Along with the update, I made it easier to select the store. Instead of numbers, I added the 3 letter designation. Not a huge change, but could make workflow slightly easier.
I would still like to add more manufactures to the generator, but I haven't been working on code lately.
Sleep needs to become a priority, so I've been trying to get more. I notice a lot better human performance with good sleep. I have also had some stressful challenges to figure out, so I haven't had very much time to sit down and focus on coding. I'm also trying to come up with more coding challenges. This website is really cool, and the shoe database is something I've enjoyed creating, along with maintaining the PO generator. But I feel like I could do more.
Maybe in the next couple weeks I can think of something to add or other projects.
Tic Tac Toe
Added new stuff! Tic-tac-toe!!
Did some javascript practice and made tic-tac-toe to stretch some of my programming abilities. Had to focus on the logic, but I figured it out after a couple of hours. Layout was easy to implement, styling was easy as well. I haven't worked solely in javascript in a while, but I was surprised how much I remembered.
I know tic-tac-toe is an easy game and the logic isn't too difficult to figure out, but I'm legit excited about writing it in just a couple days. I would love to add more functionality to it, but at least I got it up. There are 2 main reasons for writing:
1. I'm practicing my coding skills
2. You can play tic-tac-toe without worrying about ads or annoying pop ups
I forgot to mention I added a dark mode to my game, so that's pretty cool! I want to add different theme colors to my site, I think that would be interesting.
Persistent Volumes Version 2
PO Generator now has a persistent volume, so now when I update my website, the files won't disappear.
I also added a drop down menu on my shoe database to filter by brand. Obviously this site doesn't have a full search function, but that's ok. The list was getting really long and I needed a way to shorten it and I figured by brand would be a good start. I'll probably add another filter for cushion level, drop, and maybe category.
Very small styling changes.
On a side note, I finally created tic-tac-toe in javascript. It's not fully complete, but the main functionality is there. Not a massive accomplishment, but doing something is better than nothing!
Small Update
Changed some styles in my shoe database, also it is default sort to brand, then style.
I've spent zero time on this site because I've been trying to get more sleep.
I'm completely out of practice and I've lost a lot of knowledge, so I'm slowly getting back into it.
Also, forgot to add, I think my database is complete when it comes to the shoes at the store. Will continue to add, but at least it is complete at the moment.
Persistent volumes!
Figured out how to store the shoe images in a persistent volume, so when I make updates to my docker container, the shoe images will still be there.
I'm going to add the PO Generator to that next.
My shoe database is coming along! Now I need to add more details about the shoes. That part is going to take time, but I hope to have a better understanding of the different shoes afterwards.
That's it for updates.
Shoe page update
Shoes now link to their own page, added a "add shoe" page and a "edit shoe" page. Can upload images of shoes.
Need more features on the shoe page to include different midsole material, features of the shoe, how it fits, and similar shoes.
Fixed mobile blog and homepage styling. It should look better, will test!
This was a good update. Not all shoes have a picture and description, that's going to come with time.
Update working!
Got a new domain name, changed styles, broke and fixed my blog.
Haven't got a ton of sleep, so I am going to get some tonight. The functionality of the site hasn't changed, just styling and behind-the-scenes stuff.
Also, if I post and update, then delete an old, it breaks. So I found a bug while fixing things! Now to squish it!
I broke stuff
Styles are jacked up currently. I added a WYSIWYG editor and trying to get everything to look good has proven to be a nightmare. Honestly, I'm not going to be butt-hurt over it, I'm going to take a lot of notes and learn from the experience. It's a long road to learn, but it doesn't matter, I'm learning.
But the bad thing is, I have a very hard time stopping until I get things looking just right. I don't get enough sleep because of that.
I will probably have to start the blog section over...they are all tests anyways.
Testing...again?
Remote development on my server is pretty neat. So is finally using WSGI for my production flask site. So I have a cloned site I am currently using as my "test bench" in another container that is not exposed to the internet. That reminds me, I should clone my mongodb container also, so I'm not using a production database in my tests. One wrong command...poof!
I made minor style changes again, mainly to mobile.
Also posted a blog. Looks like crap, probably reads like crap, but it's my first one. I need a WYSIWYG editor to make it look better. Luckily, I think flask has a module I can use, I just need to read and implement it.
Substantial Update
A new thing has been added:
Blog post and update posts are now separate! As of right now, they are very similar in format, but now if I want to work on formatting blog posts, I won't mess up the updates. You can see the top 3 blog posts to the right, and the blog post page needs to link to the actual blog instead of displaying all of them on one page. I'm still deciding on formats.
Also a few design changes, nothing big. Just changed some font sizes.
Each update clears the files in the PO Generator. So if those files are needed, I can still access them, but they are not live on the site. Also added the ability to delete updates, so if I post a test, I can delete it without logging into mongodb.
Happy New Year!
I wanted to start the new year out by switching things up a little bit.
First, my plan is to separate blog posts and update posts. This will allow me to keep site updates and notifications short, but also allow me to do a deeper dive into topics and ideas with blog posts. Keep in mind that this site is coded from scratch, I'm not using anything pre-built, that includes the HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
Second, create some calculators and tools. Things like measurement converters, random name picker, simple games, and other random things.
I also want to give the ability to comment and react to blog posts.
So this post was really about outlining some things I have planned for the immediate future. It isn't a lot of information and things always change, but I want to continue learning code and IT related subjects. My main plan is to use my site more.
Happy new year!
Small Update
A small update.
- Users can now see the PO Generator and their own todo list links in the menu
Behind the scene updates:
- On vacation, the power went out which caused my server to shutdown. So my server is an old laptop which has a battery, so that shouldn't happen, but the laptop is old and the battery is crap, so it can only handle a short power outage. Can't really fix that easily, so that is something I need to be aware of for the future.
- Some reason my mongodb docker container port number is different. I have my suspicions of the cause, but I'm not caring at the moment. As long as the data is still there, that's all that matters. So I had to update my site to use the correct port.
I haven't worked on the site very much, still trying to brainstorm ideas.
PO Gen Update
Changes:
- Can delete files from PO generator list
- Error messaging tweaks
- PO's are sorted by creation date, not alphabetically
- Font size shoe list mobile changes
I was able to learn list comprehensions and implement that in this change, which I feel good about.
Still thinking about other features that would help me do my day job better.
Tired of updates?
I've been working on this quite a bit lately and have made a lot of small fixes, and each time, I post an update about it. It's important to take notes, so significant changes I will always post and update.
Todays updates:
- Timezone fix. Added timezone dockerfile commands that should solve this.
- Styled the shoe database.
Not too many updates, but important ones.
I have a few ideas for new tools and features, but I have only begun to brainstorm them so that will be a different post. The site style is lacking for sure, but I'm focused on a lot of backend stuff at the moment.
Another test for timezone
Testing......and it works! I did it! I changed the timezone in my docker container!
Squashing Bugs!
The last update messed with a few things that needed immediate fixing.
PO Generator:
- Hoka PO order quantity was not an integer! RICS doesn't like that, so I changed it. Should be no issues, we will see!
Menu styling:
- When not logged in, the "register" item was to the right. Fixed it! Had to add a hidden <li>.
Testing timezone
So I figured it out! My docker container is using UTC timezone. I think there is a way to set docker timezones to the host machine. I need more information about it, but at least I figured it out.
The testing I had done before was on my computer, so when it posted from my development environment, I was using local timezone, but docker is set to UTC. So I at least I understand what is happening, now to implement a fix!
Pesky Updates!
Time for another update!
Added:
Ability to edit shoes.
Changes:
Top menu, moved the last item of the menu to the right. Didn't intend for the "register" button to move, so I need to look at how to change that in later versions. (edit: fixed it, but it's not live)
I'm the only one to see the edit button for shoes, so it's not that huge of an update, but I did learn something while implementing it. In Mongodb, if you leave a default "_id", it creates an ObjectId. The only way I could see to get an ObjectId from an HTML form was to send it over as a string, then cast the string to an ObjectId. But to do so, I have to "from bson import ObjectId" so that data type is available. Then I just cast the string to ObjectId, use that in my search, and good to go!
On a different note, True Rest Float Spa on Veterans day was amazing! I really need a deep relaxation, and sensory deprivation is the way to go!
Timezone
Posting from a linux computer was using UTC time for date posted instead of local timezone. I applied a fix and it seems to be working...
PO Generator
One major addition:
- PO Generator
The function of this tool is to build a csv file to make data entry for purchase orders a whole lot easier and less error prone.
Also fixed a couple bugs
- Standard users shouldn't be able to use admin functions
- Responsive layout fixes
- Added cancel button to new post
That's it for now. Still working on some other features like adding a todo list per user. Also trying to think of other tools to add to the site. An idea is some basic unit conversions and a random name picker.
A redesign to the home page need to happen as well. I don't like the "blog" section being the homepage. Continue to fix bugs, and work on major features for future releases. So am I a real developer now...? lol
Quick Update
Just made a few changes.
- Responsive! Now the site is mobile friendly...for the most part. It's not perfect I'm sure the shoe page is broken. At least the menu is now mobile friendly!
- Removed the left links. I thought they looked cool, but since they didn't do anything and I wasn't going to fix that, I removed them.
That's it for now!
The internet
Yep, this is now on the internet...
So I needed a todo list with extremely basic functionality such as the one I created for this site, so I decided to put this on the internet, flaws and all!
The links to the left don't work, they are placeholders. The point of this post is to inform anybody that shows up here...this is mainly just an experiment of technology to see if I could create something and have it connect together.
I know I said I needed the todo list, but if you aren't registered, you won't see it. Unfortunately, that's easily dealt with.
So for now, all caution is thrown to the wind. Good luck!
Code complete
Website is finished, now to continue to learn!
Welcome!!
So of course this has been a journey that is unexpected and full of adventure, but I am finally using my website. Is it production quality? Not even close. But the important thing is that I have been learning a lot.
For the time being, this site is done. Does that mean I stop working on it? No, but I really wanted to examine how to run this site in a docker container and use it on my personal network. I'm not exposing this to the internet yet because I'm not confident that security is the best. If I do expose this to the internet, I'm not putting anything important.
I'm really excited to use this as a "coding journal", or just a random home blog site for my thoughts. Either way, I'm going to continue to do research and learn about this stuff.