I haven’t written anything here for a while because I’ve been working hard on a project. Too hard, any observer would say, but it had to be done.

I’ve finished the first development milestone (which was also the biggest) of the redesign of my career education directory. All other projects went on hold until that milestone was reached. Now that I’ve reached it, I’m taking a well-earned break before doing any other work on anything else.

It’s taken me a couple of weeks of near-constant work, but I’ve managed to make some really good improvements to the site. On the back-end, I’ve made it really easy to get schools up and active. Now the directory will grow at a much faster pace than before. On the front-end I’ve made some cosmetic changes that were needed. The layout is wider so each page can handle more content with less scrolling. I’ve also introduced some better SEO practices. The pretty flash header is also gone, but that’s OK. Naturally, my current search engine rankings will get bumped a little here and there, but that’s OK, too. It seems every time you touch a site your rankings change. Of course, if you leave your site alone, the same thing will happen.

I’ve also improved the user experience. More details of each school will become known earlier in the search and browse process. This way, the user will have to read less to learn more. A handy thing for those people who prefer to read less. I also introduced some more search functionality and paved the way for a couple more to be added later.

There’s plenty more to do, and I’m tempted to just do it and get it out of the way. But…that would not be a healthy decision. I’m tired, over-worked, and need to spend some time with my kids! So I’m taking a break, and then setting a work schedule for myself that will be much more relaxing. I had to work extra-hard and really fast, and now it’s time to calm down and relax.

Go check out the new Education Finder, bookmark it, and tell all your friends about it.