I have exciting news about NexEdit. A few weeks ago, I reported that the content management system was in closed beta. Since then, I've been working very hard on completing the missing features and solving the bugs that the beta testers reported. Today, I am very pleased to say that the features that are planned for the initial release are now done. That leaves just two things on my to-do list before release: fix all remaining bugs that have been reported by the beta testers and create a product website. I'm working very hard on wrapping up these last few things and I'm currently planning on releasing NexEdit to the public this month. I'm incredibly excited about this and I can't wait to ship the product after all this time, but I'm going to go the extra mile and get these last details right. Thank you for hanging in there for the past few months, I really appreciate it. See you guys later this month!

One of the things that Android could do better out of the box is integration with headsets. iOS handles this beautifully: a single press on the headset button to play/pause, a double-press for next track and triple-press for previous. Android on the other hand only recognizes single presses for play/pause by default. Headset Button Controller is a fantastic app that extends this functionality on Android and even lets you customize the behavior of press combinations with fine grained controls. Over the past few weeks, I have been collaborating with Christoph Kober, the developer of this app, on revamping its identity with a brand new icon and accompanying graphics. While I really enjoyed the application's functionality, the icon could use some improvement:



I worked with Christoph to create a beautiful new app icon, but life (particularly college) caught up with me and I didn't have much time to actively incorporate his suggestions anymore. Here is the last version of my icon that I pitched to him:



Christoph and I agreed that it would be better to let a connection of his finish the icon because I was unable to fulfill his suggestions. This is the final icon, and it's being pushed as an update in the Android Market as we speak:



As I said, Headset Button Controller is a fantastic app. If you use your Android handset to listen to music on a regular basis, you owe it to yourself to at least give it a try. Get Headset Button Controller from the Android Market here.

First of all, let me address this question that you likely have. Yes, NexEdit is still in active development. The point is that "active" is a rather relative term. Since I posted the last status update, development has been going very, very slowly due to the fact that I am now in college. I really wanted to work on NexEdit, but my time has been very limited. Nevertheless, I've been tweaking NexEdit whenever I could over the past two months, and it has now come to the point where, feature wise, I deem it complete enough to move on to closed beta within a very small group of friend developers that I contacted a few weeks ago.

So, now that that's out of the way, let's get to the gist of this post: the development status. Last time I posted, the CMS part was completely done. Since then, I've been working on the initial configuration wizard and a feature called Mothership that calls home to my server to check for updates and display NexEdit related news. That means the only thing I still have to develop for this initial release is the reconfiguration wizard in case you want to modify your NexEdit CMS.

I will be working on this wizard while the beta group tests the features that are done. Once the reconfiguration wizard is done, I'll fix any bugs that the beta testers have found and dispatch the update to them. This will also be a test for the update system.
Once this first update is out of the way, I will start working on the NexEdit product website, the place where you will be able to download the software. While I'm doing this, the beta group will be able to play around with the feature complete beta. If they don't find any more bugs, this will be the version that I'll release.

I'm aiming for Q1 2012 for public availability. In the meantime, you should stay tuned to this blog and follow @NexEdit on Twitter for regular updates. Thank you for sticking with me through this slow process, but I'm confident that once NexEdit ships you will see that it has been worth the wait.

Hello guys. It's been over a month since I first introduced NexEdit, my CMS project, in a ridiculously long blogpost. Those who follow @DriesOeyen on Twitter have been able to follow the development progress up close, but I wanted to give those who only follow the blog a status update too, as promised.

I am currently at the point where the actual CMS part is completely done, and I am pleased to report that it works even better than I had imagined. It really is a thing of beauty and I can't wait to share it with all of you, but before that happens I have to write the configuration wizard that'll help you first set up NexEdit, edit settings later and update to the most recent version. Please bear with me, I really want to get this right.

When the development of the NexEdit software is done, I will set up a closed beta with a small group of people. They will test out the system and report back to me on what can be improved. In the meantime, I will work on the NexEdit website, the place where you will be able to download it. Once this is done, and if the closed beta didn't surface any horrible bugs, I'll be able to release the software to the public.

A few quick notes to wrap up this update: I bought http://nexedit.com and put up a placeholder for you to drool over for now. You can also follow @NexEdit on Twitter so you won't miss a beat (or tweet) once we start using it. Last but definitely not least: did you notice we have a new spotlight project on our homepage? I added NexEdit to the list of Nexworx projects. Check it out here.

That is all. Sorry for the silence the past month, I promise it will be worth it. As always, I'll keep you guys updated here about my development progress.

Most websites nowadays use a content management system, CMS for short, to allow the website administrator to make updates without having to edit the code. Needless to say, this is fantastic for developers who make websites for people who lack coding knowledge, but as a developer I also like being able to update my website without manually editing the code or database.

When it comes to choosing a CMS, there are many choices out there. You can opt to install CMS software like Joomla on your own server, you can integrate your website with a remote CMS service like Pagelime or you can get your hands dirty and code a CMS yourself. This doesn't sound too bad, but the sad truth is that every one of these options is flawed in some way.

Most pre-made CMS solutions like Joomla are clunky at best. They always seem to manage to overcomplicate even the simplest tasks. Planning to post an article to your blog? You'd better be ready to go through a nice list of entry permissions. You seem to spend more time configuring everything than actually... you know... managing your content. These CMS solutions are built to literally handle everything, but because they can, managing simple websites in them is a royal pain.
Systems like this have a spin-off: purpose built content management systems. I think most bloggers out there have at least heard of and probably used Wordpress at some point. Because systems like this have a predictable use case (blogging for Wordpress), they can be optimized specifically for that experience. While this is a strength, it is also a problem in some way: these systems are rather limited. The blog on the old Nexworx website used to run on Wordpress, but the rest of the website used a custom CMS because it was too inconvenient to integrate it with Wordpress: it simply wasn't built for that purpose.

A relatively new CMS solution is the remote hosted kind: systems like Pagelime. These often tout the fact that you don't have to manually install software on your server, enabling less experienced users to set up a CMS. I find this strange, because while the CMS installation may be automated, you still have to integrate your actual code with the service. Furthermore, this means your website relies on a 3rd party website to serve its actual content. The biggest turndown, however, is probably the fact that these systems are expensive. If you sign up for the lowest premium tier on Pagelime today, you'll be shelling out $19 every month. That's $228 each year for the cheapest premium pricing tier. That's more than my host charges me for two years of premium hosting. Ouch.

When you take in mind all the downsides of the third party solutions, it makes sense for a developer to code his own content management system. However, this takes time. Time that's better spent working on actual site features. Furthermore, I know that when I develop a website, I want to release it as fast as I can. Indeed, the idea of having to code an entire CMS before being able to release the site is rather daunting for developers. This often results in rushed systems that offer a less than optimal user experience.

So basically, when you want to incorporate a CMS for your website, you get the choice between 3 kinds of solutions, and in a way every one of them has one flaw or another. Basically, you have to pick the solution that has the least downsides for you. There has to be a better way, right? Well, I'm pleased to tell you that there will be soon.

When creating the new Nexworx website, I faced the same dilemma at one point and I decided to create my own CMS. However, as a designer I felt a strong urge to spend some more time on the user experience, even though it was just a backend application. The result? The CMS is an absolute joy to use. I decided to call it NexEdit.

So, why did I write this lengthy blog post? Well, I am actually so satisfied with NexEdit that I want to use it on my other websites as well. In order to make it easy for me to maintain multiple instances of NexEdit, I'll have to make the software "portable", much like a pre-made CMS like Joomla. But if I put so much work in making NexEdit portable, it would be stupid not to let other people take advantage of it as well, right? I think you know where I'm getting at: NexEdit will be available for download.

So I'm taking a plunge in pre-made CMS software. How will NexEdit differentiate itself in this crowded market? Simplicity, in every aspect of the system. Obviously this means that the interface of the CMS will be very simple and clean, but I also mean simplicity in terms of the setup process: NexEdit will work with any existing websites without the need to integrate code snippets. As long as you have a MySQL database, NexEdit will be able to tap into it and provide you with a dead simple CMS. Developers will love it because it's so easy to set up, clients will love it because there's no learning curve at all.

I am currently developing the first version of NexEdit. It'll take some time to get everything just right, but please do stay tuned to this blog for regular updates about my progress. This is without a doubt my most ambitious project yet, and it's also the first time that I have been so open about it from the very beginning. Keep an eye on this place, I have a feeling it’s going to be worth the wait.

Being a web dev in your free time is fun, but it has one major consequence: you need free time if you want to develop. Since Nexworx was founded in 2009, this has been the cause of several delayed and even canceled projects. Today, I'm formally announcing that we're pulling the plug on two such websites: T.E.S.T. and Screenify.

As for the T.E.S.T. website, the reasoning is rather simple: the band simply doesn't exist anymore. However, the second project may interest you more, because we haven't talked about it in a solid year. Screenify was delayed again and again (and again... and again). Meanwhile, we had this placeholder page sitting on the screenify.com domain. Eventually, "Soon" became an inside joke among our friends and when we finally got over our pride and put a more honest message on the screenify.com domain, we couldn't help but include a "Feeling nostalgic?" link in the footer. In a way, it has become dear to us. The most amazing thing about this is that for the longest time, no one even knew what Screenify was supposed to become. Thanks to our secrecy, we managed to build up a reasonable amount of hype, but sadly we failed to deliver.

Personally, I like to look at Screenify as Nexworx's very own "Episode Three", for those who get the reference. Screenify was born as a mystery project, and unless you're already in the know by now, it will most likely stay that way. Unless...

Big news: I like making websites. My humble pastime once started as an MSN Group (remember those?), has since transformed into Nexworx and recently culminated in a dramatic refresh of this website. However, Nexworx has always been just that: a pastime. This year, I wanted to take things to the next level: I wanted a summer job as a web dev.

I started spamming e-mailing web design agencies in my neighborhood, but as I expected, this industry was pretty hard to get into as a "student with a hobby". This was all back in March. Around the same time, my cell phone carrier was looking for a web dev. I applied, but sadly, the verdict was that they were looking for a full-time dev, not a student. Near the end of June, I decided to e-mail them again and this time I had better luck. They invited me for an interview, and it looks like I did *something* right, because they hired me!

Fast forward to now. Today was my first day at my summer job. I have been a very happy customer of Mobile Vikings for well over a year now, so I was excited to meet the vibrant team behind the small but bold company. All my co-workers turned out to be very friendly and motivated. The general excitement within the small staff team and the generally unconstrained atmosphere reminded me of startups. Suffice it to say that the overal mood in the Mobile Vikings HQ was fantastic.

However, I didn't apply for a job (just) for the great atmosphere. My main motive for this was to get some experience in the world of professional website development. While my current job doesn't involve code, I am still part of the website team. I am in charge of making wireframes, which are best described as mock-ups, but for website functionality instead of design. Today I got to learn the ropes of the company and the tools I'll be using, and tomorrow I'll start working on the real deal. Am I excited? Yes Sir. I am.

I'm quite happy to announce that I just integrated another way to keep tabs on what we're doing: our blog now has an RSS feed. This was something that I forgot to didn't get the chance to implement in the initial release of the website redesign, but it's fully up and running now.

Please be aware that if you subscribed to an RSS feed on our old website, this will not work anymore. You'll have to resubscribe to our new feed. I'm sorry for breaking things, this is due to the way that our old Wordpress blog was set up.

Now, without further ado: subscribe to our RSS feed!

Those of you who follow our projects will probably have noticed something strange happening on the Mario Forums page. The progress bar is actually dropping! This is because I've begun work on the next version of the site, which will feature an entirely new interface and tons of new features.

One of the main issues with the current site is the lack of AJAX. For those of you that aren't familiar with AJAX, it's essentially a way for websites to do things without having to reload the page. Every time you post a tweet or Facebook profile comment, you're using AJAX. The new version of Mario Forums will make use of AJAX for everything from posting to receiving notifications. Over all, this will make the entire experience more smooth and make the whole site feel more lively.

One of the main reasons Mario Forums never took off is because it lacks any sort of distinct feature that sets it apart from the other Mario communities out there. That's why we're building in a ton of WiFi goodness into the new Mario Forums, including a way to schedule WiFi meet-ups and track the progress of your games. There will even be a site-wide scoreboard for the best Mario Kart racers! We've got a few more ideas planned, but those will remain a secret until the site launches later this summer.

It wouldn't be a great blog post without at least one screenshot, so I'm happy to present a first look at the new logo.



As always, Mario Forums will aim to be the safest and most family-friendly Mario community on the net. If you're a fan of the Mario series, Mario Forums will be the place to go for all of your WiFi needs. And if there's any feature that you'd like to see in the final design, post it here and it might just make it in!

-- Jake

Hey there, Internet! I decided to go ahead and make my blog on the shiny new Nexworx CMS! I'll be posting all sorts of cool stuff here in the future. Until then, see ya! ^_^