Meet some of the coders behind the best school websites
August 29th, 2018
The creation of your Edlio school website may seem like a magical process. You provide the Edlio team with all of your school’s information that you would like to have displayed on your website, and *poof* a beautiful and innovative CMS appears a few weeks later. Add in words like Javascript and SASS, and you’re definitely sure it has to be some sort of wizards preparing your website. However, the geniuses behind your easy-to-use website are actually coders. They take the initial design of your website and “slice” it into smaller pieces using a programming language and reassemble them into the website that you have before you. We’ve decided to highlight our coders for this month’s spotlight and we asked some members of the team to provide a little bit more insight into the magic they perform every day.
What inspired you to go into coding and website design?
Marino: I like computers.
Jason: I have a graphic design background and did IT work for VFX studios in the past, so it was natural to learn a bit of coding. After a while, I just preferred to work on coding projects and decided to pursue it fulltime.
Tim: I've been making websites since the mid-1990s. It's just something I've always been doing.
How often do your parents call you for help with the computer?
Marino: All the time!
Jason: EVERY-DANG-DAY; I spent many years as an Apple employee so it's nothing new. It's been my entire life.
Tim: Not that often! For a long time my mom ran a computer tutoring business for adults, so she usually knows how to figure things out.
Coding is often mysterious to people without experience. How would you describe what you do in layman's terms?
Marino: Coding is like any other language, except it is much more limited and more tech-oriented. It's definitely worth learning. Steve Jobs once said that everyone should learn how to code, because it teaches one how to think.
Jason: I always use the human analogy: if coding were building a body, HTML is the structure (skeleton), CSS is appearance, and Javascript is the traits.
Tim: We basically convert the flat designs that the schools into HTML code and styling that both matches the mockup as closely as possible AND anticipates how the design could change in the future with normal use. There's also a lot of thought that goes into accessibility strategies that many people may not even see, but that those who need it hopefully appreciate!
What is your favorite thing about Edlio?
Marino: Management is flexible and always trying to keep the employees happy.
Jason: The free coffee! Just kidding. I think for me, being a new parent, it is how much Edlio supports my family needs with time off and the ability to work from home when needed.
Tim: It's rewarding to work with a product and a company that positively affects people and that is constantly pushing further to do more and to do it better.
What is the most exciting thing you've done this summer?
Marino: This summer I upgraded my computer with a better CPU and graphics card. It is now rated as a UFO-class workstation on computer benchmarking websites.
Jason: Taking a toddler on a plane! It went well; thankfully, the plane had "Finding Nemo" on the free movies list. It's my daughter's favorite.
Tim: I went with my partner to Pittsburgh for Migration Fest, a music festival with 3 solid days and nights of black and doom metal. \m/
You see a beautifully designed website, coders see a beautifully sliced design constructed into a CMS. Either way, everyone at Edlio is thankful for the awesome designs that our magical coders create every single day! We’re sure any of their tech-challenged parents are glad they are well-versed in technology magic as well.