Ahmed Nuaman Freelance Designer and Developer
About Me
I'm a freelance designer and developer with a first class degree in Interaction Design. I have strong knowledge of the web design and development industry and my skills include the design and development of web sites, gadgets and rich media adverts. I'm a self-motivated individual, I'm happy to work as an individual or in a team and believe that it's better to try than to not try at all.
My skills range from OOP Actionscript 2 & 3, PHP, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript to design and real time video streaming to computer and mobile, and I'm a fully qualified Google Advertising Professional. As I am comfortable with both design and development needs, I enjoy the challenge of balancing client and business needs in order to achieve the best outcome possible.
I've got professional knowledge of:
- Server-side: PHP, Python and MySQL
- Client-side: XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, Actionscript and MXML
- Programmes: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash and Flex Builder
- Usability: KISS, Accessibility and interaction design
- Designing: Web sites, YouTube brand channels, Rich-Media adverts (for TABS/GCN) and print media
- Programming: YouTube APIs, GData APIs, Flickr API, Protx 3Dsecure, PayPal API and QTSS
You can find out more about me by downloading my CV.
Contact Me
- Phone: +44 7811 184 436
- Email: ahmed@ahmednuaman.com
- Social: LinkedIn, Krop, Twitter, Facebook, W3C Sites
Recommendations
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“An exceptionally talented front end developer. Always eager to get the job done and push the boundaries. Probably one of the best front end developers I have had the pleasure to work with and I would certainly work with him again in the future.”
Jonathan Conway, Technologist, ESP
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“Convincing Ahmed to join us after TangoZebra and Google was one of the biggest human resourcing achievements of modern internet history. Whether or not you consider his inexperience, according to time spent since graduating college, is irrelevant. Ahmed is one of the leading minds when it comes to ActionScript, Flash, designing for the web, utilising common sense, web marketing, you name it. Read his blog his tutorials, and take a look at his portfolio if you don't believe me. He has a solid grasp on the basics of software development which means he just gets it. Within hours he was reading our ruby code and understood the workings of rails. He's had plenty of experience with other MVC frameworks as well. Aside from that he's a great human being, has a voracious appetite for technology, the internet, rich media, KFC and burritos. I will attempt to hire him each and every time I'm in a position to.”
Levent Ali, Tech Lead, ESP
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“An exceptional and enthusiastic team-player who inspires everyone around him to push the boundaries of creativity. A great addition for any company and a good friend.”
Adrian Dent, Lead Project Manager, Google
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“From all the developers that I have paired in the past, there are very few I enjoyed driving with, Ahmed being one of them. Great analytical skills, perfect problem solving approach, has debuggers wrapped around his little finger - both ActionScript and JavaScript. Always going the extra mile, he's a super team player.”
Gerhard Lazu, Senior developer, ESP
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“Ahmed is an excellent mate, creative, proactive, fast, and with wide technological skills.”
Jesus Carrera Rodríguez, Front End Developer, ESP
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“Ahmed is as sharp as a tack, and is a web video guru. He's helped us make a great improvement in our video offering.”
Julian Simpson, Production Manager/Build and Release Manager, ESP
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“Ahmed is one of those people who's skills span both design and programming, he is very talented at both design and programming. He quickly orientated himself in the creative services team at Google and helped us develop a number of exciting client channel concepts for YouTube as well as creating various gadgets in Actionscript that we still use and offer to clients today. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to anyone, and would most definitely re-hire him in the future if needed. Ahmed is not some sort of technogeek but blended in nicely in our team and is a great help in client-facing meetings.”
Emanuel Berglund, Creative Services Developer, Google
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“Ahmed joined our development team initially as a 'stop gap' for a short term month placement - but he's so good we don't want to let him go! Ahmed offers a highly sought after ability which is a sometimes rare combination of a thorough understanding of commercial opportunities along with excellent front end development skills. Ahmed consistently over delivers on expectations. He is innovative and highly motivated. Ahmed is a huge asset to our organisation and our team and is a respected colleague and well liked by all.”
Sophie Neary, Operations Director, ESP
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“Ahmed is a brilliant developer, who has a strong understanding of a large range of different technologies. He stands out from the crowd by being able to communicate all that is technical to anyone at different degrees of knowledge. Passionate and always increasing his skill and overall a great guy to work with.”
Paul Vayanos, Freelance Designer, Google
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“Through working on YouTube I had the bonus of working with Ahmed - I was really impressed with his knowledge, AS3 skills and his attitude both as a mentor and in tight spots and on deadline. Recommend him Creatively, Technically and Personally.”
Tom Uglow, Senior Designer, Google
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“I used to work with Ahmed on several projects, his contribution to the projects and his attitudes was always top and helped us to create the best quality outcome. He's proactive in his work and his understanding of internet based activities is a big contribution to the whole team effort.”
Andrej Maier, Senior Digital Designer, Google
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“I have worked with Ahmed on two major projects so far! Ahmed is so great to work with! He brings to the table in-depth knowledge and an eagerness to learn even more. He is also polite, friendly and a joy to collaborate with. With his skill base and incredible work ethic, it continues to be a pleasure to work with him!”
Saina Shelton, Technical Producer, Google
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“A self-starter who's keen to dive into projects and lend a hand where necessary, and who is also keen to pin-point and start new projects where there is a more long-term need. Not only does Ahmed know a great deal about his own role, but he also understands how to clearly communicate with other colleagues and clients who may not be as experienced or familiar with the topics he is discussing. He is also a very friendly, positive and creative person to work around and can be replied upon to consider and find solutions to challenges you share with him. A massive asset to the team!”
Nicola Young, Lead Account Manager (Creative Services), Google
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“Ahmed has proved himself continuously as a talented and focussed designer. He has excellent technical knowledge and quickly established himself at Google as a go-to guy for all things Flash, Actionscript, PHP, Javascript etc. He has a great attitude and his work is concise and timely. I am very happy to recommend Ahmed; he is a great asset to any team.”
Giles Tuck, Senior Digital Designer, Google
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“Ahmed is an extremely proactive designer/developer and a delight to manage. He is always learning and constantly surprises his team-mates with innovative technological solutions to a project's challenges. I would definitely like to work w/ Ahmed again in any type of project and think he's an asset to any team he joins.”
Carlos Ferrão, Project Manager, Google
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“Ahmed's solid work ethic, excellent knowledge and skill base, attention to detail and commitment to ensure the best solution to any dev project has made him an essential member to any project team. His love for his work is always evident, continuing to keep abreast of new technologies and processes, while sharing his knowledge and learnings with his team. He always asks questions, if he is unsure and quickly processes the information and applies his learning accordingly. Ahmed has excellent communication skills, owning the ability to drive a project as well as ensure all stakeholders are kept informed. He is kind, enthusiastic and a pleasure to work with.”
Leona Farquharson, Project Manager, Google
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“Ahmed is quite frankly a digital prodigy! His broad digital knowledge is incredible, yet his depth of knowledge and practical experience within each of those areas is immense. His interest and passion for digital media is obvious and means that he is always keen to learn as much as he can, both in work and externally. Ahmed is a real asset to our team, he has a rare ability to communicate complex technical issues to non-technically minded staff in a way that is understandable yet not patronising. He also has a great sense of humour, positive 'can-do' attitude and willingness to do whatever is asked of him to the best of his abilities. I would have no hesitation in recommending Ahmed to other people in my position, looking to hire talented digital staff.”
Nadine Drelaud, Freelance Lead Project Manager, Google
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“Ahmed is a kind, outgoing and strong person who is always willing to give advice and help others. Ahmed's web skills are immense. I believe his fantastic work ethics have contributed to his well-deserved successes to date. An asset to any company.”
Amy Forbes, Graphic Designer, The Bubblegate Company Limited
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“Ahmed was one of my students at Ravensbourne. During his 3 year course he developed from a driven student into a mature thinking designer without managing to loose any of his drive. His dedication to the discipline is awesome.”
John Durrant, Course Leader, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication
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“Ahmed was one of my dissertation students at Ravensbourne. I found him quick to learn, very focused, intelligent and ambitious - a star in the making.”
Richard Oliver, Visiting Lecturer, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication
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“Ahmed was one of the most able students I ever taught. It was always a pleasure to work with him in seminars as his ability to combine concept with technology was very inspiring. Consequently his degree project was MA/MSc level. Beyond this his interpersonal skills are excellent and he was very engaged helping in all situations. I would always offer him a place on an MA/MSc program as well as a job.”
Martin Schmitz, Senior Lecturer, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication
Blog Entries
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Introducing The ‘Give Chrome’ Campaign
Now this may have been the most work I’ve ever done hung over. During the week that just past, I’ve been working with the guys and gals at Google UK on a few top secret projects. They’ve all been bubbling quite nicely, and have given me enough time to explore different technologies and techniques to [...]
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Developing And Deploying PHP Apps With Capistrano, Phing And DBDeploy
So I’ve started on my new little project Proxie. In order for it to be scalable, I’ve started using Capistrano for the development and deployment processes. Furthermore, I’m also using Phing and DBDeploy to handle the database migrates. But that’s not where the fun stops, I’m also making use of some great Ruby Gems, locally rather [...]
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So, I’ve got a new brief that requires me to make use of hexagons in Flash. Not a problem I said and went about making a base Polygon class, and without further ado, here it is. It’s very simple to use, so far I’ve only made a Hexagon subclass, but I’ll make more. Nevertheless, here’s how [...]
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The Best Of Us Challenge Wins FWA’s Site Of The Day!!
Woohooo!!! Finally, I’ve worked on a project that’s won an FWA award! The Best Of Us Challenge is centred around the YouTube Contest API and involves you, the general public, challenging athletes at a range of different things. There’s quite a few different challenges and they’re always being updated! The concept is really cool, you [...]
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Introducing Vid – A jQuery Plugin For All Your Video Embedding Needs
It all started with a tweet: @tensafefrogs: Cleaning up the YouTube embed code a bit: http://bit.ly/3oA4yM I replied to Geoff saying ‘why not use javascript?’ to which he said: ‘because we want to be compatible with many (every) publishing platforms, and many of them don’t allow javascript’. So that got me thinking, why not create a simple and [...]
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Tweets
My Notable Work
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Fox's Avatar Interactive Trailer
I was given the amazing opportunity by the guys at The PPC to work on the Avatar interactive trailer microsite. It wasn't the simplest of builds, but the concept was pretty simple. The biggest issue was making sure that the Flash could handle the rendering of the alpha channel videos with 3D panels without dragging too much processing power. The outcome was pretty perfect, although had I had more time I would've spent more time trying to claim back every bit of processing power! Visit this project's web site »
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Google's Give Chrome
I recently got asked to help fix and put the finishing touches to Google's new 'Give Chrome' campaign. The site's server side code had to be rewritten in Python for Google's AppEngine, and the Actionscript code had to be cleaned up and updated, ready for working Facebook and Twitter integration and utilising the giving concept. It was a large project to take on, but I managed to get everything up and running within a couple of days, more work to come though! Visit this project's web site »
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IOC The Best Of Us Challenge
A month of so ago I got contacted by an agency in the states who asked me to help them build a beast of a YouTube Contest Gadget for the Olympics IOC. The concept, 'The Best Of Us Challenge', was to have videos of athletes doing stuff that us mere mortals can compete with, such as, walking on your hands or balancing balls. It's a beautifully designed gadget and my task was to aid the team through the maze that is a YouTube Contest Gadget, helping with coding, integration of the player, the authentication and uploading of videos, creation of the proxy (and caching) all the way through to the tech review process. The site has now gone on to win an FWA SOTD Award! Visit this project's web site »
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Flash Video Player for 1Click2Fame.com
One of the main projects that I had to do at 1Click2Fame.com was to create their branded player. This is one of the most important assets of the site, for example, what would YouTube be without its player? The player needed to not only play videos but also deal with voting on a performance and also handle authentication (in situ) as well as being embedable on external site and having a JavaScript API. Visit this project's web site »
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YouTube Brand Channel 3D Carousel
During my time at Google I was asked to create some new products for YouTube. I created this new 3D carousel, much like Apple's coverflow, using Actionscript 3 with Papervision. It's been created in a way that allows it to be fully customised, from the background gradient colours to the size of the player and whether they'd like HQ/HD as standard. The gadget can be updated through changing an XML file, and a CMS for it is in production, to be built on Google AppEngine framework in Python. Visit this project's web site »
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YouTube Brand Channel Concepts
As part of my work at Google, I not only had to develop internal and external applications, but I was also brought into projects as a designer. I was asked multiple times to come up with YouTube Brand Channel concepts for clients ranging from TopGear, BMW, Ford to GE. To create these brand channels, one must have an understanding of what YouTube is about (community videos), how and why YouTubers participate in competitions, and how to use the YouTube APIs.
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Laurence Mills Channel
My friend, Laurence Mills, required a nice and simple micro site where he could upload and publish his videos to be used as his showreel and portfolio. I suggested using a YouTube Brand Channel rather than having any old web site sitting on the web. I designed a simple style for it, running on the basis of how he created his shorts and installed the 3D Carousel Gadget that I created. Visit this project's web site »
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WEF Davos Debates 2009 Channel
The Davos Debates 2009 were a great way that YouTube helped users post their responses and feelings on major questions to the world's leaders. It featured a full custom brand channel gadget, created by me in Actionscript 2, and uses the YouTube Contest API with a Google App Engine (Python) proxy. The gadget proved to be highly successful and a first for YouTube. Visit this project's web site »
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YouTube Symphony Orchestra Channel
YouTube's Symphony Orchestra was a new and innovative projects that involved the YouTube community submitting videos of themselves and voting for their favourites to win a part in a special orchestra summit in New York's Carnegie Hall. I was brought in to help the guys with the project, on a Friday (two days before it went live), as they were having problems with the YouTube and Google GData APIs. I introduced them to the classes that I wrote for the Davos channel and helped them in integrating the player into their custom carousel and video wall. Visit this project's web site »
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Tutorials for Activetuts+
I've recently started writing tutorials for the web site Activetuts+ so I can raise my profile as a skilled freelancer. I've been asked to write a few more including ones on using YouTube and Google products and APIs, and coding conventions. The first tutorial I wrote, on PureMVC, went down really well and I'll be writing about two a month now. Visit this project's web site »
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Coutts Location Tool
The Coutts Location Tool is a project that I created whilst working at Tangozebra, now part of Google. The client wanted an interactive and intuitive tool that allowed customers to see where Coutts branches are and how to get there. The idea was to embed Google Maps and use the Maps API to integrate fully with set locations as well as geocoding user's post codes and directions to Coutts branches. Visit this project's web site »
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Homepage Hero Carousel for 1Click2Fame.com
An important aesthetic and usability feature of the new 1Click2Fame.com web site is the home page carousel. This needed to show the latest videos and allow visitors to quickly and easily vote on them. The user can flick through the different videos, load up the player in situ and if they vote no, they carousel closes the player and queues another video at random allowing for quick and simple flowing interaction. Visit this project's web site »
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Hero Feature for 1Click2Fame.com Bootcamp
During my time at 1Click2Fame.com I was asked to create a flash hero feature for the Boot Camp microsite. This header will be updated at every stage during the build up to and during the Boot Camp. It also loosely integrates the new video player I'm writing for 1Click2Fame.com. Visit this project's web site »
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Google Advertising Landscape CMS
The Google Advertising Landscape (GAL for short) is an internal Google Sales tool created to aid DSOs sell Google, YouTube and GCN inventory to media buyers. It streamlines the creation of presentations, allowing sales officers to pick and customise case studies and elements to help them create the perfect pitch. I created the content management system (CMS) that the sales officers used to create their own GAL presentations. Its front-end was written in XHTML, CSS and JavaScript (jQuery) and back-end is powered by CodeIgnitor (PHP) and MySQL.
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YouTube Advertising Showcase
The YouTube Advertising Showcase is a tool that allows advertisers to see the different and innovative examples of YouTube's inventory ranging from expandable MPUs/LRECs to mastheads and brand channels. All the examples are video captured to help advertisers see the user journey. I created the front-end showcase, due to feature on YouTube, and the back-end CMS for sales officers to create and modify examples. The front and back-ends are built with Flex MXML and Actionscript 3 and uses Google App Engine (Python) for data storage and API functions.
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last.fm & YouTube iGoogle Gadget Mash-up
During my time at Google, I decided to learn as much as I could about the Google GData and YouTube APIs. I decided to do a mash-up between last.fm and YouTube, whereby it would query last.fm and return a set of artists, tracks or albums, depending on your specification, and then take this to YouTube and return the highest ranking video. It's turned out to be a great way for people to get the latest gossip and tracks from their favourite artists and has had over 50,000 visitors since October 2008. Visit this project's web site »
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More Work
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Future Blogging Limited
Future Blogging are a new copywriting company who wanted their web site to stand out from the crowd. I pitched the idea of having their web site look and feel like a magazine, as most of their work is copy. The took to the idea, loved it and have had nothing but praise about their bold image. The web site was constructed with Actionscript 2 and uses XML to bind the data. Visit this project's web site »
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Brockway Consulting Limited
Brockway Consulting are a company who provide consultancy for the utility, government and rail industries. They required a sleek, modern and simple web site that would give them the ability to have a blog and keep up to date. The web site delivered is CMS based and allows the company to keep their site up to date as well add new pages, it's powered by PHP and MySQL, with an Actionscript 3 main feature, and has an XHTML and CSS compliant template. Visit this project's web site »
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Marshall Arts Photography
Mandy Marshall is a photographer who I had the pleasure to work with in a previous job. She wanted a clean, modern web site but did not require the complexity of a CMS. I proposed the idea of having her upload her photos to Flickr and for my to build a web site that fed off the Flickr API and presented her photos on her own web site. The front-end is built with Actionscript 3 and MXML and uses a PHP based proxy system to interact with Flickr's API. Visit this project's web site »
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Mosaicappeals.com Web Site
Mosaicappeals.com is a project that I created in a previous job. The concept was to create a self service style web site that allow charities and fund-raisers to come along and create a mosaic from any picture and have those tiles sold to the general public. The tiles sold would then count towards the charity's/fund-raiser's total. The system is built entirely on CodeIgnior (PHP) and uses XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript (Prototype and Script.aculo.us) for the front-end. The system also uses a Protx 3Dsecure API that I wrote. Visit this project's web site »
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FosterCare UK Web Site & SEO
FosterCare UK is a fostering agency and who I worked with in a previous job. I was in charge of creating their web site, optimising it and then creating and managing a Google Adwords PPC campaign. The web site is a CMS powered site that allows them to keep it up to date, and with the optimisation and PPC campaign, their ROI reached over 300%. Visit this project's web site »
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Other Work
Code
- Actionscript 2 — built a series of classes for Actionscript 2 that help with the interaction and integration of Google and YouTube APIs
- Actionscript 3 — extended standard and PureMVC classes to help with the development of Actionscript 3 applications
- PHP — created a series of helpers and libraries for tasks such as compressing components, aiding with HTML and authentication
- JavaScript — generated a base prototype to help with the agile and speedy development of web sites and JavaScript applications
- Python — used Google App Engine and Django framework to built APIs and proxies that aided with the interaction of YouTube and Google projects
Advertising
- Natwest — a series of animated custom creatives for Natwest Cricket Series newsletters
- Visit Iceland — a series of animated and interactive MPUs and banners for the Visit Iceland campaign
- Starwoods Westin Paris — a microsite for the launch of the new Starwoods Westin Paris hotel
- ...and more
Web sites
- Dr Amal Ahmed — Flash Front-end with Google Maps API for Flash Integration
- Alias Hosting — PHP/MySQL Custom System with Domain Whois "look up", Customer Database and PayPal Integration
- TheTeams.info — PHP/MySQL Custom System with Customer and Team Management Database and Merch eCommerce System
- FireStarter Media Limited — PHP/MySQL Custom System with Back-end CRM and CMS with Integrated Search Engine and APIs
- European Advisory Service — ASP.NET CMS, AJAX/PHP API, PHP/MySQL CRM
- Heath Farm — PHP/MySQL CMS
- St Mark's Hospital — PHP/MySQL CMS, Publication Search-engine and Online Shop with Protx Integration
- St Mark's Hospital Foundation — PHP/MySQL CMS, Flash JustGiving Widget, Online Donations through Protx
- Community Foster Care — PHP/MySQL CMS with sIFR Integration
- European Botanical Forum — PHP/MySQL CMS with Flash Image Banner
- The Daisy Chain — PHP/MySQL CMS with sIFR Integration
- Blackfriars Scenery — PHP/MySQL/XML CMS with simple FTP Integration
- Blue Sky Labs — PHP/MySQL CMS with Flash Front-end
- Resbond — PHP/MySQL custom CMS with Interactive Quote Creator
- ...and more
© Ahmed Nuaman 2010. Looking for web design? Visit FireStarter Media Limited.
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