The Good, the Bad, and the Portfolio
In the Beginning
Over the last several months, I have been creating and sharing design projects. So, it's finally time to gather those together and create a dedicated portfolio to showcase my design progress. Honestly, the most challenging part of this process was searching through old projects and cringing at the worst of them. But, I digress; progress is still progress even if the beginning was rock bottom.
Leap of Faith
The first step in this ongoing process involved finding the pieces I want to feature. How far back do I need (or want) to go with these projects? I could use only the best projects I've done, the ones that I'm most proud of, but that doesn't exhibit how I've grown. From where I started to where I am now shows that I am not static; I am a human being who learns, grows, and makes mistakes. There will always be something new to learn, and that is so exciting -- and scary. I also needed to revise some of my projects before they were ready for the spotlight.
Finding the Right Tools
With all of my portfolio pieces gathered, I need to find a way to create a portfolio. Unfortunately, WordPress only allows plugins on the business plan, so I first had to upgrade from personal to business. This was a big decision since I keep a separate portfolio website, but I'm ready to put these two worlds together. There are so many options for portfolio plugins, but here is an article on the best plugins available for portfolios.
I chose the "Portfolio Gallery" plugin by A WP Life, mainly because of its highly-rated reviews. It can be finicky, and the instructions are not in proper English, but it's simple to use. I can add up to five filter categories on the free version of the plugin, so I started with Web Design, UX Design, Photography, and Graphic Design. I can also keep separate gallery sections if I want to divide my portfolio (which I might consider).
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The business plan has increased storage of up to 200 GB, but I wouldn't want to slow page loading with large files. So, I optimized the file size of my projects. In the gallery, I went through previous uploads to my website before uploading more recent projects. Then, I added category tags to each image. Next, I uploaded new projects and gave them labels. Finally, I published the portfolio page, but it can only be accessed with the exact URL slug, not through site navigation. To turn the portfolio gallery into an accessible webpage, I copied the shortcode from the gallery to the "Portfolio" page.
Something Old, Something New
Unfortunately, the plugin organizes gallery images from oldest uploads to newest. So I spent some time reorganizing the images so they would appear in descending order. By some time, I mean a lot of time, so I highly recommend uploading photos in the order you want them to appear; i.e., most recent should be first and oldest should be last. Lastly, I adjusted the gallery configurations to allow three columns in desktop view, two columns for tablets, one for phones and then hiding image names.
Changes to Make
I want to feature projects as collective groups rather than one long gallery page, so I will be toying with the idea of multiple gallery sections on the portfolio. Out of context, some of these images don't make sense, and I'd like to offer information about each project. Perhaps I might consider a separate subcategory for photography.