Tanis’s Portfolio.
A portfolio for Tanis Chavez’s sports reporting, photography, and on-camera work. Still in development.
Professional portfolio · Work in progress
Design & full-stack development
PHP / MySQL / JavaScript / CSS
What I set out to build.
I’m building a portfolio for Tanis Chavez’s journalism, photography, interviews, and podcasts. Her highlight reel is one of the first things visitors see, followed by ways to explore the rest of her work.
The goals
- Put the highlight reel within easy reach.
- Organize photography and published work into clear sections.
- Make photo and category updates possible without editing code.
Responsibilities
- Portfolio structure and visual direction
- Responsive public pages and media presentation
- Photo-management admin and database integration
The challenge
The site needs to bring several kinds of work together without burying the strongest pieces. Tanis also needs a way to upload and organize photos without asking me to edit the code each time.
Who it’s for
Editors, producers, prospective employers, and collaborators reviewing Tanis’s reporting and visual work.
Visual direction
I’m using soft colors and simple layouts around the reel and photography. Writing, interviews, and podcasts have their own sections so visitors can go straight to the work they want to see.
Using the site
The homepage previews the reel and featured photos. The gallery supports category browsing and a larger lightbox view; a private admin area provides photo uploads, captions, categories, and featured-image controls.
Technical approach
PHP templates and MySQL handle the pages and media records, with JavaScript for navigation, the gallery lightbox, and theme selection. CSS variables support peach, lavender, and mint themes, and the visitor’s choice persists locally.
Responsive behavior
The page layout includes a mobile navigation state, responsive photo grids, and a video container that preserves the reel’s aspect ratio. The full collection still needs testing with final content on physical devices.
Accessibility
Video embeds have descriptive titles, gallery images use content captions, and Escape closes the lightbox. Keyboard focus management, media captions, and the completed content remain part of the pre-launch review.
Performance
Photos and embedded media load lazily. Before launch, the image upload workflow needs appropriately sized thumbnails so a growing gallery does not send full-resolution photographs to every visitor.
What I had to work through
I’m building the public pages and the photo admin together. When Tanis uploads a photo, its caption, category, and featured status need to carry through to the right place on the site.
Outcome
The public pages, reel embed, gallery, and photo admin are in development. The site is not live yet; final content and launch checks are still to come.
What I learned
I’ve had to think about the person updating the portfolio as much as the person reading it. A simple upload process makes it easier to keep the public site current.
What’s next
Add the final photos and published pieces, finish testing the admin and keyboard navigation, and prepare the site for launch.