Luke McDonald

2011: 1% For The Planet Donation

Luke McDonald — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:26:22 +0000

This year will be the first full year of working for myself under my business CELTIC7. When I started CELTIC7 in January 2010, one of the first things I did was join 1% For The Planet (1FTP). In short, as a member of 1FTP, I donate 1% of my sales to a network of environmental organizations worldwide. I was excited this year in particular because it was my first full year of working for myself and would be the largest donation I’ve made, both personally and as a business.

I looked forward to finding an approved 1FTP Non-Profit that I was interested in and could contribute 1% of my earnings toward. With well over 2,000 approved 1FTP Non-Profit organizations, I wasn’t sure how I would go about finding just one. In the end, I decided that each year I will pick one Non-Profit organization based on a set of criteria. The criteria may change from year to year, but this year I wanted to make it personal. Below is the criteria for my 2011 selection, which the name of the chosen Non-Profit will follow.

Non-Profit Selection Criteria

Location: Bozeman, MT
I was born in Bozeman, MT and spent every summer running around the outdoor trails, mountains, and rivers. In past years, more and more people have moved to the area to take in it’s beauty. I wanted to support a Non-Profit that helps keep bozeman beautiful, the way I remember it.
Website
I build websites, so it was a must the Non-Profit have a website. Bonus points for a nice, kept up website :)
WordPress
Without WordPress, I wouldn’t be where I am at now. I thought it be a good fun idea to support a Non-Profit that utilized a tool that helped support me and my business.
Interest
I wanted to have a genuine interest in what the Non-Profit was doing.

With the criteria in place, it turns out there was one Non-Profit that fit the bill perfectly…

Gallatin Valley Land Trust

Trails & Conservation

Located in Bozeman, MT, with a great looking website using WordPress, the Gallatin Valley Land Trust conserves southwest Montana’s heritage of open landscapes, working farms and ranches, healthy rivers, and wildlife habitat; and creates trails to connect people, communities and the land.

Learn more about GVLT→

Giving Thanks

I wanted to give a special thanks to the following business’s and people who have helped make a difference by working with me or have purchased one of my products. Everyone has been a part of making an environmental difference with our donation to the great organization of Gallatin Valley Land Trust .

Thank You:

2011 CELTIC7 Clients
Josh Schamberger (Iowa City Coralville Convention and Visitors Bureau)
Jason Schuller & Press75.com
Soundcheck & Debut WordPress theme buyers
WordPress
Those websites who host with CELTIC7 Hosting

Soundcheck WordPress theme now available on Press75.com

Luke McDonald — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:17:26 +0000

Soundcheck is a unique and one of kind audio theme for WordPress and built with the latest web technologies (jQuery, CSS3, and HTML5). This theme is perfect for any band, artist, musician, church or website looking to provide audio to it’s users. Featuring a custom MP3 audio player, Soundcheck allows your visitors to select, play, and skip through tracks from albums setup within the theme. Integration and styles for the popular Audio Player WordPress plugin have been included as well. All tracks, files, purchase links and info setup for each album are automaically pulled onto custom album pages and ready to be played.

Aside from the great audio features, Soundcheck also includes other useful features like video support, unique image slider, galleries, custom post types, custom post formats, and more. Taking things one step further, we’ve also included unique styles for popular plugins such as GigPress, Gravity Forms, WP-PageNavi, and Audio Player.

View Newsletter | View Demo or Purchase →

[bandcamp album=1387851088 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Standing Desk “Development”

Luke McDonald — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:11:23 +0000

I have always been told “Desk jobs are bad for your health and will make you soft…”, or something along those lines as I usually brushed it off. After seeing an infographic called “Sittin is Killing You“, this time I was more bound and determined to find a solution to sitting and coding all day. For the last couple of months or so, I have been on the search for a standing desk. In the end, all the desks I found either looked cheap and were cheaply made or cost a small fortune to buy and ship. So, I decided to build one myself. Here is what I came up with… all for around $120!

Below are the materials I used to create the standing desk.

VIKA BYSKE Adjustable Leg × 2 – IKEA
VIKA AMON Table Top – IKEA
DIODER Multicolor Lighting Set (w /Chrom Circular Inlays) – IKEA

I also added a few other items to top things off.

3M Knob-Adjust Keyboard Tray with Standard Platform, 17 Inch Track – Amazon.com
Vintage Stool – $10 at local thrift store
IDEA Paint - The entire back wall is a giant Eraser Board. Very handy…

Debut WordPress theme now available on Press75.com

Luke McDonald — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:29:08 +0000

Hard work is paying off…

I am very excited to post that the Debut Theme, aptly named for my first commercial WordPress theme, is now available on Press75.com.

Coming full circle…

My first introduction to WordPress was through the Web Designer magazine I subscribed too a few years. As I attempted to teach myself web design and development by absorbing anything and everything, I came across two free versions of Press75.com themes included with Web Designer magazine. After giving WordPress a shot and seeing how simple, clean, and easy it was to use Press75 themes, I instantly bought a lifetime membership. Now, only a few short years later and uncountable hours of learning WordPress, I have the great opportunity to work with Jason Schuller providing WordPress theme(s) for Press75.

Check out the Debut Theme | Read Press75.com Newsletter

I would like to personally welcome @thelukemcdonald and his "Debut" theme to Press75.com http://t.co/tpY1HYz #WordPress

June 9, 2011 6:22 pm via Twitter for Mac ReplyRetweetFavorite

@Press75

Jason Schuller

Custom jPlayer Audio Skin (HTML)

Luke McDonald — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:45:24 +0000

I took a some time to code up one of Orman Clarks freebies over at PremiumPixels.com. This custom audio player skin was built using the jPlayer. The skins PSD and HTML files are included in the demo, so check it out, download and start posting some music! Congrats to Orman and an amazing looking audio player design.

View Demo →

Innocent theme for WordPress teaser

Luke McDonald — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:06:42 +0000

I was recently reminded of a theme I had started for WordPress called, Innocent. This theme has been coded up in HTML, I just haven’t had the time convert it over to WordPress. Attached is a screenshot of what the Innocent theme’s home page would look like featuring 4 categories each with their own image slider. Only a handfull of images are used for the core design, the rest is CSS3.

2012 U.S. Olympic Trials – Wrestling site teaser

Luke McDonald — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 10:52:44 +0000

I’ve started on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials – Wrestling site which will be held in Iowa City, IA. The site launches May 2011. Here is a screenshot featuring a digital scoreboard countdown widget.

New project completed for Iowa Sports Camps

Luke McDonald — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:55:59 +0000

I just finished up the final touches for Iowa Sports Camps website redesign through my own small business CELTIC7 Studio (currently trying to finish my own site too :). This has so far been the most enjoyable project I have worked. Being an athlete and a sports enthusiast, I felt right at home and eager to work each day. On top of that, it challenged me and my WordPress skills to create all sorts off theme options and custom metabox’s to easily handle the content dynamically. The goal was to avoid duplicated efforts where ever possible.

Check it out at www.iowasportscamps.com