Site Spotlight: TheHotMag.com
Recently I interviewed Zlatko Najdenovski, the designer behind The Hot Mag. Below you will find the questions and answers from our interview.
Tell us about yourself and how you got involved in web development.
Well, I’m Zlatko Najdenovski and I live in Macedonia. Four years ago I started learning web design and technology in an IT academy in my home country. The courses lasted for a year and since then I have been involved in the web world where I’m constantly keeping up with the latest web technologies and design trends.
Tell us a little about TheHotMag?
It’s basically a blog, at least the community declares it as such, but my aim is to make it more like an online magazine. I decided for this celebrity niche because I found it quite attractive. TheHotMag is mainly focused on celebrities, but doesn’t exclude lifestyle and entertainment in general.
Why did you choose ExpressionEngine for this project?
The good thing about ExpressionEngine is that I have the complete freedom to modify, delete or add new functionalities to my site whenever I want and in a matter of minutes. If I had to hire a developer, it would cost me not just extra money, but extra time also. Now I’m not just a designer but a developer too, and ExpressionEngine has become my CMS of choice.
What was the most difficult part of the site?
Hmm… I’m not sure there was such a part. Thanks to the EE community I always received quick and detailed answers to all my questions during the development process.
Can you share a particular problem you ran into that the EE community helped you out with?
It seems all the folks on the EE forum are willing to spend a good amount of time to help the EE newbies (like me) with detailed answers. As for a concrete problem in my development process… well I had a few: I remember wasting hours trying to figure out how to show categories from two category groups in my articles listing. The people from the community helped me with quick answers and also suggested new ways to solve my problem.
Tell us about your plans for the future of the site.
My plans for the future are to make more unique content and if it’s profitable enough, find creative writers to write interesting stories that will attract a younger audience.
Are you using any special ExpressionEngine Add-ons (modules, plugins, extensions)?
Yes, so far I’m using “Allow EE Code”. That gives me the freedom to write EE tags in my weblog content, which I find quite useful. Soon I’m planning to implement “Gallery Categoree” and “No-follow” plug-ins.
Anything else you want to talk about or promote?
Well, again I would like to say a few nice words about ExpressionEngine. I like the complete freedom of EE and I won’t forget the helpfullness from the community forum.
Thanks to Zlatko for taking the time to share a little about his project!
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