I'm a senior/lead developer for internal, commercial, and government projects. Most of my work is held in protected systems.

My best areas are: web technologies, user experience design, accessibility, operational tools, back-end data, design, digital transformation, and architecture.

Projects

w3pedia

ASP

MSQL

PHP

PostgreSQL

I initially developed the w3pedia core, and later designed it as a product. w3pedia is a content portal for multimedia knowledge, API documentation, ISO compliance and process documentation, training, and marketing asset storage. It drives content for new channels and context-sensitive help systems, including the public-facing printing.com, Nettl, w3p, TemplateCloud, Marqetspace, and w3pedia.com.

Benefits:

• A user-centred experience, where users see content matched to their roles, languages, locations, and business channels
• Cloud hosting ended 'network folder anarchy' and opened access to remote locations
• Clear, consistent, and accessible content
• Leaders and SMEs create great content in a publication workflow
• Discoverable training and operational resources, and ISO-900x compliance
• Searchable and up-to-date Marketing assets allow designers to compose quickly and with confidence
• Links to help content from web apps, to eliminate searching

TGI: Template Generator for Adobe InDesign

JavaScript

InDesign

PostgreSQL

TGI bridged the gap between product design and production-ready documents in InDesign. Benefits:

• Increased gross margin by 1% to 4%, from quality improvements
• Saved 400,000 hours (and counting!) of designer setup time, to free designers to do more of the creative work they love, and generate more profit
• Reduced quality failures, by creating templates that comply with the production specifications
• Made environmental savings by reducing wasteful or urgent reworking, and converging on optimal manufacturing efficiency
• Improved the product database, and provided structured data instead of text specifications, with benefits for financial reporting and quality analytics
• Provided mark-up that production operatives need to complete their process with accuracy and fewer errors outside tolerance
• Created working templates by composing options from the product hierarchy
• Enabled lesser-skilled designers to design for complicated products
• Generated custom specifications without error, using configurable building blocks
• Fast updates to the designer network, with critical changes to product specifications or production needs

TGI accounted for:

• Product size, pages, variations, finishing options.
• Document layers for trimming and folding tolerances, design hints, predesigned die-cut templates, foils and coatings, panel dimensions and orientation.
• Books: creep and binding.
• Large format: eyelet placement, roller windings, frame coverage.

Class Direct

JavaScript

Node

Angular

Jest

git

mySQL

Jenkins

I helped develop a management system for insurance services. My work included new integration services, CI/test remediation, build scripts, UI design systems, and interfaces for assets, surveys, fees, and class definitions.

Oxford University Press

JavaScript

Node

React

Jest

git

I coded interface components and the design system for the inception phase of the OUP publishing and licensing portal.

ServiceNow

As well as configuration of ServiceNow modules like ITSM, ITBM, CMDB, SAM, and portals, I've successfully developed significant customizations on the ServiceNow platform, including:

• Admin, upgrades, cloning, domains, debugging, security auditing, and vulnerability mitigation.
• A CMDB CI importer API/SDK that streams to appropriate classes in the ci.cmdb database tree. It features: configurable streams from integrations or files, custom attribute fields, custom coalesce functions, name mapping, and full error reporting.
• A notification API, to allow data-bound, branded, accessible, MIME-compliant, and write-once composition of emails. Includes user-focused handling of 'on behalf of' requests.
• New Service Portals, as out-of-the-box or highly customized designs.
• Service Portal widgets and data, including Service Catalog, Knowledge, Incident Management and MIM, Notifications, and Services.

See also: ServiceNow feats

Quote tools

VBA

Excel

Access

PostgreSQL

I created quote tools, to give internal and external pricing and schedule for printing projects. Benefits:

• Executives can quote for print jobs live with the customer, rather than waiting for days for a production expert to cost and approve.
• No need to compose quotes from subcontractors
• No need to calculate 'internal customer' prices, margins, or currency conversions
• No loss-making jobs, using true holistic costs - sales discounting is then at the user's risk and discretion, on their budget line
• Risk-managed workflow, where the customer converts a quote text generated by the tool
• Makes the user aware of the risks of larger jobs
• Enables competitive larger projects, with economies of scale and batching
• Made environmental savings, by making better use of materials, and generating achievable layouts within tolerances

It accounted for:

• Batched variations on a substrate, creating optimal layout and cutting programs
• Costs of materials and machine time, including long-term finance costs
• Machine tolerances, compounded overs calculation
• Costs and time for external contractors and logistics
• Options for paper, coating, foil/scratch, cutting, folding, templated and custom die-cutting, hand-finishing
• International currency and production hubs
• Internal and external pricing, timed service levels, variable profit models
• Text export of order summaries for customer quotes
• Variant: book and booklet production
• Variant: large format production

CloudSeed: client-side preflighter for Adobe InDesign

JavaScript

InDesign

CloudSeed checked documents for printing, and helped correct errors or out-of-tolerance elements. It generated a report dialog, with a summary and a clickable item tree that selected document elements, and optional Fix and Fix all buttons. Organized by warning class, or by document structure. It also had a preflight rule set for Silicon Publishing integration.

Media merger for Adobe InDesign

JavaScript

InDesign

PostgreSQL

This created batches of images or PDFs, from templates and graphics and text data. This was used for seasonal mailings to customers, and marketing customized for outlets. In an earlier form as a personal project, this generated game cards from artwork and data tables.

Shepherd

Delphi

database

Created as a service for Windows NT, Shepherd integrated with the product database, to validate PDF designs, and then direct them to team-specific central storage.

Worm Watch

Delphi

Created as a service for Windows NT, Worm Watch, together with my security protocols, eradicated worm viruses from the network, where commercial antivirus had failed.

Financial reporting suite

Access

PostgreSQL

Integrated into existing systems, my suite accelerated larger reports from hours to seconds. I optimised intensive calculations into data cubes, and created a front end that junior accountants could use.

Personal projects

johnvalentine.co.uk (personal)

PHP

Apache

JavaScript

git

I coded this site from scratch and without added frameworks. Design and style are my own. Articles are HTML, with optional helper functions.

Benefits:

• Clean interface, focused on content
• Self-hosted, so uninterrupted by advertising or algorithms
• An easy environment for me to write in.

Boop

Node

JavaScript

React

Zustand

Vite

git

Boop is a 2025 rewrite of my offline software synth, FMC.

Po8 calc

Node

JavaScript

Jest

git

A simulation engine and analytical package to explore a method for quantum simulation of high-energy physics. I used TDD methodology for the hierarchy of functions.

Sticky Fingers

JavaScript

git

A touch-screen MIDI controller, from a web browser. Works on laptops with touch screens, mobile phones, tablets, and iPad. Configurable dashboard layout.

Wordlish

JavaScript

git

A word usage analyser for writers and editors. I mostly used functional JavaScript for UI composition and analysis. Code is designed to be readable and fast, using JavaScript constructs well.

Public examples

• Small web apps
• My github portfolio
• This webite is an example wiki-like content system I wrote from scratch. Here's a style book for it.