I am a web developer using the PHP/MySQL combination as are the majority of the web developing community.

My work system is a desktop PC running Windows 7 and my testing server is IIS 7 with PHP 5.3 and MySQL  installed using the Microsoft Platform installer.

When I travel I use a MacBook Air with MAMP 2.0 installed as my testing server. If ever I wanted to do any work on one of my sites while away, I would always have trouble making sure I had the latest version of my files to work on.

The Solution

Use Dropbox and Dropbox Folder Sync to synch all your files on the fly. Dropbox is a great FREE cloud based file syncing application available on both the Windows and Mac platforms, but there is one catch, you can’t synch multiple folders. My Dropbox folder was c:\Users\Lee\Dropbox\ and the webserver root was located at c:\inetpub\wwwroot\<website>\. Enter “Dropbox Folder Sync” a simple add-on for Windows that allows you to seamlessly sync folders outside the Dropbox folder, you sync and unsync to Dropbox just by using the right click on the folder. It actually moves the original folder to Dropbox and then puts a symbolic link to the folder in its place. Thus you can access the same folder from two locations.

What You Will Need

If you have the same testing server setup as I do you will have PHP/MySQL already running on IIS 7 on your Windows box and MAMP running on your Mac system.

On Your Windows PC

Create a Dropbox account and download and install the Dropbox application on your PC. Accept the defaults.

Create a folder in Dropbox called “www”.

Next download and install Dropbox Folder Sync on your Windows PC and set the “Dropbox Path” to the folder you created in the previous step.

Next navigate to you website root in Windows Explorer, this will most probably be “c:\inetpub\wwwroot\<website>” and right click on your website root and select “Sync with Dropbox” from the contextual menu.

That’s all there is to it on Windows. You should now be able to work on your website using Dreamweaver or the website editor of your choice as per normal.

On Your Mac

Install Dropbox for Mac and accept the defaults.

Next open your MAMP preferences and click on the “Apache” button. Click on the “Select…” button for Document Root and select the www folder we created in your Dropbox account earlier.

That’s all there is to it. You should now be able to work from either your work PC or Mac and access the latest files.

We discussed at length the requirements of this new application and decided it would need to be as simple as possible, so basically we narrowed it down into a two step process.

Client Appointment Request

It had to be easy for the client to make an appointment. The client simply has to browse the “available” appointment time slots (displayed in green on the calendar) and then click on the time they would like to make their appointment. Next they would be sent to the log on screen to log on to their account with Living Wisdom (or create an account if they didn’t have one). They would then be taken to the Client Appointment Request screen where all they needed to do is select the type of contact, be it face to face, phone or Skype and then click the confirm button. As soon as this is done an email is sent to Living Wisdom for their review.

Living Wisdom Appointment Confirmation

Living Wisdom Counselling & Seminars after receipt of the email from the client would then log on to their admin area and then either confirm the appointment in which case a confirmation email would be automatically sent to the client or contact the client to reschedule, if for some reason the time didn’t suit. The times when rescheduling would be necessary would be few and far between as Living Wisdom has the ability to mark time slots as “Not available” if they have some reason why they wont be available at that time.

48 hours prior to the appointment falling due, a reminder email would be automatically sent to the client informing them of their upcoming appointment.

Automatic Calendar Appointment Generation

The available time slots in the calendar are generated on the first day of each month, three months in advance. The default number of time slots can be edited in the admin area. Times can be added, deleted or edited. These will only come into effect when the next months time slots are generated.

Marking “Blocks” as “Not Available”

Living Wisdom also requested a way to mark blocks of dates as “not available” for times when they were on vacation or conducting seminars interstate or overseas. This is accomplished in the admin area by selecting a start date and an end date and then selecting either “Available” or “Not Available” from the drop down list. When this form is submitted all time slots that fall between the dates selected will be changed.

Conclusion

This Appointment Calendar application has many uses that will save both time and money for a wide variety of businesses like Doctors, Dentists, Counsellers, Bed & Breakfast, Motels even motor mechanics can benefit from the reduced administration time wasting, time that can be spent on more productive endeavors.

If you would like to explore the possibilities a little more, please drop me a line on our Contact Us page.

Anyway, please feel free to have a look around and let me know what you think. I’m always looking at ways to improve any aspect of my website.

Enjoy,

Lee Firth
Owner
Firth Web Works