Benjamin R. Matthews
Senior Software Engineer
LoudDoor, LLC. - Columbia, SC
March 2016 - Present
LoudDoor, LLC is a company focused on providing the preeminent tool to clients to help them understand how today’s socially and digitally connected consumer thinks, feels, and behaves. LoudDoor uses social media to conduct research on consumers in order to unlock consumer insights never seen before.
- Use PHP and the Laravel Framework to create websites to gather information about users for clients; make revisions to these sites as necessary
- Complete feature requests for the company’s advertisement platform, Storylift
- Build and manage a series of sites for the company’s largest client in order to gather information about potential leads
- Plan, develop, and maintain solutions for clients based off user stories
- Monitor codebase for bugs, and develop patches as needed
- Gather information about, and implement connections for third-party APIs (e.g., MailChimp)
- Work with Communications Director to build a system for managing emails to potential leads
- Write analytic queries in MySQL to display performance data about websites
- Develop unit tests for the codebase, and implement test-driven development strategies in the development cycle
C# / ASP.NET Developer
Decision Dynamics, Inc. - Lexington, SC
November 2015 - February 2016
Decision Dynamics, Inc. is a software and systems firm founded in 1998 with the goal of delivering superior products and services. DDI is owned and operated by a group of experienced software engineers whose knowledge and experience spans the spectrum of the information technology industry.
- Use C# to update internal software to resolve ongoing issues and add new features
- Develop and maintain a new password management system for internal software
- Deploy triweekly updates to internal software
- Make small changes to company WordPress sites as needed
PHP Developer
codeBOX, LLC - Remote
May 2015 - November 2015
CodeBOX, LLC is a web development and marketing company that has developed a Learning Management System (LMS) plugin for WordPress. Along with the development of the plugin, they also design and create large-scale websites for clients across the world; including the largest real estate auction house in Australia, and a prominent real estate advisor, Josh Phegan.
- Use PHP to develop custom web applications for clients; develop applications using Object Oriented Programming practices; connect applications to database using MySQL
- Develop application front ends using HTML5, and CSS3 (primarily built from SASS); ensure that application is responsive and looks good on any device
- Connect application front and back ends using JavaScript (jQuery) and AJAX calls
- Write application deployment scripts using the npm library and gulp.js
- Patch and update company WordPress plugin, LifterLMS; ensure that bugs are tracked, prioritized, and resolved in a timely manner; release weekly patches to ensure that consumers are not required to deal with program faults
- Develop and provide updates for large-scale websites for clients, including the largest real estate auction house in Australia; develop asynchronous web applications using jQuery and AJAX which allow seamless page updating
- Manage development of a plugin that connects LifterLMS to the MailChimp API; provide support for customers using that plugin
- Monitor LifterLMS Git repository for pull requests; test pulls before merging with master branch
- Maintain plugin that enables clients to customize LifterLMS without needing a developer
PHP Developer
Haskins Company - Greenville, SC / Remote
May 2014 - May 2015
Based in Greenville, South Carolina, The Haskins Company (now called EverConvert) creates websites, and manages marketing for, several attorneys, jewelers, and medical suppliers in the southeast.
- Designed and developed web sites for clients; created custom templates using HTML5 and CSS3; developed responsive styles for clients as needed
- Updated websites using CSS2 to CSS3; used added functionality to make web pages more appealing
- Improved appearances of clients web presence by implementing jQuery UI libraries
- Used Object Oriented Programming practices with PHP to develop custom plugins to assist clients with specific needs
- Staged and deployed website changes to WP Engine using Git; enabled SSH for secure site data transfers
- Updated content on clients websites to include latest information, news, and articles
- Optimized clients websites to be handled by search engines; ensured websites were compatible with the latest search engine algorithm changes
PHP Developer / IT Assistant
Ropak Manufacturing Company, Inc. - Decatur, AL
May 2009 - May 2015 (Summers)
Ropak Manufacturing is a machine shop located in Decatur, Alabama. Ropak holds the patents for the fastest dry product packaging (e.g., sugar, creamer, Splenda®), with machines that can package 6000+ packets per minute.
- Managed development of a custom web-based application which tracks changes to electrical drawings
- Used Object Oriented PHP to query custom MySQL database of information; developed responsive web front end using HTML5, and CSS3; ensured that fields were type checked using JavaScript and jQuery
- Installed and configured a local Apache2 web server, running on Ubuntu; implemented a secure FTP route to allow remote file changes
- Implemented local DNS changes to allow the application to be accessed by a web address
- Advised with the restructuring of company network; migrated company servers to Windows Server 2012 R2; assisted with company exchange migration to Microsoft Exchange Server 2013
- Programmed Siemens PLCs using provided software