I started learning HTML around 1998, about the time I signed up for dial-up access to the internet with AOL. I thought it would be neat to build a website for sharing family photos with my parents and other familymembers. I even bought a book to learn HTML, basically a dictionary of the elements.

At some point, I discovered other photo-sharing websites — much better than mine, and free to join — but it was much more fun to create my own and learn some stuff along the way, so I kept plugging away.

Eventually I learned some CSS, some SQL and how to build websites with database backends, first in classic ASP, then Cold Fusion and finally PHP.

I have created quite a few applications over the years, things like a database for tracking our car maintenance; a Christmas card list so we don't forget anyone and, yes, so we can track who sends cards to us; and even an instant messenger of sorts. My wife and I used it when an employer blocked AOL Instant Messenger and other such applications for a time, before texting by phone was a thing. Most of the stuff I have created has been for my personal use, so I could tinker and learn more stuff. I have developed a few applications for my places of employment, but that has never been my main responsibility. I have always been a wordsmith first.

In 2010, I took the plunge into freelance web consulting, design and maintenance. I figured I knew enough to try it out and had an acquaintance willing to be a guinea pig. The freelance hobby has gone pretty smooth and I even added a few clients.

One of those clients had been set up in Joomla, which was way more advanced than what he needed. When his original webmaster decided to hang it up, a mutual acquaintance put him in touch with me. The timing was perfect. EG CMS, which I was developing for fun, was about ready for a real test. So far, so good.

I still have work to do to improve the CMS, but it’s functional, at least for small websites. The goal was to create something simple that my clients with little or no knowledge of HTML and other web development languages could use out of the box to build and maintain their websites. I also had developers in mind and hope I have created something that can be easily modified to suit just about any need.

I will always be working on improvements to EG CMS.