Hello, I'm
Jim Fifth

Senior Full-Stack Developer
Umbraco, Blazor & AI-Assisted Development

About

If you're looking to hire a freelance full-stack developer to build or upgrade a web or mobile application, or looking to add a new member to join your growing team, let's connect.

Contact Me

Specializing in full-stack application development since 2013, I have been responsible for every stage of a program's lifecycle. From complex, data-driven applications utilizing TSql and Web APIs to custom and creative tools built upon Umbraco CMS, I thrive on analytical programming challenges and learning new technologies including Blazor Hybrid, Unity 3D, and even AI integration. And 'YES', I also do Umbraco upgrades from Umbraco 4 to Umbraco 17.

What sets me apart today is not just my 13+ years of development experience — it's how I've embraced AI as a collaborative development partner. Using Claude AI as my primary tool, I've measurably accelerated project delivery without sacrificing quality or control. A prime example: the Underground Prepper app took 11 months to build as a web-based platform, then was completely rebuilt as a richer, multi-platform native app in just 4 months — working side-by-side with AI, piece by piece, testing each component as we went.

In short:

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Download resume

Portfolio

Underground Prepper
Texas HC Construction & Foundation Repairs
Social Work Test Prep
ThinkAnderson.com
Matrix Trade Institute
Cleveland Construction
After the Warning
Abramson Senior Care
ECMC
Perdue Chicken
Holy Family Sanctuary
My Window Of Opportunity
AtonementWYO.org
NABIP
NABIPvision
Tetra Whisper
Spectrum Catalog Generator
Celtic Emailer
All Husky Clothing
Pottstown Foundation

Underground Prepper

This project began as a web-based emergency preparedness application built on Umbraco 16, developed over 11 months. Recognizing the need for a richer, more accessible experience, I made the architectural decision to completely re-engineer the platform as a native multi-platform app using Blazor Hybrid. Working side-by-side with Claude AI as my development partner, I rebuilt the entire platform and added every major feature users had requested — in just 4 months. The app is now live on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac, featuring local-first SQLite storage, Stripe subscriptions (monthly, yearly, and lifetime), PIN/biometric security, multi-member family support, 14-category inventory management with tier-based preparedness scoring, Bugout Bag tracking, a Prep Hub with printable checklists and an offline Bible reader, 8-type inventory reporting with PDF export, encrypted backup/restore, and a guest demo mode. And yes, Bigfoot is still our mascot. ;)
Texas HC Construction & Foundation Repairs

This site was built as a favor for a friend of mine. But it turned out so nice that I just had to include it in my resume. I designed the site myself keeping to a simple 1-page responsive layout while utilizing Umbraco to manage all of the content. It may be simple, but for many businesses, this is all some may need.
Social Work Test Prep

This project was an upgrade like no other!! It was built using Umbraco 4 and the database had grown to 60Gb making the cache completely unusable. And worse, there was no longer any source code to the original site. The task: upgrade Umbraco to U8, make the site responsive, rebuild using MVC, build APIs to migrate data, rebuild ecommerce with Stripe, and re-engineer the entire exam workflow from Umbraco content storage to direct database management. Mission accepted! The new site is lightning-fast and the database has been reduced to just 2Gb — a 97% decrease. That's not all! The platform now includes AI-powered hints and feedback for every exam question. A mobile app has also launched on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store — built using Unity 3D with UI Toolkit as a full mobile application, incorporating all features of the web version with all data synchronized via custom-built APIs and native in-app purchases for both Apple and Google.
ThinkAnderson.com

The newest website for The Anderson Group, this site utilized all cutting-edge technologies that I have learned. Based upon an N-Tier MVC/.Net hybrid concept, this site has pushed all my skills to bring about a state-of-the-art website using the newest .Net and Umbraco technologies and incorporating background videos and Zurb Foundation 6 (which utilizes an XY-grid and a Flex display concept.)
Matrix Trade Institute

Soon to be relaunched, the Matrix Trade Institute is looking to become THE LEADER in schools for becoming an Auto Mechanic and Collision Repair Professional. Their new website began as an upgrade from Umbraco 7 to U13, but quickly turned into a need for a complete overhaul due to obsolete technologies and EXTREME SEO requirements. In the end I provided the client with an almost 100% customizable interface allowing the staff to do anything they need on any page. Umbraco may not be intended for this kind of versatility, but it does it now.
Cleveland Construction

Originally built on Umbraco 7 using obsolete packages that were no longer supported and creating many cms headaches for the end-user, it was time to upgrade the site to the latest and greatest. We migrated as much as possible to Umbraco 13, used a custom api to pass additional data to the new site that could not be migrated, and rebuilt the entire front-end using Zurb Foundation 6.
After the Warning

This has been my personal website even before I knew how to program. After 26 years this site has gone through numerous redesigns to keep up with the changing technologies. The latest version is built upon Umbraco 13 and manages user memberships so that we can send update emails as needed.
Abramson Senior Care

One of the more challenging sites I have developed, this site is a fully updated redesign built upon the original website. With the requirement that I do not upgrade Umbraco, I had the implement a fully modernized and responsive design with minimum updates to Umbraco.
ECMC

I LOVE a good challenge, and this project was EXACTLY that! Having over a dozen separate websites, my client wanted all of them merged into a single Umbraco 13 instance and share a common technology built from the ground up. Best of all, I had the opportunity to use Umbraco Cloud to manage all deployments from development, staging and live.
Perdue Chicken

Originally built as 3 websites within early Umbraco 7, Perdue's multi-site is now running Umbraco 13 with a re-unified (and simplified!) code base pulling all product data from "One World Sync".
Holy Family Sanctuary

Although I am not a graphical designer, this site demonstrates my ability to learn new skills, even if it is outside my scope of expertise. I designed the site myself utilizing Gimp and Adobe Illustrator and built the site upon an Umbraco 13 CMS back-end.
My Window Of Opportunity

A completely re-engineered crowdfunding platform built upon Umbraco and utilizing Stripe.Net for ecommerce transactions. Sadly, this site had become a victim of the Covid pandemic and never launched.
AtonementWYO.org

A mobile-first development approach was taken in developing this site. The client’s goal was to ensure that the church’s numerous parish-based programs and events can be easily managed through an umbraco portal and where parish members can easily learn about and sign up for on a cell phone or a desktop.
NABIP

An N-tier MVC/.NET hybrid website utilizing Umbraco, web services, and ajax to deliver a state-of-the-art user experience. This site incorporated component building utilizing umbraco doctypes and depending fully on N-tier data communication.
NABIPvision

The newest addition to the NABIP Umbraco website family, this project was very exciting to build. This internal site is designed to provide their employees with a library of all company videos stored on Vimeo. Videos are organized by categories allowing for easy filtering and allow management to designate if a video is public or private, thus requiring users to login before viewing. Once a video has been completed, management can download a full list of all members and the videos they have fully watched.
Tetra Whisper

Our first tablet-based application utilizing Phonegap and Adobe After Effects was an instant hit at the Global Pet Expo 2018. Giving attendees a graphical and audio demonstration comparing the Tetra Whisper IQ to other competitive filters using tablet kiosks all while being controlled remotely from our offices over 1,000 miles away, this was an exciting challenge for me.
Spectrum Catalog Generator

Now this was a unique challenge. We designed a catalog generator utilizing Umbraco as a headless cms (before such a thing existed) and a web service interface to allow the client to build and download custom pdf documents designed specifically for professional printing.
Celtic Emailer

Yes, I build responsive emails too! After years of building emails for Celtic, we needed a way to manage and review previous projects. So I built an internal tool allowing my client to view all previously built emails and even send test versions of the email from within Umbraco.
All Husky Clothing

Having my father's entrepreneurial spirit, I am continuously trying new ideas for business ventures. The site was built using Shopify utilizing Stripe, Paypal, and Amazon Pay as payment gateways for my eCommerce storefront. Sadly, we had to close the storefront, but I take with me much more than I lost that I can now apply for future client projects.
Pottstown Foundation

This site has introduced many new and exciting challenges. From the introduction of a mobile-friendly interface utilizing Zurb Foundation to the building of a mobile voting contest using QR codes for voter entries to promote participation in the local county parks, Pottstown has continuously introduced new and challenging ideas that have sharpened my programming skills as both a .Net programmer and an Umbraco expert.

Skills

One thing I learned over the years is that any technology you learn today will likely be obsolete tomorrow. So to keep ahead of the curve I strive to evolve my programming skills by learning and adding new technologies to the foundational skills I already use regularly. The following is a basic overview of the technologies I have mastered over the years.

*Need someone who can learn a new skill quickly? There is little I can't learn... unless if it's PHP!! Yuck... I utterly hate that language!!

Application Patterns

.Net Core

N-Tier Architecture

RESTful APIs

MVC / MVVM

App Development

Responsive Design

Language Skills

Html5/Css3

Expert

C#

Expert

VB.Net

Proficient

Javascript

Proficient

T-Sql

Enough to be Dangerous

Library Knowledge

Zurb Foundation

CSS 3

Json / XML

Entity Framework / EF Core

Jquery

Unity3D UI Toolkit

SQLite

Soap / Ajax

Stripe.Net

Blazor Hybrid

Bootstrap

Greensock

Development Tools

Umbraco CMS [4-17]

Umbraco Cloud

MS SQL Server

SQLite

IIS

Trello

Figma

Visual Studio

GitHub

App & Mobile

Unity 3D

.NET MAUI

Google Play Console

Apple App Store Connect

AI Tools

Claude AI (Primary)

ChatGPT API

Midjourney AI

Runway AI

Creative & Media

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Media Encoder

ShareX

Gimp

YouTube Studio

Google Analytics

Contact

Let's Keep In Touch

Am I not local to your company? No problem, I prefer working remotely anyway. So if you feel that we are a good match, than let's get in touch. Fill out the form below and I'll get back to you as quickly as possible.

Hello, I'm Jim Fifth

About

Portfolio

Underground Prepper

Texas HC Construction & Foundation Repairs

Social Work Test Prep

ThinkAnderson.com

Matrix Trade Institute

Cleveland Construction

After the Warning

Abramson Senior Care

ECMC

Perdue Chicken

Holy Family Sanctuary

My Window Of Opportunity

AtonementWYO.org

NABIP

NABIPvision

Tetra Whisper

Spectrum Catalog Generator

Celtic Emailer

All Husky Clothing

Pottstown Foundation