Using A Theme Refresh to Update a Web Site
I have mentioned that giving a content managed website a new theme is a great way of giving a web site a fresher more modern look without and the time and expense involved in building an entirely new web site.
Another option is to take an existing theme and alter it in some way.
This can be faster and cheaper than changing the whole theme whilst giving the benefits of updating the web sites visual impact.
The trick here is to find a visual cue that will help improve the sites visual appeal whilst also helping visitors see an on-going evolution.
A good example is the Fast Fluid Power web site. Here updating the home page and adding a wall paper was quick modification which has made the site easier to read by altering the page contrast.
Leave a commentSecurity Warning comes out of a Tragedy
The tragic and untimely death of singer Whitney Houston is seen almost universally as a terrible loss. I say almost as within hours of her death the spammers and scammers were sending our messages designed to use the loss of the acclaimed singer as a means to entrap and attack her fans.
As we learn more about the death of Whitney Houston it now seems inevitable that the criminal element will use this as an opportunity to target her fans for further attacks.
At this point I must recommend that you think before you click on any links that come you regarding Whitney Houston. Of course celebrate her life and mourn her death, but lets not let it become tainted by those who would take tasteless advantage. If someone sends you a link that seems to good to be true – then it probably is and may well do you harm.
New Web Site for Petals Training
Petals Training specialises in providing PTLLS train the trainer courses mostly around the South Wales area (focussing around Cardiff, Newport and Swansea). In addition they also use a Bristol venue to help cover the South West.
Unlike many companies Petals Training are an association of professional tutors. Each with their specialism and field in addition to train the trainer. Petals Training is not only good for sourcing train the trainer courses but also specialist trainers.
The site itself has been designed to allow for flexible access to information and features a course booking system that allows you to pre-book and express interest on planned courses.
The group are very keen to give you plenty of information to help you get started in the world of being a professional trainer, and as a result you’ll find a number of guides and downloads on their web site.
Embedding for Integration
Fast Fluid Power recently asked for an upgrade to their web site that would bring in all the benefits of the Q-Approved Hydraulic Hose accredited Hose Company Web Site. Fast Fluid Power is such a supplier but of course there are benefits to helping your customers understand what an accreditation means.
There are many ways to integrate one web site to another. What Fast Fluid Power wanted was for the Q-Approved site to be available from inside their own web site. In effect embedding Q-Approved inside Fast Fluid Power.
Technically this is something that is quick and easy to achieve.
Its also something that I’ve seen grow increasingly over the last couple of years.
I have a feeling that this happening for a couple of reasons.
- The incredible success of YouTube has taught people in business that embedding content from one web site to another is a very powerful tool.
- Embedding one web site to another is a fast method of achieving quite a lot. In a tough economic climate this is no bad thing.
Secure Ordering for Celtic Fuel Oils
I’m a big believer in the flexibility of content managed web sites. This came in very useful Celtic Fuel Oils wanted to upgrade their site by adding a secure online ordering system for oil.
This project required updates that included a SSL Certificate and integration to an external system to manage oil prices and deliveries.
The sites management system made it very easy to adjust the web site to the requirements of both running secure page and the integration to an external system. This mean that that the whole project could complete over just a few days and at a low billing cost.
Leave a commentGoogle Continues to Focus on The Readers Experience
Google are introducing a change to their ranking algorithm that penalises sites with an excessive number of adverts on a page. In particular sites where there is primarily advertising with little or no content in the above the fold area (area before you have to scroll to see the rest of the page). The logic being that pages which quickly deliver their content offer a better experience for the reader and are therefore more useful.
This will not affect the majority of site owners, only those with very large numbers of adverts high on the page.
What it does do is illustrate the point that the future of the Internet is going to be focussed on those companies who value and treat their customers well. Those who put monetisation before the client will suffer under this new regime.
There is no doubt going to be some debate on the Internet regarding reading experience over advertising, but I think it can be condensed down to two points. Which do you prefer:
- A company that puts your needs first
- A company that puts its profits first
Whilst all companies exist to make profit. Almost all consumers like to be made to feel important. When next looking at your web advertising strategy it is going to be important to consider what kind of company you look like. In business who you appear to be can make all the difference
Should you spend money on cloud backup but not on antivirus?
I’ve been thinking about the nature of PC security, especially for those individuals running Windows 7 and who want a system that will run quietly and protect them from assorted malware with little or no thought from themselves.
I’ve come to the conclusion that running all security updates as they come out and good but no cost piece of security software such as Microsoft Security Essentials will protect quite well against a wide range of technical attacks.
What it will not do is protect you from attacks of a psychological nature (often called social engineering) that get you accidentally do something unfortunate. A good number of quite expensive security suites often fail in this regard as well.
This means that the weak link is not the computer, or the person but human nature.
I’ve also noticed that a lot of individuals and small businesses do not run backups, and this got me thinking about the cost of a good cloud backup solution. These are not that much more than a good paid for security suite. Therefore if you only have limited budget, the money might well be better spend protecting your data, and putting yourself in a position where you can recover form the worst.
In other words cover yourself well for technical attacks, and for the anything that gets through and might cause data loss – buy the backup before spending money on a security suite.
Obvious if money is not objective – spend well on security and backup – in the long run you will not regret it.
2012 Begins
I’m writing this at the end of the first working week of 2012, and I can’t help but wonder what the year will bring.
So lets try some predictions for the year and see how they work out.
In Social Networking it strikes me that Facebook will have its usual collection of ups and downs and that Google+ will get stronger. In fact given that Google+ has had phenomenal growth I suspect that it will become increasingly important. I don’t think it will grow at the expense of Facebook. It think it will simply become another part of the Social Networking map.
And that brings me onto my second thought.
I think this is the year of choice. I think we will start seeing people getting used to using one or more services and also one of more operating systems – especally if tablets continue to grow. The indications are that we are seeing the end of the idea that to every problem there is but one solution and we will see people choosing solutions that suit themselves. It’s going to happen for two reasons. First of all there is more choice in the market than ever before and secondly more mainstream users are looking at options and thinking about what they really want.
Finally even though we are getting more choice I think that in design terms we will see more simplification. More and more people will look away from the implied cleverness of showing lots, and look to the design genius of doing more with less. Clarity in design is going to be the big thing. Clean lines and obvious are going to increasingly dominate design. I don’t of it in terms of being spartan, its just something that has to happen in order to let us easily make more sense of an increasingly complex world.
So that’s 3 predictions. I think that’s enough for now.
An Open Christmas Card
I’d just like to take a moment to openly and publically wish a very Merry Christmas to all my colleagues, family, friends and family.
The Day Web Sites Went Dark
Today is SOPA Blackout day. A protest against planned US laws which although touted as being against piracy, instead could end up damaging the sharing of information and free speech across the entire Internet.
You might think that that US laws have no impact on us in the UK. Unfortunately I don’t think that can be true. The Internet is a network. To work it relies on interaction between web sites and services on an international level. If you damage one part of the Internet you will not bring down the Internet (after all its basis is a design intended to survive a global nuclear war), but you will damage confidence, trade, business and creativity. You might say that this doesn’t matter – after all in the Middle East and China the Internet is severely restricted and that has had no harm. That’s no true either. It has restricted the ability of people there to communicate freely. That means potentially services over here have not been able to help people over there and that affects business growth. Besides do you want to live with an Internet that could be restricted as much as life in China is? Also of course there is the scale problem. US web sites dominate the English speaking Internet. Damage to the US could only affect us.
if you want to know more take a look at information from the BBC and Wikipedia. I think you will find it interesting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16590585