It’s been awhile since I posted a new blog entry.  I’ve been busy helping clients get web projects launched, and now I’m excited to post on this blog again.

Here are some of the projects I’ve worked on and the free tools used to create them.

ManageMen

ManageMen is a pioneer in cleaning industry processes and education.  Clients include government institutions, universities, and large corporations like Boeing.

ManageMen.com uses the open-source Joomla CMS (Content Management System) to update their site whenever they want, with no programming skills required.  A custom Joomla template was designed for this project.  The slideshow on the frontpage uses the Featured Content Glider script.

Lost Coin Zen

Lost Coin Zen is a personal and spiritual development group led by Zen teacher Daniel Doen Silberberg.

I setup a blog to tie into their existing website.  The blog is built on Wordpress using a customized version of the Elegance theme.  We used various third-party plugins including the open source WP-Cumulus.  The blog is growing quickly and has brought in new students from all over the world.

Tea This

TeaThis.com is a personal project my wife and I are having fun with.  The site is for tea lovers and features blog articles, free tea e-cards, and fun tea t-shirts.  We’ll soon be adding a video to the blog.

I did a custom graphic design and use Wordpress for the blog and CMS.  The tea e-cards are driven by the free Popcard sofware.  I wrote custom code to wrap the e-card interface into the Wordpress header & footer for a consistent template.

We have a custom graphic background for our twitter account, and use CoTweet for multi-user twitter account management.  CoTweet is perfect for organizations engaging on twitter. For more info checkout this demo.

First Endurance

First Endurance is a leader in endurance supplements.  They sponsor the top cyclists & triathletes in the world, including Lance Armstrong & the Astana Pro Cycling Team.

First Endurance has been a client for many years.  Last year we set them up with a Wordpress blog which brought a huge increase in traffic.

I’m very proud of my recent redesign of their shopping cart.  The cart uses the powerful open-source Apache OFBiz software, and our design is very different from the standard OFBiz category and product pages.

CityDeals

CityDeals, a website that sells discount gift certificates, has been enjoying huge growth recently.

The site is also based on the Apache OFBiz software, and has been highly customized.  We recently add new functionality including one-per-customer offers and a new listing based on merchants rather than products.  We used the free Facebox script for a lightbox that populates product info & forms via ajax.

Okura & Associates

OkuraLaw.com is a law firm in Hawaii run by my father and brother.  I created a custom graphic design for the site and used Wordpress as a CMS as well as for the blog.  They can login and easily update any of their pages or add new blog entries.

The front animation uses the CrossSlide script for jQuery.  The web phone call button uses Greybox for the lightbox.

1402 Piikoi

This website is for a real-estate development project in Hawaii.  After launching in Fall of 2008, most of the units were sold within a few months despite the economic conditions.

The design was based on a tutorial by graphic design guru Fabio Sasso.  The photography lightbox was built on Greybox.

This is just a sample of some of the work we’ve done recently.  Don’t forget to subscribe if you’d like to be updated on future posts with information on our work and the free tools we use.

If you have any questions or comments on the sites or resources we’ve covered, please leave us a comment below.  I’d love to hear from you.

I’ll be interviewed live on the blog talk radio show CouchCast on June 30, 2008 at 12 noon MST. Recent guests on this show include Brock Blake, recognized as a Top 40 Under 40 professional by Utah Business magazine, and Dave Fletcher, the CTO of the State of Utah

Please tune in and join the conversation through the online chat or by calling in. If you can’t make it live, please check out the archived audio stream at CouchCast.org

Update 7/1/08

The CouchCast broadcast was blast, and it was a good learning experience for me.  Thank you to all who tuned in and for those who tried to call in.

Please support the new CouchCast.org blog by leaving a comment and subscribing to the podcast feed.

Here are some of the URL’s mentioned during the show:

Apache Software Foundation:
http://apache.org

1. I love running a web firm because it allows me to wear many different hats throughout the work week. My strength is with the code, data, servers…you know, the geeky stuff. But I also love being creative and designing graphics for websites or banner ads. And I get to play with marketing and advertising all the time. If get bored of one type of “job”, I can move to a different one.
2. Using computers is the only thing that’s ever come naturally to me. I started using an Apple computer during my first semester of the 6th Grade. Within 3 months of first using an Apple, I wrote a program, entered it into a contest, and ended up winning 1st place for the State of Hawaii.
3. My Uncle Steve, a systems analyst at the time, reviewed my code that won the contest. His comment on my code was “this is what we call spaghetti code”.Yes, my program ran fine, but the underlying code was a stinkin’ mess.
   I guess that’s what happens when an 11 year old starts banging out code with no formal training. And I guess the contest judges paid more attention to the program’s execution than to it’s code.
4. The scary thing is I don’t think I really started learning how to write decent code until decades later when I started working with the Apache OFBiz software. I learned a lot by reviewing their elegant code and framework.
5. In the late 90’s, I was one of the world’s top webmasters in the tiny niche of IBM AS400e web solutions. I was recognized by IBM as the first in the USA to commercially deploy their net.commerce software and firewall services on an AS400e server. No one else was doing it, so local IBM partners would call me for support.
   At the time I was the webmaster for ICON Health & Fitness, the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer for home fitness equipment. Brands I setup eCommerce for include HealthRider, NordicTrack, Reebok, ProForm, Weslo, & Image.
6. My favorite language to develop in is Java. It has the most solid, well-built open source applications to work with. But, I work with any language a project requires. Some of the languages I’ve worked with include PHP, Perl, Oracle PL/SQL, Flash ActionScript, & Ruby On Rails.
7. In April of 2007, in the middle of a demanding project (over 200 billable hours for the month), my laptop’s Windows OS became corrupted. I was tired of having to reinstall Windows every few years, so went out and bought a MacBook Pro. Within 15 minutes of using it, I felt like I had finally found my computing soulmate.
   The OS X interface is beautiful and easy to work with. It made we want to spend time with it, and I believe it has helped my productivity. I also love that it’s built on Unix. Through the terminal shell I can setup web application development environments that are very similar to the Linux servers I host my apps on.OS X offers the best of both worlds: Slick & easy interface, or powerful command line access.
8. I have to keep reminding myself to treat my own business like a client from time to time. There will always be other projects to work on for my clients, so I constantly put off working on my own site, blog, and projects. I’m starting to schedule time for my own projects so I can make progress each week.

I’m dedicating this post to my clients in the news.

Today’s updates:

• Brian Stann wins WEC title fight
• First Endurance rider wins Paris-Nice
• FirstEndurance.com homepage redesign
• Bizlift Blog now full-feed

Brian Stann – New WEC Light Heavyweight Champion

Congratulations to MMA star Brian Stann on another impressive 1st round KO victory, and this one for the belt.

We were hired by Stann’s agent to design and host his official website awhile back, and were thrilled to watch him win a title fight live on tv.

** Editors note 5/10/08: After this entry was published, the design for the Brian Stann site was updated by a different designer.  The new design is not our work. ** 

Stann caught his opponent with a vicious left-hook and finished the fight with strikes on the ground. Mirroring Stann’s hard-hitting ways, his fans have been relentlessly pounding our server with traffic for the last 24 hours.

More info:

• Fight results at Fox Sports
• Stann’s fellow Marines give “Ooh Rah” comments at USA Today

First Endurance Rider Wins Paris-Nice

First Endurance recently celebrated another victory. Sponsored rider Davide Rebellin won Paris-Nice, the first big stage race of the pro cycling season.

More info:

• First Endurance Press Release
• Article on CNN International

FirstEndurance.com Homepage Redesign

We’re proud to announce the launch of our new homepage redesign for First Endurance. This is the first of several site improvements for firstendurance.com in the next few weeks.

First Endurance has been with us for 5 years. We’ve helped them develop their website, increase direct sales through their shopping cart, and gain 5000+ subscribers to their monthly email newsletter.

Bizlift Blog Now Full Feed

Thanks to a twitter conversation between IttyBiz and BigBrightBulb, I learned how to prevent blog feeds from cutting off. The Bizlift Blog feed now contains entire posts.

Thank you for checking out our updates. If you have any questions on web design, hosting, eCommerce, or anything else web-related, please leave a comment or contact us.