http://www.babysfirstcalendar.com

The build
This was a very intense, but fun build for us.  We delivered this site in just over 48 hours.  We used Wordpress for the Blog, and followed the site template through.  The rest of the site is static HTML & CSS, with a smattering of DHTML, JavaScript and PHP.  This site has a very simple implementation of e-commerce – which is essentially using a PayPal and Google payment buttons.  This is a superb method for sites with one or two products

SEO
We have done a few things to aid SEO in the build.  We will be re-visiting the SEO for the site in the near future
Feature list
- Static HTML front end
- Blog – styles to match the rest of the site
- Simple implementation of e-commerce using PayPal & Google Payment buttons
- Validating contact form using PHP for mailing

CSS
We spent a lot of time setting up the cascading style sheets (CSS) for this site.  This has provided a uniform framework for user content.  Typography was something we looked at carefully.  The two coulomb designs, and the expanding rounded corner boxes are all controlled to some extent with CSS

Technologies
This site uses PHP, SQL, DHTML, XML, AXAX, CSS, HTML and JavaScript

Security
We some time securing the Wordpress side of the site.  We won’t discuss security details here, but would be happy to discuss the issue as a topic on the phone with prospective clients
Working with the clients
We worked really closely with the clients.  The clients were a dream to work with – being really organised whilst providing really accurate and speedy feedback

Client testimonial
I had launched my product at The London Baby Show and distributed many flyers; however due to unforeseen circumstances with my previous web coder, I did not have the website to back this up. The visuals of the site had already been created and I needed a professional web designer to make it all work

The communication from start to finish was fantastic, I was kept aware of exactly what was going on throughout. Richard also went above and beyond by adding features to the site to make it more user friendly and manageable, even for a novice like me! I would highly recommend Richard’s services to anyone looking for a completely approachable professional; my only regret is that I did not go to Place of Design from the beginning

Danny
Baby’s first Calendar Ltd

There is one big question to deal with first – do you need a static site, or a dynamic one?

Static sites
Static sites are like books or brochures, they are fixed, and you can not update them easily once they are online. To subsequently update your website will  require you to call us back.  We will make the changes for you, and this will usually incur a small charge.   In our price list we call these sorts of sites static sites

Dynamic sites
Dynamic sites have a page which you can log into. There will be a system where you can add / edit or change content yourself.  Long term, this means you are in control of ammending the content on your site yourself, without the need to contact us

Dynamic sites come in many different variants – blogs, content management sites, e-commerce sites etc.

Making the choice

If you want a website that needs to present the same information today, as it will need to present in a few years time, a static site is probably for you. If you feel that you will need to regularly change and amend your content, then a dynamic site is probably the best choice for your business

I want to know more

We have created an article which explains the differences between static / blog / CMS sites in some detail – click here to read it

Get some free honest advice

Part of the process of our free initial consultation is to establish the type of site your business needs. We will outline clearly what we feel is best for your business, and explain why we come to our conclusions. Call us today on 0115 845 8953, for a friendly no-obligation discussion about your website needs

Static sites
Firstly we can produce a static site or “brochure site”. A static site has pages that are fixed and unchanging.  If you want to change something, you need to contact the designer who will alter the site for you.  Static sites are very suitable for companies that have information that never changes very much.  Where price updates are done every few years, or for presenting long term factual information

Static sites are not dynamic, they dont really interact with the user, thry presrnt information, and that is it.  There is nothing wrong with a static site, infact static sites are a very good platform for a small business, and even on larger sites, can work very well.  An example of a static site we have produced is www.journeyafrica.co.uk

The Journey Africa website is a good example of a larger static site, and even though the site owners can not update pages themselves>  Just because we cal the site a static site, doesnt mean the content is not intersting or dynamic.  The individual pages themselves can have dynamic content – look at one of the hotel pages for example: http://www.journeyafrica.co.uk/one-and-only-hotel-cape-town.html.  On this page there is a slider containing nested content, a slideshow of images that is user reactive, a form feeding back page specific info to the site owner etc.  On the rest of the site you will find liknks to on the fly currency conversion, video streaming, and other DHTML slideshows and image scrollers

Blog style sites
This site is a blog style site.  The framework is provided by generic blog software, and the design and template was done in house.  The advantage of this style of site for a small to medium sized business is that information can be added, subtracted, amended very quickly.  We chose this format to cope with the way we present portfolios.  Essentially each portfolio is a new page, which we can add when ever we want

You will notice a few differences between this site and your average blog.  We don’t have calendars.  Articles are not dated and don’t display an author name.  There is no facility to add comments.  In essence, all the standard blog features have been programatically removed, leaving behind the same features that you find on a static site, that is – menu’s, and pages of information

We provide a lot of these blog based sites for small businesses, especially businesses who want to invest the time in continuously adding content to their websites

Blog style sites are quite limited in the way they present information, and don’t do some things very well.  This is why for example on the www.caronphotography.co.uk website; we integrated a blog into a static site and added a separate gallery system.  The customer uses the blog in the traditional sense, the rest of the site deals with the customers other requirements

If you want to keep amending your sites information, and the information you want to present is very simple, a blog style site has a lot of advantages for you

Content management systems (CMS)
Content management systems suit companies and organisations which have a lot of content to present and organise.  You can add, remove, and even time content.  You can have multiple authors, and a person who supervises or moderates the addition of content

A content management framework can deal with other activities, like e-commerce, galleries, forums, blogs, polls, questionnaires etc.  We used a content management system on the www.lencarta.com site.  The site in this instance streams video’s, offers downloads, and sells products.  The staff at Lencarta keep the content fresh and up to date themselves

The major advantage over a blog style site is scalability and extensibility.  A CMS system can scale up from a few pages to being absolutely enormous, with thousands of pages, managing thousands of users, and offering a plethora of functionalities that can be easily added and removed as required

One advantage of a CMS is the separation of structure, content, and design.  In other words, you can re-design the site in a year or two, and the structure and content remain the same.  You can easily re-structure existing content, or just amend existing content.  The power of adjusting the template, while everything else remains constant can not be underestimated.  Example – Christmas sales – you can re-brand your whole site, for Christmas, or the summer holidays, just by switching templates

CMS sites are not exclusively for larger businesses, they are for business and organisations that want that extra organisational layer, or require the additional features that the basic blog system does not offer

Conclusion
If you want a site that presents fairly unchanging information, and you have no desire to update content yourself – a static site is probrably your best bet.  If you have content that needs to be added to on a week by week basis, and you are happy to add the content yourself, using a simple editor, then a blog based site is possibly the best option for you.  If you have a organisation that is spread out, with lots of content, or you need a site to expand with yoru business as it grows,  or you are looking for a fluid reactive site that is scalable, then a content managment (CMS) type of website will be your best option

About the Author

Richard King has been producing websites for over 15 years, and will be delighted to discuss your business needs with you.  We do not have a one size fits all approach.  For a no-obligation, free consultation and chat, just call Richard on 0115 845 8953  The least he can do is make sure you are on the right track

Marlin was also keen to have a secure contact form.  This is provided using a PHP script in the background that handles email.  We produced very simple and effective typography for the site, which although uses a standard browser font, is very readable after we worked the letter and word spacings

Address: www.marlinworldwide.co.uk/