Friday December 23, 2005

Open-Source Business Strategy

by Jay F. Davis, www.acsoft.biz

As my business has evolved over the past few years, I've embraced several open-source web applications that have consistently provided excellent value to my clients. Chief among these are the LAMP platform (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP), which provide a solid core for cost-effective web applications.

I find that I consistently re-use several code libraries of my own and a couple popular open-source PHP-based web applications. These are:

  • osCommerce: The most popular php-based e-commerce web application. I've used this with several clients. The great benefit of osCommerce is that there are hundreds of mods that have been contributed by developers worldwide. Often I can find exactly what I need for a particular client need.
  • phpList: This has quickly become a must-have tool for my clients that do mass e-mail mailings. It works well and has all the power they need.
  • WTDB (Webtoad Database): My own library of PHP functions that makes if very easy to quickly build database administration functions for a client.
  • Mini-CM (Mini Content Manager): My own system that allows me to provide basic web site text editing via a web interface for my clients that want to update their own web site content. The CMS's out there are just too complex and too massive to give to a client. Mini-CM is just right.

Another new open-source web application that I can see using more frequently is CiviCRM. I'm doing an install of this for the Atlanta Audubon Society. CiviCRM is Drupal-based, at least in the version I've installed. So, I'm evaluating Drupal as my CMS of choice—assuming that I ever have a client that really needs a massive CMS. Still, CiviCRM meets a real need among non-profits, I think, so I'm tolerating Drupal for the moment. Who knows, I might even start to like it. Or perhaps I'll make the time to develop a standalone interface for CiviCRM

I'm still considering a couple more open-source web applications that could provide benefit, though I'm lukewarm on these:

  • WordPress: A blogging tool. Simple and effective.
  • phpBB: Forum software. I've used this with two clients, both of which have let their forums become stale. So, I'm waiting for the right kind of client before I try it again.

My strategy is to collaborate with web designers and web marketing specialists to create the glue that makes all these pieces integrate together smoothly. I'm developing a stable of experts in each system to help me.

 

Friday July 1, 2005

Webtoad Mini-CM: CMS for Small Business Web Sites

by Jay F. Davis, www.acsoft.biz

I've written before about my search for a good Open-Source Content Mangement System for web sites. A couple years ago I liked phpWebSite, primarily because it had an okay user interface, but mostly because it's output is nice XHTML.

Then I thought about trying to get my clients to actually use it and decided that perhaps Mambo would be a better choice, primarily because it has a better-developed user interface. Meaning it's pretty.

So, I installed Mambo for a couple non-paying clients.

They hated it. I got comments like "too complex," "I can't figure out what to do next," "Where do I set up the menus?" "I don't understand the terminology."

So after some reflection, it seems apparent that, in order to use one of these real content management systems, one has to grok the system. It's like learning a language. But CMS concepts are not simple to non-IT users.

The problem with these—and all web site content management systems—is that, because they try to do so much (and I think they have to), they require that users understand too much.

My client's don't want to grok this stuff. They just want to be able to fix typos and add a page or two that fit into the framework of their site.

And wouldn't it be nice if these simple page additions would automatically get Googlized?

That's what I thought.

So I made my own, which I'm calling Webtoad Mini-CM (Content Manager). I have three clients using it now and they love it. It only does what they need and doesn't demand that they grok CMS concepts such as blocks and modules.

The best part is that I can start with practically any decent web site design and convert it easily to be Mini-CM compatible. The only requirement is that the site include basic, repeatable elements on every page such as standard headers, footers and menus.

I haven't yet decided if I'll release Webtoad Mini-CM as an open-source project. Probably. But that will take some work, of course, to get it ready.

Click this link for a list of Webtoad Mini-CM's features.

 

Monday March 21, 2005

Learn Bird Songs Site Ready!

by Jay F. Davis, www.acsoft.biz

I've recently completed a new web site based on my interest in bird watching. The site is Learn Bird Songs and it is a wonderful, free tool for learning several bird songs of Eastern North America.

The site is a collaboration between myself, Charles Haynes, my graphic artist colleague, and Lang Elliott, wildlife recordist and nature photographer. What a great combination!

The site is one step to a dream that I have of merging my passion for birds with my love of software development. The Learn Bird Songs site is one way I hope to generate interest in birdPod, software I am developing for listening to bird songs in the field.

Check out the page sounds and song of the Eastern Towhee. We've used a small Flash player to begin immediate playback of the bird song so that you can listen to the bird right from the web site with immediate response!

If you're interested in bird songs other than the song of the Eastern Towhee, see the LearnBirdSongs.com site index for the entire list of bird songs available online.

Please let me know what you think of it!

 

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