Jack Outside the Box

Heritage Railway Artifact Database

2010-11-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

We're developing a MySQL database with web browser access for a local heritage railway museum. The goal is to provide volunteers with the ability to perform museum artifact data entry from the comfort of their own homes.

The Great Canadian Hair "Do"

2010-06-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

The Great Canadian Hair "Do"

Helmut Hair is too long...must be shaved off. Raising money for cancer research too!

eCommerce Options

2010-04-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

There are basically four options available for implementing selling products on-line. The options are as follows:

1. Using PayPal
2. Using eBay
3. Using an eStore product from a commercial vendor/supplier.
4. Using an Open Sourced eStore product.

Each of the above eCommerce options has it's own advantages and disadvantages. It's vitally important also to understand all the client's requirements to sell and support products on-line. Creating a table/matrix of the client's requirements against each of the available solutions will help greatly in comparing the eCommerce options, as objectively as possible.

Evaluating eCommerce Solutions

2010-04-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

There is a myriad of eCommerce solutions available. A nonprofit organization has the challenge of selecting an on-line store solution that fulfills their requirements, and yet is economical to operate as well.

Evaluating eCommerce solutions requires that the client's requirements first be clearly identified and documented. Only then can the eCommerce requirements be compared against each of the possible vendor's solutions. Although this process takes some time and effort, it ensures the selected vendor (solution) is the best match for the client. If you've done this task properly, the client will agree with your recommendation as well.

eCommerce for a Nonprofit

2010-01-20T06:43:00.000-08:00

The Bytown Railway Society has several publications offered for sale on their website. However, they do not currently utilize an integrated website eCommerce solution. We'll be investigating options for this non-profit and report back to the client with the best option. for their organization.

Daelight Project Complete

2009-12-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

A new website developed for Daelight an Occupational Health & Safety Professional Services company in Winnipeg, Manitoba is complete.

This project was another example of a small business wanting to administer their own website content in a timely and efficient manner. This was accomplished by creating a website framework using the Joomla Content Management System, and adding custom features to suit the client's specific industry needs.

Bytown Railway Society's On-line Magazine Index

2009-11-25T11:43:00.000-08:00

The Society has a monthly magazine called "Branchline" which has been in publication since 1966. As such, the magazine has many historical articles and pictures that are a valuable resource for railway researchers. The challenge was the ability to search the magazines for articles/photos of interest. Fortunately one of the Society's long-time members had created a standalone (Access) database for their own researching.

We were approached about migrating a local database to a web browser environment that would alllow any website visitor with the ability to search the database.

This project was completed recently and now publically available here.

Orange Cat Studio Website Now Live

2009-09-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

We just launched Orange Cat Studio's new website at orangecatstudio.com.

The primary hurdle Laura, the company owner, wanted to overcome with the previous site was the inability for her to add/edit site content in order to keep the site fresh. Laura had to rely on a technical administrator to update the site content. Laura's new site uses the SohoLaunch Content Management System which will allow Laura to easily modify the website content as she sees fit.

The new site includes a photo gallery of Laura's work with high-resolution images allowing visitors to really see how intricate Laura's work really is.

An embedded Orange Cat Studio Blog was also incorporated which will provide Laura with a feature-rich blogging resource to talk about events and works in progress.

Bytown Railway Society's Restoration Report Blog

2009-09-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

As a member of the Bytown Railway Society's Dirty Hands Club, I am a recipient of the group's broadcast email which is sent twice weekly to all interested recipients on the railway equipment restoration projects. Should the report editor be unavailable, another editor takes up the reins.

These reports are an excellent resource and insight into the volunteer group's activities. However, using email in this manner limits the public's visibility of the group's projects (one must be on the email distribution list), and searching for information in past email reports relies on someone having an archive of all past restoration progress reports.

To increase public visibility and maintain a project report archive we created a Dirty Hands Club web blog for BRS where the report editor simply submits the weekly reports by bcc-ing an appropriate blog email alias. Over time, past weekly reports will be posted to the blog.

Welcome to my blog

2009-09-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it was inevitable. After using blogger to fulfill a need with a volunteer group I belong to, I began looking at using Blogger for a client, and figured I might as well create a blog of my own.

Maxport Solutions Project Complete

2009-03-01T17:43:00.000-08:00

This project moved really quick. From initial contact to go-live was just over a week. The client really needed a professional website presence in place quickly to create an on-line landing point for planned webinars.

Ottawa Deaf Centre Website Project Complete

2008-10-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

It took some investment in time, but we went live with the new Ottawa Deaf Centre website. This was a real eye-opener project for me as I not only used the DotNetNuke Content Management System to implement ODC's website, but I also got the opportunity to meet some real nice folks who just happen to be deaf.

Public Website Created

2008-10-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

So now we're on-line.