Hosting of website and email. Updates and assistance as needed.
Traction is an web application that has had bits and parts used for various client sites over the years. In 2010, I started to assemble all of the part together for a client site, and have begun development on version 2.0.The goal of Traction is to provide a common platform for clients (Targeted at the Steam and Tractor show community) to assist them in their administrative and Member-related needs for Membership information, roster maintenance, camping, scheduling and other needs targeted to their operations year-round.
With an administration console separate from their primary website, Traction is able to be configured, and then released in modules to the main website via blocks of code either their webmaster or myself would configure where needed.
Having been involved in this community for over 15 years, there is rarely a strong technical person who take take the lead and help these organizations update the systems, processes and make their operations more effective, both for Members and Admin staff.This screen is an example of the Admin console with members hours being reviewed. From there, the Admin would have the ability to verify the Member’s hours, and commit them either to the included database, or export them to a third-party application to track this information.The other sections are very similar, and also includes added reporting tools and the ability to add in custom-developed modules when called for (such as custom rules for online registration, or the parade module to maintain the list of exhibits in the parade)
All of this work has come from nearly a decade of development, input and trying new ideas with the end goal of providing a simple and user friendly tool.
Hosting, upkeep and redesign. This site came to me a few years back as a static and outdated site with bits of information, and in need of updates, however previous volunteers were not web people by trade. Being a Member, I took this project on and donated my time. With the help of another Member for the layout, we build this into a fully custom LAMP site, with a compete Members Only back-end (using Traction) for the maintenance portion. Also, I created a custom CMS tool for editing all of the primary content on the site, allowing easy editing by myself, or another site admin. The document library was branded and updated, along with creation of a Mobile site with primary information about the show, and geolocation code to welcome you to the Show if you are viewing the mobile site on the grounds.
In addition, we’ve incorporated Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube into the online presence as well as a Community Forum running vBulletin I also help maintain and moderate.
Overall, this site has gone from a static information site, to an interactive and useful site with current updates, and links to all of the other line facets of the organization.
Paired with the Western MN Steam Threshers site above, I created an e-commerce site to sell some of the goods we sell at the show. Originally proofed as a static site listing the current showbook and DVD for WMSTR, I upgraded the site to a fully loaded WordPress site with e-Commerce modules, SEO, Analytics and integration with PayPal and USPS for shipping. Starting with only two products in 2007, to having nearly 100 products online now for clothing, hats, books, videos and other items from around the show, this has been a great addition to generate additional income for the show during the off season, and use it to clear out some of the older merchandise.
This client came to me originally for some hail mary video services after the initial videographer wasn’t able to produce the product as stated. This site was another example of a static with, however the previous webmaster was moving on, and unable to continue progress. I took the site over, and again, build up a WordPress back-end, including SEO, Analytics, newsletters and online registration for seminars this client puts on. Since I’ve had a number of projects with this Client, we started with a simple layout the Client like, and will build on it as time and content progress.
Also with this Client, I have implemented an e-Commerce site to help promote the online sales of their products.
One of my oldest clients, spanning back over a decade now, the SCYC was the initial candidate for my Traction CMS app, long before the idea came to fruition. Starting from a clean slate with an idea spawned from a New Years get together, the site for the SCYC has been significantly updated thru the course of the last decade.
Initially build to help manage the Membership roster for members, create a space to post meeting and party notices and a general online forum for relevant information.
In 2010 and 2011, a significant move was made to shift all of the clerical processing to a secured section of the website as well, to handle new membership, ledger and data import/exports and reporting. The club has a nearly 100 page roster that was manually created each year, taking countless hours to assemble. Now, with a click a the mouse, the roster can be generated in a matter of minutes pulling all of the needed information from the database, and assembling it in a print-ready PDF that can be emailed right to the print vendor, cutting out manual entry and formatting.
In addition, there is an online photo gallery as part of the site, as well as a custom coded email tool to allow the Board to email ‘blast’ Members who have opted in to recieve email messages.
Upcoming plans include only registration and payments for parties, and annual Membership dues.
QPMS or (Quote & Policy Management System) spawned from a need to migrated hundreds of insurance policies from paper format and MS Access databases into one location in preparation for migration into a new software platform. Due to some setbacks in the launch of that new software, QPMS ended up becoming the primary app used for about 18 months total from inception to manage all of the policies. This included contract assignment, document generation to PDF on the fly, accounting and loss control reporting. This housed information for nearly 250 clients including all historical and current data, and was build in the ASP.NET environment. Due to security, MSAccess was the only database choice for the back-end support, which posed some interesting hurdles to overcome during the development.