Almost Anything's Blogger Links

Monday, September 27, 2004

Not-so-new Website: Horse Australia 2005

Well, this isn’t exactly new anymore, but I noticed today that I hadn’t actually put it anywhere, nor really told anyone about it!

So here it is!

Drawing from our experience with Beef 2003 (and again getting ready for Beef 2006), Horse Australia 2005 features a draft programme and an outline of the events that will make up the Expo. Tonight I’m just finishing off the online Trade Fair registration; the event is only half a year away so if you’re the slightest bit interested in things equine you’ll need to start planning now!

Read about it

We released a slightly revised version of Rockhampton Regional Development’s website today, further improving the underlying architecture in order to:

  1. Make it easier for search engines to read
  2. Improve download time, and
  3. Make it easier to update

We have also added a “print stylesheet”, which means that it automatically creates “printer-friendly” pages whenever you hit the print button.

More importantly from the client’s point of view, is the password protected administration section where they can upload their own events and press releases, further enhancing the “currentness” of the site. (Is that I word? You know what I mean ;) )

We have more planned for the near future - stay tuned…

Thursday, September 23, 2004

New Website: Migjet Adventures

This one was a tough choice: Take the money or go for a ride?

Hmmm…

In the end, I chickened out and took the money, but even watching a few others go for a ride (including “Smithy” from HOT FM’s breakfast show) is a buzz. You just can’t understand how fast this thing goes until you see it. It flies! (Well, we all know it flies, but you know what I mean!)

Well, the new Migjet website is now live, but incomplete. I’m waiting on some new video footage so I can try and convey a bit more of the thrill. We’ll get that online as soon as we can.

But in the meantime, if you’re a bit of a thrillseeker get a piece of this!

Oh - the website address you ask? www.migjet.com.

Enjoy!

New Site: Fern Hills Grazing

Fern Hills Grazing launched their website this afternoon. The website incorporates:
  • Red brahmans
  • Charbrays, and
  • Performance horses

This is the first website we’ve added horses to, and it makes for a good change and adds some extra interest.

Thanks to the McCamley family, and in particular Brett, who put a lot of effort into helping us get it ready in a fairly short amount of time.

Oh, and Fay makes a good cuppa, too!

You can visit their website here.

Monday, September 20, 2004

Website Project Management Part 1 : Introduction

It's probably fair to say that most website projects are not managed, they just happen. Do up some designs, slice the graphics and code it up, drop some content in and viola! We have a website!

This might be okay if you're working on one or two at a time, but when you get to half a dozen or more, you'll quickly find you need some project management skills.

I'll be outlining here over the next few posts a method that works for me. I'm always fine tuning it, so it's by no means perfect, but if you currently have no management system in place at all this will hopefully set you heading in the right direction.

I'll be referring to phpCollab (as that's what we use), so it might be a good time to download, install and configure it before we go much further. There's setup instructions on their website, so I won't repeat them here.

There's your homework for now, next time we'll deal with basic project management principles.

Friday, September 17, 2004

A facelift in time for spring sales

Today we launched the facelifted website for Kenrol Brahman Stud.

What’s new under the skin:

  1. A new design that incorporates a “tableless” layout (easier and cheaper to maintain, more future-compatible).
  2. Fewer “decorative” images (will download faster).
  3. “Print-friendly” pages automatically built in. Print a page and see what we mean. You won’t lose the right side of the page, as happens with many other web pages.

We’ve also updated all the photo galleries, added an “Out and About” page, and given the whole site a freshen before Brahman Week in early October.

Thursday, September 16, 2004

Web Essentials 04

It’s only two weeks left until Web Essentials 04 starts! With influential presenters like Dave Shea and Doug Bowman (among others) it should be both educational and inspirational.

One thing’s for sure - with all the new ideas I’ll be coming back from Sydney with, we’ll be pretty fired up in October!

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

New Website gives the full picture on local events

If you’ve ever had to manage a community event calendar, you’ll know what a headache it can be. Between adding new events, monitoring changes to existing entries, and then distributing it, it’s almost a full-time job.

When developing www.rockhamptonevents.com.au, we searched for a more efficient way to manage this problem.

The solution

  • Anyone can register and edd their own events
  • Rockhampton Venues and Events (who own & manage the site) receive a note via email and approve the event listing
  • The event organiser automatically receives a monthly email reminder to keep their event up to date


By automating as much as we could, we’ve created an events calendar that virtually manages itself.

We’re lazy, too. We understand the need to make things as easy as possible! ;)

The official news

Clashes of timing of local events and incorrect or out of date event lists could be a thing of the past, thanks to a new website. www.rockhamptonevents.com.au is a website dedicated to promoting activities in Central Queensland.

An initiative of Rockhampton City Council through its Venues and Events business unit the website aims to be a one stop shop for both the public and events organisers.

www.rockhamptonevents.com.au is a free, easy to use site which can not only show the public what is on, but can help event organisers plan the timing of their events,” Cr Rose Swadling, Chair of the Rockhampton City Council’s Community Services Committee, said.

“Rather than having to peruse a lot of separate event lists to get the full picture of what is happening in the region, we are hoping that people will use this website as a one stop shop,” Cr Swadling said.

The site enables event organisers to register their events’ details and allows the public to browse what is happening in the region. People can also request an email newsletter to be sent to them telling them of upcoming local events. The website is an interactive database rather than a list to be downloaded, so people can even search for events by keywords or phrases.

Organisers are responsible for entering their own content, so there is less handling and a reduced possibility of error or outdated information being published. Event organizers receive ‘reminder’ emails to ensure that they keep their information up to date.

“It will ensure that clashes of major events and out of date listings are a thing of the past,” Cr Swadling said.

Thursday, September 09, 2004

Branding Your Email

You may have seen emails arrive with the sender’s logo and colours neatly tied in with the message. This is known as email stationery and is an important, and often overlooked, part of your overall branding strategy.

Business cards have your logo, your invoices and letters have your logo, even your vehicle might have your logo. And when you think about how many emails you might send in a week, the lost branding opportunities begin to add up.

Email stationery can be set up in Outlook or Outlook Express two ways:

  1. It’s automatically there each time you start a new message, or
  2. You can manually select it with each new message (enabling you to have more than one at your disposal - handy if you run more than one business.)

A final important feature is to include a link to your website as part of the email stationery.

Simple. Effective. Overlooked.