CMS - Jeff Hester

Posted on March 13, 2011March 14, 2011 by Jeff Hester — 2 Comments

Another WordPress Project Launched

Most people, when they think of WordPress, assume it’s for hobbyists and bloggers, and the the design will look like a template. The Crossing proves this assumption wrong. The website isn’t a blog in the usual sense, but a great example of how WordPress can be used for pure content management with a unique style of its own.

For this project, my friends at PlainJoe Studios created the site design and architecture, with complete Photoshop mockups. Based on their design, I built a custom WordPress child theme using the StudioPress Genesis framework. The final product includes some great features, including a widgetized homepage, a dynamic video gallery fed via Vimeo, and slick access to the site map via the Quick Links in the header (give it a try!).

Best of all, the client can easily manage their own website content. And that is something to give praise for.

WordPress — it’s not just for blogging.

Do you need a website that works for you (instead of against you)? I can help. I have a network of design and developer resources that team together to deliver dynamic, high-performance websites. Our team is known as Room Five, and we’re here to help. Contact me for details.

Posted on October 12, 2007 by Jeff Hester — 4 Comments

Working with Joomla for BigBlueBargains

A number of sites on the BigBlueNetwork are in desperate need of some tender love, or at the very least, an updated look with fresh content. One such site is BigBlueBargains. The site was previously driven primarily by affiliation with MyCoupons, but most of the links have gone dead. And the site itself looks like something out of the ’90s.

While I’m at it, I’m taking time to revisit the tools to manage the content on this and other sites in the network. Previously I’ve looked at Drupal and even used it for other projects. It’s a great system, but the administrative side is really bare-bones and difficult to decipher.

For BigBlueBargains I’ve been developing an entirely new site with fresh content using the free Joomla content management system (CMS). Joomla is probably the closest competitor to Drupal, but the administrative interface is much easier to use and much more robust.

I need to do some load testing to make sure Joomla will scale to handle the volume of traffic I’m expecting — while co-existing with the other sites on my server. But so far, for someone with limited time to maintain a number of sites, Joomla is looking very promising.

I’m still fleshing out the content, structure and design of the new site, but would love feedback. If you’re interested in taking a sneak peek, leave me a comment and I’ll email the link to you.