Web Development
Website development can range in complexity, from single-paged static web sites offering a 'brochure' style presentation, to highly complex sites with hundreds of files and full database connectivity.
At Redbird Communications we specialize in a technology called 'CMS' - or Content Management System. In the past, updating or maintaining your company's website usually meant finding and hiring an agency or individual contractor who was familiar with your specific style of site, and paying sometimes exorbitant amounts of money for what should be a simple task. Enter Content Management Systems: With a CMS you are given a 'sub' section of your site that is only visible to you and your key employees. When you want to make a change, you simply sign in to the 'administration' section of the site, select the page/article you would like to edit -- and click 'edit'. That's it! You will be presented with a rich text editor (WYSIWYG), much like Microsoft's 'Word' where you will be able to copy, paste, style, or delete any content you would like -- forever.
On top of your ability to now create and edit pages of your website on your own, your CMS is expandable. If you, at some point down the line, decide you need e-commerce, we can add that. If you need a forum, or want your viewers to be able to post comments on any or all of your pages, we can add that -- and the cost to you will be minimal. With your CMS, each of these extra features has already been developed; we simply have to merge them with your already running site. A big plus to this approach is that you will experience zero downtime during the changeover.
Technology
Drupal is an open source software package, built on the popular PHP programming language -- and that's why we use it as the basis for many of the sites we create. It is highly customizable and is expandable to include many features such as:
- Community web portals
- Discussion sites
- Corporate websites
- Intranet applications
- Personal web sites or blogs
- Afficionado sites
- E-commerce applications
- Resource directories
- Social networking sites
- Blogs
- Collaborative authoring environments
- Forums
- Peer-to-peer networking
- Newsletters
- Podcasting
- Picture galleries
- File uploads and downloads
Some projects require the use of other software, such as:
- phpbb - a powerful open source forum
- gallery - a customizable photo gallery similiar to flickr or snapfish
- zencart - a full featured e-commerce solution for large storefronts
- wordpress - a lightweight personal blog
- moodle - a course management and e-learning system
- webcalendar - configurable multi-user calendar