Jun 02
MikeWeb Industry CMS, eCommerce, Magento, magento mobile, mobile ecommerce
This week, Magento launched its new mobile commerce platform, Magento Mobile. For those of you who already run ecommerce websites powered by Magento you will already be aware of how powerful this software is. Now with the launch of its new mobile app, you can easily create your own branded storefront apps which are integrated with the Magento platform. The new software includes an administrative manager, a fully customizable iPhone app and a Magento managed submission and maintenance service for the iTunes app store.
Magento Mobile offers merchants a fully customizable and seamless storefront integration for mobile applications. It allows you to easily integrate your full store catalog, checkout procedures, inventory and full reporting and admin features. There are also device specific features and a choice of branded themes to select. Your mobile storefront can also be further customized with colors and images which will update on users mobiles even after they have downloaded the app.
Outdoor product retailer, The North Face, is one of the first market leading companies to use the new Magento Mobile commerce app, which soon become available to more countries around the globe for users of the iPhone. So what can Magento Mobile commerce offer you?
- Storefront Integration: As mentioned above, you can seamlessly integrate you existing website into the app with all your products, checkout facilities and enjoy admin features such as reporting and stock control.
- Manage Multiple Devices: you can easily manage multiple devices with just one installation. Later this year Magento hopes to extend the app to the iPad and android devices.
- Hassle Free Management: managing mobile apps can be time consuming so Magento offers to manage them for you for a low cost monthly fee.
- Fully Customizable: you can alter the appearance of your storefront to promote your brand and match it to your existing website. Any changes you make will automatically appear even if users have already downloaded the app.
- Low Cost: you pay only for the features and devices you want to use, while Magento will manage the ongoing maintenance for you.
Currently, this app is available on a limited release so if you want to know more you will need to sign up through the Magento website. There will also be a webinar on June 23 presented by Tim Schultz who will give a 60 minute presentation about the new app and also feature a Q and A session. Those who want access will need to sign up as spaces are limited.
May 28
MikeWeb Design EE CMS, ExpressionEngine, ExpressionEngine Hosting
ExpressionEngine has become a popular choice when it comes to content management systems. This flexible system is rich in features and can dynamically assemble websites with just a handful of PHP scripts. While Drupal is our preferred CMS, we do work with ExpressionEngine quite a bit as it is a favorite for many of our clients. After recommending a CMS to our clients, a frequently asked question is “how will it interact with our current hosting company?” Some of our ExpressionEngine clients have experienced issues with ExpressionEngine hosting.
The server requirements for ExpressionEngine are fairly standard and revolve around Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. Most companies will run Linux based servers which are capable of ExpressionEngine hosting, but you should consider the following tips before choosing a hosting company for your ExpressionEngine website:
- Don’t run ExpressionEngine on Windows. Although possible, you can run into numerous issues and problems. Running on Windows may save you money but you will most likely spend more money troubleshooting the configuration.
- Cheap hosting, although very attractive should also be avoided. Hosts such as GoDaddy and 1&1 offer very cheap ExpressionEngine hosting, but their packages tend to lack key tools and the support needed to manage your EE installation.
- Ask any potential host to run the ExpressionEngine server wizard to establish if their product meets ExpressionEngine’s requirements.
- If you want to manage multiple sites for clients consider how you will do this. Some ExpressionEngine hosting packages offer up a master admin panel like cPanel where you can manage multiple sites and domains from one account. Other companies prefer you to set up separate accounts.
To help you find the right ExpressionEngine hosting package for you here are a few choices to consider:
- EngineHosting.com is our recommendation. They are affiliated with Ellis Lab who created ExpressionEngine and offer hosting packages starting at just $10 per month for shared hosting. They offer excellent support and will even install EE for you. If you purchase ExpressionEngine at the same time as the hosting package you will receive a 20% discount.
- MediaTemple.com has hosting packages from $20 per month and offers a user control panel which will allow you to configure sites on your account yourself. Their support is good, although there is one disadvantage for those who wish to replace index.php in their URLs as this can be tricky with Media Temple servers.
Other ExpressionEngine hosting companies exist but be sure to do your research before embarking on a twelve month (or longer) hosting commitment.
May 27
MikeWeb Design CMS, Content Management System, Drupal
When it comes to content management systems, Drupal is our preferred solution. This software is released under open source license and provides a great web application framework written in PHP. Like many other open source programs, there is a growing community of programmers and developers all adding to its features, including modules, blogs, forums and themes.
What sets Drupal apart is its ability to provide powerful frameworks for sites, from a basic level static site to a community based site and beyond. Consider it as a constructor, providing you with only the essential elements needed to create a basic website from which you can enhance and develop to create a site which meets your needs. Some may be put off by this, particularly beginners who may choose to abandon Drupal in favor of another CMS, simply because of the time it can take to build a site which meets their requirements. However, it is worth nothing that the core code is simple but powerful, modification of the core functions is relatively easy and it is very easy to write your own modules.
While other CMS platforms may be more specific in their attributes, Wordpress for instance is great for blogging, Drupal has been heralded as akin to the holy grail in developers eyes simply because of its flexibility and ease in which powerful websites can be built and configured. Drupal also offers very robust eCommerce modules to create powerful shopping portals.
Check out just a few of the names who have built websites with Drupal:
Over the past ten years Drupal has evolved to become a leader in CMS programs and a favorite not just with us but many others as well! There is a great API and a large resource of tutorials available to users on just about everything you could ever want to know. Added to this is the fact that since its inception Drupal has always had a focus on security and is regarded as one of the most secure CMS programs available. This powerful software is definitely our first choice for building websites large or small.
May 19
MikeWeb Industry YouTube
Although it seems like it only launched yesterday, YouTube turned five this week and to celebrate this landmark, the site has announced an additional milestone: a whopping two billion page views per day. To put this figure into context, YouTube added that this is nearly double the combined prime time viewing figures of the 3 major US TV networks.
Few can argue that YouTube has revolutionized the way people share videos online and this was underlined a mere 18 months after its launch when Google acquired the site in a high profile takeover. To commemorate its fifth birthday the site has released a series of videos titled ‘My YouTube Story’ which includes clips and features of people from around the globe telling how YouTube has changed their lives. Documentary filmmaker Stephen Higgins is also involved and has produced a series of touching clips which feature in the initial release. If you are a regular YouTube user you can also get involved by uploading your own story and YouTube has said it intends to put these videos on a ‘global map’ along with an interactive timeline of clips. A few stats on Youtube:
- 1 billion views a day – 2009
- 2 billion views a day – 2010
- 3rd most popular site on the planet (Alexa)
- Available in 23 countries and 24 languages
- Average time spent on site – 15 minutes
- 70% of site traffic is from outside the US
The popularity of YouTube means that for many the Internet would not be the same without it and the numbers above firmly back this up. In fact it would take you 1700 years to watch every video on the site! Would the site be so popular if Google hadn’t taken it under its wing? Well that remains to be seen, but Google is continuing to develop online video sharing including the imminent arrival of Google TV, meaning YouTube could become even more accessible. Here’s to the next five years, Happy Birthday YouTube!
May 12
MikeWeb Industry bing, search, search engine
Nearly a year on from Microsoft’s launch of Bing, it’s newly revamped version of Windows Live Search, we look at how the new kid on the block has fared over the last 12 months and whether it has succeeded in tempting us away from the big guns of search engines.
Pitched by Microsoft as ‘not being a search engine but a decision engine’ many who initially reviewed the site had to agree that this was a good and accurate description. Microsoft’s focus was on providing a quality search feature which would return the kind of relevant results that around 42% of us say we fail to get with other search engines. Indeed Bing’s marketing campaign centered on the problem information overload from other sites which often returned a large amount of unnecessary or irrelevant results. Bing on the other hand would return better results and a host of other features so users can tailor them further.
So what has happened to Bing in the last 12 months? It would seem that Microsoft can give itself a big pat on the back because Bing has rapidly picked up its market share and sits a comfortable third behind Google and Yahoo! when it comes to search query traffic. In fact at one point last year Bing actually hit the #2 spot behind Google – however this was somewhat short lived and lasted just a day! But since then Bing has enjoyed continued growth, increasing its market share of search queries month on month even though its competitors were seeing falls in their share of all search query traffic.
Not bad considering how poor its predecessor was and that its launch was considered by many to very low key and with little fanfare. While some may be wondering just how Bing has managed to obtain such as strong foothold in the market in such a short space of time but just remember Microsoft has a lot of money to invest in the idea and spent millions of dollars in TV ads, radio commercials, etc. However, it would seem that Yahoo! was actually Microsoft’s main target. On the 29th July 2009 Yahoo! did a deal with Microsoft which will actually see it powered by Bing over the next ten years. Bing’s market share would therefore increase from 10% to around 28% and although still less than half of Google’s overall share, it is none the less a massive leap forward towards its biggest competitor.
Google must now be looking over its shoulder especially as some commentators have accused it of complacency as Bing continued to gather momentum and introduce feature after feature to its UI, many of which are missing from Google’s interface. But Bing has not been without its criticism – a difficult-to-use experience for first time users.
However, the figures speak for themselves and it would seem that twelve months on Bing is here to stay and is set to grow bigger and better. Whether it will tempt us to quit Google altogether remains to be seen but it is becoming the preferred search engine choice for many web users and where Microsoft takes Bing from here will be interesting.
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