News | Web Design News, Reviews, Opinions and Stuff

Happy New Year from 18a!

9th January 2012 12:00 by lisa

Happy 2012!

It's our first day back in the office today, and we've hit the ground running with 1 new commission confirmed and requests for 3 other estimates!

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year and we wish you all the best for 2012!

18a Christmas 2011 opening hours

19th December 2011 03:00 by lisa

Our offices will be closed from 5.30pm on Friday 23rd December 2011 - 9am on Monday 9th January 2012. Hosting:

All hosting will continue to be monitored 24/7 and any problems will be addressed throughout the Christmas period. We might be on holiday, but we're still on hosting-watch!

Support:

If… Read more

WordPress 3.3 is released

13th December 2011 03:00 by lisa

If you've got a WordPress blog, then you might want to consider upgrading to the latest version - WordPress 3.3.

Features include the ability to drag and drop a batch of mixed media instead of uploading each file (there's been a multi-file uploader for a while which I found was never… Read more

Join us for the first RWW Bristol meet up!

5th November 2011 03:00 by lisa

One of the biggest technology blogs in the world, Read Write Web, are organising a Worldwide meet up on Tuesday 15th November, and encouraging people across the globe to organise meet ups in their area.

So we're organising the Bristol one! Calling all South West geeks! If you're in the web industry… Read more

Paypal now keep their fee when you refund a customer

26th October 2011 12:00 by lisa

We're just setting up the Paypal API for a new client, and have found a change since we last did it just a few weeks ago!

It seems that in September 2011, the UK terms for Paypal updated to say that Paypal now keep the fixed part of their fee when… Read more

The Dead Circus has come alive!

25th October 2011 03:00 by jo

One of our latest website is now live! It is The Dead Circus.

This site was made to promote a one off Halloween party. It is set to be a great event and it's now fully booked.

The site had an in-built ticket booking system, which let customers buy not only a ticket… Read more

Fancy a stake in Half Baked Brand?

12th October 2011 03:00 by lisa

We made Half Baked Brand's website for them last year so they could begin selling their cycling apparel online.

It's been an exciting year for the new company, with shop premises all but open and great features in leading national cycling magazines.

And now it's set to get all the more… Read more

Have you got customer reviews on your Facebook page?

10th October 2011 03:00 by lisa

If you've got customer reviews on your Facebook page, which are no where else, then copy and paste them and save them quick!

Facebook have announced that as of the 31st October 2011 they're removing the reviews tab from Facebook Pages, so as to encourage people to use the wall instead.… Read more

How to get different shipping rates on your OpenCart shop.

13th September 2011 03:00 by jo

If you ship your products globally you may find you need to provide different prices for different countries. A common set up in the UK is; a flat rate shipping fee to when shipping to addresses in the UK and then a higher rate for Europe and then an even… Read more

How to get rid of vertical scrollbars in a Facebook fan page application

12th September 2011 03:00 by tom

More and more companies are getting customised Facebook pages, like ours! But when you create a basic Facebook fan page application you might find that the lovely design you've created gets horrible vertical scroll bars added along the right hand side. Here's a quick 'howto' to explain the steps you… Read more

How to make someone an admin of your Facebook page

9th September 2011 03:00 by lisa

If you're an organisation with a Facebook Fan Page, a time is likely to come where you need someone else to be able to administer your page. This is particularly the case in companies, when the person who created the page goes on holiday or is out of the office.

It's very… Read more

Facebook Terms and Conditions – Fan pages

7th September 2011 03:00 by jo

For those who know how, Facebook certainly is very easy to use and user friendly. However it can be confusing and a bit tricky knowing that they continuously make updates and changes to the site.

Facebook Fan pages are great. They can be regularly updated and clear for those who… Read more

Facebook rolls out new privacy settings.

5th September 2011 03:00 by jo

Yet again Facebook have made some more changes to their privacy settings.

They are continuing to roll out new measures to increase privacy to users. The latest, is the ability for users to have greater control over who can and can’t see their status updates.

Many people are seeing this as Facebook’s… Read more

We had a LoveSpice taste test lunch

2nd September 2011 03:00 by jo

For lunch this week, we decided to try out a recipe using our LoveSpice chilli oil!

We had LoveSpice Garlicy Red Pesto Brushetta, a recipe that can be found on their website and WOW was it tasty!!

It was so good...we all decided to have seconds!

We would now seriously recommend that… Read more

A new look for The Inside Man CSCart website.

26th August 2011 03:00 by jo

The Inside Man has had a make-over.

Our client came to us with a CSCart shop that needed a revamp so we did a redesign with CSCart in mind.

It was an interesting experience as we tend not to use CSCart. One challenge that we came across was working with Cybertill, as… Read more

A new website for laptopkit.co.uk

25th August 2011 03:00 by jo

LapTopKit came to us because they needed a new website that they could update easily and that looked good. So we moved them away from their old OSCommerce site and built them a new shop using OpenCart.

With this website our client is able to add new products, as well as… Read more

A WP e-Commerce Guide

23rd August 2011 03:00 by jo

Below you can find instructions on to how to use certain aspects of WP e-Commerce.

Adding Products

Adding products is now easier on WP e-Commerce. Once signed in simply select Products from the menu on the left hand side and then click Add New.

When adding a product, start off by adding a… Read more

Bad luck for Somerset in the enterprise zone locations

17th August 2011 03:00 by lisa

Here at 18a we were excited a few months ago when Bristol's Temple Quarter was announced as one of the Goverment's new Enterprise Zones.

After Bristol was named in March as being a spot for one of the new zones, the exact location of 173 acres near Temple Meads was announced… Read more

Seafields Fostering has gone live!

16th August 2011 03:00 by jo

We are really happy to announce that the new and improved Seafields Fostering website has gone live!

Seafields is a website about fostering that gives you all the information you need to know.

This website has been recreated with a fresh and up-to-date look and clear contact forms so you are… Read more

Does Social Media Have an Effect on Society?

12th August 2011 03:00 by jo

Over the past week we have seen riots all over the country. Most of the rioting has been contained to the London area, where some horrible scenes have unfolded.

But how did this all happen? How did people know to riot, and where?

It would appear that today’s social media… Read more

Do Internet Explore Users have a lower IQ??

4th August 2011 03:00 by jo

An interesting article appeared on the web at the beginning of the week about research that had been conducted regarding web browsers. The conclusion that was found by Canadian firm ApTiquant was that Internet Explorer (IE) users have a lower IQ than people who use other browsers.

The story made headlines… Read more

Langford Live - September 10th 2011

27th July 2011 03:00 by jo

Langford Live is taking place on Saturday 10th September, 2011.

We are proud to support Langford Live. The first of hopefully many Langford Live mini festivals, in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

This year's festival will take place on the 10th September 2011 in the beautiful setting of Langford Court. The… Read more

Setting up PayPal with openCart? Remember to check the default settings

26th July 2011 03:00 by jo

In recent months we have set up several openCart websites with PayPal settings. We have found that there are settings that have to be updated when creating them. These settings can be found by logging in to your openCart and going to Extensions > Payments then click edit next to… Read more

Mapping Mobile Reception in Britain

21st July 2011 03:00 by jo

The BBC as well as others have noticed that if you want to find out which network provider give the best coverage in your area, then this information can be very hard to find out.

So, the BBC has decided to take it upon themselves to map out mobile coverage across… Read more

Wallpaper for your iPad - how to make good sized iPad wallpaper

20th July 2011 03:00 by lisa

If you're using your iPad in a presentation, you might want something more branded and professional than a photo of your cat as the background, whilst being more interesting that than patterns and generic squiggles the ipad comes with by default.

However - as we all know - the wallpaper/background on… Read more

18a Productions - The new exclusive digital partner for Precedent Internet!

19th July 2011 03:00 by jo

18a Productions is now the new exclusive digital partner for Precedent Internet!

Precedent Internet has been producing websites for dentists for almost 10 years! They are up to date with what information needs to be clearly shown on dentist websites.

A lot of dentists are unaware of many of the stipulations that… Read more

WordPress 3.2 has been released!

15th July 2011 03:00 by jo

WordPress have just released a new version – WordPress 3.2 – Have you updated yet?

This new version of WordPress (3.2) is the 15th major release of WordPress. It was created to make a fast and lighter Wordpress with several extra new features.

Firstly it should be noted that it no… Read more

The Different Roles of WordPress Users

14th July 2011 03:00 by jo

One of the great thing about Wordpress, is that it comes with 6 different user roles, allowing you to manage what other members of your team are allowed to do on your website.

The first role is the 'Super Admin', although, if you have upgraded to WordPress 3.1 or above this… Read more

Mahi Naturals has gone Live!

12th July 2011 03:00 by jo

MahiNaturals has gone live!

This is a great customised OpenCart shop.

This shop is user friendly and designed with SEO in mind. This shop is linked up to PayPal for secure and easy payments. It was also set up so that products could be shiopped internationally with the relevent shipping price for… Read more

A new feature for Google search – the Google Plus One button

11th July 2011 03:00 by jo

The Google Plus 1 (+1) button

When you search for something now on Google you may notice that beside some of the listings is a little grey box with a +1 inside. If you click on this it will add your count, much like a Facebook Like Button. If you have… Read more

The New Social Network Site - Google Plus - Has Been Launched

29th June 2011 03:00 by jo

Google has unveiled a new social networking service. Although it is still in its early stages Google have explained that it is an add-on feature that works with existing Google features.

As of June 2011 this is Google's biggest attempt to rival Facebook and gets its foot firmly planted in the… Read more

LoveSpice goes live!!!

28th June 2011 03:00 by jo

LoveSpice is a lovely customised WordPress that enables people to look around the site and gives them the option to buy the yummy LoveSpice products.

When customers go to buy the products the site has been linked up to Paypal making things easier for the buyer and the seller.

The site was… Read more

Key Words and Google - Does using key words get you higher in Google?

23rd June 2011 03:00 by jo

Should you, or should you not include meta key words on your site? Many people assume that if they simply put the right keywords in their headers that they will have great results in Google. But this is not the case, and there is so much more that should be… Read more

Are you making the most of social media?

22nd June 2011 03:00 by lisa

Social media isn't for every business - and if you're going to bother, then you've got to do it consistently - but there are lots of reasons why it's good to find the time for it.

With over 600,000,000 people using Facebook, it's quite likely that some of them are also… Read more

ICANN to make big changes to internet domain suffixes

21st June 2011 03:00 by jo

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers also known as ICANN will increase web domain suffixes. The vote was made by the global internet body to allow for this to happen.

Currently there are 22 suffixes including; .com, .gov, .edu and .org. There are also a further 250 country level… Read more

Great book release for our client Nathan Lee Davies

20th June 2011 03:00 by jo

A little while ago we designed and set up a WordPress blog for our client Nathan Lee Davies.

We are happy to announce that a book he wrote for as a special guest, has been published and is now available on Amazon! This book is called The Great British Breakfast: In… Read more

Facebook face tagging - and how to turn it off

8th June 2011 03:00 by lisa

Facebook have done it again - rolled out a feature and angered people who didn't want it turned on by default. And this latest feature, is more than a little bit creepy!

Now, when you upload photos, Facebook will try to recognise if your friends are in any of them, and then… Read more

Gmail autoresponders not working with POP3 email accounts

1st June 2011 03:00 by lisa

For years now, I've run my work email through Gmail and never had a problem with people receiving an "out of the office" message when I'm in meetings or on holiday.

However, it's just come to my attention that this feature isn't 100% reliable lately, so I've spent this morning investigating...

A… Read more

Facebook Like Box not showing faces?!

23rd May 2011 03:00 by jo

Have you found that your Facebook Like Box doesn’t appear properly on your website? You get the title but it doesn't seem to pull through any faces?

Well the problem is so much simpler than I had imagined!

The default height of the box given by Facebook is too short. The code by… Read more

ExploreIrelandTours.com has gone LIVE!!

20th May 2011 03:00 by jo

This is so exciting – it is such a great site.

It is a website that lets you can book adventure travels in Ireland. It is a bespoke booking system which allows admin to plot points along a route which visitors can then book, according to where they would like to… Read more

An osCommerce makeover for FoxFittings.co.uk

19th May 2011 03:00 by jo

We did a design makeover for our client FoxFitting on their osCommerce Shop.

A new design was created for the site, but we chose to use much of the old layout so that the structure to the website did not have to change.

The new site is more modern and streamlined as… Read more

Web browsers - Are you having problems with IE 9?

18th May 2011 03:00 by jo

Since the release of the Microsoft IE9 - 14th March 2011, there have been no major glitches reported. However there have been many reported minor problems. A problem that appears to be more and more common is a troubleshooting problem when you are trying to install Internet Explorer 9. We have seen… Read more

Beta Sage and Sage - A Comparison Of Their Old and Their New Website

17th May 2011 03:00 by jo

Looking at the two Sage Software sites, and not knowing which is the new one and which isn’t is hard to decipher. While the colours are the same (greens and greys)everything else appear different, so much so that if you didn’t know what Sage does then you could be easily… Read more

The new Google Chromebook

16th May 2011 03:00 by lisa

So when I first heard of the "Chromebook" I honestly couldn't think what it might be! I thought it was maybe a published document of research from Google. But doh! It's a little netbook (small laptop) that doesn't have anything else than a web browser on it.

No desktop (and so… Read more

The Facebook Smear Campaign Against Google

13th May 2011 03:00 by lisa

I read on the BBC website today that Facebook have admitted to paying a PR company to run a smear campaign against Google.

Imagine taking the tactic of rather than paying a PR company to promote you, you pay them to bad mouth your competition? Not an approach I like, or… Read more

Internet World Conference

12th May 2011 03:00 by lisa

I'm writing this on the way back from the last day of the Internet World conference, and overall I'd say it was an interesting day out!

There was the usual barage of email marketers, SEO-ers and hosting companies and at least one "newly invented brand new product" that has of course… Read more

Cinemagraph - Amazing Photos That Move

10th May 2011 03:00 by jo

Have you ever seen a photo move?

Well if you haven’t, have a look here! Cinemagraphs, which is what they are being called, are a cross between a moving video and a still image. And so far the examples we have seen look great! They are made with the old gif.… Read more

WP e-Commerce Delivery Paypal Fix

3rd May 2011 03:00 by tom

We love Wordpress as a CMS platform. It's a very cost effective way for people to get their own basic content managed website online and one of the few 'out of the box' solutions we recommend to clients.

One of the great things about Wordpress is the vast array of plugins… Read more

How to stop others seeing your personal Facebook profile

26th April 2011 03:00 by jo

Some people do not mind leaving their Facebook profiles open for everyone to see however that is not the case for everyone. Facebook has different settings put up in place, so that you can change what people can and can’t see and if you only want your friends to see… Read more

Magento launch a pay monthly option - Magento Go!

18th April 2011 03:00 by jo

Magento Go is a piece of shop software that helps business owners and entrepreneurs launch their own professional looking online shop.

Magento which was set up in 2008 have launched the new Magento Go platform that allows you to run your own business, where you can list and sell your products.On… Read more

An Example of Two Different HTML Emails

15th April 2011 03:00 by jo

Here is a good example of why it is important to experiment with different layouts of HTML email. Below is an example of a company who have updated their HTML email. The old one (pictured first) looks good but doesnt offer much to the viewer. The new layout (see the… Read more

Affiliate Management of A Quarter Of - A Star Performer

14th April 2011 03:00 by jo

18a are proud to say that we do the affiliate management for A Quarter Of. However on top of this we can tell you that A Quarter Of have been named as a star performer on Affiliate Window for the 4th month in a row! This is great news!

If you… Read more

Choosing which page your Facebook fan page opens on - Tips for your Facebook fan page

8th April 2011 12:00 by jo

Thinking about having a Facebook fan page?Well you also need to thing about which page your fan page opens on.

If you don't have a lot of discussion or updates on your wall, or you have a competition or promotion to push, you may wish to create a custom page… Read more

Customising your Facebook fan page banner - tips for your Facebook fan page

7th April 2011 03:00 by jo

Last week I wrote an article about fun customisation of your photos on your Facebook page.

I just wanted to update that post with an image our 18aProductions business fan page, showing other businesses how they can have fun with their own pages. We have gone with the simple, festive images of… Read more

Adding a Share page on Facebook - tips for your Facebook fan page

6th April 2011 12:00 by lisa

So once you've got people liking your Facebook fan page, how do you get them to spread the word?

Well one way is to create a Share page, as shown below.

A very good adoption of this page is to send people there as soon as they've liked your page. So… Read more

Giving fans exclusive content - tips for your Facebook fan page

5th April 2011 03:00 by jo

If you have a Facebook fan page, a great tip for businesses is to have exclusive content on there.

This is great (and a clever) way to get people to ‘like’ your page, as people want to know what the hidden content is. Potentially it could be, special offers or money… Read more

AddMySupport.com changes

4th April 2011 03:00 by jo

Here is another example of the sort of work we can help with...

AddMySupport.com needed a home page animation designed to explain their website – and they needed it in a hurry! So in a day we designed and built them a 4 frame animation, which we will shortly be converting… Read more

Fun Facebook Profiles

1st April 2011 03:00 by jo

When researching press release websites I came across something completely unrelated but I thought it was pretty cool so here I am sharing it with you.

Facebook are often making updates to their appearance, so click here to see some examples of how people are taking advantage of these changes… Read more

MillhouseData.com Is Launched

23rd March 2011 03:00 by jo

We are happy to announce that the new MillhouseData.com website has gone live. It is fully up to date with some new and improved details.

Firstly the client needed a site that worked on an iPad which this one now does. The photo below shows an image of the website from an… Read more

BoltsHairAndBody.co.uk goes live!

18th March 2011 03:00 by jo

We are really excited to announce that the new look Bolts Hair and Body website has gone live!

Bolts Hair and Body, located in Axminster, wanted a fresh look for their website, so have created a more up to date, modern and lively design, going to show how you don't need… Read more

Stop the Black Hatters

17th March 2011 03:00 by tom

Everyone who does even the smallest amount of SEO, appreciates the importance of outbound links. Black hat seo monkeys are no exception. Except rather than sending one of those annoying 'will you be my friend' emails to request a link, they just hack away until they find a route into… Read more

Hey Everyone - I'm new!

15th March 2011 03:00 by jo

Hi everyone, my name is Jo.

I’m the lastest member to join the 18aproduction team! I am the new studio assistant and I hope to get stuck right in. Having graduated last summer, I am very happy to be a part of this exciting web company in Bristol. I was… Read more

Solid chocolate; solid gold!

14th March 2011 03:00 by lisa

This isn't a particularly web orientated blog post, but it's not everyday you get a solid chocolate kit-kat!

Tom just offered me a Kit-Kat and I declined, but really wished I hadn't when he bit into his to find it was solid chocolate! Both sticks!

This followed a conversation on… Read more

Standard Banner Sizes

11th March 2011 03:00 by jo

We often get asked about advertisement banners for web advertising and the different sizes that they come in. So we thought that we would include a list of some typical banners that would be used on a website.

You can read the latest list of standard banner sizes on the IAB website.

Good newsletter subject line by Gizoo

25th February 2011 12:00 by lisa

I get A LOT of emails - and I really don't read all of them that are just trying to sell me something. So I always take note when one makes my finger click to read it...

Gizoo's latest email had the subject line "Our most reviewed product, the amazing… Read more

Giving access to your Google Analytics account

25th February 2011 12:00 by lisa

You might want your web developer or someone doing some consultancy for you to be able to view your Google Analytics but without giving them your Google account password and therefore access to your email and everything!

Or similarly you might just need other people in your organisation to be… Read more

Code Style and Syntax Guide

20th February 2011 12:00 by tom

When writing new code it's really helpful if developers adhere to a few basic rules and conventions. PHP is a fairly lose language which lets developers do things in a multitude of different ways, while this gives a creater level of flexibility and makes picking up PHP quick and easy… Read more

The importance of keeping your website updated

19th February 2011 03:00 by lisa

We always preach to clients about the importance of fresh content, but recent results from a web service provider back up our suspicions!

A recent survey by an online web tool SiteKreator has found that the small number of websites involved in their research that updated their site more than… Read more

Another great review for muchbetteradventures.com

19th February 2011 03:00 by lisa

MuchBetterAdventures has officially launched now, after a soft launch gathering information for the extensive site.

As as a result there's more great press coverage pouring in, talking about the wealth of functionality on the site and the tremendous amount of adventure holiday information already available there.

The latest write up… Read more

How to embed videos from YouTube on your website

18th February 2011 03:00 by lisa

It's very easy to add videos from YouTube to your website or blog, and it if you're concerned about hosting costs it's a great way to keep the load down on your site.

Firstly I'm going to start this article with the answer to a question I get asked a… Read more

How to generate your own QR codes

16th February 2011 03:00 by tom

There's nothing particularly new about QR codes, they've been kicking around the web for ages, ever since they first popped up in Japanese car production lines all those years ago.

At first - I have to admit, I didn't really see the point... Ok they're pretty cool... You can… Read more

How to make your website talk to you

16th February 2011 03:00 by tom

If you're like me and you prefer listening rather than reading, then a new API from Ericson might be just up your street!

Their new text to speech API lets developers quickly and easily convert strings of text into audio files. It's then just a small step to creating a… Read more

Security threat in Internet Explorer

1st February 2011 03:00 by lisa

Microsoft have issued a warning that any Window's user who uses Internet Explorer to view the Internet should download a security patch whilst they work on fixing the problem for good.

The patch is available for download from Microsoft's website, and is designed to stop websites you visit being able… Read more

The devil is in the detail, as Google demonstrates

11th January 2011 03:00 by lisa

Google announced yesterday that they're going to change how URLs appear in ads on search results pages.

The search engine constantly tweaks and refines it's offerings and way of going about things, and the latest announcement is that all URLs displayed in ads will be shown with the domain in… Read more

How has the snow effected your work? Take our quick survey...

21st December 2010 03:00 by lisa

In case you haven't noticed, the UK is at a bit of a stand still this week due to the crazy amount of snow we've had. I've been speaking to several people over the last couple of days who have had to work from home because they couldn't get into… Read more

Snowy website updates

20th December 2010 03:00 by lisa

Don't forget to keep your customers up to speed on your business operations in these snowy times!

If you've got a blog or a CMS, consider adding a message to your website that tells your customers when you're open this Christmas, or about any changes to your normal operating times… Read more

Get your own Google Places page

17th December 2010 12:00 by lisa

You may have noticed, when you use Google, that some listings appear at the top of the results as bullet points next to, or on, a map.

If you want to get featured here, you need to sort yourself out with a Google Places page. Through this you can display… Read more

18a Productions 2010 Christmas opening hours

15th December 2010 03:00 by lisa

It's been a busy year here at 18a HQ so we're taking a break over the festive period!

Our offices will be closed from 24th December 2010 - 4th January 2011 inclusive.

Hosting:

We might be on a break, but we don't get off that lightly! All hosting will continue… Read more

VAT rise in January 2011

13th December 2010 03:00 by lisa

Yep, it's happening again - the VAT rate is changing. So let us know if you need a hand updating your site for it.

Whether you have an online shop, a subscription based service, an online booking system or just the odd "buy now" Paypal button, get in touch if… Read more

Alex from Much Better Adventures quoted by the Guardian

6th December 2010 03:00 by lisa

We always get excited when our clients - especially start ups with great ideas - are featured in the press.

And even though muchbetteradventures.com are getting press coverage all the time now, the novelty still doesn't wear off!

This month, site co-founder Alex Narracott was quoted in the Guardian in… Read more

Facebook tries to copyright the words face and book!

26th November 2010 12:00 by lisa

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has this week granted the social media giant Facebook a "notice of allowance" to trade mark the word "face".

Apparently Facebook have a history of going after anyone who use "face" or "book" in their name - UTalkMarketing cites examples such as Teachbook… Read more

Bristol restaurants coming up trumps!

25th November 2010 03:00 by lisa

We're always mentioning the latest places we've eaten in Bristol to friends and family outside the city - and increasingly these little gems are getting the recognition they deserve!

After achieving Bristol's first Michelin Star, Casamia in Westbury-on-Trym have just been crowned Britain's best restaurant by Gordon Ramsey! Brothers Jonray… Read more

Day and Night design feature on LoveGloucesterRoad.org.uk

10th November 2010 03:00 by lisa

This is really quite simple compared to the rest of the coding we do here at 18a Towers, but it's still fun!

If you visit LoveGloucesterRoad.org.uk - a website we've made for free to help promote our local area - then, depending on whether you visit it in the day… Read more

How to use the TinyMCE Filemanager Plugin

2nd November 2010 03:00 by tom

TinyMCE is my favourite WYSIWYG editor (and I've used quite a few editors over the years). It's far from perfect - some of the code it produces can be a little non-standards compliant and we often get clients who copy and paste directly from Word, which causes all sorts of… Read more

The Web Design Process

29th October 2010 03:00 by tom

Making a website doesn’t have to be complicated, this is how it works.

1. We have a chat with you about your requirements and what you hope to achieve from your website. It’s important at this stage to fully consider your audience. We can help you ensure that your website… Read more

WP e-commerce plugin User Guide

27th October 2010 03:00 by lisa

Below are instructions for how to update WP e-commerce, a very good online shop plugin for Wordpress websites.

Adding products:

The main thing you need to know how to do, is to add products. Here's a screenshot of (what looks like the very long...) products page. You access it by… Read more

UK Number 3 in Top Startup Hotspots

22nd October 2010 03:00 by tom

Everyone knows Silicon Valley is the 'home of the startup', but here in the UK, we're not doing too badly in terms of levels of innovation. There are clearly some motivated people around the UK, trying to dream up new ideas and push new online startups. So why then have… Read more

Halloween campaign for AQuarterOf.co.uk

18th October 2010 03:00 by lisa

Case Study: marketing with the seasons.

We do the affiliate management for AQuarterOf.co.uk - the UK's favourite online retro sweet shop - and as you can imagine, Halloween is a busy time!

The Halloween banners were rolled out a month ago, and we've been working with various affiliates on… Read more

Shop Software Review: OpenCart

7th October 2010 03:00 by tom

I was recently asked to quote for making a few improvements to an OpenCart shop. OpenCart wasn't a package I'd customised before, but as I always like to keep abreast of the latest software packages for use on clients sites, I thought I'd spend a little time having a play… Read more

Setting up public key authentication over SSH

6th October 2010 12:00 by tom

This post is a little on the techy side, but for those sys admins out there who have ever needed to setup SSH keys between 2 servers so they can authenticate without prompting for a password, you know what a hassle it can be.

I've done it enough times over… Read more

Nasty spam email offering tax rebate

5th October 2010 12:00 by lisa

Just a quick note to watch out for emails like this one I received supposedly from HMRC this morning.

Hovering over the links in the email shows me it's actually trying to send me to recivetaxrefund .xf .cz - quite different to hmrc.gov.uk!

It also doesn't have a "to" address -… Read more

Think you've cleared your cookies? Think again!

1st October 2010 03:00 by tom

There's nothing new about Cookies, most people are aware of their existence and accept that they're just a fact of life. They're fairly easy to delete after all, you can just go into your browser settings and 'clear history' or something similar and all traces of your browsing habits are… Read more

Going that extra mile with Wordpress - great feedback for Growing Vision Gardens

28th September 2010 03:00 by lisa

A fine example of a bespoke Wordpress customisation, Growing Vision Gardens is now live!

This site is a case study of how going the extra mile can make all the difference. Rather than stop at the initial completion of getting content on the pages, we worked with Growing Vision Gardens… Read more

Cost Effective SEO & Link Management

27th September 2010 03:00 by tom

SEO can be extremely time-consuming and expensive. To get results in anything but the least competitive market these days you need to invest a considerable amount of time and effort, over an extended period.

Many website owners don't have the time or inclination to get links from other websites,… Read more

Sexy forms with jQuery

24th September 2010 03:00 by tom

I just found something pretty cool. I've always found form elements really boring, unless of course you view them on a Mac - then they look beautiful. But for most of us we're stuck in the 1980's with some pretty dull elements...

Well not anymore! Checkout uniform a neat little… Read more

Impressive Amateur Special Effects

23rd September 2010 03:00 by tom

I just found this short film reading an article on reelseo and just had to share it because it's really impressive stuff and just shows what you can do with a couple of $1,000 cameras, a decent software suite, a couple of interesting looking Russian dudes and a lot of… Read more

What is Google? And how does it work with your new website?

21st September 2010 12:00 by lisa

One of the most common causes for confusion with website owners is how Google works, so I thought I'd just write a little explanation!

When you have a website built, you have a domain name address (www.yourwebsite.co.uk) where you and other people can visit your website.

The way to get… Read more

Browser testing to include skype?

20th September 2010 03:00 by lisa

Just to add to the long list of what us web developers have got to check for is Skype installations.

I've been noticing recently how if you've got Skype installed on your computer, then it is very helpful and turns phone numbers into clickable links for you on websites you… Read more

Tart featured in Good Housekeeping

16th September 2010 03:00 by lisa

Gloucester Road's very own Tart has a double page spread in the latest edition (October 2010) of Good Housekeeping.

Tart are our client (we help them looking after their website) and our neighbour on Gloucester Road so we were very excited for them when they told us to watch out… Read more

The meerkat strikes again.

15th September 2010 03:00 by lisa

We follow Aleksandr Orlov on Twitter, so I noticed yesterday that he (!) was quite chuffed that his catchphrase "Simples!" was used in hit E4 show The Inbetweeners.

Series 3 of The Inbetweeners had been eagerly awaited by many after gradually building up a huge army of fans, and Channel… Read more

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