CalgaryPuck Revamped
June 14, 2008
With the aid of various members of their online community, Armadillo Studios is very proud to release to the world a new revamped version of the popular “CalgaryPuck.com”:http://www.calgarypuck.com.
As the largest online community for Calgary Flames Fans, “CalgaryPuck.com”:http://www.calgarypuck.com is a critical resource for many. On any given moment, thousands of loyal and dedicated hockey fans are utilizing their “extensive forums”:http://forum.calgarypuck.com to discuss a variety of topics and reading about the latest Flames game or draft pick on their news feed.
As a volunteer driven site, CalgaryPuck.com was in desperate need of a dramatic overhaul and web 2.0 update. With the help of the owners and members of the community; The Armadillo Team developed a customized WordPress theme which enhanced the readability of the site, while enabling a more natural navigation. This new theme also incorporates a snapshot of the activity on the popular forums and better integrates the site’s advertising demands. In addition, the Content Management System has simplified article publishing, while creating a usable RSS feed for frequent readers.
Armadillo Studios was proud to work with CalgaryPuck and is happy to contribute to this engaging community.
Categories: Calgary Client Releases,Calgary Web Design,Fresh Ideas
SpeedSpecialists.com Officially Launched
June 10, 2008
So after a few months as a temporary splash page, “speedspecialists.com”:http://www.speedspecialists.com is now officially live.
As mentioned previously, Speedspecialists.com is the new home of Concept 3 & Stefan Dalberg. This new site is designed to showcase the upcoming projects of Concept 3 (Commercials Production, Ice Boat Construction, & Upcoming Events) and the talents of Stefan Dalberg. It’s was built as a dynamic personal/corporate blog which incorporates embedded video clips of Concept 3’s commercial ice boating work and an easy to use picture gallery of their custom built iceboats.
Powered by the WordPress CMS, speedspecialists.com allows Stefan and the Concept 3 group to post news blurbs, add photos, and embed the latest video with ease. We’ve also added an RSS feed, a feature clip image and also a AJAX based Contact Us form.
We are proud to launch Speedspecialists.com and include it in our growing family of web sites.
iPhone Arrives in Canada
May 12, 2008
Here’s a quick question for small businesses to consider; why is the news of “Roger’s decision to finally support the iPhone in Canada”:http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080429.wrogersstaff0429/BNStory/Business/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080429.wrogersstaff0429 important news for your business?
Well, ponder this. Apple’s iPod popularity over the past few years has been well document and it’s dominance on the portable music market in Canada is undeniable. With Roger’s decision to finally support the iPhone in Canada, Apple seems poised to once again alter the dynamics of the prosperous Cellular phone market. But more importantly for the iPhone to work, there needs to be a major shift in wireless cell phone data rates in Canada; thereby making it cheaper and easier for people to surf the web on the their cell phones.
It is this element of Rogers’ announcement that is critical news for your business. As data rates decreases and the technology for cell phone based web browsing grows; users will be doing more surfing away from the comforts of home or their office. Instead, users will be surfing the net waiting for flights or on their daily commute. Heck they could be checking their email while at a concert or twittering their friends about the night’s activities.
With one of the highest rates of broadband usage in the world, Canadians already spend a majority of their time surfing the net. Whether it’s at work or at home. Simply put – we are a wired nation. Now with reduced cell phone data rates, the ability to surf the net from any location will allow users more time to browse the internet. That’s where it be comes imperative that your web site is designed with cell phone browsers in mind.
No mater what type of business you run, your web site needs to be compatible with all browsers. More importantly *your web site* must be compatible with Safari and Opera browsers (The common iPhone browsers) and mobile devices in general. The best way to ensure your site is compatible is to have it developed in Web Standards or in an HTML/CSS combo. A complicated Flash web site will not function as well in mobile browser and will not provide users with the information they need. While a CSS/Web Standards based site will still provide both regular desktop users and mobile users with the information they both need.
Armadillo Studios already builds our web sites with mobile devices in mind. But as the demand for the iPhone increases we will be moving towards “enhancing our sites”:http://www.bittbox.com/general-web-design/have-a-website-its-time-to-add-a-webclip-icon/ to fully embrace mobile technology. If you are interested in adapting your web site for the mobile web, give us an email at info@armadillostudios.ca.
Categories: Calgary Web Design,Fresh Ideas,Web Design Trends
Dreamhost goes Gmail
April 30, 2008
So first it was the upgrade of the “WordPress”:http://blog.armadillostudios.ca/article/wordpress-25 interfacen and now Dreamhost has moved from the archaic SquirrelMail to the new Gmail Email service. I must say April has been a great month for our clients.
For most of our new clients looking for a web hosting service, Armadillo Studios strongly recommended “Dreamhost.com”:http://www.dreamhost.com for all your hosting needs. They provide excellent and prompt support, a very simple user interface and more storage space than you could shake a stick at …
Unfortunately, for quite sometime Dreamhost has been utilizing the archaic squirrel mail system for mail accounts. This has been the overwhelming single complaint we’ve received form clients about their great service.
But now, Dreamhost has upgraded their mail services to function through the Gmail interface. Gone is the frustrating navigation and layout of squirrel mail. Instead users are treated to all the benefits of Gmail’s wonderful mail service, but through their own mail domain.
Users can now utilize everything that “Gmail has to offer”:http://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en/about.html. Customizable contact lists, searchable folders, a simple calendar, and Gchat all through their own domain server.
If you would like us to upgrade your email service for you or would like more information, feel free to contact us at “info@armadillostudios.ca”:mailto:info@armadillostudios.ca.
Categories: Corporate Features,Fresh Ideas,Web Design Trends
SXSW08: Advertising for Newbies
March 17, 2008
We know we’re jumping around a bit on describing SXSW, but it has been a fairly hectic few days since returning from SXSW.
So let’s get back on track, Day two of SXSW was an informative and inspirational day of sessions. As mentioned in the previous post, the very interesting “icanhasacheezburger”:http://blog.armadillostudios.ca/article/sxsw08-guess-the-web-site session really took over the day.
But one of the most important client side sessions came early on Sunday morning. A session simply called “Online Advertising for Newbies”:http://2008.sxsw.com/interactive/programming/panels_schedule/?action=show&id=IAP060555.
Here at Armadillo Studios, have been continuously working with our clients to capitalize on various revenue generating streams; it was nice to see some of the recent success stories and to discover some new ideas.
The session provided ample information regarding different avenues in which web logs can transition their content and passions in to revenue. Some ideas were fairly basic and included; the incorporation of “AdBrite ads”:http://www.adbrite.com or “DoubleClick”:http://doubleclick.com ads into a site’s layout. These ads generate revenue for the publisher based on clicks per million visits. (Basically the number of clicks an ad gets based on a One Million views) Or bloggers can align themselves with large professional blogging networks like ProBlogger or “eMoms at home”:http://www.emomsathome.com/blog/, which will pay bloggers who bring their wealth of new readers to their networks. Or even the idea of bloggers selling local banner space to local restaurants and businesses to provide a local connection to their readers.
Some of the more unconventional ideas included incorporating Amazon.com’s referral program or an iTunes referral program to give bloggers a percentage of all purchases directed from the site. Web logs that deal with pop culture issues or deal directly with cooking can greatly benefit from this form of revenue, as it generates income based on content. This idea works hand in hand with sites that promote or review a variety of products.
If you are interested in ways to generate income on your web log, feel free to contact us. You don’t even have to be an existing client; we really enjoy helping people get the best from their web logs.
Hey! That’s why we call ourselves blogging experts.