2011 May | Fotan Web & Graphic Design

Search Results Archives: May 2011

May 25, 2011

LoretoBeachCondoForSale.com

My first international website! :) I actually did this a couple years ago and it’s gone through a couple different iterations.

The condo is owned by a friend of mine who lives in San Diego, but bought a condo in Loreto Mexico on the Baja Peninsula. She needed a site that would show the beauty of the area, the amenities of the condo and allow perspective people to request more information and even make reservations. I took a pretty basic open source calendar program, tied it to a database that would show a different background color for days that the condo was booked and allow the owner the ability to manage reservations from a back end web page. Pretty slick, really. I’ve used a similar system for a reservations system for LVPheasants.com.

May 15, 2011

All State Real Estate

All State Real Estate called me in a bit of a panic. They had had two different local web guys work on a new design for their website. Between the two, it had been almost a year. Then, suddenly, their email was down and they couldn’t search listings, or even show their own. Big problem for a real estate company.

I was able to give them the design they wanted, email that actually worked and full RMLS listing search within a week.

Some other cool features I was able to give them are:

The ability to add/edit/delete brokers from their office rosters.
The ability to add/edit/delete branch offices.
A custom, database driven page for each of their branch offices that shows a map with a link to directions, the office’s featured listings and contact information for the principal broker.
Dynamic Quick-Link pull down menus for getting to a branch office’s page, or a specific broker’s page.
A property management section with the ability to add/edit/delete listings that include photos and all the normal rental information.
A for sale by owner section that lets users upload FSBO listings that can be seen by anyone who views the All State website.

If you are a broker working all on your own, or an office with a whole bunch of brokers, I can build you a site that fits our specific needs and budget. I’m happy to help.

Custom WordPress Sites

by Matt Danskine — Categories: Web Work — No Comments

So, you may have noticed, if you’re reading this on my site (fotan.net) that it looks remarkably like a real website. But, you say, “This is WordPress. How can this be?” :) Enough with the theatrics, huh? One of the things I have found a real niche in is developing WordPress sites that integrate seamlessly into your current website, or that even replaces your current website.

Our portfolio has several examples. Just hit the “Blogs” link in our portfolio list on the right side of practically any page on our site (www.fotan.net).

Some of the special features of my own site that might be of interest are:

The custom slideshow on the home page showing my portfolio. (It can be anywhere I choose to put it.)
The Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Merchant Circle and Email Share links on the top right. (That plugin has many others, but I don’t have accounts with all of them.)
The “Share / Save” button that allows anyone to share the post via damn near any method they like, such as email, facebook, twitter, google reader…
A connection to my Facebook page that automatically cross-posts each and every blog post (like this one).
A rolling list of quotes. In my case, they’re funny sayings. Could just as easily be quotes from happy clients. (I have plenty of those, I just don’t bug them for reference quotes like I should.)

A couple things I haven’t added, but could, are ads, such as Google Adsense or Yahoo Ads to monetize the site and the ability to post to my blog via email, including images. There are literally thousands of free and low cost plug-ins out there for WordPress, with more being written every day. If you think you would like a blog, but you need some pretty specific features, or you just want it too look a certain way, but they don’t have a template that you like, let me know. I can help!

May 9, 2011

Umpqua Community College Foundation

by Matt Danskine — Categories: Back End Programming, Education, Non-Profit, Web Work — No Comments

The UCC Foundation wanted a website where they could send students to fill out scholarship and grant paperwork. The main idea was to allow the students to fill out their criteria information online, then have a way to export the information so the Foundation folks could sort and look at the information in a more useful way. In the past, they had to take paper applications and type the criteria information into a spreadsheet. Very time consuming when you have several hundred applicants and 60-75 criteria each.

I was able to give them a custom database application that gives them one or two click access to all the information they need. One button exports all the student criteria into a spreadsheet. Saved hours and hours of time. Another button prints all 450+ applications (3000+ pages) in a single click.

Upgrades planned for next year include the ability to convert all the applications back into a PDF that includes a couple documents the students upload into the system and a way to send only specific applications to the printer, as distinct files, that can be stapled and hold punched automatically.

Pretty cool deal, really. A lot of work went into it and the client was pretty thrilled with the results.

May 3, 2011

Banners you can see for miles!

by Matt Danskine — Categories: Print Work, Vinyl Banners — No Comments

Well, maybe not miles, but from a loooooong ways away. This is a pretty simple one. Pretty simple message. Just needed to be seen from several hundred feet away on a busy street.

I can print full color on any weight vinyl you need. Up to 55″ wide and length up to hundreds of feet.

The Bistro At Water’s Edge

by Matt Danskine — Categories: Print Work, Vinyl Banners — No Comments

Simple, full color 3′x6′ banner printed for a great place in The Dalles near Portland. Casual dining, fresh local ingredients, spectacular waterfront view. If you’re in the area, swing by and check out our work while having some great food.

http://www.wellnessatwatersedge.com/bistro/