Stand out from the crowd.

The Internet now makes possible a resource that has never been available to non-profits before now: affordable, direct, interactive access to the public at large (Civille, 1997)

Makeup by Steven Mora

06 July 2010

Another site launched from Melbot Web!

This time, an online portfolio for Steven Mora, a professional makeup artist in Beverly Hills. With a usable and nice-looking design, Steven's online portfolio is a straight-forward showcase of his work and his skills. The focus being on simplicity, ease of use, and hitting his objectives while adhering to a successful online portfolio concept: Less is more. No visual clutter here!

With a very clean and fast loading design, the module boxes are used in a simple way to create a horizontal image showcase. The whole template is based on a fully collapsible module architecture. The site has also been fully tested in Firefox 1.0+, IE6, IE7, Safari 2.0+, Opera 9.0+ and Camino 1.0+ !

MakeupbyStevenMora.com

Draper Animal Hospital Site Live!

31 May 2010

Draper Animal Hospital

The Draper Animal Hospital site is now officially LIVE - go check it out! This adorable hospital is celebrating their 15th anniversary for providing for the health care needs of companion animals in Draper, Utah. And they deserve a bad azz site that's web accessible, user-friendly, and entirely backward-forward compatible. Check it out on an Android OR an old dusty computer chugging along somewhere in a dilapidated trailer running IE6. It's as solid as a baby surrounded by a wall of bricks!

The target audience for this site are residents of Draper, which is located about 20 miles south of Salt Lake City, Utah and right along the Wasatch Front. The design of the site keeps this in mind and appeals to the local nature of the clinic.

United Nations Using Joomla!

25 August 2009

The United Nations organization, www.unric.org, has launched multiple sites throughout the years that utilize Joomla!, like the United Nations University Centre and the United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC). Along with sites like Porsche and Hyundai, seeing bigger organizations using Joomla! underlines its reliablity and flexibility.

Some snippets of the press release of the new United Nations Site reads (emphasis added by me):

(Brussels, United Nations) - The United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) today launched a multi-lingual website to provide official information to all sectors of society, including governments, the media, NGOs, educational institutions and local authorities of Western Europe.

The website, which is powered by the Open Source CMS Joomla!, brings major technological benefits to UNRIC and marks the UN's first comprehensive multi-lingual venture. The site was officially launched at the UN by the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Mr Shashi Tharoor.

Making Sites More Secure

25 September 2009

Charities are more likely to have poor website security than organisations in other sectors, according to the Web Application Annual Security Report 2009. What kind of insecurities did the report find?

Not having account lockout mechanisms in place, for one. That’s why on my websites (which use the Joomla! CMS) I use a number of security extensions to aid in keeping them secure. Joomla! has one drawback where any web user can easily know the site is created in Joomla! by typing the URL to access the administration area (i.e. www.site name.com/administration). This makes hackers hack the site easily once they crack the id and password for Joomla!. To stop this I install the jSecure Authentication module to prevent access to administration (back end) login page without an appropriate access key.

The Potential of the Internet for Non-Profit Organizations

07 August 2009

Stumbled across an excellent paper titled The Potential of the Internet for Non-Profit Organizations by Tessa Spencer in regards to nonprofit groups benefiting from use of the Internet.

Not operating to make a profit; nor part of government, though they may perform a public service; non-profits make up the third sector of organizations seeking to benefit from the Internet.

However, non-profit organizations face particular difficulties in using the Internet to pursue their goals. Some limit their Internet use to e-mail or have launched small, static Web sites to establish a 'Web presence', others are simply waiting. Yet advances in technology make it increasingly important for them to be an active part of the online community.

Although little formal research has explored use of the Internet by non-profit organizations, industry commentators and practitioners acknowledge consistent trends in current use and areas of potential benefit. These findings have implications for development and implementation of Internet strategies for non-profit organizations seeking to benefit from the Internet's growing potential. Read More >