Services
Overview of services offered:
- Website Design
- Blogs & Forums (WordPress, phpBB, SMF)
- Joomla - Content Management Systems
- About Joomla
- Joomla Websites (A list of interesting websites created with Joomla)
- Simplweb - Joomla made Simple!
- eCommerce (Miva Merchant)
- Hosting Services (WestHost)
- Newsletters (YMLP)
- Image Manipulation
- Credit Card Processing & Payment Solutions
Website Design
Accessible websites
Why validate? People are accessing the internet with PDA's, cell phones, screen readers (for the visually impaired), not to mention computers with a number of different browsers, some older than others, and using varied screen sizes and resolution. Only a standards based website will have a good chance of reading well. Test the HTML or XHTML on your site by going to http://validator.w3.org/, enter the URL (your website address) and see what happens.
How I work
I can create a site from scratch, or use low cost templates. My older sites are HTML based, while the newer ones are XHTML. All my sites utilize cascading style sheets (CSS). Although I prefer to use Dreamweaver to manage client websites, I still maintain many websites with FrontPage.
Blog's and Message Forums
WordPress Blog's
For Blog's I prefer WordPress, a state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. [More on WordPress][View a WordPress Blog in Action]
phpBB
Millions of people use phpBB on a daily basis, making it the most widely used opensource bulletin board system in the world. Whether you want to stay in touch with a small group of friends or are looking to set up a large multi-category board for a corporate website, phpBB has the features you need built in. [More on phpBB] [View a phpBB forum that I set up for the Alternatives 2008 Conference]
Simple Machines Forums
SMF in short — is a free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community within minutes.
[More on SMF][View a SMF Forum (not very active, but it's a good example of what you can do]
Joomla!
Joomla! is a free, award-winning content management system written in PHP which allows users to easily publish their content on the world wide web and intranet's. Joomla is created as an open-source project where individuals and teams contribute their skills to its development as well as its supporting systems.
While Joomla is packed with features, its greatest quality is that it is extremely extensible. Because of its extensible structure, there aren't many things you cannot do with Joomla. A short list of some important features of Joomla are the following:
- Page Caching
- Web Indexing
- RSS Feeds
- Printable Page Versions
- Newsflashes
- Blog's
- Forums
- Polls
- Calendars
- Website Searching
- Language Internationalization
What's a Content Management System?
Content Management Systems are database driven websites that can handle a lot of data, and can manage input from multiple users/contributors. There are hundreds of commercial CMS available which range in cost from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, and often have significant monthly maintenance costs. For that reason, I have focused my energy on free open source CMS.
Joomla is free to download and it's supported by large community of people who create templates and add on's which make them more useful.
Picking a content management system
Joomla can be made to do just about anything you need; there are 3,775 extensions available (last count 12/5/09)! It's certainly powerful, but it also requires some experience to set up and run.
Tom Rogers Web Design can get your Joomla site up and running fast. There are three ways to do it:
Solo - You can quickly set set up a Joomla site via the site manager tool which is built into your hosting account (accounts hosted by us).
- You are on your own to do as you please, but can always contact us for fee based assistance.
- Don't forget to install the version upgrades which happen monthly, some of which are considered essential. This requires that you back up all your files including the database.
Turn Key - We can set up your Joomla site and maintain it going forward.
- This turnkey service would include important version upgrades.
- Leave the complicated back end work to us, so you can focus your time and energy on adding content.
Simplweb - Now Offering Simplweb Instant Websites!
- With Simplweb you can set up an instant Joomla website, already set up with content, templates and extensions.
- When you get a Simplweb site you also get education and support to help you build a successful site.
- Visit the Simplweb section for more information.
Simplweb On Sale!
Sites set up via Tom Rogers Web Design get 10% off on the monthly hosting fee. Contact us for details
Simplweb - Instant Joomla!
With over 20 million websites powered by Joomla on the web, there is no doubt that it's by far the best open source Content Management System (CMS) available, but many have struggled to create their website.
- They couldn't set up the server
- They couldn't figure out how to organize the content
- They just needed to ask someone a simple question.
Imagine if:
- You could create a Joomla website instantly, no complex server involved,
- You never had to worry about keeping versions up to date
- You had access to extensive educational resources
- You had someone there to ask for help.
| Simplweb on Sale! |
| Sites set up via Tom Rogers Web Design get 10% off on the monthly hosting fee. Contact us for details |
Now Offering Simplweb Instant Websites!
The service is called Simplweb, and it provides instant Joomla sites, already set up with content, templates and extensions. When you get a Simplweb site you also get education and support to help you build a successful site.
No complicated plans here. Everything you need for your website for one simple price
Visit some website builder services and there are all sorts of added extras and set up fees. Simplweb offers:
- No start up fees!
- One month FREE TRIAL!
- No credit card info needed to start!
Simplweb's primary goal is to help build successful Joomla based websites. To that end, they provide excellent tutorials, an active message forum and quick replies to your support related issues.
Although it's pretty easy to set up a Simplweb site, sometimes you need more help than they can provide.
- Do you have a current site elsewhere that you would like to convert?
- Do you have a complex site that you are having difficulty with?
- Perhaps your graphics don't fit the template you are using, or the style sheet needs to be adjusted?
- Or perhaps your time is limited?
Tom Rogers Web Design can help get your Simplweb site up and running.
Simplweb On Sale!
Sites set up via Tom Rogers Web Design get 10% off on the monthly hosting fee. Contact us for details
Need more details? Visit Simplweb.
More on Joomla!
eCommerce
Build a thriving online store
There should be an e-commerce solution that is flexible, reliable, expandable and easy to use. A solution with comprehensive features that are easy to use for new online businesses, yet powerful enough for the most demanding e-commerce expert.
Miva Merchant is that solution
Taking your online business to the next level, Miva Merchant provides unlimited potential with unprecedented power, flexibility and ease of use. Miva Merchant is designed for success and provides you with access to all the tools you need to develop, maintain, and grow a thriving online store.
As a premier e-commerce solution, Miva Merchant includes the following:
- Advanced catalog, customer and order management systems.
- No limits on the amount of store data.
- Complete store design control with new Store Morph Technology™.
- Integrated credit card processing and shipping calculation.
- An expansive list of add-on modules and services.
- And much more »
Empower your online business with available marketing services, including pay-per-click advertising and search engine optimization. Leverage your business potential with Miva Merchant, the only e-commerce solution for online business success. [More on Miva Merchant 5][View a Miva Store in Action]
Hosting Services
I highly recommend WestHost. They provide excellent customer service, and their servers are located in a state of the art facility. Hosting packages come with a vast array of easy to install programs and databases. They offer business plans that start at less than $7 per month, and personal plans starting at just $3.95! [More on WestHost]
Newsletters
Your Best Mailing List Solution - YMLP!
We've managed newsletters for two grass roots organizations since 2004 using Your Mailing List Provider. This is definetely the best deal for small to medium sized organizations, in fact if you send less than 1,000 emails per month, it's free!
Send your Email Newsletters with YMLP's Handy Web App:
- Zero installatioin or maintenance - easy access via your web browser
- Easy Email Newsletter Builder, including 30 free sample templates
- Fast & outstanding delivery through their mailservers
- 7 years online, 75,000+ users in 100+ countries
- Free version available, paid plans starting from $3.75/month.
With YMLP, we can:
- Set up opt in/opt out forms on your website.
- Craft standards complient emails and newsletters to suit the needs of the organization.
- Make editorial and layout suggestions.
- Send test emails to the person(s) in charge.
- Send it to your list in html and plain text.
- Convert the email/newsletter into a webpage or blog posting.
Image Manipulation
websites are a whole lot more appealing when you have photos for people to rest their eyes on. Putting an image on the web is not the same as with printed material. If you make the image too big it will take too long to load the page. If you make it too small, no one will bother looking at it. Most of the images I get are taken by amateurs, or shot under less than ideal circumstances. As an example, I received an image for the National Empowerment Center recently of Dr. Daniel Fisher shaking hands with Senator Kennedy. Take a look at the original image:
It's a great image and luckily it was high resolution giving me plenty of flexibility (images taken with cell phones are the worst!), but there is a lot to distract you from the moment. I manipulated the image and put a date on it:
This image has been posted to two of my client websites:
National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations
Credit Card Processing & Payment Solutions
Tom Rogers Web Design, through Merchant Focus, is proud to offer access to the highest quality Credit Card Processing and Payment Solutions.
Featuring INSTANT ESTABLISHMENT of your Merchant ID Number, as soon as you submit the Online Application for your merchant account, your live Visa/MasterCard Merchant ID is issued to you.
No other eCommerce Processor matches our "merchant friendly" practices!
For successful businesses processing over $250,000 annually in Visa and MasterCard sales we offer Interchange-Plus merchant accounts with NO MONTHLY FEES of any kind. Click here for a professional analysis of your current processing & customized proposal.