Wed Jan 18th: Techivity went dark!
Published January 18, 2012 | 
In opposition to the SOPA and PIPA proposed legislation techivity.com went dark today, January 18th, 2012. The day passed, but the risk remains.
The philosophy of this legislation is analogous to holding a postal carrier liable for the material in his bag when he’s out on his route; he didn’t choose to carry it, doesn’t know what’s in there, could find out if he stopped to read everyone’s stuff, but certainly couldn’t make any deliveries on-time or maintain any privacy doing so.
That is almost precisely what the proposed legislation would do to the internet. Its appalling and would damage most of our clients hosting and stop much small business from engaging in legitimate online business.
So call your representatives, sign the petitions, email your friends. YOUR internet is on the line and it needs you…
MonsterMural: Custom HTML
Published October 21, 2011 | 
Monster Mural is a cool business that provides large murals for events that can be colored, assembled or are otherwise interactive.
Monster Mural wanted a custom site – they didn’t want to do their own updates and controlling the specifics of the design page to page was more important than applying the same template to multiple articles like a blog or content management solution.
Using good coding practices to create PHP includes that re-use as much of the page as possible, we created a custom site that uses extensive java-script, PHP templates and re-uses graphics. The site includes custom java-script slide shows that update automatically any time Monster Mural uploads pictures and a custom, PCI-compliant shopping cart solution.
A great example of proper requirements analysis; instead of investing time and energy into traffic-building or other business resources that did not fit Monster Mural’s requirements, Techivity focused on providing a site that provides support for their existing sales process, since Monster Mural works directly with event planners through catalogs and direct contact.
Crosstrade Imports: WordPress & OpenCart
Published October 19, 2011 | 
Crosstrade Imports is a fantastic eco-friendly client that helps tribal peoples in Brazil establish business relationships in the US.
Crosstrade was trying to update their site through Dreamweaver without much knowledge of HTML. After a proper requirements assessment, we determined that they needed an online store and website system that they could update in-house using store labor with minimal web skills. They were also hosted by a company that offered minimal support and hosting resources.
We started with a site migration to BlueHost, a large hosting company that offers significant control panel resources for small to mid-size business, then set up OpenCart with a custom template and trained them to enter their own products.
Once the Crosstrade Imports On-line Store was up and running, we converted some custom designs into a WordPress template and configured WordPress to support their needs. Since Techivity helped redesign the technology framework for the Crosstrade site, in-store personnel at CrossTrade has successfully updated their own web pages and product listings.
Add Google Analytics, some key word research and basic search-engine optimization and Crosstrade Imports is set to build and grow their on-line business helping artists in Brazil support themselves.