Lycos UK

7th Dec 2006 stk

Link: http://directory.lycos.co.uk

The Problem: Lycos U.K., a subdivision of Lycos Europe, wanted to convert their directory pages to be XHTML, CSS and WAI compliant - at a reasonable cost.

The Solution: Hire AstonishMe! to convert over 100,000 statically-created, individually-maintained and XHTML/CSS/WAI-invalid pages into a single, web-standards template. This allows sweeping, site-wide changes to be as easy as modifying a single template! In addition, we converted static pages to be dynamically served, utilizing an innovative cache system which optimizes speed and guarantees successful page retrieval. A low deposit, plus ongoing payments (based on directory sales and page views) saves Lycos money over their previous solution. Better, faster, cheaper - Lycos is impressed!

The Challenge: Building an enterprise-level, XML-based query system database from scratch. Configuring a dedicated web-server (and backup server) to withstand a high volume of traffic. Designing and coding a single, PHP-based, XHTML/CSS-valid, WAI-508-compliant template which handles every possible directory listing configuration. (Added challenge: 24-hours before the project deadline, completely re-design the layout and graphics, in order to match a just-released, Lycos site design!)

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Good Boating

29th Mar 2006 stk

Link: http://goodboating.astonishme.co.uk

The Problem: Owners of two boating companies in the mid-western United States wanted to enhance their existing, static commercial websites. They wanted to offer more relevant content, achieve higher page rankings, build customer loyalty and increase sales.

The Solution: Hire AstonishMe! to convert the static commercial sites into dynamic blogs and integrate them into a regional boating portal site (with boater blogs, professionally written articles and a community forum). The portal site will offer a wealth of information for the region, including relevant content and an active community of boating enthusiasts. Page rank, search engine optimization, potential customers, sales and customer satisfaction will all benefit.

The Challenge: Integration, custom coding, black/gold site design constraints, co-branding, public blogging, forum and multi-million dollar boat inventory database ... this project has it all. The first step was to design and build a mock up of what the b2evolution-driven, integrated portal site would look like.

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Software and Tools

3rd Mar 2006 Danny

Link: http://www.softwareandtools.com

The Problem: The owner of a website showcasing news, tips & commentary about software wanted a stylized, 3-column design that provided an integrated, but differing color scheme for each of the eight technology blogs.

The Solution: Making a custom skin that exceeded the client's expectations. The design is elegant and offers unique features: author index, collapsible categories, clean search form, custom icons and CSS image rollover (for blog descriptions).

The Challenge: Offering an elegant, integrated, custom design at an affordable price.

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Ohio Boating

15th Feb 2006 ¥åßßå

Link: http://www.ohioboating.net

The Problem: "We have a nicely designed, 10-page website, but the designer doesn't know anything about blogs or PHP. His pages are difficult to update and most of our content is in the blog, which is just one link button on the front page. Can you help?"

The Solution: "Sure. We recommend integrating the blog skin with the current site design and move the blog to the front page, replacing the existing (relatively static) content."

The Challenges: Working on a live site, maintaining all internal links, doing the work as soon as possible and ensuring that all old, inbound links point to the correct, new location.

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