It was a long time coming.
That's probably how Dorie Bolze and her crew at the Harpeth River Watershed Association (HRWA) felt by the time we finished the development of their new website.
In truth, it had taken us a little longer than usual. But the site the HRWA wanted was actually a pretty tall order. See, the HRWA's old site was completely HTML-based. And there were a TON of pages.
So, Team JLB not only had to conceive of a stunning graphic design, but we also had to wrap it inside a very functional, dynamic management system. The CMS du jour? A little Nashville ditty known as SiteMason.
HRWA had heard of this nationally renown CMS (content management system) before coming to JLB with its task list. Team JLB has worked with SiteMason on several projects before (Sewanee - The University of the South, Decatur Heritage Christian Academy and The Williamson Herald, to name a few). So everyone was happy. Now the fun part - building the site.
After honing the graphic design with precision, Team JLB coded a solid CSS-based XHTML layout for the Web pages. Then, we wrapped the design into XSL, SiteMason's preferred dynamic programming language. Using a few SiteMason tools, like the Page Builder, the Custom Form and the News Publisher, we delivered a highly functional site that allows HRWA reps to update and create content on the fly. The best part? No one on the HRWA staff needs to know any "technical" code. And no one needs any additional software.
In fact, the HRWA can access its management system from any Web browser in the world on any computer in the world (as long as they remember their login info). And updating text and images is as easy as knowing how to use Microsoft Word. The interface is that simple!
One more thing - for kicks - Team JLB added a fully functional slideshow to the home page of the site. Now HRWA reps can update, with relative ease, the photos that fade in and out there. No need for Photoshop or Flash or any other cumbersome development program. It only takes a couple of clicks to upload an entire photo album from the HRWA's hard drives to their Web server.
Is the HRWA pleased with their new site?
"THANK YOU for all of your hard work on our new Web site. It is just beautiful!" writes Dorie Bolze, Executive Director for the Harpeth River Watershed Association. "If you would like a testimonial for your Web site from us, let us know. We’d love to be listed as one of your satisfied clients."