updates
02-24-2010 | 3:15 pm
We're always trying to think up new ways to improve our service to clients, help out around our community, and just generally be a better company. Lately, we've also been thinking about how the vendors we work with and how we interact with them says a lot about us as a company, too. With that in mind, we're very happy to tell everybody about a new donation program that we're embarking on by way of another vendor's affiliate program.
When it comes to website hosting, it's hard to beat DreamHost for affordability, service, and reliability. But, did you know that they're also carbon neutral and that they offer free hosting to non-profit, 501(c)(3) charitable organizations registered in the United States? We think all of that is pretty impressive! And, while they're not the right fit for all of our clients, we always feel 100% confident when we do recommend them to somebody.
Recently, though, we discovered that by joining DreamHost's affiliate program, we can get $97 back for every client that we sign up with them. So, we thought about all of the ways we could use these referral payments (office parties, video games, down payments on vacations in the Bahamas, etc.), and in the end, we decided that the best thing we could do is to donate the money to some of our favorite charitable organizations. So, moving forward, for every affiliate payment we receive, we'll let our client decide which one of five organizations we should donate the $97 to. The choices are: Amnesty International, The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), The Nature Conservancy, The North Shore Animal League, or The World Wildlife Fund.
Now we're all really excited about this new plan, and we're looking forward to the first time we can actually put it into practice. From where we stand, it seems like everybody wins, and we get to feel good not only about who we're working with but also how we're working with them.
02-11-2010 | 3:30 pm
Sure, we've all heard of Web 2.0 but how about Intranet 2.0?
Last week we upgraded PerLectric, Inc., to the most current version of TEAMS—our own in-house-developed MVC framework for web-based, intranet applications—and the results have been great!
With a rock-solid Perl engine and data storage by means of a PostGreSQL database (with support for other data sources ranging from MS SQL Server, to Oracle, to static XML files and more), the latest version of the TEAMS framework makes extensive use of the latest CSS standards, DHTML, and Ajax to provide PerLectric with the fastest and most stable intranet experience they've had yet. And, because the application itself helps PerLectric manage their contacts, track their bids and estimates, keep fire and electrical permits, licenses, and inspections up-to-date, track inventories, and report on crucial business intelligence, we know our framework's getting a great workout!
So what does Intranet 2.0 really mean? To us, it means building out a local application that helps our clients make the most of web-based technologies using open standards that they can either grow with or easily interchange in the future; it means moving off of legacy systems that are either too slow to meet modern demands or too tied to a single computer to be of use in a group setting; it means designing an application that lets our clients reduce resource consumption and wastes (of materials, time, and money) while meeting their goals faster than they ever have.
field15 launches redesigned site
02-01-2010 | 7:46 PM EST
field15 launched a new website today for one of our most difficult clients yet...ourselves. Our site has a brand new look, and it's fully updated with our most recent work, our current skills, and a new company-wide focus. We've been creating websites and developing web-based applications since 1998, and although that makes us old-timers in this field, we haven't lost the excitement of creating a new site, a new piece of software, or a new logo.
One of the biggest changes you might notice to the site is the going green button in the footer of each page. The company founders have been interested in lessening their impact on the environment and increasing their impact on the communities around them for years, and the company is now in a position to help do something about those ideas. If you're interested in what we're planning, you should check out our Going Green page. We're also going to start a company blog to highlight any progress or problems we run into, all while trying to help other small companies wade through both the green and not-so-green options out there. We'll definitely let you know when that goes live, so stay tuned!
Along with our green initiative, we've also started a social networking initiative. We've been using these for personal reasons for a long time, but we decided that a great way to keep our clients up-to-date would be start using them for the company, too. You can see the different logos in the footer, but in case you want to check them out from here, we now have RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Identi.ca, and last.fm.
And finally, we wanted to let you know about some other additions that you'll see in the next few months. One of the biggest areas to come will be a new password-protected client-only section of the site. Once this is in place, all of our clients (current and future) will be able to log in to their account to see invoices, downloads, updates, project notes, etc. It will be a very useful tool for users, and we're looking forward to offering it to you.
That rounds out the big changes happening here at field15. Take a look around, and we'd love to hear what you think—thanks for the support!
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